Type of Organization(s) [government or non-government organizations such as universities]:
Non-Government
Organization Contact Information:
Canadian Culture of Peace Program (CCOPP)
Address: Box 70, Okotoks
AB , Canada , T1S 1A4,
Tel: (Calgary area) 1-403-938-5335
Tel: (toll free throughout Canada and the U.S.) 1-800-574-7126
Fax: (Calgary area) 1-403-938-4117
Tel: (toll free throughout Canada and the U.S.) 1-800-399-3832
E-mail address: info@peace.ca
Web address:http://www.peace.ca/canadiancultureofpeaceprogram.htm
Contact Person(s):
Robert Stewart, Executive Director
Summary
The mission of the Canadian Culture of Peace Program is to advance a Culture of Peace and Non-violence, at home and abroad. It is the key NGO with a mandate to advance the Canadian Peace Education Strategy across the country.
Description of Organization’s Work in CRE
It is the shorter term goal of CCOPP and the network of Canadian Peace Educators to place Peace Education prominently on the Canadian Agenda - "to cultivate public awareness and political support for the introduction of peace education into all spheres of education, including non-formal education, throughout Canada and to promote the education of all teachers to teach for peace". It is the longer term goal to assure Peace Education is integrated into all curricula by the end of the decade - "the goal of the campaign is to assure that all educational systems throughout Canada will educate for a culture of peace". Peace education starts at home.
Legislation and Policy Initiatives
In Canada, education is Provincial (rather than Federal/National). Accordingly, education legislation is the mandate of the thirteen Provincial/Territorial Governments. There is a Canadian Ministers of Education Council which meets annually to discuss matters of common interest. It is our understanding that no Canadian Governmental body is proposing to establish any legislation or policy initiatives with respect to Conflict Resolution or Peace Education.
Resources
CCOPP has recently initiated a working group to help build the relationship with Governments, to help build a Culture of Peace and Non-violence in Canada and abroad, starting with peacebuilding through education. Affecting changes in education at the Provincial/Territorial levels will be a key objective of Provincial Culture of Peace Programs and Annual Provincial Peace Education Conferences. Annual Provincial Peace Education Conferences currently take place in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
An excellent summary of recent developments in peace education and the culture of peace program in Canada, available for any organizations and individuals interested in advancing peace education and the Culture of Peace and Non-violence Program in their area, is available at http://www.peace.ca/EVOLVINGCANADIANMODELFORPEACE2005.ppt in English and at http://www.peace.ca/CCOPPportuguese2005.ppt in Portuguese.
Please see the following for additional information.
Publications
1. CCOPP Web Site http://www.peace.ca/canadiancultureofpeaceprogram.htm
2. CCOPP Summary Statement http://www.peace.ca/CCOPPstatement2004.htm
3. CCOPP Initial Action Plan http://www.peace.ca/CCOPPaction2004.htm
4. CCOPP Leadership & Peace Workshop http://www.peace.ca/CCOPPleadership2004.htm
5. Inventory of University and Other Peace Education Programs in Canada at http://www.peace.ca/canpeaceeducation.htm (this is extensive)
6. Inventory of Peace Education Sample Curricula http://www.peace.ca/curricula.htm
7. Canadian Peace Education Strategy http://www.peace.ca/conference2002summary.htm
8. Fourth Annual Peace Education Conference in Canada: Peace Pedagogy – Educating Educators To Teach Peace http://www.peace.ca/CanadianAgenda2005.htm
Type of Organization(s) [government or non-government organizations such as universities]:
Government
Organization Contact Information:
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
95 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 1106
Toronto, Ontario M4V 1N6
Canada
Telephone: (416) 962-8100
Fax: (416) 962-2800
Email:b.pelley@cmec.ca
Web site:http://www.cmec.ca
Contact Person(s):
Mr. Boyd Pelley , Director General (Acting)
Organization:
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
Summary
In Canada education is the responsibility of each province and territory. Because ministers of education needed a forum in which to discuss issues of mutual concern, they established the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) in 1967. CMEC is the national voice for education in Canada. It is the mechanism through which ministers consult and act on matters of mutual interest, and the instrument through which they consult and cooperate with national education organizations and the federal government. CMEC also represents the education interests of the provinces and territories internationally.
In October 2001, the "Council of Ministries of Education, Canada" (CMEC) issued a 160 page document entitled "Education for Peace, Human Rights, Democracy, International Understanding and Tolerance," authored by Richard Marquardt. This report is Canada’s response to the request of the Director-General of UNESCO for information on steps taken by the member States to apply the Declaration and the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1995.
Legislation and Policy Initiatives
The 1995 Declaration and the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy are not well known in Canada, but the principles they express are important elements of education policy, both in formal school systems and in many areas of non-formal education. Despite many pressures for a “back to basics” style of education in Canada’s formal education systems, policy-makers, researchers, and teachers continue to develop citizenship education curricula and to integrate peace, human rights, and global education into school programs. There has also been growth in postsecondary and non-formal education in these fields. During the period under study, the most noticeable trend has been a much higher level of integration of the themes of peace, democracy, human rights, international understanding, and tolerance in both formal and non-formal education programs.
Description of Organization’s Work in CRE
•Citizenship education is the subject of considerable renewed interest in Canada.
Ministries of Education in several provinces and territories are developing new
curricula in this field. Policy-makers, researchers, and educators are exploring the
meaning of active citizenship in a country of considerable ethnic, linguistic, and
geographic diversity that is, at the same time, open to the multiple influences of
the rest of the world.
•Peace education has received support from the federal government’s Canadian
Peacebuilding Initiative. It provides support for several educational initiatives
designed to promote conflict resolution and a culture of peace.
•The Ontario Human Rights Commission has developed “Teaching Human Rights
in Ontario” (THRIO), an educational package for use by teachers in Ontario
schools to teach students about the provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code
and the work of the Commission. Released in 1995, the package was reviewed
for use in Ontario schools and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education.
•Several Canadian universities have launched new academic programs in human
rights.
•Cégep international is an organization of 22 Quebec colleges that promotes
international activities and works toward the internationalization of the
curriculum. The college-level project, “Éducation à la citoyenneté dans uneii
perspective planétaire” (ECPP), focuses on introducing curriculum and training
content in the areas of international understanding and solidarity, peace
education, rights and democracy education, environmental and sustainable
development education, and intercultural education. This program is currently
being voluntarily implemented in 14 colleges.
•Public concern over the issue of school safety has been increasing. Governments, departments of education, school boards, and individual schools have been under pressure to address actual and anticipated violence in schools. This has evoked an array of responses across the country. In Nova Scotia, the League of Peaceful Schools has developed an effective Peer Mediation Program for non-violent conflict resolution. In Alberta, the provincial government has implemented the Safe and Caring Schools (SACS) initiative to promote safe and caring learning and teaching environments in Alberta schools. A number of projects are currently operating as part of this initiative, including the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s SACS Project, a comprehensive violence-prevention endeavour designed to encourage socially responsible and respectful behaviour.
•There are many interesting examples across Canada of efforts to respond to the
needs of vulnerable groups, including those with handicaps as well as children
and youth at risk because of socio-economic factors. British Columbia’s
extensive distance education services and open learning systems are exemplary,
as is Saskatchewan’s program of integrated services for children and youth at
risk.
•The Government of Canada has made a formal Statement of Reconciliation to
Aboriginal peoples for the history of abuse in the Residential Schools system. It
is implementing a plan to transfer authority for education to First Nations
communities and to respond to the needs of Aboriginal youth through a variety of
other programs, including multi-purpose urban Aboriginal youth centres to
provide career planning, employment opportunities, and recreational activity in a
supportive, culturally relevant environment.
•The Pan-Canadian Education Research Agenda (PCERA) was initiated by the
Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC), a partnership of Statistics Canada
and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). As a joint federal-provincial
initiative to promote research on education policy issues, PCERA has
identified citizenship and social cohesion, diversity and equity, Aboriginal
education, and special-needs programming among its highest research priorities.
•Resources and information about education for peace, human rights, democracy,
international understanding, and tolerance in Canada are now widely accessible
on the Internet.
Conclusions
The principles of the Declaration and the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy have been well received and widely applied in Canada. Many educators already had considerable experience working with these principles before 1995. Canadians increasingly see all of these areas as aspects of a general effort in education for democratic values.
Considering the importance of the principles of the Declaration and the Integrated
Framework to ongoing debates about educational priorities in Canada, it would be
beneficial to have them produced and disseminated in popular forms that make them more accessible.
In the year and decade for building a Culture of Peace, some see a need in Canada for more systematic linkages between programs offered by members of the United Nations family that address various aspects of this common theme, including the United Nations Association in Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and UNICEF. This would enable them to secure a more comprehensive level of cooperation and engagement from Canada’s education systems.
Lessons Learned
Comments received in the course of our survey on the appropriateness of the Declaration and the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy suggest that both have been well received by those who are familiar with them, and that the principles have been applied widely in Canada. Many educators had already had considerable experience working with these principles before 1995.
During the period under study, the most noticeable trend has been a much higher level of integration of education on themes of peace, democracy, human rights, international understanding, and tolerance, is particularly in the work on citizenship education in Canada. Entering the field from the perspective of education for democracy leads directly into issues of human rights, peace, international understanding and tolerance. The same can be said for the other themes; each is a point of entry into the others. Canadians increasingly see all of these areas as aspects of a general effort in education for democratic values.
In the year and decade for building a Culture of Peace, the integration of these themes should become even stronger. Some see a need in Canada for more systematic linkages between programs offered by members of the United Nations family that address various aspects of these themes, including the United Nations Association in Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and UNICEF. This would enable them to secure a more comprehensive level of cooperation and engagement from Canada’s education system.
In an increasingly complex and interdependent world, Canadian educators appear to understand the practical importance of education for peace, human rights, democracy, international understanding, and tolerance. They also acknowledge that there is still a great deal of work to do to achieve the objectives set out in the Declaration and the Integrated Framework.
Resources
Please see the following web pages for additional information
http://www.cmec.ca/international/unesco/pax.en.pdf
(French version go to http://www.cmec.ca )
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