Experiences from the 60s – activism for Peace Education in the 80s in Sweden
(2016) Before ’68: The Left, activism & social movements in the long 1960s- Abstract
- Voices today from the eighties – constructing peaceful citizens
The increased interest for questions of survival, focused in the fear for a nuclear war, also became the start for university courses and of Action research both in public schools, in Teacher Education and in the Universities in Sweden. The article is arguing that there are roots back to the 1960s and a continuity within Peace Education in Swedish schools, but also how the aftermath of the war in Vietnam and the stationing of missiles in Europe, the “Star War” highlighted deep existential questions of survival. The classrooms became a mirror, and reflected the values of the outside world. New kinds of textbooks were produced emphasizing the children as carriers of a... (More) - Voices today from the eighties – constructing peaceful citizens
The increased interest for questions of survival, focused in the fear for a nuclear war, also became the start for university courses and of Action research both in public schools, in Teacher Education and in the Universities in Sweden. The article is arguing that there are roots back to the 1960s and a continuity within Peace Education in Swedish schools, but also how the aftermath of the war in Vietnam and the stationing of missiles in Europe, the “Star War” highlighted deep existential questions of survival. The classrooms became a mirror, and reflected the values of the outside world. New kinds of textbooks were produced emphasizing the children as carriers of a hope for a better world and the importance of action, to do something as preparedness for the future.
During a national conference at Malmo University, Sweden in October 2009 six teachers, were interviewed about their experiences of Peace Education in the 1980s, within Teacher Education, in the National board of Education, as director of studies for the department of Research and Development, teaching pedagogy at Teacher Education School, teaching in public schools with issues as democracy, liberation theology and peace – and environmental Education. Some are also authors to textbooks. All involved in Peace Education during the 1980s – and some are still today. Four out of six are retired and their experiences were rooted in the 1960s. We would like to sum up the interview in three key concepts that – in our opinion - emphasizes the most important message within the Peace Education of the eighties:
•Experiences’ of an unjust and illegitimate word order and fear for a full scale nuclear war – a modern Armageddon.
•Action and willingness to act.
•To begin the peace work by working with yourself and your own values.
One member of the panel expressed this by a slogan of the time: “To find the global in the local and local in the global.”(Conference video 2009) That is why new textbooks were needed and produced.
We would like to focus on Peace Education with its own wide and interesting international field of research - Peace fostering and we will discuss the interaction in the eighties between Swedish schools and a wide mobilization for peace and disarmament in Europe as a discourse.
We would also like to understand the development of – Peace Education – as an historical process between classrooms and society. An historical perspective could be one way of understand and explain why peace and war has been highlighted in specific times and how the focus and concept of Peace Education has changed over time. An historical perspective could be helpful to understand the interaction - or the dialectic - between different actors, thoughts and dreams - stamped by the ruling values of its one time. In what narrative is the fostering of the inhabitants into peaceful citizens an important concept?
The focus within the paper on the 1980s is two folded; the decade starts with a presidential election and Ronald Reagan’s “Star war” and the NATO station of missiles in Europe, and the end of the decade marks the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the Cold war. The time has been described as a growing insight and a new kind of mass mobilization to stop and refuse to participate in the new enormous rearmament, in Sweden and Europe. Teacher for peace were founded in Malmö 1982 and a national organization in Norrköping at the 12th of May 1984, and thereafter Scandinavian and European networks for peace.
Something was going on in the 1980s. The question of peace and disarmament was rallying different groups in Sweden in a way the question had not done before. The fear and the willingness to do something affected people in general. Examples on occupational groups for peace founded during this period underline how the question were mobilizing people and emphasize how important the peace issue seemed to have been in people’s daily life; Teachers for peace, Librarians for Peace, Engineers for Peace, Film makers for peace, Journalists for peace, Women for peace, Police men for peace, Social workers for peace, Doctors for peace, Priests for peace, Nurses for peace. On a European level Generals for peace were founded by some NATO generals, just to give some examples.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/d536714e-ddb6-49f7-8419-57c652fd01ed
- author
- Johansson, Roger LU and Andersson, Irene
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016-02-13
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- unpublished
- subject
- keywords
- peace education, History of peace education, Sweden history of peace activism
- conference name
- Before ’68: The Left, activism & social movements in the long 1960s
- conference location
- Norwich, United Kingdom
- conference dates
- 2016-02-13 - 2016-07-14
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d536714e-ddb6-49f7-8419-57c652fd01ed
- date added to LUP
- 2019-07-26 10:45:54
- date last changed
- 2021-03-23 19:33:32
@misc{d536714e-ddb6-49f7-8419-57c652fd01ed,
abstract = {{Voices today from the eighties – constructing peaceful citizens<br/><br/>The increased interest for questions of survival, focused in the fear for a nuclear war, also became the start for university courses and of Action research both in public schools, in Teacher Education and in the Universities in Sweden. The article is arguing that there are roots back to the 1960s and a continuity within Peace Education in Swedish schools, but also how the aftermath of the war in Vietnam and the stationing of missiles in Europe, the “Star War” highlighted deep existential questions of survival. The classrooms became a mirror, and reflected the values of the outside world. New kinds of textbooks were produced emphasizing the children as carriers of a hope for a better world and the importance of action, to do something as preparedness for the future.<br/><br/>During a national conference at Malmo University, Sweden in October 2009 six teachers, were interviewed about their experiences of Peace Education in the 1980s, within Teacher Education, in the National board of Education, as director of studies for the department of Research and Development, teaching pedagogy at Teacher Education School, teaching in public schools with issues as democracy, liberation theology and peace – and environmental Education. Some are also authors to textbooks. All involved in Peace Education during the 1980s – and some are still today. Four out of six are retired and their experiences were rooted in the 1960s. We would like to sum up the interview in three key concepts that – in our opinion - emphasizes the most important message within the Peace Education of the eighties:<br/>•Experiences’ of an unjust and illegitimate word order and fear for a full scale nuclear war – a modern Armageddon. <br/>•Action and willingness to act.<br/>•To begin the peace work by working with yourself and your own values.<br/><br/>One member of the panel expressed this by a slogan of the time: “To find the global in the local and local in the global.”(Conference video 2009) That is why new textbooks were needed and produced. <br/>We would like to focus on Peace Education with its own wide and interesting international field of research - Peace fostering and we will discuss the interaction in the eighties between Swedish schools and a wide mobilization for peace and disarmament in Europe as a discourse. <br/>We would also like to understand the development of – Peace Education – as an historical process between classrooms and society. An historical perspective could be one way of understand and explain why peace and war has been highlighted in specific times and how the focus and concept of Peace Education has changed over time. An historical perspective could be helpful to understand the interaction - or the dialectic - between different actors, thoughts and dreams - stamped by the ruling values of its one time. In what narrative is the fostering of the inhabitants into peaceful citizens an important concept? <br/><br/>The focus within the paper on the 1980s is two folded; the decade starts with a presidential election and Ronald Reagan’s “Star war” and the NATO station of missiles in Europe, and the end of the decade marks the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the Cold war. The time has been described as a growing insight and a new kind of mass mobilization to stop and refuse to participate in the new enormous rearmament, in Sweden and Europe. Teacher for peace were founded in Malmö 1982 and a national organization in Norrköping at the 12th of May 1984, and thereafter Scandinavian and European networks for peace.<br/><br/>Something was going on in the 1980s. The question of peace and disarmament was rallying different groups in Sweden in a way the question had not done before. The fear and the willingness to do something affected people in general. Examples on occupational groups for peace founded during this period underline how the question were mobilizing people and emphasize how important the peace issue seemed to have been in people’s daily life; Teachers for peace, Librarians for Peace, Engineers for Peace, Film makers for peace, Journalists for peace, Women for peace, Police men for peace, Social workers for peace, Doctors for peace, Priests for peace, Nurses for peace. On a European level Generals for peace were founded by some NATO generals, just to give some examples. <br/>}},
author = {{Johansson, Roger and Andersson, Irene}},
keywords = {{peace education; History of peace education; Sweden history of peace activism}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
title = {{Experiences from the 60s – activism for Peace Education in the 80s in Sweden}},
year = {{2016}},
}