ABSTRACT
Curriculum integration of peace education is a highly recognized strategy to inculcate peace in both classroom-based and school-wide activities yet studies on the actual implementation of the said integration is not given much attention in the literature. This paper assesses the curriculum integration of peace education in the Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan in the seven (7) private junior high schools in the Division of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. The study employed a mixed-method approach considering the 347 students, 18 teachers, and 7 school heads as respondents and some of whom were invited to a Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Results showed that students perceived low extent of curriculum integration of Peace Education in terms of Peace Concepts and Values, and classroom activities, which indicate the need for curriculum integration. On the other note, teachers and school heads rated “moderate extent” to the same indicators. The variation on the perceptions among students, teachers, and school heads further dictates for an evident gap in the transfer of knowledge about peace education in classroom lessons and activities. Findings of the study provide significant inputs in the development of intervention measures to strengthen the implementation of peace education integration in both classroom lessons and school activities.
Keywords: Peace Concepts and Values, Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan, Mixed-Method Study, Curriculum Integration,
INTRODUCTION
The increasing instances of violence, gang involvement, bullying, and crimes have spurred a national imperative to instill values of peace and order within the educational framework. Statistically speaking, DepEd logs over 260,000 cases of physical bullying in School Year 2021-2022 alone (GMA News Online, 2023). Ramiro, et. al (2022), revealed that 3 in 5 Filipino children and youth aged 13-24 years experienced physical (64.2%) and psychological violence (61.9%) as well as peer violence (61.5%). Moreover, Union of Catholic Asian, (UCA) news on January 27, 2023 issue, mentioned that according to the police authorities, an average of 300 gang wars per year is recorded, and from 2000 to 2022, 44 youth members died due to gang wars that occurred mostly in slums, with many cases that remained unreported.
In the literature, peace education is defined in many ways but with a common concept of understanding conflict and inculcating peace at schools and communities. Peace education means a global effort to change the way people think and act in promoting peace and education is a major tool for promoting peace in the world (UNESCO, 1998; as cited in Bashir and Akbar, 2021). Mjshra (2019) also described peace education as a process for engaging people in developing awareness of the causes of conflicts and ways to resolve these in daily life. The main purpose of peace education is to encourage students to develop different strategies that would provide social justice, not only in their countries, but also around the world. In addition, peace education is viewed as a necessary tool to achieve peace and stability in societies thereby contributing to conflict resolution processes (Echavarría and Cremin, 2019).
Peace Education in the Philippines was made into law on September 26, 2006 with the issuance of Executive Order 570 (E.O. 570) by Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo. E.O. 570 instituted Peace Education in Basic Education Curriculum and Teacher Education. It mandates that the DepEd shall mainstream peace education in the basic formal and non-formal education curriculum, utilizing the existing peace education exemplars and other peace related modules, and enhance the knowledge and capability of supervisors, teachers and non-teaching personnel on peace-education through the conduct of in-service trainings. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is also required to introduce and mainstream peace education in teacher education. E0 570 was then acted upon by DepEd through the issuance of DepEd Memo No. 469, s. 2008 “Institutionalizing Peace Education in the Basic Education Curriculum” that aims to actively promote a culture of peace in the educational system by incorporating peace education concepts, skills and values in the learning content of basic education.
To substantiate DepEd Memo No. 469, s. 2008, the issuance of Department Order No 32, s., 2019 strengthened Peace Education Institutionalization through its directives that learners and schools should be zones of peace. The said order emphasizes the Education for Peace which pertains to the delivery of education that is conflict sensitive and peace promoting, and the Peace for Education which concerns the creation of a peaceful and secured environment conducive to effective teaching and learning. In effect, public schools all over the country were filled with signages containing, “This School is a Peace Zone”, “This school is a Child Friendly Zone” and other slogans. Moreover, DO 32, s. 2019 also ensures inclusion of peace education in the Basic Education Curriculum particularly in the Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan.
The discussions above show that schools, both public and private, and other stakeholders have already poured support to address conflicts and promote peace and order in schools and even in the community. In the context of educational aspects, DepEd orders and issuances have integrated peace education in the classroom instruction. However, in spite of the collective efforts to foster peace and order, and despite the robust intent of the DepEd to integrate Peace Education among schools, incidence of violence and other forms of disrespect to human rights remained evident.
While peace-related issues continue to sprout along with the efforts to integrate peace education in the curriculum, the literature remains silent regarding the gaps on its actual implementation especially in many local schools of the country. Hence, it is essential to study some probable gaps in the actual curriculum integration of peace education to root cause the real problem.
The main goal of this paper is to assess the current implementation of the integration of peace education in the Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan subject among the selected private junior high schools in the Division of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. Specifically, this study is devoted to investigate the extent of peace education integration in terms of peace concepts and values, classroom activities, co-curricular activities, and extracurricular activities. To understand deeper the implementation of peace education, the study uses the lenses of Lederach’s Conflict Transformation Theory which considers a more holistic approach of contextualizing peace and conflict. In this study, the Conflict Transformation Theory (CTT) of John Paul Lederach (1995) is used to highlight the importance of the mainstreaming of peace education in the secondary education curriculum and strengthening its implementation considering that conflict is inevitable. Furthermore, the findings of the study are used in designing and developing programs and activities that may be proposed to enhance the peace integration in the curriculum.
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