Lessons to Be Learned From Research on Peace Education in the Context of Intractable Conflict

Recent research on peace education entails important practical lessons about educational work in regions of intractable conflict. Peace education in this context must deal with collective narratives and deeply rooted historical memories and societal beliefs. Research findings from a series of studies with Israeli and Palestinian students and teachers demonstrate the challenges of attaining durable and worthwhile effects through educational activities: short-term benefits may erode over time, ongoing violence and hostility may block attempts to understand the opponent's perspective, and power and status asymmetries may dictate incompatible agendas or prohibit a mutual common ground for constructive interaction. At the same time, these studies offer several promising directions to enhance the potential of carefully designed peace education programs. Such programs are likely to foster participants' ability to acknowledge the adversary's collective narrative, engage in constructive negotiations over issues of national identity, and express a less monolithic outlook of the conflict.