Local capacity-building programs equip a broad range of educators, artists, and community leaders with skills, resources, and support to promote critical and creative thinking, cross-cultural understanding, and the peaceful transformation of conflict.
We offer half-day and evening workshops, two- and three-day overnight workshops, two-week Educator Courses at the Seeds of Peace Camp, and multi-year Train the Trainers initiatives.
Our capacity-building programs are divided into three thematic streams:
PEACEFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Each year Seeds of Peace conducts workshops that empower educators to create peaceful learning environments in the communities in which we work. These trainings offer participants personal care and support in their roles as models and mentors, as well as theoretical knowledge and practical skills to encourage active learning, imagination, effective communication, youth leadership, and healthy methods for coping with trauma.
ARTS INTEGRATION
Our Arts Integration programs grow from faith in the unparalleled power of the creative arts to facilitate deep self-expression and enlarge the scope of empathy and understanding needed to build a more just and humane world. We partner with individuals and allied organizations to run workshops for educators and artists who wish to learn more about using music, drama, visual arts, poetry, and prose to create unique learning opportunities in schools, communities, and the larger public sphere.
MAKING HISTORY
Making History programs focus on the intersection between the teaching and learning of the past and the formation of current values and identities. We explore questions at the heart of the narratives that enflame conflict: Where do “we” come from? Who is considered part of this “we?” And what might this mean about “them?” These workshops and related initiatives gather educators who are interested in encouraging students to explore multiple sides of a story, to think critically about the past, and to reflect on their own potential roles in shaping the future.
“The way I treat people has changed. I have become more patient. I can see other points of view and put mine aside to listen … I have a better connection with students. They can put themselves in each other’s shoes … A piece of advice for new teachers doing this: being successful is not easy. Know it is hard, but know that you can do it and will.” — Palestinian School Principal & Seeds of Peace Educator