Exploring Teachers' Perceptions of Peace Education and Its Integration into the Competence-Based Curriculum in Rwanda: A Qualitative Study of Practices, Challenges, and Transformative Potentials in Secondary schools

Abstract: Particularly in post-conflict settings, peace education has become more popular throughout the world as a means of advancing rights, empathy, and social cohesiveness. Following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis, it has become a fundamental component of Rwanda's Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), which aims to develop responsible and peaceful citizens. This study investigates how secondary school teachers in the Rwamagana District view peace education and how it is included in their lesson plans. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted with ten teachers and two head teachers who were specifically chosen from secondary schools using the CBC as a part of a qualitative research approach. The framework developed by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used to analyze the data thematically. The results show that educators see peace education as essential to helping students develop civic engagement, emotional intelligence, and unity. However, workload pressure, inadequate teaching resources, and a lack of training impede implementation. Although there is still a lack of institutional consistency, teachers use innovative techniques like roleplaying, story telling and debate to promote peaceful principles. According to the study’s findings, peace education has the capacity to significantly improve moral growth and national unity. To guarantee that peace education develops into a cross-cutting, sustainable practice within Rwanda's CBC framework, it suggests enhancing institutional support, updating curriculum materials, and bolstering teacher professional development. Keywords: Peace education, Teachers' perception, competence-based curriculum (CBC), Rwanda. Title: Exploring Teachers’ Perceptions of Peace Education and Its Integration into the Competence-Based Curriculum in Rwanda: A Qualitative Study of Practices, Challenges, and Transformative Potentials in Secondary schools Author: Mr.Pierre Chrisologue IMANISHIMWE, Prof.ZHU Hong, Mr.Eric SHEMA, Mr.Florien UWIZEYIMANA, Ms.Delphine NYIRIJAMBO, Mr.MUTABERA Nziza Epimaque International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online) Vol. 13, Issue 4, October 2025 - December 2025 Page No: 130-137 Research Publish Journals Website: www.researchpublish.com Published Date: 14-October-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17349029 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.researchpublish.com/papers/exploring-teachers-perceptions-of-peace-education-and-its-integration-into-the-competence-based-curriculum-in-rwanda-a-qualitative-study-of-practices-challenges-and-transformative-potentials-in-secondary-schools