Educators: Engage with Us This Week and Receive Free Resources for Your Classroom

Tuesday, May 8 this year marks National Teacher Day, sponsored annually by the National Education Association. The day honors educators and their role in providing quality education to students. It takes place yearly on the Tuesday of Teacher Appreciation Week, which is May 7-11 this year.

During Teacher Appreciation Week, teachers can get our Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators and "Witnesses to Peacebuilding" DVD sent to them free by participating in the Educator Forum.

Few professionals touch as many people as teachers do. Teachers can also play an important role as peacebuilders, educating students about non-violent conflict management and about today’s global challenges. The United States Institute of Peace and its Global Peacebuilding Center offer many resources for educators to support their work in integrating peacebuilding curriculum and concepts in their classrooms. Check out our resources for teachers below.

As a sign of our appreciation to teachers, we are offering to send free copies of our Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators and the “Witnesses to Peacebuilding” DVD to those educators who participate in our Educator Forum this week (May 7-15, 2012)*. Engage in discussion with your colleagues from around the world about bringing peacebuilding to students and we will be pleased to send you valuable resources for your classroom in return!

Resources for Educators

• Toolkit: Our Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators has been developed by and for educators to help introduce peacebuilding themes and skills into the classroom. The Toolkit can help develop enhance students’ understanding of, and interest in, global peacebuilding, and develop their skills and capacities to act as peacebuilders. The Toolkit is available in two volumes – one for middle school and one for high school.
• Activities & Lesson Plans: We also offer individual activities and lesson plans that can complement the Peacebuilder Toolkit for Educators or stand alone. These can help quickly engage students in thinking about key concepts related to conflict management and peacebuilding.
• Educator Network: Network, share and learn best practices, and discover and recommend resources for the classroom with other educators:
  • Best Practices: Ways to use our resources to productively engage students in learning about global conflict and peacebuilding issues
  • Educator Forum: Engage with a community of colleagues from around the world on issues important to bringing peacebuilding into the classroom
  • Recommended Resources: Films, books, websites and other materials you and other educators may find useful in bringing key concepts about international conflict and peacebuilding to students.
• Ask an Expert: Do you have questions about how to bring peacebuilding effectively to your classroom? Alison Milofsky, Senior Program Officer in USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, is available to answer your questions about challenges and opportunities in engaging young people as peacebuilders in the “Ask an Expert” section. She is a curriculum development expert and editor of our Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators. She has extensive experience working with students and educators. Click here to ask Alison a question today!

You may also test your knowledge of our Peacebuilding Toolkit and Themes in this word quiz!

*Please note that you must have a Virtual Passport to participate in our forums. We will contact those users who participate in the Educators Forum at the email address supplied during registration so that we may send you the Toolkit and DVD. We will not use email addresses for any other marketing purposes. If you participate in the forum and would not like to be contacted, you may opt out by emailing webmaster@buildingpeace.org.