Education

Learning to Live Together

Commonwealth of Learning - Editors: Rawwida Baksh and Tanyss Munro

Introduction: Setting the Context

Open and distance learning (ODL) has been successfully employed by communities for non-formal education over the years, through the use of community radio, selflearning text, DVDs, the Internet and other mobile technology.

As the number of violent conflicts around the world escalates, peacebuilding is
increasingly an important priority – particularly at the community level, where attitudes are often formed and reinforced. Communities have also become the new frontline of conflict and war, and both the perpetrators and victims of war may now be found in the same villages and neighbourhoods. In addition, urban violence is “a serious development constraint in developing countries and increasingly dominates the daily lives of citizens across the globe” (Moser, 2006).

The declaration of the International Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-
Violence for the Children of the World (2001–2010) has propelled greater interest in efforts toward building cultures of peace. Transforming community culture to reflect peace necessitates building, strengthening and changing values based on freedom, tolerance, justice and democracy.

In 2005, Commonwealth Heads of Government affirmed the importance of countering violence and conflict through the promotion of respect and tolerance among people of different cultures, religions and races. This affirmation led to the commission of a report on issues of terrorism, extremism, conflict and violence titled Civil Paths to Peace: Report of the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2007).

The report identified four key areas for forging peace: young people, women, education and the media. In September 2008, Commonwealth Foreign Ministers met in New York to share best practices and agreed that: 

• Community-level village or neighbourhood initiatives are the most
  effective level at which to build social cohesion;
• Community-level dialogue is most effective when facilitated by those
  with some knowledge of mediation and negotiation processes; 
• The media, including community radio, can play a strong role in
  mitigating conflict; and 
• Young people have an important contribution to make.

With the support of Commonwealth governments, civil society organisations and other partners, the Commonwealth of Learning has initiated Learning4Peace, a communitybased ODL approach to promoting tolerance, respect and understanding. Women, young people and others work to build peaceful communities through learning and sharing skills and experiences in preventing and resolving conflict.

The purpose of this book is to bring together a range of community peacebuilding experiences from across the Commonwealth that have been applying ODL approaches.

However, this is still a relatively new area and is easier said than done. Communities that have emerged from a violent past often face a situation where not only has physical infrastructure crumbled, but also the whole education system has lain dormant for years, with a generation of children having had no education. Community centres, schools and universities, which would normally provide the spaces for ODL, may have been destroyed. The exodus of teachers and community leaders may further compound the problem.

In addition, those engaged in violent conflict tend to have various
grievances, including marginalisation from access to education, employment, productive resources and other opportunities for social, economic and political advancement.

Where the aggrieved have chosen the path of violent confrontation, they are often not yet ready to put down their arms and adopt approaches to resolving the conflict, including ODL.

Working to prevent or mitigate violence or to rebuild communities with violent
histories is very difficult, often dangerous work, as it involves working in highly sensitive areas and emotions tend to be high, particularly at the community level. It is therefore of real importance to provide tools and new approaches to those who are often the most affected by violence: the socially, economically and politically marginalised including women and young people. However, because they often possess limited literacy skills or are not comfortable with formalised learning, there are considerable challenges to reaching these communities.

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