How can we tackle conflict in our daily lives, both at home and on a global scale? What causes conflict and can it be avoided? These questions are at the root of Citizen School’s newest after-school curriculum program, created to educate middle school students about dealing with conflict on a day-to-day basis.
The curriculum was designed by four Northeastern students; Daniel Garafulic, Alex Vipond, Zoe Johannas and Audrey Van Zee. It was their final project for the Social Enterprise Institute field study in Cape Town, South Africa. Garafulic thought the project would be a wasted opportunity to let it exist only in theory.
The curriculum focuses on four essential values that emerged as patterns in the late South African President Nelson Mandela and his life and battle to end apartheid in South Africa: empathy, collaboration, patience and perseverance, and taking action. Each module draws comparisons from Mandela’s life to both teach his story and provide the students with skills for dealing with challenges in their own lives.
Nelson Mandela is one of the world’s greatest role models for peace because of his immense willingness to empathize with people in the anti-apartheid struggle. Garafulic believes that, “it wasn’t a matter of retribution, it was a matter of understanding. It is important to know that the root of all conflict is in division, and the only way we can rid the world of conflict is to unify.“
Talking about his inspiration for the program, Garafulic says, “I am currently involved with another organization that believes in teaching kids these four values, and I believe it is important to carry this message to more kids in Boston. A huge flaw in our education system is teaching children skills and academics, but giving them no context as to why it all matters. They need to know their ability to enact real change in the community.”
There is great potential to have a lasting impact on the students enrolled in this program. Garafulic says, “all we can hope to do is ask big enough questions in such a way that kids start thinking about the world a little bit differently. We want to develop a collaborative worldview and know that conflict, and the way we deal with conflict is a choice.”
The Conflict Resolution program began with Citizen Schools on September 23 at the William Monroe Trotter Innovation School in Dorchester.
Photo (cc) by South Africa The Good News and published under a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.
