In a world where countries vie with one another for power, where religious extremism breeds hatred, where school shootings are becoming commonplace, and where children are routinely exposed to violent images and texts, is it any wonder that teachers feel frustrated as they try to help students deal with a culture of violence? Terrorist attacks around the world have made even more immediate our need to help students cope with personal conflicts and the reality of war. Many teachers feel helpless as they listen to their students express fear of attending school, concern about the future, and anger at those who would take away their freedom and way of life.

A Curriculum of Peace attempts to answer the question “What can I do as a teacher?” by providing a collection of eminently practical articles on teaching for peace that have appeared in past issues of English Journal, an NCTE periodical geared toward middle and high school teachers. With a focus on successful classroom activities such as conflict resolution, assertive communication, silent reflection, and simulation with role playing, these articles offer peaceful approaches to conflict that teachers can modify to accommodate their own students and classroom situations.

Essays are arranged in three sections—Peace and War, Peace and the Arts, and Peace and Our Schools—and teaching suggestions include interdisciplinary activities as well as activities for the English classroom. In a world that sometimes seems dedicated to violent resolution to conflict, editor Virginia Monseau urges teachers to help students search for peaceful solutions: “We can wring our hands and lament the sad state of the world, or we can decide to take a step toward peace, however small, by making a difference in our classrooms.”  224 pp. 2004. Grades 7–12. ISBN 0-8141-1006-1.

No. 10061