PAZ ESCOLAR
Paz Escolar is an educational program aimed at students from 4 to 11 years of age under IMAGO’s umbrella. Young children learn negotiation skills through activities and games.
Paz Escolar is a program in Spanish available for urban and rural settings, and used by community educators to teach conflict resolution techniques.
The program may be conducted during school hours or as after-school programs.
In 2011, the first pilot program was carried out in three elementary public schools of Lima, Peru in collaboration with the not-for profit organization CEDRO (www.cedro.org).
In 2023, Paz Escolar was implemented in Trujillo, Peru, where 200 preschool and first grade teachers were trained and assisted in the teaching of Paz Escolar in their classroom. The project included 5,000 students and lasted the 2023 school year, bringing results in the fight against violence in schools.
Teachers were pleased with the academic content, as they also received support through the school year. Despite a promising outcome, Paz Escolar was interrupted due to a lack of funding.
Paz Escolar is now under the supervision of Centro Esperanza of Chiclayo, and is available free of charge for teachers wishing to erradicate violence from their classroon. For more information, contact noelle@imago-int.eu
Paz Escolar: negotiation skills since an early age
Classroom violence occurs in all cultures, at all socioeconomic levels, and increases rapidly. To relieve violence from elementary schools, 4 to 12 year-old students in Peruvian schools follow the easy-to-understand educational program geared at institutions eager to prevent school violence.
The role of the teacher
The teacher understands the material that includes activities, stories and songs to reinforce the theory presented during each session. The implementation is followed by the teacher throughout the year with the help of evaluation and monitoring systems with continuous measurements throughout the year.
Students learn new communication patterns and negotiation skills, resolving conflicts in the classroom in a peaceful and constructive manner.
The evidence of a need
A survey was conducted with 138 third grade elementary students and 7 teachers in three schools located in low-income neighborhoods of Lima, Peru. The survey showed:
- – Students showed a systematic lack of respect towards teachers and administrators,
- – 37% of the students mentioned the existence of violence in the classroom,
- – 44% of students mentioned violence at school.
Why trust me?
With extensive experience as a multilingual therapist and ten years of auditing work in three continents, I learned to use social skills, sometimes the hard way. My education and background in multi-cultural settings offered an awareness that has been useful and which is shared here to offer tools and solutions to professionals willing to expand their social skills and negotiation skills. These articles present issues that may affect us: awareness is a first step, happy readings!
Paz Escolar was successful in Trujillo
In 2022, IMAGO & CONLAPAZ agreed to conduct a pilot program of Paz Escolar in the four school districts of Trujillo, Peru. CONLAPAZ is a non-profit organization based in Trujillo which goal is to promote peace in urban and rural communities.
In 2023, 200 preschool and first grade teachers were trained and implemented Paz Escolar in their classrooms, reaching 5,000 children with concepts of peace, respect and personal self-esteem. Schools were spread in urban and semi-rural areas of Trujillo, where violence affects most neighborhoods, including the center and outskirts of this city of one million. Coexistence in a state of permanent fear is complicated, and its consequences affect educational institutions, classrooms, teachers and students.
One solution to decrease violence is education: Paz Escolar is a 5-year educational program against violence, from preschool to fourth grade. For each grade, the program offers 16 lessons independent one from the other, each bringing tools to enhance peace through activities, stories, songs, drawings. Paz Escolar also promotes teacher’s own creativity. Paz Escolar was not part of the Ministry of Education’s requirements, and teachers willingly chose to be trained and use the materials in their classroom.
The outcome was mostly successful although only 19% of teachers answered the monthly questions for feedback. Challenging family situations affected teachers and school-children with consequences in the classrooms. While Paz Escolar was being implemented, a group of psychologists carried out a survey on violence incidences in the families of the students participating in the program: a staggering 60% of kids live with violence in their homes.
Paz Escolar was launched by an enthusiastic team who did not find the means to carry out this mission forward. The project stopped at the end of 2023, and has since been closed.
Here is the comment of one of the teachers, Dina.
Dina explains that “Paz Escolar impacts students in a positive way by helping them adopt positive attitudes in companionship, love for others, service, autonomy, kindness, respect, and feeling unique and loved. Students get to develop emotional skills that allow them to express joy, sadness, love, enthusiasm. Thank you.”
Paz Escolar – Photo gallery
Slideshow of the pilot program in the disadvantaged neighborhoods of Lima Peru
Paz Escolar – Photo gallery
