Under the umbrella of IMAGO is Paz Escolar, an educational program aimed at students from 4 to 11 years of age, who learn negotiation techniques through educational activities and games.

Paz Escolar is a Spanish-language program available for urban and rural settings, used by community educators to teach conflict resolution techniques. The program is conducted during school hours or within an after-school program.

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, the implementation of Paz Escolar begins in preschool and 1st grade classrooms of three districts of Trujillo, on the norther coast of Peru. The implementation is monitored towards a possible expansion in all districts of Trujillo.

Paz Escolar: negotiation skills since an early age

¿Why?
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.

The role of the student
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.

Paz Escolar opens a door to hope in Trujillo

In 2023, IMAGO & CONLAPAZ conducted a pilot of the school program against violence called Paz Escolar in the four school districts of Trujillo, Peru. 200+ pre-school and 1st grade teachers were trained to implement Paz Escolar in their classrooms, educating more than 5,000 children with concepts of peace, respect and personal self-esteem.

Paz Escolar was implemented in urban and semi-rural schools of Trujillo, where violence affects almost all neighborhoods of the center and outskirts of this northwestern Peruvian city of one million inhabitants. Coexistence in a state of permanent violence is complicated, and the repercussions 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 kindergarten to fourth grade, with 16 lessons per school year, independent one from the other. Each lesson includes a theme essential to the peaceful development of children and is taught through activities, stories, songs, drawings, encouraging any spontaneous creation coming from teachers. This teaching is integrated into the requirements of the Ministry of Education, organized by teachers’ preferences.

The results of Paz Escolar come from teachers’ interest in the support they receive with the implementation the program throughout the school year. The diverse family situations affecting school-children have repercussions on the harmony of classrooms. Paz Escolar helps teachers in the education of fundamental human values from an early age.

Paz Escolar is an educational philosophy that brings good results: here is the comment of teacher Dina from Trujillo which shows that Paz Escolar does work!

“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.”