Donor: Nonviolence International (Link), in cooperation with international network – GPPAC  (Link)
Implementation period: July-December, 2019

Background

According to the selected priorities of the GPPAC regional network in Eastern Europe, which were set by the network during its Baseline meeting in May 2016, its first priority is linked to the development of long-term strategies aimed at minimizing the conflict potential in societies and preventing conflicts from escalating.

It involves the development of peace education programs involving Moldova and Ukraine, as the continuation of the peace education program for Moldova / Transnistria, developed by GPPAC over the last 5 years. The activities will build on one of the most important practical achievements of the regional network so far – its ability to get officials from the Ministries of Education of Moldova and the self-proclaimed Transnistrian region for the first time to work in cooperation on the development of an educational course for the local school systems.

The main approach to achieve this goal is the integration of elements of peace education into formal and informal educational institutions. In 2018 members of the network have completed the process of developing a peace education curricula for the elementary school level in Moldova (including the breakaway region of Transnistria) as well as they assist in the development of such courses in a number of regions of Ukraine. They made a decision to further focus on a wider dissemination of the developed program in Moldova’s schools, with a long-term goal of having it integrated as a part of the official school curricula. However, this requires resolving a number of challenges:

– Properly integrating the developed educational course with follow-up courses taught on the middle and high school level. A decision was made specifically to focus on the “Civic upbringing” course, which is applied in Moldova schools starting 5^th grade;

– Finding ways of using “class hours” to apply elements of follow-up courses to the “Culture of good neighbourhood” program;

– Providing training to teachers on the middle-school level, who play the role of “class managers” in classes, where the “Culture of good neighbourhood” course was taught on the elementary school level;

– Finding ways to support regular publications of workbooks for children in elementary school as well as providing relevant materials for teachers in middle and high school levels.

Objectives and Activities

1. Maintaining momentum in the process of applying the “Culture of good neighbourhood” course on the elementary school level:

–  Publishing improved workbooks, with corrections made after an analysis of experience of the piloting phase of a peace educational course in schools of Moldova (Transnistria);

–  Demonstrating to teachers and parents the connection between the “Culture of good neighbourhood” course and follow-up courses on the middle school level

2. Developing a follow-up program for teachers of the middle school level, providing them with information about the key elements of the “Culture of good neighbourhood” course and ways that these elements can be built upon during the “Civic upbringing” school course as well as in the format of “class hours”. Providing teachers with necessary methodological materials.
3. Demonstrating the “Culture of good neighbourhood” program and advocating it on various official events and public forums, concerning teachers and parents, providing clear guidance on steps that may be taken to start applying this course in a typical school program.
4. Maintaining contacts and cooperation between relevant teachers, educational specialists and civil society activists in Moldova and relevant institutions of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian republic.

Expected outputs: The completed and revised peace education course covering elementary school level continues to be applied in more than 40 schools in Moldova (Transnistria). Specialists from the Ministries of Education continue their cooperation in the framework of developing and testing this new program. Overall, the work of the regional network in the field of peace education should become an impressive example of the lobbying and advocacy capacities of civil society groups, demonstrating their ability to integrate new elements into official educational programs on the national level as well as highlighting the transferrable character of CSO-lead innovative practices in the peace education field.

Expected outcomes (changes in behaviour of actors / institutions):

• At least 10 new schools and 15 new teachers begin applying the developed Peace Education courses in their work;
• At least 1500 new children in different parts of Moldova, including the region of Transnistria, receive basic knowledge about tolerance, conflict management, understanding of various cultures, etc., through their exposure to the peace education course;
• Teachers of the middle school level in these schools, who did not previously work with the peace education programs, but who now teach children that have been previously involved in the developed peace education course adopt key follow-up elements from that course in the format of “class hours” and other educational courses;
• Dozens of educators in Moldova, including the Transnistria region express their interest in the use of the developed peace education courses, as information about the course is widely circulated

Coordinator: Viorica Goraş-Postică