Northern Friends Peace Board

Twenty-one Friends and attenders gathered at Darlington Meeting House in November for the second of NFPB's Peace is Growing days, writes Kathleen Rodham of Darlington MM..

Marigold Bentley, QPS Education advisor since 1990, told us of the breadth of her work, which encompassed both education about peace and education for peace. Knowledge based teadching about peace (issues of war and peace, the arms trade, human rights, justice, development etc.) was popular in the 1980s but is now being superceded by education for peace which teaches the skills (thinking, reasoning, questioning etc.) which are needed to enable constructive, peaceful management of conflict. She reminded us that both are important. Children are targeted as consumers and need both the knowledge and the skills to enable them to make decisions. She identified areas of the curriculum which could be useful for teachers.

Christiana Bentley (no relation to Marigold!) spoke to us of her experience of working with teachers when she was part of the West Midlands peace Education Project. Her insight into what worked well and what didn't work and her understanding of the hopes and fears of teachers who are attempting this work for peace provided much valuable food for thought and highlighted the challenges.

David Harris introduced the Values and Visions pack produced by the Manchester Development Education Project, for which David has been working. It explores ways in which a spiritual dimension and global awareness can be incorporated into most areas of the primary school curriculum.

David told us of the difficulties for teachers in finding time for anything outside the presribed school curriculum areas, but nevertheless 10,000 copies of Values and Visions have been sold (I know that quite a lot of been bought primary school teachers in the Cleveland area!) and it has been translated into Japanese.

David worked with us briefly on his introduction to the pack with teachers, brainstorming "The world is ....". We inevitably came up with both good and bad and a divided world. We were then challenged to say what would be the most important 'gift' we would like children growing up in this world to receive from their schooling. What gift would you choose?

Three teachers from Breckenbrough (a school for bright boys with behavioural problems, and owned by a trust of Yorkshire General Meeting) told us of the school's decision to adapt their policy from one in which they felt the need to confront aggression to one in which everyone takes responsibility. They reinforced Christiana's experience of the fears which this can raise in teachers and of the necessity of starting where people are and creating a sense of security.

Darlington MM Friends gave a brief outline of the work which John and Diana Lampen have carried out in this area (see article in the last issue of The Peace Board) and we heard about a drop-in centre in Edinburgh which is providing help and support for anyone suffering from bullying.

We came away with a useful list of individuals and groups who are working on Peace Skills, suggestions of ways in which Friends might help to promote this work, a better understanding of the 'dos and don'ts' involved and of the challenges which must be faced when attempting this work.

We were reminded by one Friend that we must always ask ourselves where we are. What peace skills do we need to teach ourselves. We are not always good at resolving our own conflicts. Marigold encouraged us to work with ourselves and with others as an ongoing process. It was a useful and enriching day.