Peace Education as a Missing Piece in Early Years Education in Ethiopia: Evidence from a Critical Analysis of 1st and 2nd Grades Environmental Science Textbooks

Abstract

Peace education (PE) is the process of promoting the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to
bring about behavioral and personality changes that will enable children and others to prevent conflicts and
violence, resolve conflicts peacefully and develop respect for self and others, appreciate diversity, have sense of
fairness and justice, respect basic human rights, and be aware of universal interconnectedness. UNESCO, UNICEF
and other competent authorities have recommended that PE, sometimes also called human rights education, values
education, or citizenship education should start at early childhood stage.
The objective of this study was to make a critical thematic analysis of the contents of grades One and Two Akababi
(Environmental) Science textbooks (Addis Ababa Education Bureau, 2006 E.C.). The thematic content analysis
shows that the books focus on the composition of human body (body parts, basic human needs, diseases), the family
(members and household utensils), school (compound, environment, rules and regulations, social interaction, not
playing on asphalt roads and care in crossing roads, cleanliness and community environment), we/man and healthy
living (food, being healthy, personal hygiene), Kebele (location, addresses, environment) and woreda or sub-city
(location, historical places/institutions and socio-economic institutions). Only about 3 pages are given to Tiru
ginignunet, mainly polite greetings. About 13 pages are given to child rights issues in the Second grade textbooks.
I have not come across mention of peace/selam, culture of peace (selamawi baahil) or other relevant topics or
concepts related to the development of peaceful behavior, personality, and culture. Concerted efforts have to be
made starting from the early years of education to work towards the development of peaceful personality and culture
of peace. As Blumberg, Hare and Costin (2006) state, ‘peace does not come with our DNA—to reach peace we need
to teach peace.’