A Broad Understanding of Peace as a Foundation for Approaching Education for Peace

The aim of this article is to show the most important implications of a broad understanding of peace for thinking about peace education. In the first part of my reflections, I recall the narrow definition of peace, which has its roots in antiquity. I point out that it is inadequate for complex peace processes, and I recall selected traditions of a broad understanding of peace. I also point out the most important tendencies in contemporary reflection on peace, highlighting the polysemantic nature of the concept of “peace” and the multifaceted and dynamic nature of peace processes. In the second part of the article, I list and discuss the most important implications of such a broad understanding of peace for thinking about education for peace. These are: the need to appreciate the role of education in building peace and to recognize it as a factor that is just as important as the actions of politicians and world leaders; the need to think about education for peace in an open way, always incomplete and permanently embedded in human education; and the recognition that the fundamental mission of education for peace is to develop in people a sense of subjectivity, personal responsibility for peace and a sense of responsibility for peace.