Education for active nonviolence for the world to come

Education for active nonviolence for the world to come

 (Photo: Henri Oscar Communication, active nonviolence workshop, Historical character of nonviolence)

The world is changing at a dizzying pace, and people can no longer hold on much of what they believed until now. The acceleration of events is generating crisis, instability and disorientation in every society. New criteria of citizenship arise and various events put pressure on education system. While it’s obvious that educational institution established in the past aren’t adapted to the world to come.  Today no one disputes the fact the changes in societies throws the old institutions and methods into profound crisis. While the crisis contains the possibility of opening ourselves to new perspectives. Theses perspectives, once put into project may allow us to evolve toward a more human society characterized by solidarity, nonviolence and freedom. But at the same time others voices are also being raised pushing regressive and authoritarian educational model. 

Education for Active Nonviolence provided a learning environment based on good treatment, emotional openness, and a predisposition for the teacher to connect with students. This situation is base on the students experience in finding meaning in the learning process.

Education for Active Nonviolence is aiming to empower new generations. The objective is to provide tools to students so they can play an active pluralist vision on their reality. Education for Active Nonviolence is effective if institution incorporate in their curriculum "building process" program and provide an environment that recognize the active role of intentionality in the learning process. The concept of empowering is central in Education for active Nonviolence. The building process program are base on the fundamental activity of the consciousness- "the intentionality of the consciousness".

According to Silvia Swiden ("From Monkey Sapiens to Homo Intentional") the intentionality of the consciousness is our wonderful capacity to give meaning to thing.She explained that in today's world everybody is confronted the realities of a cruel moment of dehumanization. But according to Swiden "Human being hard wired for empathy and compassion.

Swiden also explained that in our society "cruelty" is learnt and this form of learning is similar to psychopathy. Mostly because with cruelty one need to detached from compassion and empathy.

But people can resist to cruelty, by resisting to the violence that come from within. People can resist to social "training" that produce discrimination and injustice and built an inner center, a path that lead to kindness, wisdom and strength.

The following chart table compared the pedagogy of intentionality and the traditional pedagogy.

Traditional education versus education for Active nonviolence (pedagogy of the intentionality)

Traditional model	Active nonviolence model
Passive education - base on passivity of the consciousness	Active education - base on the active consciousness
Instruction	Construction of knowledge
Naive vision of reality	Active vision of reality
Absolute truth	Plural point of view
Social repetition	Social construction
Teaching, repeating, memorizing & imposing	Empowering, enabling, qualifying and transforming
Submission, obedience without criticism or judgment	Humanization, personalize to ones own 'look'
Fragmented thinking	Coherent thinking (structural thinking)
Captured attention	Practiced attention
Competition	Collaboration, emotional contact with others
Education based on separation – pure intellect	Emotional contact with oneself, government of one own body
Values is put externalities such as: grade, diploma, etc. Side effects : low self-esteem, devaluation of oneself	Value put on creativity and qualities and externalities
Uniformity	Diversity
Accepting violence and unequal rights & discrimination	Reputing violence, denouncing discrimination & promoting human rights

When we are addressing the theme of "active role" we are saying it's a process that is allowing the development and cultivation of student's capacities, without exception.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Anne Farrell, “educatE to give meaning” A paradigm For a new time, Henri Oscar Communication, 2016, 35 p.