The Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny for Peace Research organized a training seminar for teachers, management and supervisory staff of the Lycée Mixte 1 in Yamoussoukro on the theme: "Education for culture Peace, Non-Violence and the Rights of the Child "held on May 25, 2016 in Yamoussoukro. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Siaka Koné, headmaster of the Yamoussoukro Mixed School 1, presented the interest and the opportunity of such an initiative and hoped that this training could benefit the teachers present.
Dr. Dieneba Doumbia, Director of the Department of Peace Research, expressed her satisfaction at seeing the seminar held. She explained the context and the merits of this seminar in that it will enable teachers to share a new vision of education, which is a carrier of peace that can alleviate or prevent conflicts. Protect and promote democratic values. More than a matter of teaching new content, new attitudes must be taught. The aim is to teach, train, or better educate children and adults in the culture of peace and non-violence, to learn to live together peacefully and to resolve conflicts without violence. After the opening ceremony, it was the presentation of the foundation. It highlighted the discovery of the character of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, his work on the culture of peace, the building and its activities.
In plenary, Dr. Doumbia presented the theme, explaining that the issue of education in the culture of peace is posed in terms of tools and methods. These include the transmission of the values of the culture of peace, the use of active and participatory methods, the creation of skills for transformation and behavior change, and commitment to peace and reconciliation. It then identified the political values (democracy), legal values (respect for law and human rights), social (tolerance, non-violence, solidarity) and ecological (environmental protection) of the culture of peace . Finally, it analyzed the modalities for the implementation of school education for citizenship and the culture of peace.
This communication allowed teachers to share their experiences, to identify difficulties encountered on the ground and to mention some examples of good practice. Particular emphasis was placed on the cross-cutting approach. This approach consists in integrating elements of citizenship and a culture of peace in the different subjects (history, geography, French, philosophy, life and earth sciences, etc.). It is not a question of making a new program, but rather of building on the existing program by identifying elements that can contribute, in one way or another, to sensitize students to the values of a culture of peace . Here, the teacher uses the methodology of integration or infusion by integrating a principle, a concept into a lesson in such a way that it colors it and gives it a new meaning.
Workshops focused on three themes:
- The desirability of democracy at school,
- Peace education programs in schools,
- The elaboration of an action plan and recommendations to the State of Cote d'Ivoire and the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research.
At the end of the seminar, the Director of the Peace Research Department congratulated the participants on their work in a friendly atmosphere where team spirit prevailed. She exhorted them to be peacemakers, effective reconciliators in their institutions and throughout Côte d'Ivoire. For her, moving from a culture of violence to a culture of peace requires a transformation of the problems by adopting creative and constructive solutions. As educators, she asked each of them to play a leadership role by positively impacting attitudes, attitudes and behaviors. Degrees of participation were given to the seminarians.