From Conflict to Consensus: The Pedagogies of Peace Kathleen Ciez-Volz
Florida State College at Jacksonville Journal of Higher Education Management, 36(2), 4-19 (ISSN 2640-7515). © Copyright 2021 by the American Association of University Administrators. Permission to reprint for academic/scholarly purposes is unrestricted provided this statement appears on all duplicated copies. All other rights reserved.
To engage in a study of conflict resolution, educators might begin by recalling a biblical parable whose use of irony and hyperbole dramatizes divisiveness at its extreme. In the book of I Kings from the Old Testament, two women quarrel over the identity of an infant boy, each claiming to be his mother. Unable to resolve their differences, the disputants seek the counsel of King Solomon, who, upon listening to their conflicting accounts, orders them to bring him a sword. He then issues the following command: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other” (New International Version Bible, 2011, I Kings 3:25). In this exaggerated scenario, the king proposes a concession through which each woman will receive half of a dead baby. The king’s disarming order about halving the baby exposes the opposing motivations of the women. Moved by love for her son, the rightful mother exclaims, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” while the imposter cries, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” (I Kings 3:26). Whereas one woman expresses self-sacrificing love, the other succumbs to self-consuming jealousy. Later applauded by the Israelites, King Solomon’s mediated solution, however unfathomable, accomplishes the intended effect of revealing the birth mother who would rather surrender her son to the charlatan than lose him to the king’s sword. Having elicited the truth through this exchange, the king rules that the baby be returned to his mother.
As this biblical parable ironically illustrates, an irreconcilable conflict calls for a fair and ethical resolution. Inherent within the human condition, conflict manifests throughout today’s complex, inter-connected global society. From the persistent civil war in Syria to the recent storming of the United States Capitol, conflict bedevils humanity, requiring the relentless pursuit of peace. Those entrusted to serve as educators in U.S. colleges and universities possess a unique opportunity to foster peace on their campuses and throughout their communities. Designed to serve the public good by promoting both individual and societal benefits, institutions of higher learning present ideal forums for the practice of deliberative democracy and shared governance, both of which seek to promote common understanding among diverse constituents. Inevitably occurring within human organizations, conflict necessitates that educators hone their ability to manage and resolve it. Integral to conflict resolution is the cultivation of mutual trust through the iterative processes of stakeholder engagement and deliberative dialogue. Just as academic knowledge and cognitive skills must be learned, so also must the advanced leadership competencies of conflict resolution and consensus building. Facilitated through cooperative learning, peace education provides a pedagogical framework for transforming both classrooms and campuses into collaborative communities where diversity, equity, and inclusivity thrive. In addition to the cooperative learning methods of constructive controversy, 4
