Peace education in a time of war: the Museum of Peace in Rivne, Ukraine as a space of memory making and hope

ABSTRACT

Peace museums play an important role in peace education by offering visitors informal and non-formal education. As sites of remembrance, peace museums are rich pedagogical spaces for experiential learning and reflection. Educating children in the spirit of peace, tolerance and harmony between nations has been central to the work of the Museum of Peace in Rivne in Ukraine. Whilst peace museums usually engage in peacebuilding and memory making in times of peace, post conflict, this article reports on the work of the Museum in Rivne in a time of war. Wartime brings difficult questions about engaging in peacebuilding in the face of military aggression and about sustaining memory-making work when violent conflict makes memories too immediate and painful. As explained in the article, the reinvigorated peacebuilding effort at the Museum in Rivne demonstrates that, in a time of war, it is even more important to promote peace, in opposition to war. Through the annual event ‘I Vote for Peace’, the Museum has sought to create a network of schools committed to global tolerance and peacekeeping, as well as offer Ukrainian children a space for talking about their experiences and their hope for a peaceful future.

KEYWORDS:

• Peace museums
• peace education
• memory making
• Ukraine
• hope
• informal education

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Universities UK International for supporting this collaborative project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project has been made possible by a Research England grant administered by Universities UK International, project number 11103, “‘I Vote for Peace’: Collaboration and Compassion in a Time of War'.

Notes on contributors

Oksana Marchuk

Oksana Marchuk, is a Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences and works as Associate Professor and Professor of General Pedagogy at the Preschool Education Department, Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities in Rivne, Ukraine. Her research focuses on the history of education in Ukraine.

Liliia Melnychuk

Liliia Melnychuk, PhD, is Associate Professor and Head of Department of General Pedagogy and Preschool Education at the Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities in Rivne, Ukraine. Her research focuses on the pedagogy of peace and educational practice.

Tamara Paguta

Tamara Paguta, PhD, is Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of Pedagogical Education at the Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities in Rivne, Ukraine. Her research focuses on teaching methodologies.

Yanina Pocheniuk

Yanina Pocheniuk, is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Roman and Germanic Philology, Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities, Rivne, Ukraine. Her research focuses on the competence approach in the teaching of English.

Agnieszka Bates

Agnieszka Bates, EdD, is Deputy Head of School of Education at Bath Spa University, UK. Her recent research monograph, ‘Moral Emotions and Human Interdependence in Character Education’, synthesises perspectives from phenomenology, psychology, cultural sociology and policy studies to develop an approach to character education which promotes students’ well-being by connecting them to the lives of others.

Yesid Paez

Yesid Paez, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Bath Spa University, UK. His research focuses on peacebuilding education, conflict, ethnographic methods, and local peace.

Anne Parfitt

Anne Parfitt, PhD, is a Research Fellow at the School of Education, Bath Spa University, UK. Her research focuses on small schools located in peripheral places, inclusion and diversity in community education.