Civic learning project description:
Workable Peace
Guidelines for Civic Learning Projects
The Workable Peace curriculum gives teachers and students a menu of possible topics (including both historical and current issues) and methods for civic learning projects on local intergroup issues. The goal of these projects is to promote dialogue and reflection among students, teachers, local civic leaders and local group members on the sources of local conflicts, the way these conflicts have been managed in the past, and ways to reduce and prevent conflict in the future.
Teachers and students can jointly decide which topics and methods are appropriate for their individual and/or class projects. A civic learning support group, composed of school and community conflict management professionals, may guide and supervise the learning projects.
Before they propose conflict management strategies, students must first understand the groups involved in a conflict, their needs and values, the perceptions that shape each group's behavior toward others, and the history of the conflict itself. To assist students and teachers with this task, we have developed a set of "generic" questions which students and teachers should ask about each conflict they study. Answering the following questions will give students and teachers a strong foundation for understanding the conflicts they are studying and finding better ways to deal with them.
• Who are the groups involved in the conflict?
• What defines people as members of each of these groups (for example, their ancestry and history, the religion they practice, where they were born, where they live now, where they go to school, what they do for a living, what they do in their free time)?
• What is the history of the conflict according to each group involved? Do the histories agree? Where do they disagree?
• What are the conflicts between members of these groups?
• What need or interest do members of each group say is threatened or harmed by the other group(s)?
• Do members of each group believe that the other group(s) are threatening or harming them deliberately? If so, what do members of each group believe is motivating the other(s)? If not, what do members of each group believe is preventing members of the other group(s) from realizing that they are acting in threatening/harmful ways?
• How have leaders and members of each group attempted to deal with the groups they perceive as threatening them? Have these efforts helped any of the groups involved to meet their needs? Why or why not?
• What might leaders and members of each group do to meet their own needs while also respecting the needs of others? How could they apply the principles suggested in the framework to reduce or resolve the conflict?
After students have completed their civic learning projects, they can present their findings and suggestions to several audiences, including members of their class, the civic learning support group, and possibly leaders and members of the groups they have been studying. Students may then revise their work and submit the final product to their teachers.
Completed civic learning projects may become part of school or program library resources, and can also be shared with other local organizations if appropriate.
Sample Civic Learning Projects
• Analyze a past intergroup conflict in the community and diagnose why it was or was not resolved. Interview leaders and participants in the conflict to get their perspectives.
• Design a workshop which brings together members of different groups in the community to explore an episode or issue in local history from multiple perspectives.
• Using a current intergroup conflict in the school or community, create, conduct and evaluate a survey of how groups perceive one another. Questions would focus on what members of one group believe about 1) their own needs, interests and values and 2) the needs, interests and values of another group.
• Design a role play based on a historical or current conflict in the community. This would involve research, perspective-taking, analyzing bias, creative-writing, and conflict assessment skills.
• Research a historical and/or current local conflict and map out the conflicting issues and group identities. Using this information, design and sponsor a project in which group members participate.
• After researching a local conflict, bring representatives of the groups involved together to discuss their concerns and seek a workable peace (with help from local dispute resolution professionals).