Preparing for War or Peace: Exploring the Peace Values in 9th Grade English Textbook in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Out of many other global issues, one of the most threatening to human beings is war and conflict. Making this world a peaceful abode is the objective of many institutions and Education is one of them. Language teaching can serve as a very effective tool to inculcate peace among the students who build a peaceful nation in return. The study aims to explore the elements of peace values in English textbooks of grade 9th taught in schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Textbooks are not only used for transferring knowledge of the respective subject but also to bring social reformation to society. The study is qualitative in nature and falls under the constructivist paradigm. The study can be significant for curriculum developers, textbooks writers, teachers, and students to make them aware of the importance of peace development through textbooks. The study followed the theoretical framework of Balasooria (2011) to identify peace values. The findings have shown that social peace value is the most dominant in use in the textbook besides other categories, inner peace, and peace for nature. Moreover, the analysis has revealed that addressing issues like human rights awareness, gender equality, and mental health is lacking in the text which can become a reason for conflict and restlessness in the society eventually leading to a threat to the peace of the society. Keywords: Textbook, Peace, Peace Values, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Perceptions of War-Peace and Ukraine-Russia in Textbooks Corresponding to Russia and Ukraine Social Studies Course

“…When the relevant literature is examined within the scope of the research, many studies deal with the phenomena of war and peace, which have profoundly affected human history in every aspect and country-nation images from different perspectives. It is seen that the studies conducted within the scope of war and peace focus on the concepts of war and peace, views on these concepts, their status in curricula, textbooks, history and social studies textbooks, and student and teacher views on these situations (Korostelina, 2023;Güzelyurt 2022;Saba, Irshad & Shehzad 2021;Öztop, Jaganjac & Efegil 2021;Egüz 2020;Jabbar & Betawi 2019;Karadeniz & Kaya 2017;Doğan & Kılınç 2014;İnan 2013;Aktaş 2012;Korostelina, 2010;Montgomery 2006;Oruç 2006). Various studies on the perceptions and images of different countries and nations towards each other have been encountered (Zotova 2021;Hanaba 2020;Şeker & İlhan, 2020;Arabacı 2019;Şahingöz & Bilalli, 2018;Cengiz & Şimşek 2017;Kaya & Topçu 2017;Konukhov 2017;Balta & Demir 2016;Erözden 2014;Bozkuş 2014;Janmaat 2007;Safran & Ata, 1996.…”