Education for Nonviolence

Quezon- Posted by: Pía Figueroa Posted date: 21 August 2010 In: Asia, Culture and Media

More than 180 teachers from Gumaca and Lopez of Quezon province participated in and recently concluded two six-day workshop series organized by Ang Komunidad Para Sa Ikauunlad ng Tao, the Philippine organization linked internationally to The Community for Human Development.
Held separately in the towns of Gumaca and Lopez, the workshop lasted the months of July and August.

These workshops were organizaed with volunteer members of Ang Komunidad, who facilitating the courses.

The aims of the workshops were to strengthen the inner peace of educators in order to better capacitate them as peace promoters and from this internal stimulus give rise to peace organizations composed of educators.

The workshop was divided into Day 1: *“Basics”*, Day 2: *“Looking Inwards”*, Day 3: *“Healing”*, Day 4: *“Valid Action”*, Day 5: *“Opening Up”* and the culminating Day 6: *“Reaching Out”*, using materials taken from the personal works developed by members of the Humanist Movement.

The workshop series called *“Edukasyon Tungo Sa Walang Karahasan”* (Education for Nonviolence) tapped the school heads, master and key teachers of these provincial municipalities, who are considered
the *“cream of the crop”* educators of these areas.

The workshop series were very well received as these dealt with the *“EQ”* (Emotional Quotient) of peace making rather than the *“IQ”* or curriculum-based type of teaching about peace. The workshops were
experience-based, participative, flexible and organic, introducing the new methods of learning-teaching which could be adopted by the educators with their students. Also, the workshops were localized and contextualized, taking into account the culture, beliefs, experiences and local needs of the participants of Gumaca and Lopez.

The officers of the newly formed Gumaca Educators’ Peace Organization held their formal oath taking during the culminating program where Honorable Erwin P. Caralian (Mayor of Gumaca) presided, followed by the formation of a human peace sign with candle lighting ceremony.

The *“Edukasyon Tungo Sa Walang Karahasan”* project was in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace process (OPAPP) thru their Projects For Peace.