Loose Coupling in Curriculum Reforms: Rural Teachers´ Perceptions of Peace Education in Post-Conflict Colombia

Abstract

Previous research has shown how peace education (PE) mutates according to socio-political and curricular/didactic traditions, but we still need to know how PE disseminates at the school level. We surveyed teachers from 12 rural schools of the violent Amazon region of Colombia where a national Law made PE mandatory in schools and universities. Teachers working on schools affected by the armed conflict have high expectations about PE. Respondents identified PE with 21 didactic elements: (a) Approaches: values education, citizenship education, critical pedagogy; (b) Pedagogical principles: diversity and pluralism. (c) Learning processes: peaceful conflict resolution, promotion of a “life project”, political participation. (d) Topics: justice, human rights, nature preservation, culture preservation, school bullying, historical memory or peace treaties´ history, “risk prevention”. (e) Pedagogic means: “games”, multimedia, “recreation”, and social projects. (f) Teaching methods: action research and moral dilemmas. Teachers also have opposing views about the history of PE. We could not find a systematic pattern of responses about the pedagogical principles or theoretical sources of inspiration of PE. We discuss the differences between present PE reforms and the previous tradition related to classical education that promoted moral, historical, and political capacities linked to school subjects in the context of post-conflict societies.