Pedagogies for Peace

Training on women, peace, and security has been a key strategy for gender mainstreaming within international and national institutions since the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In higher education, feminist scholars in international relations and related fields began teaching about women and war, peace & security in the late 1980s & 1990s. Civil society organizations have long engaged in popular education for empowerment and capacity building to support women’s participation in peace negotiations and transform conflict. And in the security sector, capacity building has been a key strategy for advancing the implementation of UNSCR1325, among other instruments. 

Decades into this pedagogical undertaking, how is women, peace, and security being taught? What are the similarities and differences in WPS teaching and learning across sectors, and in diverse geographical locations? What works and why? What does not?  This workshop brings together teachers and trainers who are actively engaged in teaching WPS within three sectors: higher education, security sector, and civil society. The goals are to prompt reflection on how WPS is taught and exchange best practices and lessons learned in WPS pedagogy. 

The format of the workshop will be interactive, as presenters are invited to “teach how you teach.” The organizers invite presentations which showcase pedagogical best practices, reflections on what does and does not work, and/or which models and teaching techniques have set optimal learning conditions across sectors. The symposium will feature both traditional conference panels as well as “micro modules” where participants give a teaching demonstration. Presentations/demonstrations should be about 15 minutes in length.