SEEKING PEACE EDUCATION THROUGH A FUSION OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND HOLISTIC EDUCATION
The purpose of this paper is to suggest an approach for the development of a manifestation of peace education (designed to counter the adverse effects on society of militarism without indoctrinating students) through a fusion of the concepts of critical pedagogy and holistic education. While it is not the primary focus of this paper to review the literature on these phenomena (peace education, critical pedagogy, and holistic education), it is necessary to (a) define the issues, (b) explain how the phenomena can interrelate, (c) identify the target of a peace education curriculum, and (d) address potential barriers to the introduction of a peace education curriculum. Each of these factors, to some extent, requires consulting the relevant bodies of literature.
Setting the Stage for the Development of Peace Education
Peace education, as a formalized discipline, is little more than a decade old. As is true of most new disciplines, the idea of peace education means different things to different people. Reardon (29) states that to objective of peace education is the development of a culture of peace. Others frequently define peace education in more specific terms that range from conflict resolution in a specific school setting to specific activities promoting world peace (Johnson 1). In essence, however, peace education is education in a non-violent approach to life in any setting from the schoolyard to the global arena. Such education is a systematic curriculum designed to consider and assess behavior in contexts other than (a) might makes right, (b) personal gain over the human rights of others, and (c) convenience and short-term pleasure over ecological sanity. To pursue such an educational program effectively, Reardon (36-37) posits that the curriculum must include (a) ecological awareness, (b) cultural proficiency (which implies embraci...