Peace Education | Create Learn Inspire

Young Learners in Liminal and Personal Learning Spaces

Developing Future Learning Spaces

My proposed Future Learning Space in a Burundi Refugee Camp would be based on the Teachers Without Borders initiative of Peace Education. “At Teachers Without Borders we believe that teachers can lead the way towards peace in their classrooms and community”.

The key to Burundi’s peace lies with its youth. “Youth (ages 7-19) comprise more than 32% of Burundi’s fast growing population and they are potentially volatile and easily influenced. Burundi’s youth will be at the forefront of the transition from post-conflict peace consolidation to sustainable economic development.”

(Retrieved Oct 2017: https://africaupclose.wilsoncenter.org/peace-education-in-fragile-states-a-hope-for-the-future/)

With Peace Education, youth develop not only a new way of thinking and seeing conflict, but also a new behaviour that could give them the ability to work better together, then they will contribute to changes and structures and cultural practices in their communities or societies, and enjoy sustainable peace and development in their country in the future.

It can be argued that Peace Education is a component of a child’s right to education and that the first fundamental recognition of peace education lies within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Education shall be directed…. to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship…. And shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace”.

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child reaffirms this idea by stating that a child has the right to an education that will develop a “sense of moral and social responsibility.”

UNESCO promotes Peace Education activities by helping its member States “integrate a holistic vision of quality education that promotes the values of a culture of peace at all levels of their education systems.”

UNICEF adopted Peace Education as part of its antiwar agenda. “Disputes may be inevitable, but violence is not. To prevent continued cycles of conflict, education must seek to promote peace and tolerance, not fuel hatred and suspicion.”

In Feb 2012, UNICEF published a key report on the role of education in peacebuilding. The report concluded that education can play a crucial role in peacebuilding during all phases of conflict, outlining how education can help prevent conflict and contribute to long-term peace.

Peace Education involves transforming the way people think and act and plays a central role in helping people to create more just, peaceful, tolerant and inclusive societies. It also provides people with the understanding, skills and values they need to cooperate in resolving the challenges of the 21st Century.

Peace Education programs can address a wide range of themes such as nonviolence, conflict resolution techniques, democracy, disarmament, gender equality, human rights, environmental responsibility, history, communication skills, coexistence, and international understanding and tolerance. (Retrieved Oct 2017, https://www.peaceinsight.org/themes/peace-education/)

Peace Education activities promote knowledge, skills and attitudes that will assist people either to prevent the occurrence of conflict, resolve conflicts peacefully, or create social conditions conducive to peace.

Peace Education can be delivered in formal and informal settings and to people of all ages. It can easily be integrated into a refugee camp setting.

Peace Education and peacebuilding are intrinsically linked. For peacebuilding initiatives to remain sustainable it is vital that attitudes towards war and violence are transformed and translated into long-term behavioural change, which seeks alternative solutions to armed conflict.

We all have a responsibility to take action to help our fellow human beings in crisis……

In Burundi Refugee Camps there is a need to focus on creating educational opportunities and build a stronger protective environment for children and adolescents.

Youth are most closely associated with risk of renewed conflict- also more susceptible to manipulation by political or ethnic propaganda, especially if they feel marginalised and oftentimes they don’t have the skills and knowledge that allow them to make critical judgements. Young refugee learners have experienced major trauma and upheaval in their lives. They would be feeling they have lost their ‘everything’ and would be unsure of what to do next, not knowing how or when their situation would change. They would be experiencing that ‘in between’ feeling, they would be in the Liminal Space.

The Liminal Space is a positive place to be if you are open-minded and ready and prepared for where you are headed, but it can lead to negative consequences if you are not supported and do not have a plan of action. Undergoing a traumatic situation would require scaffolding for young learners to continue their education and build on their learning experiences. Drawing and visualising future goals help keep learners with their end in sight, it keeps them going in the direction they want to go.

“… It is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. If you are not trained in how to hold anxiety, how to live with ambiguity, how to entrust and wait, you will run…anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing.”  - Richard Rohr

(Retrieved Oct 2017: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-creativity-cure/201306/creativity-and-the-liminal-space )

Living in the Liminal Space can be challenging. But if a young learner can learn to tolerate the anxiety and develop the hope and trust that things will work out, they can make plans for a future. If learners are taught strategies and skills in dealing with this sense or time of liminality they can find a better place, they can understand what they are searching for or trying to express. Belonging, according to Maslow is a primal need, so natural instincts will lead you to create another life for yourself. Sometimes your resourcefulness in difficult and trying circumstances can surprise you.

As educators, how do we empower young learners who are experiencing great upheaval and uncertainty in their lives?

Collaborative learning teams involve discussions, clarification of ideas and evaluation of others ideas. Teachers need to investigate the current and future needs of a community in order to provide a relevant learning environment that best fits the context of all stakeholders.

As teachers entering a ‘community’ we need to be respectful and mindful of their particular needs and wishes. Instead of going in with the attitude of thinking we know best we should be asking the question, “How can we help you achieve your goals?” Our role is in supporting impacted communities, and encouraging collaboration in sharing and developing teacher training resources.

Education can provide a safe space for young learners to spend time, and teach the necessary skills and knowledge to protect themselves from exploitation, health risks, and other risks associated in living in a refugee camp.

A Personal Learning Space is an opportunity to empower young learners to be in control of their learning. There are three types of personal learning: self-directed, self-efficacy and self-reflection. Developing these skills will help learners take ownership of their learning, encourage learners to believe in themselves and thirdly, develop strategies to reflect on their learning. Learning is a lifelong skill.

In the Teacher Resource section, I have included strategies, activities and websites, which will assist a teacher or facilitator in guiding young learners in the Liminal and Personal Learning Spaces.

Critical thinking activities, allows students to own their learning. It also allows them to take stands on issues that matter to them and engages the classroom in a way that fosters great critical thinking. Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? Relating these questions to themselves and exercising personal self-reflection, builds community.

Social and Emotional Learning- teaches self awareness, empathy, impulse control, motivation. Social and emotional learning is the process through which children acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and shoe empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. The best learning emerges in the context of supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging and meaningful.

Mindfulness/Meditation: a simple but powerful technique to focus attention, manage emotions, handle stress and resolve conflicts. This allows children to make wiser decisions in the heat of the moment, rather than only in retrospect- and can provide a more positive learning environment.

Talking with others and sharing ideas can help us realise that we share the same problems with others in our community and beyond our community.

It’s time we started thinking about the resilience of families, schools, and communities and how they can buffer the impact of potentially traumatizing events in children’s lives. (Retrieved Oct,2017: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nurturing-resilience/201605/5-ways-help-kids-after-disaster)

After a disaster, such as having to flee your home and settle in a refugee camp, young learners need to feel their lives are returning to a normal routine and structure.

Children need to maintain connections with those who love them. Many young learners in a refugee camp have lost family, it is vital to set up a supportive community. A learning space can provide a safe space, and an opportunity to build connections and develop a sense of belonging. A safe space can be both physical and non-physical. Young learners and their community need to continue to build and develop their sense of identity and culture. Young learners need the support of their peers, older members of the community and as they grow older the support of mentors.

All members of a community need to participate and contribute. After a traumatic experience you can suddenly feel disempowered, you are unable to have any control over anything. Young learners in a learning space have structure, and can be given responsibility in their learning. Learning involves making decisions for yourself and being given tasks that can lead to a sense of achievement or accomplishment.

The best road to recovery for a young learner in a Burundi Refugee Camp is designing a learning space and environment based on their current and future needs, that gives them back as normal a life as is possible under the current situation.

It’s time we started thinking about the resilience of families, schools, and communities and how they can buffer the impact of potentially traumatizing events in children’s lives. (Retrieved Oct,2017: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nurturing-resilience/201605/5-ways-help-kids-after-disaster)

After a disaster, such as having to flee your home and settle in a refugee camp, young learners need to feel their lives are returning to a normal routine and structure.

Children need to maintain connections with those who love them. Many young learners in a refugee camp have lost family, it is vital to set up a supportive community. A learning space can provide a safe space, and an opportunity to build connections and develop a sense of belonging. A safe space can be both physical and non-physical. Young learners and their community need to continue to build and develop their sense of identity and culture. Young learners need the support of their peers, older members of the community and as they grow older the support of mentors.

All members of a community need to participate and contribute. After a traumatic experience you can suddenly feel disempowered, you are unable to have any control over anything. Young learners in a learning space have structure, and can be given responsibility in their learning. Learning involves making decisions for yourself and being given tasks that can lead to a sense of achievement or accomplishment.

The best road to recovery for a young learner in a Burundi Refugee Camp is designing a learning space and environment based on their current and future needs, that gives them back as normal a life as is possible under the current situation.