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Project and Book Requests 1999: Salazar, Lou - Peace Education Proposal
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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
June 22, 1999
Mary Lou Salazar
4850 Tennyson Street
Denver, Colorado 80212
Dear Ms. Salazar:
We received your letter requesting a meeting with the
First Lady and have reviewed it with interest. Unfortunately,
due to time constraints, Mrs. Clinton will not be able to meet
with you to discuss your proposal.
Thank you for sharing the material on Peace Education
in Denver. We wish you the best of luck in pursuing this
important work.
Sincerely,
Shirley Huly M Sagawa
Deputy Assistant to the President
Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady
1-23-1997 8:51PM
FROM
P. 1
May 7, 1999
First Lady Hillary Clinton
Fax # 202-456-6244
Dear First Lady Hillary Clinton:
The purpose of this letter is to ask you and the Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley
to meet with me to present my proposal on Peace Education. I will go to Washington at
the time the two of you can meet with me.
Peace is the most important issue facing our world today. I feel that we must build peace
and peace-making skills as our primary concern and guiding principle in education. Not
to do so we will, see more of our young children continue to be destroyed by the
increasing power of violence in our schools, neighborhoods and the larger society.
I would like this meeting to be set up as soon as possible. We cannot wait another day to
do something immediately to teach prevention of violence, including peace history to our
young children. We see what is happening without it. My proposal will help in this area
and furthermore will teach children and adults the skills to practice peace in all of their
relationships.
conducted a study for my doctorate thesis of Peace Education in The Denver Public
Schools. The article that I am faxing you was published in Sweden (address: School of
Education, Box23501, S-200 45 Mall, Sweden) in Peace Education Mimiprints, No.78,
March 1995.
In addition, I conducted an art contest on peace in the Denver Public Schools and was able
to get four billboards on 'Peace in the City' up in the city of Denver. I could not get any
of the media to cover this event. (Article and the billboards on the web).
My web addresses of my peace article, the peace billboard article, home page and my e-
mail are as follows:
+Home page: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/-marylous
+Peace Education in The Denver Public Schools:
http://www. cs.colorado.edu/-marylous/peace.html
+Peace Billboard article: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/-marylous/biliboard.html
+Mary Lou Salazar e-mail: [email protected]
My home telephone is 303-455-0080. My mailing address is 4850 Tennyson Street,
Denver, Colorado, 80212.
1-23-1997 8:52PM
FROM
P.2
Page 2
I am looking forward to hearing from you and I thank you for your time and support on
this most important issue. In addition, I have the support of many individuals and
organizations that I will share with the three of you at this meeting.
Sincerely,
mary LouSalayar
Mary LouSalazar Ph.D.
This letter was sent on October 1, 1998 (last year) to Congresswornan Diana De Gette, at
which time I asked her to get this meeting with you. I send it along with my publication
three different times, at the request of Congresswornan Diana De Gette's Chief of Staff
Lesie Cohen.
I called her a few times because I did not get a response. I sent another letter in March of
last year asking again for her reply. Three weeks ago the Congresswoman send me a note
saying 1 was doing good work, but that she could not get a meeting. When I received her
letter I called Washington once again and asked her assistant to continue to pursue getting
me the meeting. I asked for Congresswoman De Gette to call me. As of yet, I have not
received a call from her.
Since then of course, the tragedy occurred at Columbine High School, where my grandson
attends school. He was in the cafeteria at the time it occurred and we thank God he got out
alive and was not injured.
I am writing directly to you to request that you and the Secretary of Education Richard
W. Riley kindly meet with me to share with you my study and my Peace Education
Proposal.
We witnessed the most tragic massacre in our country. We must do more and we must do
it now.
My concern mounts to the point where I fear that someone will succeed in doing this on a
much larger scale. Furthermore after the Oklahoma bombing occurred, I still did not see
any prevention methods implemented in our schools and in our society. I offer some
very important means and methods that will help to insure future disasters from
happening again. I am sure you agree that we have to take drastic steps to prevent this
kind of violence to insure that our beautiful children do not have to live in fear when
they are receiving their education.
Sincerely, In Peace,
mary how Salazar
Mary Loe Salazar
1-23-1997 8 20PM
FROM
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PEACE EDUCATION IN THE DENVER PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
A Study of Social Studies Classes in Grade 7
Mary Lou Salazar
This miniprint summarizes a study of the status of the teaching of peace themes in
the Denver Public Schools. The intent was to analyze and provide recommendations
for the development of peace education. The research methods included observations,
interviews, and examination of curricular materials. Social studies departments in the
schools were contacted to find the teachers who teach about peace. Twenty 7th grade
classes were observed. Interviews were conducted with 20 teachers, 15 students and
10 peace specialists. The intent was to study peace themes by examining how
teachers and textbooks present issues and how students react, and by examining these
data in the context of the views of peace-education specialists. - More detailed
information is available in the author's Ph.D. thesis, "AStudy of Peace Education in
the Denver Public Schools" (University of Colorado, 1994.)
1-23-1997 20PM
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INTRODUCTION
The objective of this study is to determine the status of the teaching of peace themes
in the Denver Public Schools. The intent was to analyze and provide recom-
mendations for the development of peace education. The research methods included
observations, interviews, and examination of curricular materials. Interviews were
conducted with 15 students who studied under the teachers I interviewed from 7th
grade social studies classes (8th graders were included when 7th and 8th graders
were grouped together), 20 teachers, and 10 peace specialists. Part of the study was
to investigate what peace themes are taught in Denver Public Schools by contacting
all middle schools' social-studies departments to find the teachers who teach about
peace. After the teachers were identified, meetings were scheduled with the teachers
to find when peace themes were to be taught. Twenty 7th-grade classes were
observed. Data were also collected from material such as curriculum units, textbooks,
films, curriculum guides, quizzes, tests, teachers' lesson plans, and observation of
social-studies classes. The intent was to study peace themes by examining how
teachers and textbooks present issues and how students react, and by examining these
data in the context of the views of peace-education specialists.
CONCEPTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The proposed study is framed by the following values and assumptions.
- Violence and war are not conducive to the well-being of humanity.
- Violence and war are not the result of inevitable aspects of human nature.
- Peace can be taught, learned, and practiced as an alternative way of being,
behaving, and living.
- The political socialization taught in most schools teaches limited beliefs pertaining
to peace.
- In schools, peace is not a high-priority subject, because even if it is mentioned,
only lip service is given to it as a subject matter.
- Teachers interested in teaching peace are often viewed with suspicion.
- Peace education is often viewed as unpatriotic.
- War and conquest fit nicely with the values of competition and individualism
which support and foster systems that create or contribute to divisions of class,
race, and gender.
1-23-1997 8:21PM
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- A hidden agenda appears to glorify war, and peace is put in an obscure place in the
curriculum material.
- Peace is a life force, and war is a death force.
- Critical thinking is too often an unspoken "no-no" in public schools.
- Peace is healthy for children and other living things.
- If well informed about peace issues, teachers will be more likely to teach about
peace.
PURPOSE AND PROBLEMS
The purpose of this study is to assess the peace themes in the Denver Public Schools'
curricula and to look at some viable alternatives for teaching peace education. A
peace theme is any extended treatment of subject matter pertaining to the issue of
peace. For the purpose of this study, peace means a world without war, a world that
promotes altruism, justice, and harmony. Some examples of the use of peace themes
are units that teach peace directly, such as units on interpersonal communication;
conflict resolution between individuals and groups or within states or regions;
international conflict resolutions; studies of the United Nations; and philosophies of
different religions that teach peace and brotherhood.
The major questions to be addressed are:
(1) How are peace themes currently dealt with in the Denver Public Schools?
(2) What alternatives are being tried in other cities, states, and countries?
(3) How do these compare to those in the Denver Public Schools?
(4) How do the answers to these questions compare to the views of peace-
education specialists?
(5) What changes in the public school curricula would best promote attitudes of
peace?
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Setting
The site for the research was 7th-grade social-studies classes (8th graders were
included when 7th and 8th graders were grouped together) in the Denver Public
Schools. A few of the classes were in subjects other than social studies because
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teachers in social studies recommended other teachers in other subjects who were
teaching peace themes. Twenty classes were observed. The numbers of subjects
selected for interviews were 15 students, 20 teachers and 10 specialists in the field of
peace. Part of the study was to investigate where peace themes are taught in Denver
Public Schools by contacting all the middle schools' social-studies departments to
find the teachers that teach peace themes. The teachers that teach peace were called,
and meetings were set up with them to find out when peace themes were taught in
order to schedule classroom observation.
Documents
Documents examined for the study are subject-matter material pertaining to peace.
The material was selected by teachers' recommendations of peace themes in text-
books and curriculum guides, as well as teachers' lessons plans, quizzes, tests, videos
and films.
A log book was maintained throughout the study which I used to observe classes
and to record instructions, discussions, and topics I considered to be of major
importance, such as reactions from students and interactions between teachers and
students as well as among students. In recording conversations, verbal and non-
verbal reactions, and descriptions of activities, I recorded as close to verbatim as I
could. After some of the classes were over, I spent time sampling documents, and
observing projects, adding additional insights to my notes.
Interviews
The interviews were semi-structured. The instrument consisted of a standard set of
questions, formulated in an open-ended fashion, with three specific sets of questions:
for teachers; for students: and for peace specialists.
Teachers
Part of the study was to investigate where peace themes are taught in the Denver
Public Schools. I contacted the Social Studies departments in all 18 middle schools
(that include a total of 160 Social Studies teachers) until 20 teachers were found who
teach peace. I then called the teachers, who were only in a few schools and explained
my study and invited them to participate in the study by being interviewed and
allowing me to observe their class. All twenty teachers agreed to the interviews and
1-23-1997 22PM
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classroom observation. Some of them volunteered names of teachers in other subjects
who also teach about peace. Interviews with teachers ranged from 40 minutes to one
hour. They took place in classrooms and my home.
The gender and age of teachers were as follows: 15 females and 5 males; ages
ranged from 24 to about 53.
Students
Asking for volunteers and accepting names of students suggested by teachers
comprised the strategy I used to select students for interviews. At the end of each
class I observed, I asked for student volunteers as well as telephone numbers of those
who were interested in having interviews with me. Several times the teacher
suggested names of students they felt would want to participate.
I then called the students and explained in detail what my study was about and
exactly what the interview would entail. I asked them to discuss it with their parents
to get their consent, or if parents had any questions or wanted more information, I
spoke with them. I gave oral assurance to all interview respondents (exept the peace-
education specialists) that their anonymity was to be protected, and the names of
schools were also kept anonymous. I called the respondents a second time to set up
the interview. Interviews took place in rooms assigned by the school personnel. The
interviews varied from 30 minutes to an hour.
These students were studying under the teachers I interviewed. The gender and age
of students were as follows: 8 females and 7 males; ages ranged from 12 to 14.
Peace Specialists
Peace specialists were selected for interviews based on information and recom-
mendations gathered from people with specialities in peace studies and peace
education. The following peace specialists were contacted and interviewed: Robert
Muller, Chancellor of the University for Peace in Costa Rica and former United
Nations Assistant Secretary General, who founded the Robert Muller School for
Peace in Arlington, Texas; Elise Boulding, Former Secretary General of the
International Peace Research Association and Professor of Sociology Emerita,
Dartmouth College, New Hampshire; Paul Weher, Social Conflict Concentration,
University of Colorado at Boulder; Barbara Wien, George Mason University,
Fairfax, Virginia; Liz Loescher, Conflict Center, Denver, Colorado; Martha M.
Urioste, Mitchell Elementary School (Montessori) Denver, Colorado; Mary Luke
1-23-1997 8 23PM
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Tobin (Sister of Loretto), Coordinator of the Thomas Merton Center for Creative
Exchange, Denver Colorado; Arnold Langberg, Independent Redirection, Denver,
Colorado; Åke Bjerstedt, Department of Educational and Psychological Research,
Lund University, Malmö, Sweden; Colman McCarthy, Director of the Center for
Teaching Peace and Syndicated Columnist for the Washington Post, Washington,
D.C.
The gender and approximate ages of peace specialists were as follows: 5 females
and 5 males; ages ranged from about 50 to about 80.
Classroom Observation
The classes selected for observation were those of teachers who were found to teach
peace themes. What I was looking for in each class specifically was concepts of
peace, such as the following: issues of nuclear war and information about defense
systems; understanding of war behavior; multi- and inter-cultural education as it
relates to peace; the teaching of peace as a process; a concept of peace accompanied
by social justice and social action; global responsibility and interconnection;
alternatives to violence like conflict resolution; nonviolence and the contribution of
peacemakers.
Twenty 7th-grade classes were observed. In some classes 8th graders were
included. Fifteen regular Social Studies classes were observed, and five classes were
in subjects other than Social Studies.
The following are some of the questions.
1. In the course of observations of 20 classes, how many times were peace themes
addressed?
2. What specific theme did students appear to be most interested in, and how and in
what order were these themes addressed?
3. How were peace values presented, what were they, and how were they explained?
4. What are some of the methods and techniques used while teachers were presenting
peace themes?
1-23-1997 23PM
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CONCLUSIONS
There is no mandated peace-education curriculum systemically in place in the
Denver Public Schools. The teaching of peace education is very limited, in part
because it is not mandated.
I did find at least twenty individual teachers, 25% of the eighty contacted, were
teaching peace themes. And after classroom observations, I found that they were
doing a good job of it; although well-developed resource units and related material
were not found, in most classes peace themes were very well presented.
This study clearly shows that war and violence are clearly defined in textbooks
both in the hidden and overt curriculum. Also war and violence frequently dominated
students' (especially boys') conversation during classroom observations, and twelve
of the twenty teachers said that boys love the subject of war. One teacher even
showed how boys' grades improve during the unit on the Civil War. The conclusions
from the study clearly demonstrate that war and violence far outweigh the teaching of
peace in the curriculum, in textbooks, and in classroom discussions. Furthermore
some important facts and connecting links such as, the relationship between
economic factors and social injustices, on the one hand, and peace, on the other are
omitted in textbooks and in some classroom discussions. Nor are the root causes of
violence and war explained or connected with peace. Four major data sources were
employed in this study. The following discussion identifies some important
differences among the four data sources.
The majority of the teachers interviewed did not feel that there was a need to teach
concepts in their relationship to peace, such as culture and non-violence or to teach
about the root causes of war. The majority of the peace specialists, on the other hand,
reported that these areas are vital to the teaching and understanding of peace.
The majority of the teachers interviewed did not seem to think that the United
Nations was an important topic. Yet several specialists claimed that the U.N. is very
important in the teaching of peace. A large percentage of the teachers do not teach
about contradictions in concepts pertaining to peace, while several peace specialists
suggested incorporating controversial issues, or contradictory terms and positions, in
order to encourage critical thinking on issues related to war and peace.
1-23-1997 24PM
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Major Conclusions From Twenty Teachers
The major conclusions from the twenty teachers' interviews were: The majority of
the teachers reported that concepts related to peace, such as social justice, culture, or
nonviolence, are generally not taught in relationship to peace; the majority do not
teach about the root causes of violence and war; nor do they teach about the work of
the United Nations; the majority of the teachers are not teaching about nuclear issues;
and the teachers do not teach about contradictions in concepts pertaining to peace,
although some teachers do teach about other contradictions; a good balance was
found in the teaching of cooperation and competition, and the majority of the
teachers teach cooperative activities; the majority of the teachers teach lessons in
peace in hopes of developing critical and creative thinking, which most agreed is
essential in the teaching and understanding of peace; and the majority, of the
teachers, suggested that students learn about peace, war, and violence from informal
education outside the schools, particularly from the home and family, peers, and the
media. This theme that emerged may well explain in part why there is a rise in
violence and alert attention to this important insight.
Major Conclusions From Fifteen Students
The major conclusions from fifteen students' interviews were: The majority of the
students were exposed to peacemakers, but only 20% reported that peacemakers were
brought into their class; the civil rights period was the topic most frequently
discussed by students; peace treaties were rarely discussed or taught to the students;
some form of cooperative learning is being taught to the majority of the students. The
majority of students reported that they were not taught about different concepts in
relationship to peace and that the work of the United Nations is not being taught to
the majority of students; and the majority said they had not learned about enemy
images. Most students reported being taught about the early religions, but funda-
mental beliefs on peace and brotherhood were not taught in class; more than half of
the students were taught about civil disobedience; half of the students said they had
had some discussions on peace demonstrations; some values of peace were taught;
only three students said they had learned about peace alternatives in history; a little
over half of the students said they felt they were taught critical thinking; the majority
of the students said they had not read stories about people who seek peace and
justice; individual responsibility was taught.
1-23-1997 25PM
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Major Conclusions From Twenty Classroom Observation
Peace themes were found being taught in the twenty 7th-grade social-studies classes
studied. The major topics presented in classes, according to the frequency with which
they were addressed, were: war, violence, cooperative activities, civil dis-obedience,
meditation, world view global, conflict resolution, values of peace, civil rights/social
action, peace demonstrations, non-violence, enemy images, multi-cultural themes,
nuclear war, and United Nations. A few times, war and violence were discussed
together; the major theme that dominated the students' (particularly boys')
conversation was war and violence; from my evaluation, and interviews with the
specialists the subject of peace could well increase critical thinking skills; no biases
or prejudices were found in any of the presentations which could impede critical
thinking; peace, although it was not explained as a concept, was demonstrated in
different ways; some central values of peace were discussed in some of the classes;
and the topics of women, minorities, and the poor were excluded from the discussion
in class; the teaching and learning methods that were found were games, role playing,
research papers and presentations of them, lectures, discussion, and a few debates;
and in the majority of classes the climate was very peaceful.
Major Conclusions From Seventh-Grade Social Studies Textbooks
The following conclusions were reached pertaining to peace from the analysis of
7th-grade social-studies textbooks. Peace is presented but not clearly defined. The
presentation of peace themes is quite limited compared to war themes; biases and
propaganda were noted in what was excluded or limited such as, the role of women,
minorities, and the poor; the United Nations, nuclear issues and the root causes of
war were lacking or limited; there was no connection explaining concepts and their
relationship to peace; and hidden and overt messages were apparent that appeared to
promote violence and war as an acceptable means of dealing with conflict; there were
a few illustrations of the connection between issues of justice and critical thinking.
The conclusions drawn from the combined analysis of interviews with teachers
and students, classroom observations, and textbooks are as follows. The following
themes were not being taught in the twenty 7th-grade social-studies classes: the root
causes of war and violence; the work of the United Nations; issues about nuclear war
and nuclear weapons; the relationship between relevant concepts and peace. In
addition, biases and propaganda were noted in the exclusion or deemphasis of
woman, minorities, and the poor; and very little is being taught about peace
1-23-1997 8:25PM
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alternatives in history, with the exception of the civil rights period. Some peace-
related themes are being taught, according to teachers, students, classroom
observations, and textbooks. A good balance was found in the teaching of co-
operation and competition; critical thinking, according to teachers and students, is
being taught and was apparent during classroom observations; some values of peace
were found being taught; individual responsibility was being taught according to the
majority of teachers and students but was not found in textbooks; and hidden
messages were apparent in textbooks; biases and prejudices were not found being
taught in classroom practices, nor were any reported by students.
Major Conclusions from Ten Peace Specialists
The major conclusion from ten peace-education specialists' interviews was that: all
ten specialists stressed that peace should be taught in public schools because
education is vital in establishing peace in the world. The specialists also suggested
that the earlier children learn peace education, the better it is, with the exception of
certain topics like arms proliferation which a majority stated that children should not
be exposed to at an early age. But as children mature, usually around 8th, 9th, and
10th grades, specialists suggested they should learn about these things.
The consensus among the specialists was that the truth about history, be it
political, economic, or social, needs to be addressed, as well as the root causes of
war. In the teaching of concepts such as nationalism, an international and global
approach must be taken, as well as in other areas; a strong emphasis was placed on
the teaching of critical and creative thinking by an emphasis on controversial issues
including the teaching and practice of change to create a peaceful world. Several of
the specialists indicated that adults need to be critical of themselves and that there
needs to be an emphasis on teaching students to examine their own biases and pre-
judices in the process of learning peace.
All of the specialists strongly stressed that alternatives to violent solutions,
conflicts, and war needed to be taught. And those most frequently suggested were
conflict resolution, conflict management, mediation, and other problem-solving
skills. All but two specialists stressed that the teaching of peace need to be
incorporated into all the subjects.
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Implementation of Peace Education in Public School Curricula
I propose a Model Curriculum for Peace Education, with the content, methods, and
structural changes needed to enable reformers to introduce this content by these
methods.
The practical steps for implementing these changes in content, methods, and
structure are: educating the educators, organizing citizens, appealing to city hall for
support, involving students, using media, opening minds, and providing role models
for peaceful behavior.
My proposal is to present subject material on peace education that would help
combat the increasing violence in our schools and communities.
Furthermore, a peace-education curriculum would also present a more balanced
approach in the presentation of issues of war and peace.
The materials are:
Conflict-Resolution Skills of peace presented from the individual and social
perspective that will teach students how to deal with and how to reduce the tensions
and hostilities associated with conflict. Conflict resolution involves methods and
skills of peace education that will increase security in the students, teachers, and
school environment.
Assertiveness Training Skills that include self-esteem building, values
clarification, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills, decision-making
skills, goal-setting and self-knowledge. Most important, the students are taught how
to channel their energy, particularly destructive and aggressive tendencies, toward
more productive and constructive avenues that will lead them to happiness and
success.
Multicultural Education emphasizing selp-respect and respect for different
cultures, religions, and races, which would help create an atmosphere of peace and
harmony that would help reduce conflict.
Environmental Issues that teach appreciation and respect for the school,
community, state, country, and planet earth, with its cultures, environment,
interdependencies, conflicts, and continual change. Ecology teaches students to value
their environment by practicing values of responsibility, caring, concern, and
commitment.
In Social Studies, History, and American Government, many issues involving the
concept of peace can be very useful. Some examples are the contributions of peace-
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making by the Native Americans; issues of justice and injustice, war and peace;
emphasis on how wars and conflict could be resolved peacefully and how the United
Nations has worked toward peace and how it can improve. In the study of the Eastern
Hemisphere, the philosophies of different religions and cultures could be compared,
and students could discuss the universal values that promote self preservation, right
living, thinking, and acting with respect to others and to all living things. This
approach would help students return to the basic human values that appear to be lost
in so many cases.
Peace education material, consisting of conflict-resolution skills, assertiveness-
training skills, multicultural education, and environmental issues would be added to
the following subjects:
Language Arts
Social Studies
Life Science
Behavioral Science
Reading/Written Language
Arts/Drama/Music
Steps to Getting Peace Education into the Public Schools
- Initiate research on peace education.
- Find out what the needs in each school are.
- Draft the peace-education curriculum and programs.
- Introduce peace education in the public schools by setting up meetings with
administrators, teachers, students, parents, and school board members.
- Offer in-services, classes, and teachers training on peace education (in the process
of teaching peace, teachers will be learning too).
- Get teachers' input, ask for their ideas and suggestions, and utilize their
suggestions by incorporating their suggestions into the curriculum.
- Advertise the peace curriculum to the community to solicit outside support, for
example from parents, community agencies, state representatives, members of
Congress, local and state leaders, judges, and police chiefs.
- Present mini presentations or workshops to students so that teachers can observe
the curriculum and the methods used to present it.
- Provide information about peace education, articles, community television, talk
shows, radio - T.V., church groups, town meetings, and neighborhood watch
groups.