Education and Peace Building: The Role of the Teacher within and Beyond the School

Abstract

Generally, education aims at solving societal problems. Conflict is a major obstacle to development in Africa.  Violence and conflict have become a part of everyday life and threaten education and societal development on the African continent.  The impact of violent conflict and fragility on a country's society, economy and political governance is devastating and encompassing. So, conflict has become a societal problem that demands the identification and practice of strategies to maintain peace. As a result, peace education is a critical and the curriculum is a significant vehicle for peace education which includes peace building. The teacher is a key factor in developing and implementing educational plans. Therefore, teachers have the capacity to enhance peace building both in the classroom and beyond. Unfortunately, there is a relative lack of consideration of teachers as agents of peace-building. Teachers do not seem to be aware of the significant role they can play in peace building both within the school and within the community. Thus, this paper aims at identifying and discussing the positive role of the teacher in peace building along with some key strategies to facilitate this role.