EDL 640: Module 1

February 10, 2025

Daily Peace Action: Embrace Idle Time

Embracing idle time was the first thing that caught my eye on our extensive list of daily peace actions. I chose this because it is something that I struggle with and I feel that choosing it as a deliberate action would help me to be more mindful of it. I feel that I am chronically busy! It's hard to find myself panicking when I find a pocket of time that isn't filled with task completion it causes me to become anxious. I want to value mindfulness and being intentional.  

My experience with this peace action was that I was able to identify a moment when I had some free time (on a Tuesday - my dreaded duty day!) and instead of rushing to find a task to complete, I got a cup of tea and found a quiet corner to sit and enjoy my drink. I took a moment to check in with myself. How am I feeling? What do I need? When I later went into my classroom I noticed that I didn't feel as tightly wound because I had a moment to myself during a busy day! 

Peace Education Quote

"It seems that one of the reasons there is so much violence in the postmodern world is that people neither understand nor appreciate the power of nonviolence" -Harris and Morrison

This quote comes from Chapter 1 of Peace Education.  It stood out to me because we do live in a world where violence is front an center in media and the news.  It struck me as interesting because violence is often a topic, where nonviolence is not. What a powerful idea that nonviolence is certainly more powerful, but it is underapprecaited and we don't discuss the power often enough. I like the idea of approaching this course by focusing on nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution rather than dissecting the opposite actions and ideas. 

I also appreciated this quote because I felt that it solidified what we discussed at the end of the Day 1 course about what peace education is. I do feel that teachers have a civic responsibility to promote peace and nonviolence and gaining a deeper understanding will allow me to grow as an educator and as a global citizen. 

Daily Reflection

I do not remember getting direct messages about peace and conflict resolution growing up.  I am from a rural town in west Texas. I think that being tough or dealing with issues with a strong hand were emphasized over peaceful compromising or empathetic understanding. It was normal for people to bottle their emotions (ignore them) or to explode with strong emotions like anger or frustration. Even up until recently it was taboo to care about mental health and well being. 

Social Identity

Gender: As a girl, there are/were certainly expectations to be peaceful and agreeable. Women should not be agressive whereas men were almost actively encouraged to be.  Violence against women was also normalized where I grew up and the idea of "machismo" was/is still prevalent in Mexican American culture. 

Race/Ethnicity: Personally I have never experienced violence as a result of my race. As a white woman I am granted certain priveleges because of my race. However, I am aware that this is not the case for many minorities and people of color, not just where I grew up, but all over the United States and larger global society. I have learned a lot about how microagressions are ways that people can exhert some power and violence over people of different races. 

Religion: In west Texas, most people are Christian and that is the norm. I don't think that peace was highlighted as a virtue, but I do think that it is a part of Christian teachings to promote peace or doing the right thing in certain situations. 

Socioeconomic: I am not sure how it relates to peace but there is a feeling amongst the American middle class that if you are not successful it is because you are not working hard enough. I am not sure about the lack of peace but often people are not given empathy when they are in difficult economic situations. 

Personal Experience and Insight

I was in high school when 9/11 happened and I remember feeling uneasy and upset when I would see people with signs that said things like "bomb em' Bush". I didn't understand the feeling of wanting to get revenge by killing more people when so many had already died.  

When I was 17, my uncle killed his wife, my aunt, during a domestic dispute. As a white male, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was out in less than 20 for good behavior. Seeing this happen to someone that I knew in real life was very intense.  It taught me a lot about how white people are given very different priveleges than people of other races, even for violent crimes. It also made me hyper aware of the harm that male against female violence has to families and communities and how prevalent and normalized it is in the media and society. Women must always be on guard and aware of their surroundings because of the unpredictability of men's behavior in the world. My husband is sometimes shocked when I tell him that I'm uncomfortable in situations like walking to my car in a dark parking lot. 

Leaving the United States and living abroad has shown me that many countries do not have the same issues as we do in North America.  When I lived in China, I was never fearful because of safety measures such as the widespread use of surveillance. It made me realize how unsafe America feels as a woman. It makes me feel great empathy for people of color, especially women.  Turkiye has a lot of parallels between Texans and beliefs around violence and I can understand that people are resistant to change, but I do think that all people are capable of growing and changing. 

I think these experiences have given me a unique insight into peace education because I have the perspective of how peace and conflict resolution can make a society better. Giving students the tools to problem solve or become mediators gives them ownership over their own actions. I think it also makes them feel empowered to make healthy choices and to model these behaviors to others.