Peace Education in Lebanon: my conference at Oxford University, UK

Linda El Halabi and Dr. Pamela Chrabieh Badine, Oxford, UK, September 14th, 2011

It was a fabulous trip to Oxford and London (UK) last week. Rich, enlightening and exciting. I was invited to present a paper on my Peace Education approach in the Lebanese University context. Many thanks to Linda ('you were born to be a speaker'!).Great feedback! I will definitely be back, soon!

Peacebuilding and the Inter-Human Pedagogy in Lebanon: 

Vision and Practices in the University Context

 Abstract : This paper presents an overview of the Inter-Human Pedagogy, an approach to Peace Education applied in the Lebanese university context with over 2000 students from three different Lebanese academic institutions over several semesters from 2007 to 2011. In the absence of any national-scale coordinated efforts by the government, the media, and by the Lebanese school system to provide Lebanese youth with a national history textbook that incorporates all war narratives and deals with the crucial importance of Peace Education, the Inter-Human Pedagogy is an attempt to help students share individual and collective narratives of the war and  of Lebanon’s history with the goals of  starting a process of trauma healing, achieving better mutual understanding among students  while actively fighting stereotypes, racism and xenophobia, and making  youth aware of the importance of peacebuilding and their role in the process of peacebuilding. Using qualitative research methods, we tested the strengths and weaknesses of the Inter-Human Pedagogy by conducting a field research with 500 students of diverse identities and backgrounds. During our research, students’ narratives were collected, presenting a wide array of perceived history, self-image, beliefs and representations of selfness and otherness. The methods used to collect these narratives include interviews, participatory observance, the analysis of war stories and artistic works on visions of peace. We conclude that while the Inter-Human Pedagogy faces  many obstacles in a context of continuous physical and psychological war, the various class activities yielded positive change in perceptions and relations on a micro level, while allowing individuals to both relate better and distance themselves critically from macro historical discourses.


PS: the paper will be published in a special edition of the 'Journal of Peace Education'. Will keep you posted!

Global Challenges for Education:

Economics, Environment and Emergency

13 - 15 September 2011

Conference sessions for the 2011 conference held at
 The University of Oxford Examination Schools