International Day of Peace [Blogpost 89]

Taken from International Day of Peace 21 September

“Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

The United Nations Member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 because they understood that it would not be possible to build a peaceful world if steps were not taken to achieve economic and social development for all people everywhere, and ensure that their rights were protected. The Sustainable Goals cover a broad range of issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice.” (Taken from International Day of Peace 21 September).

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In 2012, our Grade Three team implemented a cross curricular Peace Project for the 2012/13 school year. This proved to be very rewarding on a personal and professional level. Our aims were simply as as follows:

• Students will learn about the concept of peace.

• Students will learn what a peacemaker is through examples of worldwide heroines/heroes.

• Students will consider how they can apply the concept of peace and the actions of being a peacemaker in their daily lives.

The year long project was launched September 21, 2012 with a grade level wide day of World Peace Day activities (including, but not limited to, sharing of texts, discussions, art activities) and concluded with this photo being taken of our Grade Three community of learners:

Below are various resources which may prove to be useful when implementing Peace Day activities or if looking to implement a more extensive Peace Project to span beyond September 21, the International Day of Peace.

BOOKS RELATING TO PEACE:

• Baskwill, J. If Peace Is …

• Coerr. E. Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes

• Cooper, I. The Golden Rule

• Halpern, W. A. Peace

• Hines, A. G. Peaceful Pieces: Poems And Quilts About Peace

• MacDonald, M.R. Peace Tales World Folktales to Talk About

• Pinkey, A.D. Let It Shine: Stories Of Black Women Freedom Fighters

• Scholes, K. Peace Begins With You

• Winter, J. Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story From Afghanistan

• Winter, J. Wangari's Trees Of Peace: A True Story From Africa

• Zalben, J. B. Paths To Peace: People Who Changed The World

WEBSITES RELATING TO PEACE:

• Kids for Peace

• Nobel Peace Prize - articles

• Nobel Peace Prize - laureates

• Peace One Day

• Teaching Tolerance

PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS FOCUSSING ON PEACE:

• Good Hope (September 2019)

• Franklin (August 2019)

• Dr. King (January 2019)

• Kindness (December 2018)

• Kindness is the Sunshine in which Virtue Grows (May 2018)

• Peace is an Action (September 2016)

QUOTES PERTAINING TO PEACE:

At the 2015 EARCOS Leadership Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Loung Ung (author of First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers) stated that "Peace is an action." The line resonated with me then and continues to do so.

Mindful that peace is an action, how will you be engendering peace on International Day of Peace and beyond?