EDUCATIONAL

ISSUES
TEACHING PEACE THROUGH
CONFLICT MEDIATION
 Teaching peace in schools is comprehensive approach to peace education and
violence prevention that promotes a safe school environment and encourages
optimal learning through academic and social growth.
 Conflict resolution and mediation creates opportunities for students to develop
effective and positive interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, creative
thinking, and problem solving strategies. Additionally, it promotes an
environment of trust and cooperation, a sense of community, and cultural
awareness.
 Here are ways to include peace in your curriculum:
 1. Start by defining the word “peace” with your students. You can
ask children what they think it means; their answers will probably
be very enlightening. They are often surprised to realize that peace
can be found many places. It doesn’t just refer to “world peace”.
They can have a hand in creating a peaceful environment wherever
they are.
 Peace may look a little different to everyone. it doesn’t mean the
absence of conflict. That would be an idealized world in which none
of us live. Rather, it’s learning how to deal with conflict in a way
that doesn’t put the rights, wants, or needs of one person over the
other. It’s learning conflict resolution skills that stress respect for the
individual and the group.
 2. Declare your classroom a “peace zone”. Do not tolerate any kind of bullying.
Lay down ground rules at the beginning of the year that are posted for everyone to
see. Have all the children agree to the ground rules (even signing the list of rules)
and hold them accountable.
 3. Teach conflict resolution skills. One way (that children enjoy very much) is
through role-playing. Choose a time when everyone is together and there are no
unresolved conflicts. Role-play different situations that you notice amongst the
children. Talk about peaceful ways to resolve the conflict. You can define and
discuss compromise, taking turns, and listening skills.
 One conflict resolution technique that children love is to have one object in the
classroom or home that is always used when children are resolving conflict.
Children face each other (or sit in a circle) and whoever is holding the object gets
to talk. No one can interrupt, and once the object is passed on, the next person
gets to talk exclusively. I have seen this work wonders in tension-filled situations.
 4. If you have an annual event, like a poetry recitation, a musical, or
other performance, choose “Peace” as the theme every so often.
Challenge the children to find stories, poems, and songs about
peace. They may also want to draw or paint pictures of “peace” and
what it means to them. Again, much insight can be gained by
looking into their responses.
 5. Have children participate in the care of their environment,
showing respect for the materials, pets, plants, and other children.
 6. When studying geography, history, and other cultures, emphasize
respect for the diversity of traditions and customs found around the
world.
 7. Be a good example. Don’t argue with parents, your spouse, or
other teachers in front of the children. Speak respectfully about
other people. Don’t gossip. Show kindness. It can be easy to forget
that children are watching your every move, and learn more from
what you do than what you say.
OTHER CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES
 The Philippine educational system has extensively been a model for other Southeast Asian countries, in
recent years such a matter has no longer stood true, and such a system has been deteriorated - such a
fact is especially evident and true in the country's more secluded poverty-stricken regions.
Nationwide the Philippines faces several issues when it comes to the educational system.
 Quality of Education
First of which, is the quality of education. In the year 2014, the National Achievement Test (NAT) and
the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) results show that there had been a decline in the
quality of Philippine education at the elementary and secondary levels. The students' performance in
both the 2014 NAT and NCAE were excessively below the target mean score. Having said this, the
poor quality of the Philippine educational system is manifested in the comparison of completion rates
between highly urbanized city of Metro Manila, which is also happens to be not only the country's
capital but the largest metropolitan area in the Philippines and other places in the country such as
Mindanao and Eastern Visayas. Although Manila is able to boast a primary school completion rate of
approximately 100 percent, other areas of the nation, such as Eastern Visayas and Mindanao, hold
primary school completion rate of only 30 percent or even less. This kind of statistic is no surprise to
the education system in the Philippine context, students who hail from Philippine urban areas have the
financial capacity to complete at the very least their primary school education.
 Budget for Education
The second issue that the Philippine educational system faces is the budget for education.
Although it has been mandated by the Philippine Constitution for the government to
allocate the highest proportion of its government to education, the Philippines remains to
have one of the lowest budget allocations to education among ASEAN countries.
 Affordability of Education
The third prevalent issue the Philippine educational system continuously encounters is the
affordability of education (or lack thereof). A big disparity in educational achievements is
evident across various social groups. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students otherwise
known as students who are members of high and low-income poverty-stricken families,
have immensely higher drop-out rates in the elementary level. Additionally, most freshmen
students at the tertiary level come from relatively well-off families.
 Drop-out Rate (Out-of-school youth)
France Castro, secretary of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), stated that there is a
graved need to address the alarming number of out-of-school youth in the country. The
Philippines overall has 1.4 million children who are out-of-school, according to UNESCO's
data, and is additionally the only ASEAN country that is included in the top 5 countries
with the highest number of out-of-school youth.
 Mismatch
There is a large mismatch between educational training and actual jobs. This stands to be a major issue at
the tertiary level and it is furthermore the cause of the continuation of a substantial amount of educated yet
unemployed or underemployed people. According to Dean Salvador Belaro Jr., the Cornell-educated
Congressman representing 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list in the House of Representatives, the number of
educated unemployed reaches around 600,000 per year. He refers to said condition as the "education gap".
 Social Divide
There exists a problematic and distinct social cleavage with regard to educational opportunities in the
country. Most modern societies have encountered an equalizing effect on the subject of education. This
aforementioned divide in the social system has made education become part of the institutional
mechanism that creates a division between the poor and the rich.
 Lack of Facilities and Teacher Shortage in Public Schools
There are large-scale shortages of facilities across Philippine public schools - these include classrooms,
teachers, desks and chairs, textbooks, and audio-video materials. According to 2003 Department of
Education
 Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz, reportedly over 17 million students are enrolled in Philippine public
schools, and at an annual population growth rate of 2.3 per cent, about 1.7 million babies are born every
year which means that in a few years time, more individuals will assert ownership over their share of the
(limited) educational provisions. To sum it up, there are too many students and too little resources. Albeit
the claims the government makes on increasing the allocated budget for education, there is a prevalent
difficulty the public school system faces with regard to shortages. Furthermore, state universities and
colleges gradually raise tuition so as to have a means of purchasing facilities, thus making tertiary
education difficult to access or more often than not, inaccessible to the poor.
How Social Domain fits into the Daily
Routine
The Social Domain
This domain encompasses four essential facets of children’s development and
education:
 Social Skills: children learning to interact with others (acquiring social skills)
 Socialization: children learning the values, belief, customs, and rules of society (ability
to understand the values and rules of society).
 Social Responsibility: children developing respect for individual difference and
functioning as contributing members of the scope of their community (respect for
differences and ability to contribute to society).
 Social Studies: children exploring people’s interactions in, and with social/physical
environment (studying how others interact with society and the physical environment).
Pro-Social Behaviors
Prosocial behavior is when simple interactions are what represent the very
best of human behavior.

Acts of kindness such as helping, sharing, sympathizing, rescuing,

defending, cooperating, and comforting benefit all persons, the giver and
the receivers.
These behaviors impact the ability to and process of learning across all
developmental areas.
The Role of Social Studies within the Social Domain
As children are engaged in social pursuits and exploring their immediate
community; they are also sharpening their physical knowledge, intuitive
knowledge, representational thinking, social-conventional knowledge,
language, and critical thinking skills.
–Culture
–Time, continuity, and change
–People, places, and environments
–Individuals, groups, and institutions
–Production, distribution, and consumption
–Civic ideals and practices
Supporting the Social Domain in Your Classroom
How you would support the social domain in your daily routine?
–peaceful resolution of conflicts
–delayed gratification
–individual recognition/diversity
- respect for the physical environment

Social Responsibility
We must remember that mastering socialization takes time and patience.
Learning rules and being able to follow them takes time and practice.
The ultimate goal for in the social domain, is for children to learn and
understand to follow rules even when adults are not present.

Early childhood educators should create a classroom that allows for children to
develop Social responsibility. By doing so the teacher should:
 Create a caring classroom
 Allowing children to experience and practice prosocial behavior
 Allows them to create for their natural world.