Heritage

30 heritage for peace and reconciliation | manual for teacherContentsManner or attitude: which values should we transmit?Whether purposefully or accidentally, teachers teach norms and values to their students;for example, concerning the way people interact, in how school rules are appliedand enforced, and in relation to the learning method applied. The followingvalues and attitudes are important to peace education:• Self-respect and tolerance• Respect for human dignity and diversity• Capability to empathize• Non-violent attitude and openness to reconciliation• Social responsibility, solidarity and openness to the world• Respect for culture and heritage!Which values do you want to transmit and how can you transmit thosevalues in school?Positive perspectivesIn the context of preventing the deterioration of existing problems through peace education,we run the risk of negatively formulating education goals. This is a teachinglimitation that is especially present when we teach about war and peace. When weseek to avoid or improve a situation, we put the inhumane and problematic aspects ofour global society in the spotlight.This issue is most visible, for example, in relation to concepts such as ‘anti-discriminationeducation’ or ‘anti-racist education’. The ‘anti’ character is, in a certain sense,logical from a social legitimation point of view, but it entails teaching limitations dueto its moral undertone and the negative basis from which the project originates. Wemust, therefore, question whether people can learn to contribute to a more humanesociety when only studying the inhumane events of our history and the present.The teaching process is meant to challenge children to ask themselves questions abouthistory and current events. It is not meant to raise fears or apprehensions. It is thusof the utmost importance to highlight the positive initiatives and results which haveoccurred in the wake of negative historical events such as the First World War, and tooffer perspectives on how to improve the current world situation. Every problem, big orsmall, has a positive solution. Thinking about these perspectives is an integral part of theteaching process.