Peace Education in the Educational Curriculum to Promote Consensual Peace Building in Kenya

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to describe the peace content in the educational curriculum of Kenya and its effectiveness in promoting peace building. Method: Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, teachers, and board members of the local educational board. The total number of schools involved in the study was seven. Eight students, five teachers, and two board members were interviewed. Results: The key themes identified included i) effective strategies to be put in place to promote peace education programmes in Kenyan schools, ii) the impacts of the peace education content on the students, iii) ways that teacher competency influences peace education in schools, iv) barriers preventing the implementation of peace education at a local and national level, and vi) conditions necessary to ensure that a school will succeed in promoting consensual peace. It was found that peace education had promoted communication skills, and that students were better able to understand how to express their emotions. Conclusion: The strategies to promote peace education programmes were found to be successful, since they provided children with the knowledge of how fear and selfishness cause negative interactions with peers. The peace education programme in these schools were, therefore, shown to be effective in promoting conflict awareness among students, hence allowing students to avoid conflict.