Georg Arnhold International Conference, 2022 in Braunschweig, Germany

This year’s took place from August 29 to September 2, 2022 at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Media and brought together 25 young researchers, established scholars and practitioners from 12 different countries to explore the particularities and conditions for a critical reassessment of the field of peace education in the context of the decolonization discourse.

In the spirit of decolonizing the conference process itself, the conference aimed for a participatory design. For example, various speakers jointly introduced the participants' discussions in so-called co-note discussions (instead of keynotes) in coordinated presentations and summarized the topics of a day in integrative sessions, which not infrequently found expression in creative methods. In keeping with the Georg Arnhold Program's mission to strengthen the link between academia and practice in the field of peace education, the program was complemented by two online workshops hosted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). In these, participants had the opportunity to gain insights into current IRC projects, learn about "design thinking" methods for developing peacebuilding interventions, and contribute their scientific expertise to sample interventions.

The contributions focused on challenges in translating the discourse of decolonization into decolonial practice, especially academic structures of university teaching as well as in academic formation and publication practices, they addressed the challenges and opportunities of different pedagogical approaches, the question of how teaching, scholarship, and academic practices can look like that do not reproduce colonial elements, and contemplated theories of decolonizing knowledge production, alternative philosophical approaches, critical methodologies and methods of decolonial formal and non-formal education, and the perspectives of different actors. Part of the program this year was once again an inspiring workshop with our colleagues of the IRC that was also start of the selection process for the Scholarships in projects of the International Rescue Committee.

A report on the conference(in German) was published in the journal “Wissenschaft und Frieden” and is available online.

Call for Papers & Program of the GAISC 2022

This year's Georg Arnhold International Summer Conference (GAISC) was again held virtually due to the Covid 19 pandemic. With the good experiences from the previous year, however, it was possible to develop a diverse program for this year's topic as well, which offered the total of 27 preparers and contributors from nine different countries space to engage in five thematic blocks with philosophical and theoretical questions about education for ecological sustainability and to exchange ideas about pedagogical approaches, methods and specific educational programs as well as experiences from case studies.

Participants' contributions first addressed the necessary conditions for transformative education for peaceful sustainability. Education is seen as a long-term strategy for bringing about the political and economic change necessary to create environmentally sustainable societies, and education systems are seen as having the potential to better equip future generations to meet current and future challenges. The basis for this, according to several contributions, is nothing less than a change in consciousness with regard to the human-environment relationship. Therefore, it was demanded to turn away from the anthropocentric, utilitarian view of the world, which is still presented in many textbooks and in which the human environment is only understood as a basis for the survival of the individual or as a resource for the economic growth of societies. Therefore, in order to bring about the required change in consciousness, the strengthening of alternative, deontological ethical paradigms from elementary school onwards has been proposed. A new focus on humanistic disciplines, such as art, ethics, philosophy, etc., or the decolonization of teaching content by integrating, for example, Eastern philosophies into curricula can help to pay more attention to the emotional, sensory, evaluative components of one's worldview and thus support the development of a new relationship between humans and the environment.  At the same time, as the participants made clear, it is important to prevent emotional overwhelm among students in the face of the global crisis by strengthening social and emotional competencies. Strengthening personal resilience and dealing with multiple stresses should be considered a continuous goal of school competence development. One approach to achieving this, for example, is to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL), which cultivates the ability to consciously notice feelings and thoughts in the classroom.

To achieve this, it is important to generate transformational experiences for students in order to show them concrete possibilities for action.
The participants therefore presented methods for participatory, experiential and transformative, local and global learning as well as artistic, communication-oriented, peer learning and community-based approaches. Appropriate approaches are also available from peace education that can initiate learning and reflection processes, enable changes in perspective, and support dialogue and critical thinking as well as opportunities to experience transformation and jointly develop visions for a life in peace. Peacebuilding can thus be a way to promote sustainable environmental awareness and behavior.

Call for Papers & Program of the GAISC 2021

Georg Arnhold International Summer Conference, 2020 Online

This year’s annual conference of the Georg Arnhold Program took place in November and due to the global travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and it took place as an online event. Nevertheless, the conference brought together 20 contributors from various countries around the globe to examine the interaction between education and the social integration of migrants, refugees and displaced persons, (national) minorities and indigenous societies considering regional differences in education systems, resources and social conditions.

Based on their diverse expertise as academics and practitioners in a range of contexts, the participants and guests convened in six different panels to examine in more detail the challenges and potential of integration through education. In addition to questions addressing theoretical definitions and the practical implications of the terminology of integration, the participants also examined historical migratory events and their effect on current debates as well as their potential to help develop teaching methods and materials. They also explored the significance of colonial history for the education of refugees and the implications of historical or ongoing segregation for the integration of minorities.

Education policy, curricula and educational materials for refugees and marginalized groups from a range of contexts were also compared, especially those that disregarded or suppressed cultural characteristics of refugees or minorities. Frequently there were discussions about the role of language and writing, communication norms and conformity with the host society or majority society and questions of when integration becomes cultural assimilation or is recognized as such. There were criticisms that in host countries education for refugees is frequently viewed as a one-directional service, although several examples demonstrated the potential that can be unlocked when education for refugees is instead addressed as a process of bilateral exchange that encourages integration in the sense of equity and equality.  Several conference contributions advocated in this sense for the inclusion of refugees or minority communities. Local expertise should be taken into consideration during the design of research projects and interventions, and can strongly influence the success of education initiatives. A recurring topic in the presentations was the issue of prospects for refugees and marginalized minorities. Not only must they often conquer great obstacles in order to participate in formal or informal education, but their future is also frequently insecure as many countries fail to put policies in place that would ensure a foundation for long-term integration, in the labor market for example.

In conclusion, it became clear that education can only make a limited contribution to integration as there are so many barriers that lie beyond the reach of the education sector. There is therefore no single, unified model for integration through education but rather different contexts and framework conditions require individual and often parallel efforts such as informal and formal education options. In addition, it is important for education policies to have broad horizons that allow a view into the future.

Arnhold Symposium 2019, at Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York City, USA

The symposium focused on refugee education in countries of first asylum in the global South. Both education and sustainable peace are essential in order for the host country to become a place where the refugee can stay permanently. The symposium focused on the importance of education in local and national contexts and discussed the political framework as well as the specific challenges presented by the relationship between the guests and their host countries.

6th International Summer School, 2019 in Braunschweig, Germany

Drawing on different regional, theoretical and methodological contexts, the participants of the Summer School examined the role of Global Citizenship Education and Citizenship Education (GCE-CE) in an increasingly polarized social, political and economic world, asking how GCE-CE should be understood in its role of empowering young people to take political action within the state and beyond it. The participants also explored how schools and teachers can integrate GCE-CE into specific contexts, articulate goals and develop relevant practices.

Arnhold Symposium 2018, with the swisspeace foundation, in Basel, Switzerland

While the world we live in is undergoing rapid and major global and social change, education theories and practices are advancing more slowly. New challenges and demands, such as refugee and migrant integration, human rights and gender power struggles, require creative alternative practices and frameworks that allow personal and collective narratives to reach classrooms and academic research. With a focus on emancipatory, feminist-critical pedagogies, the symposium provided a platform for education experts to reflect upon, rethink and reinvent educational practices and methods related to human rights.

5th International Summer School, 2018 with Ufuq in Braunschweig, Germany

The Summer School’s thematic focus on the prevention of extremism through education (PVE-E) reflects the increasing importance being attributed to education in response to the global problem of extremist violence. Across the world PVE-E is accepted as an important mechanism through which to defend peace and human rights and this is reflected in national and international action plans, curricula and educational materials being developed and implemented by numerous researchers, education experts, and governmental and non-governmental organizations. Within this very broad field, the Summer School focused on discussions and suggestions related to curricula and reforms, educational media, formal and non-formal education activities, and the work of various stakeholders such as teachers, NGOs, governments and international organizations.

Arnhold Symposium 2017, with UNICEF Innocenti, in Florence, Italy

The symposium focused on approaches and methods that could support teachers and trainers working in the context of highly escalated conflicts, everyday violence or in societies transitioning from war to peace. The aim was to support these education experts in their work and thus to strengthen the contribution made by this particular sector of education in emergencies to sustainable and positive peace.

4th International Summer School, 2017 in Braunschweig, Germany

The field of education in emergencies is still a developing academic discipline. In this evolving field, academics are not alone in struggling to understand the social space of an emergency and how best to conduct their research in a constantly changing, challenging and often insecure environment: In complex emergencies, the entire education system might be destroyed, teacher training inadequate, and access to educational materials impossible. As a contribution to this young field of research and practice, the participants discussed theories and methods, specific curricula and educational media, as well as the role and training of teachers at all levels of education in formal and non-formal contexts.

Arnhold Symposium 2016, with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, in Berlin, Germany

In this bilingual symposium (English and Russian), international experts from various academic disciplines discussed the conflict potential of education narratives and perspectives for change.

3rd International Summer School, 2016, with Teachers College, Columbia University, in Braunschweig, Germany

Human Rights Education has been linked to education for sustainable peace and, more recently, has been incorporated into the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 and its Global Citizenship Education initiative. Recognizing this bridge between the concepts of HRE and education for sustainable peace, participants reflected upon lessons that have been learned and upon innovative ways to educate children and young people about human rights and, through the application of such methods, foster their capacity for critical thinking and support their social and political empowerment in order to increase the social cohesion of the societies they live in.

Arnhold Symposium 2015 at the German Center for Research and Innovation and the New School for Social Research in New York City, USA

The effects of armed conflicts, such as the destruction of school infrastructure, on the education sector are well documented. However, the effects of education on armed conflict are less well understood. The symposium took this as its starting point when examining the complex relationships between formal education, fragile statehood and armed conflict. In their contributions, participants explored how education may contribute to creating or reproducing unjust and structurally violent political systems, but also how education can help to create more just and peaceful social and economic conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

2nd International Summer School, 2015, with the Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), in Braunschweig Germany

The question of how the topics of justice and peacebuilding can be introduced to children and young people through curricula, educational media and extracurricular activities was the main focus for the participants of this Summer School. In their contributions the participants employed a variety of perspectives and different methodological approaches to examine how principles of justice and peace-building can be introduced and implemented in educational materials and curricula in post-conflict and transitional societies.

Georg Arnhold Symposium 2014 at the GEI in Braunschweig, Germany

Social media is changing the way people, especially young people, perceive, communicate and interact. The Arnhold Symposium held at the GEI was dedicated to the potential of social media to be an educational space in which conditions for the development of sustainable peace can be created by promoting and enabling social engagement and civic participation. The symposium brought together academics, politicians and decision-makers, representatives of civil society and students to reflect upon and develop concepts for the exploration of new educational spaces.

1st International Summer School 2014 in Braunschweig, Germany

The challenges and potential of history education in divided post-war societies were the main focus of the first GEI Summer School. The contributions of the participants explored the question of how schools around the world deal with the issues of war and peace and in particular how they deal with a violent past. They discussed the effects of experiences of war and transition periods and how these are remembered, negotiated and articulated by policy makers, teachers and students in conflict and post-war societies.
Arnhold Symposium