“Peace is in our hands. It just takes education.” Consistent to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) thrust of institutionalizing peace education in the basic education curriculum, 33 preschool teachers and supervisors from the different school divisions in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) successfully underwent a four-day training-workshop on Early Childhood Education (ECE) from September 27 to October 1, 2009 in Davao City. The activity was conducted with funding support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) Project.  

The training-workshop was designed to integrate a culture of peace in the early years of children’s education and systematically build peace in the minds of children. 

During the training, preschool teachers and supervisors explored ways of integrating the values for peace in the preschool curriculum and using various teaching strategies.

Participants undertook activities which will enable them to help children develop the skills to reconcile differences peacefully, use appropriate words to express their feelings as well as build respect and trust for children to emulate. Teachers should be role models to children by being optimistic, patient, supportive and reliable. They should also learn the art of listening. Children feel empowered when they deem they are heard.

The holistic approach which introduced four core values – cooperation, communication, affirmation and conflict resolution – has been found to be beneficial to children in dealing with fear, anger, aggression and hostility.  

Participatory and cooperative learning strategies can help children develop critical thinking and conscious decision-making skills. They can learn to express their own feelings, needs, and ideas through appropriate words and ways. A strong and positive self-image is also helpful for children in developing interest and appreciation for others.

The training also covered topics including the importance of oral language competencies and shared reading. The active participation of teachers resulted to the conceptualization of teacher-made big books – a practical, cost-effective instructional material and a powerful tool for helping children learn to read. The books with enlarged print in the local language of instruction and illustrations are shared by the teacher with the whole class or smaller groups. Using the big books they developed, the participants shared activities for further developing skills and reinforcing literacy and peace concepts.

Participants were excited about the training and concurred with the President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s statement that “If anything can open our eyes to a better, more peaceful future, it is education”.   In the Philippines 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes because of conflict, the majority in Mindanao. Many of these are children who are out of school because of conflict as displaced persons. The participants in the preschool training agreed that the preschool is a good place to start teaching children about peace.  

The training-workshop was facilitated by ARMM Inservice Focal Person Bella Lanestosa, ARMM Reading Coordinator Edna Pasandalan, and BEAM Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser and early childhood expert, Rosemary Green with the full support of the Secretary for Education and the Assistant Secretary.  

More preschool teachers in the island and mainland divisions of ARMM will have the opportunity to participate in division based workshops on the same topics in November when the training is extended with the support of BEAM. The program will be extended in the future to all year levels when BEAM-ARMM assists DepEd ARMM to develop a curriculum framework for peace and train trainers and teachers.