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Khadim Hussain[1]

September 2025.

Abstract

Drawing on Johan Galtung’s theory of violence, Bacha Khan’s philosophy of non-violence, and informed by and synthesised with Paulo Frere’s concept of the ‘culture of silence’ elaborated in his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Maria Montessori’s model for early child education, Benjamin Bloom’s articulation of educational objectives, and John Dewey’s democratic education, this study proposes a Model for Peace Education to be implemented in the primary & secondary public schools in Pakistan and beyond. A descriptive model-construction method, with the help of content analysis, and scoping and mapping of the influential educational theories enshrined in seminal works, is employed. Conceptual, discursive and institutional/administrative mechanisms for the implementation of the model have been identified in the study. Feasibility, viability and sustainability of the proposed Model for Peace Education have been explored. Coherence, systematicity and measurability have been taken into consideration while designing the Model of Peace Education in Pakistan. Practicality and workability of the proposed Model of Peace Education in the current educational ecology have been adequately addressed during the construction of the Model. In the wake of the current internal and external multilayered landscape of violence in Pakistan and beyond, this model may be instrumental in nurturing a critical mass of youth to conduct sustained research and carry out relentless work for bringing about an individual and a society at peace with itself and with the rest of the world.

[1] The author is Director Research at the Centre for Regional Policy and Dialogue (CRPD).

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