Teachers' Perceptions of Peace Education in Nigeria: A Study of Ilorin-South Secondary Schools

Abstract

The study presents the result of a survey that was undertaken to investigate the disposition of teachers on peace education. Peace education themes were recently infused into the Nigerian secondary school curriculum to promote a culture of peace within and outside the school environment. In view of the paramount role of educators in the impartation of peace values, the study seeks to document the dispositions of teachers to this initiative. The overall goal is to make valuable contributions to the development of peace education in the Nigerian educational system. To provide further insights on the topic, a conceptual exploration of peace education and its interaction with the Nigerian educational system was undertaken. A quantitative approach was utilised to gather primary data through open and closed ended questionnaires which were distributed to a total of 43 teachers in Ilorin-South local government area, North-Central Nigeria. The responses show that teachers are well aware of the importance of peace education but lack the expertise and resources to effectively implement a programme of this nature. The study calls for the introduction of peace education workshops for educators, the nature of such interventions should be driven by qualitative inquiries into the disposition of teachers towards peace.