income is still being earned by men. If we look at the UK, a shocking 3.9 million children (27%) were living in poverty in the UK in 2020-21 (46% of children from black and minority ethnic families). While a third of the global child population is living on below $1.90 a day.” She added that building positive peace in schools was
critical to nurture compassionate leadership for society and environment and for future generations to thrive. “School curricula can often promote an unsustainable
mindset – overvaluing abstraction, teaching a metaphysics of mastery and normalising catastrophe. We tend to teach that all the problems in the world, including catastrophe, are subject to some clever science and that at some point we will be able to get ourselves out of it with a technological solution.” Cremin shared how some schools can unintentionally
perpetuate structural and cultural violence, referencing education attainment gaps and instances of inadequate inclusion. In order to help tackle these global issues, she said students need to be taught in schools led by positive peace. So, what is positive peace? Put briefly, it’s a
combination of non-violent attitudes, structures and institutions to create and sustain peaceful, well-integrated and fair societies for all to flourish. Referencing Norwegian sociologist and peace
academic Johan Galtung’s theory, Cremin went on to discuss how peacekeeping techniques are often used in schools and organisations. “In a school setting, you might have students line
up in the corridor on the left in silence, or sitting on the floor in rows. Galtung believed some of these peacekeeping techniques may seem peaceful but create a negative peace, and that we need to focus on peacemaking and peacebuilding, not just peacekeeping.” In Cremin and Terence Bevington’s book:
Positive Peace in Schools, ‘peacekeeping’ is described as creating peace around the school, and around people. While peace-making occurs between people; and peace-building focuses on peace within.
CONFLICT LITERACY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Drawing on lots of theory and research, she explained how peacemaking and peacebuilding can be robustly applied in international schools. “Conflict is natural but how we respond to conflict
is what makes the difference. We can either respond to conflict in destructive ways that add to violence, or learn to deal with conflict in positive ways that lead to transformation and positive peace.” Cremin discussed the value of ‘conflict literacy’ in
education, and explored the difference between positive and negative peace as well as how to help students transform conflict into positive change. Positive peace being constructive, non-violent and working towards social justice. When building positive peace, she challenged the
audience to think of schools as ‘ecosystems’ where young people can grow and thrive and discussed finding the balance between control and support. Cremin also spoke of the restorative and creative
power of silence in schools when not enforced, but done in a communal way that encourages deeper connection, togetherness and understanding. Her talk elaborated on successful examples of positive
peace in schools and discussed the potential harm to students by schools that unknowingly build negative peace. As an example, Cremin cited feedback from a student
“ To create a holistic culture of positive peace in schools, we need to combine peacekeeping with peacemaking & peacebuilding.”
DR HILARY CREMIN, CHAIR OF THE CAMBRIDGE PEACE & EDUCATION RESEARCH GROUP, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
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with behavioural difficulties, who noted some points about his school that poorly impacted him as being examples of negative peace. These included ‘the late office’ – where he had to sign and pick up his punishment for being late despite a lack of stability in his home, and CCTV cameras everywhere, which made him feel like he was not trusted and always being watched. “To create a holistic culture of positive peace in schools,
we need to combine peacekeeping with peacemaking and peacebuilding. The way to do that is by focusing on peace from the level of inner peace, right through to outer peace, global peace, and ecological peace.”
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