Our Shared World Learning Lunch: Peacemakers

The Our Shared World Learning Lunches recently heard from Sara Hagel, Director, and Heather Rowlands, Programme Manager of Peacemakers, a charity dedicated to sharing skills and strategies to grow peace in schools and communities.

Sara and Heather shared Peacemakers’ understanding that peace is much more than the absence of violence – it is something added, something we must actively build and nurture. We need to consciously make and build peace and justice in addition to peacekeeping. That’s why peace education matters. We explored the different layers of peace education and how they interact. We talked about why the ‘how’ of peace education (the pedagogy) is as important as the ‘what’; how the methodology is as much a part of the topic as the content, teaching peace through peace.

After a short overview, OSW members discussed the provocation: how can peace education help us learn to live with difference in an increasingly polarised world?

Continue Your Learning Lunch

Want to explore the concept of peace education more? Here’s three things you can do:

  1. Visit the Peacemakers website to hear more about their work and pedagogy
    1. Visit the Learning for Peace toolkit/book
    2. Explore their page of free resources
  2. Visit the Quakers in Britain website to hear about their work, as suggested by Ann Finlayson
  3. Sign up to become an Our Shared World Member for free to be the first to hear about new Learning Lunches and more!

A Message From The Co-Chairs

Our latest Our Shared World Learning Lunch warmly welcomed Director Sara Hagel and Programme Manager Heather Rowlands from Peacemakers to share their vital work around peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding. The session presented peace not merely as the absence of violence, but instead a dynamic and active process that must be nurtured and sustained – something we build collectively through our daily actions, relationships and learning environments. They encouraged attendees to see peace not as a distant ideal or an outcome of conflict resolution, but as a lived practice that begins in classrooms and communities, shaping how people learn to coexist and collaborate.

Central to Peacemakers’ approach is the belief that the how of teaching peace is as important as the what. Peacemakers forwards the principle of “teaching peace through peace,” explaining that knowledge about peace and peacekeeping is insufficient in itself – what is necessary is consciously growing a culture of peace in our education systems and beyond. They outlined key skills such as dialogue, empathy, active listening, and reflection and introduced their recently published ‘Learning for peace: a toolkit for Peace Education I Primary Schools’ which shares ways in which this can be enabled. By modelling peace in classroom processes, educators can help students experience what it feels like to belong, to be heard, and to manage difference constructively.

Learning Lunchers considered the provocation ‘How can peace education equip societies to live with difference in an increasingly polarised world?’- a challenge closely aligned with Education for Sustainable Development and, specifically, SDG 4.7, which promotes ‘a culture of peace and non-violence’ through the cultivation of empathy, inclusion, peacebuilding competencies, and collective responsibility. By conceptualising peace education as a framework for learning, rather than merely as a means of suppressing or managing conflict, the session signposted a mindset for navigating complexity, fostering dialogue and as a way of learning and being together in uncertain times.

A hearty thanks to both our speakers for sharing their valuable experience and practical insights, and to Sara for proposing we explore the educational commonalities shared across OSW members and friends – something the Co-chairs are very keen to dig into in future gatherings!

Missed the Learning Lunch? Watch The Recording Here!

Find a copy of the slides and discussion below. Why not join us at our next Learning Lunch? Visit the main page to find out more!

OSW learning lunch