Cooperative Learning and Peace Education
By David Johnson, Roger Johnson, and Edythe Holubec

Peace education is a key component of what TSR seeks to bring to classrooms, and cooperative learning is seen as a teaching methodology that is particularly compatible with peace education. This article originally appeared in "The Cooperative Link," the newsletter of The Cooperative Learning Institute (http://www.co-operation.org/) Vol. 19, #1, March 2004. Editors: David W. Johnson, Roger T. Johnson, Edythe Holubec.

The Nature of Peace and Peace Education
Given the current state of the world, reflecting on the nature of peace education seemed timely. In order to understand the nature of peace, it is necessary to understand the interrelationships among war, peace, cooperation, and conflict. War is a state of open and declared armed combat between states or nations, peace is freedom from war or strife (or a state of mutual concord between governments), cooperation is working together to achieve mutual goals, and conflict is the occurrence of incompatible activities (Deutsch, 1973; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). War and peace are two ends of a single continuum, so if there is war there is no peace and vice versa. Peace exists when there is cooperation among nations and war ends when cooperation is reestablished. Peace, however, is not an absence of conflict. Peace is a state in which conflicts occur frequently and are resolved constructively (war, in contrast, is a state in which conflicts are managed through the use of large scale violence).

One hope to establish and maintain peace is peace education. Peace education may be defined as teaching what peace is, how it may be established, how it may be maintained, and the factors influencing its continuation or demise. The ultimate goal of peace education is to give students the knowledge, procedural competencies, identity, and values required to maintain peace within themselves (intrapersonal peace), among individuals (interpersonal peace), among groups (intergroup peace), and among countries, societies, and cultures (international peace).

The broad nature of the definition of peace education makes it difficult for teachers to decide what to implement in their classrooms to help create a more peaceful world. There are at least four peace education programs needed in all classrooms: Constructive controversy, teaching students to be peacemakers, ethical judgment, and forgiveness.

Constructive Controversy
Establishing peace requires making decisions about difficult issues (often involving ethnic, cultural, or religious differences) that reflect the best reasoned judgment of everyone involved. Doing so is not easy. A procedure is needed that allows students to learn how to make effective decisions, such as constructive controversy.

In a controversy, participants make an initial judgment, present their conclusions to other group members, are challenged with opposing views, become uncertain about the correctness of their views, actively search for new information and understanding, incorporate others' perspectives and reasoning into their thinking, and reach a new set of conclusions.

This process results in significant increases in the quality of decision making and problem solving (including higher-levels of cognitive and moral reasoning, perspective taking, creativity, and attitude change about the issue), motivation to learn more about the issue, positive attitudes toward the controversy and decision making processes, the quality of relationships, and self-esteem. While the constructive controversy process can occur naturally, it may be consciously structured in decision making situations. This involves identifying the major alternative courses of action that may be taken to solve the problem, assigning two members to (a) develop the best case possible for the assigned alternative, (b) present it to the group and listen to the opposing positions, (c) engage in a discussion in which they attempt to refute the other positions and rebut attacks on their position, (d) reverse perspectives and present the other positions, and (e) drop all advocacy and seek a synthesis that takes both perspectives and positions into account. Then each year students are retrained in a more complex and sophisticated level of engaging in academic controversies from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

The educational use of controversy may be utilized in any subject matter. Engaging in the controversy process should pervade school life so that students develop considerable expertise in its use and incorporate the process into their identity. Any time students participate in the controversy procedure, they are getting a lesson in peace education and a lesson in democracy. By becoming skillful in the use of the academic controversy procedure individuals gain the competencies necessary to establish and maintain peace. The possibility of this taking place is strengthened by the foundation of theory and research on which the controversy procedure is based.

Ethical Reasoning
Peace depends on ethical judgment and ethical behavior. Ethical judgment involves reasoning about means and ends in light of principles (ethical codes) and context. Ethical judgment includes both moral reasoning and the cognitive skills involved in controlling, balancing, and guiding reasoning. Ethical judgment may be taught through the discussion of moral conflicts and dilemmas, particularly with peers who have different perspectives. Such discussions may emphasize optimistic thinking. Acting ethically includes a sensitivity to what is and is not ethical, reasoning about issues in the context of ethical principles, motivation to act in ethical ways, and the ability to actually engage in ethical actions. The more individuals strive to become ethical people, the more likely peace will exist.

Forgiveness
Establishing peace almost always involves forgiveness. In many conflicts, one of more disputant may believe that he or she has been unfairly wronged. Anger, righteous indignation, and a desire to hurt the offending disputant often result. In order for a constructive resolution of the conflict to be found, disputants have to forgive each other. Forgiveness involves willfully abandoning the negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors directed at the offender and instead developing positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward the offender. Forgiveness does not necessarily involve condoning (i.e., ignoring or subtly approving) an offense or reconciling with the offender, and it does not preclude constructive expressions of anger or reasonable redress of injustice. Students may be trained to be forgiving by developing four sets of competencies: Awareness (admitting that the offense took place and experiencing its negative consequences), making the decision to forgive rather than to focus on their negative responses, doing the internal work needed to forgive (such as reframing the offense and the offender so that forgiveness is possible), and experiencing the benefits of forgiveness (Enright, Gassin, & Knutson, 2003). Even in the most intractable, violent conflicts that continue for hundreds of years, individuals have forgiven each other and freed themselves from the anger, anxiety, and depression resulting from their exposure to violence.

Summary
One hope for peace is teaching all students in our schools the knowledge, procedural competencies, identity, and values required to maintain peace within themselves (intrapersonal peace), among individuals (interpersonal peace), among groups (intergroup peace), and among countries, societies, and cultures (international peace). Those competencies include how to engage in constructive controversies, negotiate mutually beneficial resolutions to conflicts, apply a high level of ethical judgment in resolving conflicts, and forgiving opposing disputants for what they have done in the past.

References
Deutsch, M. (1973). The resolution of conflict. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Enright, R., Gassin, E., & Knutson, J. (2003). Waging peace through forgiveness education in Belfast, Northern Ireland: A review and proposal for mental health improvement of children. Journal of Research in Education, 13(1), 51-61.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. (1989). Cooperation and competition: Theory and research. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. (Eds.). (2003). Frontiers in research: Peace education. Journal of Research in Education, 13(1), 39-91.

Narvaez, D., Herbst, R., Hagele, S., & Bomberg, A. (2003). Nurturing peaceful character. Journal of Research in Education, 13(1), 41-50.

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