Freirean Dialogue for Peace Education: A Promising Pedagogy for Grassroots Peace in the Middle East

Abstract

The relatively few studies focused on the inter-ethnic/inter-religious encounter/dialogue initiatives between Israel and Palestine emphasize the failure of these efforts in promoting tolerance and mutual respect.However, with all the tools of the 21 st century to change the recurrent history, we have every reason to be hopeful for a peaceful future. This paper presents an overview of Arab-Jewish dialogue projects in order to reveal future directions towards achieving critical dialogue as a foundation for peace education from the grassroots. For this purpose, the dialogue encounters in the Israel and Palestine are portrayed as they are operated by non-governmental organizations, international third-party interventions, and schools. Next, drawing from a number of dialogue scholars, the notion of Freirean dialogue is presented. Finally, Freirean dialogue is proposed as an effective pedagogy in order to eliminate the barriers undermining dialogue between the two groups for a grassroots peace movement.

İyi Olma Hali (Wellbeing) Uygulamalarıyla Barış Eğitimi Önündeki Engellerin Üstesinden Gelmek

“…Formal schooling is portrayed with a unique potential in transforming present violent realities and inequalities into peaceful and just social orders (Bajaj, 2008;Bickmore, 2011;Flinders, 2005Flinders, , 2006Gursel-Bilgin, 2016;2020a;2020b;Hutchinson & Herborn, 2012;Noddings, 2012) On the other hand, there is a growing body of literature reporting structural, cultural, social, and political barriers making it challenging, if not impossible, to integrate peace education in teacher education and in-service teacher education programs (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2014;Burnley, 2003;Cook, 2014;Harris & Morrison, 2003;Horsley, et al, 2005;McLean, et al, 2008;Wang, 2018) Within such a challenging and discouraging context, teachers interested in practicing peace education are under particular stress and pressure (Burnley, 2003;Horsley, et al, 2005).…”