Coherence, a key element for an education in favor of social justice and peace
A few days ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a debate on democracy and peace with education students through a Dialogic Gathering on a scientific article by Dewey that discusses the role of education in a globalized world. As expected, very deep and intellectually high-level dialogues were created, which do not occur in classes where we do not have dialogic discussions.
One of the aspects we discussed was whether it is coherent to defend peace and democracy in the world if, in our own lives and daily relationships, we tolerate and exercise violence (of any kind). The students shared an example that illustrates very well how the lack of coherence makes impossible social transformation. In schools, peace is often advocated in the world through isolated actions, such as singing a song on that day or making posters with messages like “no to wars.” However, it was mentioned that among the teachers themselves, there is not always good treatment. This example helped us reflect on the role that coherence plays in our lives, especially when we are teachers, since, as we know, students do not learn what we say but what we do (Mayes and Cohen, 2002). This incoherence can lead students to think that what is said and what is done are two different things—that it’s easy to say we are against wars, but that relationships without violence (on a global level and in our lives) are just a utopia.
After the Dialogic Gathering, conversations continued with some students, and they mentioned that they were surprised to hear from others in the class with whom they had never conversed before. They realized they shared similar thoughts and feelings, something they hadn’t imagined before the discussion. They were also surprised by how very different, even opposing, ideas were shared in a respectful environment without confrontations. Then, I remembered two ideas from Dialogic Society that clarify that it is an incoherence to say that we are against wars while, at the same time, normalizing mistreatment in our everyday relationships:
“Even those who claim they cannot do anything to stop wars between countries are aware that they can do much to overcome violence in the contexts where they live their daily lives. They are aware of it, but often do not act on it.”
“In fact, there are only two ways to organize human relationships: dialogue or violence.”
As it has happened to many of us, until we participated in dialogic gatherings, we were often driven by prejudices toward people or groups we labeled as “different” from us, and we only sought dialogues with people from our own circles—those who, a priori, shared similar ideas or thoughts. We saw those we labeled as different as the “enemy.” However, as happened in the class’s dialogic discussion, when we listened to each other, taking into account the principles of dialogic learning (Flecha, 1997), we realized that we share feelings and ideas that unite us as diverse individuals and allow us to see each other in a different light. It also enabled us to experience that it is indeed possible to overcome violence through dialogue. Because of this, I became even more aware that these debate spaces, of both high scientific and human level, bring us closer to this coherence because we incorporate understanding through dialogue into our lives, even with people who hold different ideas from ours. This experience makes it possible for us not only to say that we desire understanding and dialogue between countries to prevent wars but also to seek it in our everyday relationships.
This search for coherence (in this case, in people who will become future educators) is a requirement for teachers to continue transmitting it in schools, and thus, contribute to making education truly a pathway for building more peaceful societies with greater social justice.
PhD in Education - Adjunct Professor at the University of Valencia.
For 23 years, she was a teacher of therapeutic pedagogy and primary education, and for 8 years, the director of CEIP L'Escolaica.