The CARCEIT research team working on the ICEP project “Positive Peace Education in Kazakhstan,” recently completed a productive and inspiring week at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Nazarbayev University's Graduate School of Education Professor Lynne Parmenter, along with research assistants Aizat Arystanbek and Gulbagira Toleu, and former research assistant Assylzhan Ospanbek who is now a PhD student at Cambridge University, participated in transformative discussions and forged meaningful connections with leading experts in peace education including Professor Hilary Cremin, project co-PI and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, during the second week of November 2024.
The team engaged in discussions with other global peace education experts and representatives of Cambridge Assessment on the development of a global positive peace education curriculum and future international collaborative work. Participants made commitments to support the project through e-resources, focus groups, and other actionable steps - exciting times ahead for global impact!
The CARCEIT team presented a comprehensive overview of their project, detailing its goals, methodology, and preliminary findings from 23 interviews conducted across seven schools. Using UNESCO’s “Ways of Being,” “Ways of Knowing,” “Ways of Living Together,” and “Ways of Doing” as organizing themes, the presentation led to rich discussion of issues shared across diverse country contexts, including urban-rural inequities, progress towards inclusive education, pressures on teachers, and the impacts of structural and cultural violence.
The team also met with teachers from Holte School in Birmingham and Carr Manor Community School in Leeds, gaining insights into the schools' approaches to positive peace education and their diverse student communities. The team also heard valuable perspectives on conflict mediation techniques, bridging educational practices in both Kazakhstan and the UK.
In planning for future publications, the team collaborated with Professor Cremin to refine their publication strategy. Focusing on the two systematic literature reviews currently in progress, they discussed the content and structure of upcoming articles on the conceptualization and implementation of positive peace education.
This visit to Cambridge has not only energized the CARCEIT team’s vision for positive peace education in Kazakhstan but also strengthened their collaborative efforts to contribute to global peace education initiatives.
