By Alex Chiu
Once again, The Montessori Children’s Academy (MCA) will be joining with people worldwide to celebrate the International Day of Peace on September 21st. “Peace Day”, as it is sometimes referred to, began in 1981 when the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to have “a day devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples”. In 2001, the organization officially chose September 21st as its fixed date for the celebration of Peace Day, and the tradition continues on today.
Each year, the UN chooses a theme for the celebration, and this year’s theme is “The Right to Peace”. In our homes, in our schools, in our communities, and in our world, we hope everyone aspires to peaceful living. However, we know that peace isn’t always or easily achieved. Still, peace is something that we can all work towards with effort, practice, and guidance. Learning how to be peaceful is central to what we hope to pass on to the children we serve at MCA not just on September 21st, but every day.
Montessori education, at its core, incorporates peace education across all areas of the curriculum. From the very beginning of her research and educational practice, Dr. Montessori sought ways to educate the ‘whole child’. Every aspect of Montessori’s work was geared toward helping children in order to help the world because she believed that children were the ‘promise of the future.’ Most of us would agree with that sentiment today, and thankfully, we have Dr. Montessori’s guidance and time honored traditions to know how we can work best with children to facilitate a more peaceful world. Montessori’s educational methods and the materials she so carefully constructed aimed at providing children with ways to develop important skills and to work through challenges. The Montessori philosophy incorporates the essential ingredients needed to foster not only discovery and learning, but also peace within the child, peace within the classroom community, and ultimately, peace in the world. From Montessori’s teachings and example, we know the importance of preparing an environment for children where they learn about order, self-discipline, grace and courtesy, respect, kindness, empathy, problem solving, character, and global awareness, in addition to their academic lessons. This type of learning, this way of addressing the ‘whole child’, certainly is a path to peace.
And so we celebrate both the International Day of Peace as well as the values of Montessori education this September 21st! As is tradition, everyone at all three MCA campuses will participate in singing “Light a Candle for Peace” at 9:30AM. Should you like to mark this special day in a very simple way, you might consider taking a moment of silence at 12:00 Noon to join in the efforts of the organization Pathways to Peace to create a “Peace Wave” along with millions of others around the world to honor and inspire the work we all are called upon to do in order to be peacemakers.
As Dr. Maria Montessori said “Times have changed, and science has made great progress, and so has our work; but our principles have only been confirmed, and along with them our conviction that mankind can hope for a solution to its problems, among which the most urgent are those of peace and unity, only by turning its attention and energies to the discovery of the child and to the development of the great potentialities of the human personality in the course of its formation” (The Discovery of the Child).
May we all work together to create a world where everyone everywhere is able to enjoy and exercise their ‘right to peace’. And may we all help our children learn how to carry on this important mission. Wishing you all a happy Peace Day!
For more information about the International Day of Peace and other peace initiatives, check out these websites:
http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/
www.singpeacearoundtheworld.com
http.://internationaldayofpeace.org
pathwaystopeace.org
