Finding Common Ground: Learning the Language of Peace

In the Prologue to her seminal book, The Peaceable Classroom, Mary Rose O'Reilley poses the question a professor asked in a seminar for teaching assistants: "Is it possible to teach English so that people stop killing each other?" (9). Both haunted and inspired by this question, O'Reilley answers by demonstrating that English can be taught in a way that will reduce violence if the teacher creates a "peaceable classroom"-one which encourages students to find their own voice, listen to each other, respect each other, and to make peace (23). A "peaceable classroom" teacher fosters consensus, cooperation, nurturing, compassion, and "leadings of intuition" (O'Reilley 32-35).

O'Reilley and others who have since joined her cause point out that in a "peaceable classroom" students are encouraged to develop a rich, authentic inner life (voice) so they can share their own stories and enter into the stories of others. Personal writing helps students discover the power of their voices and what it means to be human. G. Lynn Nelson argues: "Deny me my stories, as the modern, dominant culture does, and I will eventually turn to the language of violence" (43). Moreover, reading enables students to discover their inner worlds and identities by engaging with and connecting with the lives of fictional characters, by discussing the choices characters make for handling and resolving conflict, and by looking at issues from multiple perspectives. Reading, writing, and sharing stories help students understand and appreciate diversity in a positive and enriching way (Jonsberg 29-30; O'Reilley 117-118; Monseau 10-11; Quinn 103). Hence, students in a "peaceable classroom" use the power of language rather than the". . . force of fists or weapons of self-destruction to intervene symbolically in violence" (Bruce and Davis 121).

Mindful of the best practices suggested by O'Reilley and others, during the fall of 2004 we worked with a middle school language arts teacher to design, pilot, and assess a literature-based "language of peace" program in a highly diverse Chicago middle school setting. Students read, discussed, and responded to a number of young adult novels whose protagonists successfully work through conflict and hence can serve as positive role models for young people learning how to solve conflict in the classroom and beyond. Immediate post-research results show that the students learned how to communicate more effectively with one another, how to explore appropriate ways of agreeing and disagreeing, and how to show respect for each other and for those who share our planet.

This paper will describe the "language of peace" program, including a summary of the young adult novels used, the learning activities designed to foster a "peaceable classroom" environment, the instrument used to assess students' (both in the experimental and control groups) pre- and post-attitudes toward reading vis-à-vis the problem of peace/conflict, and a preliminary statistical analysis of the pilot study.

To help her students start thinking about resolving conflict and making peace, the instructor asked them to respond to three questions: (1) What kinds of conflict have you experienced? (2) How do you respond to different kinds of conflict? (3) What do you do to try to avoid or resolve conflict?

After the pre-reading brainstorming session, she read aloud from Carl Hiaasen's Hoot over a two-week period, modeling for her students the kinds of questions they might ask of other texts they would read and respond to in reading circles. The students were easily engaged in this hilarious ecological mystery and could identify with the central character Roy Eberhardt. They were fascinated with Roy's choice to help a homeless boy save a colony of burrowing owls from a crooked business operator and admired Roy's ability to outwit a middle school bully.

As the teacher read aloud, the class collaboratively created a large, three-column chart on which they listed conflicts they saw in the story, ways characters reacted to conflict in the story, and feelings and reactions the students had to the characters' conflicts. Students especially noted the various kinds of "bullying" going on in the story, perpetrated both by young people and by adults. They observed how some victims were too scared to share their plight with others. They also noted that one character seemed not to be bothered by bullying. Feelings and reactions to the conflict they saw in the story included "feeling bad," "confused," "weird," "curious," "sad," "scared," "amazed," and "happy" when Roy stuck up for himself."

The class also began constructing a word wall of conflict/peace words. As they discussed and wrote, they added words to the wall-words such as "bully," "unsocial," "disobedient," "defiant," "uncooperative," "rude," "bossy," "arrogant," "annoying," "bad influence," and "liar" as well as "adapting," "responsible," "helpful," "confident," "less self-centered," "kind," "secure," "cooperative," "dependable," "passionate," "sensitive," "mature," "sympathetic," and "good listener."