Moral Imagination and Conflict Resolution

Peace Education goes beyond learning about peace and at its core it seeks to develop capacities in children that will help to create a culture of peace. Cultivating in children a moral imagination and conflict resolution skills are critical foundations to build a culture of peace.

The peace mediator John Paul Lederach believes that moral imagination is an essential quality for peace-building in high conflict areas. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin defines moral imagination as a capacity to understand problems in a new and different way. The curriculum used by Ein Bustan and El Zeitoun works to cultivate the child’s capacity for moral imagination from the first moment the child begins to play in the kindergarten.

Kindergarten children learn primarily through imitation and imagination. Activities such as storytelling, painting, drawings, games, fingerplay, singing and circle time are presented in a way that develops a sense of wonder in the young child and reverence for all living things.

Encouraging the imagination through healthy free play between children serves as a foundation for moral development. Stories, fables, and art work that encourages a study of the noble potential of the human being are provided in the curriculum to cultivate a growing moral imagination. As these schools grow and as these children grow, the curriculum will encourage the children’s imagination and moral development until graduation.

Building A Foundation of Compassion and Understanding

Through the application of conflict resolution skills, we can discover new alternatives to violence-oriented thinking, new opportunities for problem solving, and new potentials for cooperation where none were seen before. The Way of Council is a group communication process that creates a sense of community and belonging while teaching children how to listen deeply to the other. Problem-solving skills are taught in a manner that is not based on forcing one person’s will onto the other, but in a way that engenders respect for the other while finding common ground and making decisions based on common interests.

Uncovering the Still Small Voice Within part 1
Uncovering the Still Small Voice Within part 2
The Way of the Council