RECONCILING THE CONCEPT OF PEACE AND VIOLENCE FROM “ABOVE” AND “BELOW” TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTEXTUALIZED PEACE EDUCATION FRAMEWORK

Education

The insurgency in Bataan during the post-martial law era was a result of the socio-political and socio-economic violence in the structure of society. The study explores the underlying causes of direct and structural violence, as well as peace perceptions, through the narratives of the lived experiences of former NPA rebels and government personnel. The process of reconciliation of perceptions on peace and violence among opposing beliefs of the participants enables the emergence of new and shared knowledge about peace and violence. The reconciled concepts of peace and violence allow the content, topics, and knowledge to be within the principles of the Contextualized Peace Education Framework. The CPEF departs from the universalist notion of peace education because it focuses on integrating the local context into the educational curriculum, ensuring that the teaching-learning process, instructional materials, lesson exemplars, and lesson plans are relevant and engage students in meaningful learning experiences. The CPEF advocates sustainable peacebuilding through developing learners' critical analysis of the Bataan's historical, political, and economic structure. Ultimately, the CPEF initiative is grounded in human rights education, reconciliation of contrasting beliefs, historical analysis of conflicts, tolerance and understanding, non-violent conflict resolutions, nurturing inner and structural peace, ecological preservation, just distribution of resources, and analysis of direct and structural violence.

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