A nationwide coalition of 30 organizations, including the Rhineland-Palatinate Peace Academy, sent a strong message calling for more peace education in schools: 11,442 people signed the petition “Peace in the Curriculum!” between early June and mid-October. More than 30 experts from the media, education, and academia supported the campaign as initial signatories.

The coalition behind the petition calls for peace education to be incorporated into the curriculum from elementary school through high school. Given that school schedules are already full, the coalition is deliberately not calling for an additional subject. Rather, peace education should be established as a mandatory, interdisciplinary area of study in all types of schools and grade levels. In practice, this could look like this, for example: In history class, the focus would be on peace treaties and reconciliation; in social studies, the role of civil conflict resolution would be explored; and in physical education, children and teenagers would practice fair play and teamwork.

Furthermore, the alliance aims to ensure that peace education is strengthened as early as the initial and continuing education of teachers. And last but not least, extracurricular programs and structures should be strengthened. Some federal states already have successful initiatives in place, such as the “School for Peace Education” pilot project run by KURVE Wustrow in Lower Saxony or the Peace Education Service Center in Baden-Württemberg, which is directly affiliated with the State Institute for School Development. But such positive examples are still the exception rather than the rule.

The “Peace in the Curriculum!” alliance brings together 30 organizations specializing in peace education. They have now submitted their proposals and recommendations for strengthening peace education in schools to the state education ministers. To date, there has been no resolution from the Conference of Education Ministers on the topic of peace. However, from the alliance’s perspective, this would be an important step toward advancing the structural integration of peace education in all federal states.

You can also find information about the petition on our website.

A nationwide coalition of 30 organizations, including the Rhineland-Palatinate Peace Academy, sent a strong message calling for more peace education in schools: 11,442 people signed the petition “Peace in the Curriculum!” between early June and mid-October. More than 30 experts from the media, education, and academia supported the campaign as initial signatories.

The coalition behind the petition calls for peace education to be incorporated into the curriculum from elementary school through high school. Given that school schedules are already full, the coalition is deliberately not calling for an additional subject. Rather, peace education should be established as a mandatory, interdisciplinary area of study in all types of schools and grade levels. In practice, this could look like this, for example: In history class, the focus would be on peace treaties and reconciliation; in social studies, the role of civil conflict resolution would be explored; and in physical education, children and teenagers would practice fair play and teamwork.

Furthermore, the alliance aims to ensure that peace education is strengthened as early as the initial and continuing education of teachers. And last but not least, extracurricular programs and structures should be strengthened. Some federal states already have successful initiatives in place, such as the “School for Peace Education” pilot project run by KURVE Wustrow in Lower Saxony or the Peace Education Service Center in Baden-Württemberg, which is directly affiliated with the State Institute for School Development. But such positive examples are still the exception rather than the rule.

The “Peace in the Curriculum!” alliance brings together 30 organizations specializing in peace education. They have now submitted their proposals and recommendations for strengthening peace education in schools to the state education ministers. To date, there has been no resolution from the Conference of Education Ministers on the topic of peace. However, from the alliance’s perspective, this would be an important step toward advancing the structural integration of peace education in all federal states.

You can also find information about the petition on our website.