Development and Evaluation of the Efficiency of In-service Training Program with the Theme of Peace Education

Abstract

In this article, an in-service training program was developed and evaluated to improve the peace education competencies of primary school teachers. This program, named as In-Service Training Program with the Theme of Peace Education for Primary Teachers (BEHEP), was based on the system approach. The implementation was completed in 28 hours with the participation of 18 primary school teachers working in Serkan Ciddioğlu Primary School located in Melikgazi district of Kayseri province. The article was designed according to the mixed research model. Interview forms, concept forms, course plans, participant diaries and in-service training evaluation scales were used as data collection tools. Qualitative data were analyzed via content analysis method; quantitative data were analyzed via SPSS. BEHEP has been an effective program to raise the awareness of teachers and to improve their skills in designing learning environments suitable for peace education.

Achieving and Monitoring Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Setting: A large body of literature on peace education focuses on formal education. As seen in Figure 12, most of the programs were conducted in a traditional classroom setting, some at primary school [57][58][59], and others at secondary school level [60,61]. As shown in Figure 13, fewer programs were implemented at university level [62] or as an after-school activity in middle school and high school [63].…”

“…Geographically, more than half of the publications on peace education programs have origins in Europe [58,59,61,62] or in the US [57,63], while one assessment was implemented in Africa [60]. Geographically, more than half of the publications on peace education programs have origins in Europe [58,59,61,62] or in the US [57,63], while one assessment was implemented in Africa [60]. Objective: The objectives of peace education programs ranged from immediate to far-reaching impacts on participants' understanding of, awareness of and attitudes towards peace-building.…”

“…However, peace education is defined in different terms depending on the national or regional contexts. The programs may pertain to either individual (e.g., [58,63]) or societal level (e.g., [60][61][62]). While some programs aimed to promote greater awareness, empathy and compassion among students [57,59] or among pre-service teachers [58,62], others were based on a peacekeeping strategy, which includes violence prevention and conflict resolution among youth for peaceful coexistence [60,61,63].…”

“…By being exposed to real-life problems, this game may prepare children for peaceful resolution of major world problems in the future. Basaran and Karakurt [58] argue that peace education is crucial to develop attitudes, skills and values among primary school students. Students will learn to develop violence handling skills.…”

“…Several articles highlight the importance of promoting a culture of peace and non-violence in teacher education [15,58,60,62]. Basaran and Karakurt [58] describe the In-Service Training Program with the Peace Education for Primary Teachers (BEHEP) among primary school teachers who participated in practical activities on the topics of peace and violence, media and peace, human rights, and decision and conflict approaches in teaching based on cooperation. By utilizing experimental learning, BEHEP was teaching strategies, methods and techniques in course planning.…”