Peace Education and Action Center

TEACH PEACE CONFERENCE
April 9-10, 2010
"Where are the Rs in PEACE?"
Rethinking Education, Restoring Justice, Respecting Environment

Friday, April 9th  - 7pm
The kickoff for the Teach Peace Conference will be an interactive, 
intergenerational Peace Cafe with venues of music, poetry and 
dance designed to build relationships and further enhance the 
workshops offered on Saturday. 

Saturday, April 10th, 8:30am-6pm
Workshops will be offered in three strands on Saturday.  
The keynote address will take place during lunch.

Rethinking Education
We believe that teacher, parent, and student commitment and 
participation are essential to building a movement for a better 
future:  in our classrooms, in our schools, and in the larger 
society.  Schools are about more than producing efficient 
workers.  They are where children from a variety of backgrounds 
come together to learn to talk, play, and work together.  Schools 
are integral not only to preparing children to be full participants 
in society, but also to be full participants in this country's democracy.  

Workshops in this strand will explore making learning more 
relevant and meaningful and resolving conflicts through peer 
mediation.

Restoring Justice
We often leave the realm of justice to our courts, but justice 
is a part of our everyday lives, and hence it also belongs in 
our homes and our schools.  Restorative Justice (RJ) offers 
schools and communities an effective method to deal with 
minor and serious wrongdoings without retribution, shaming 
or isolation, while still holding individuals accountable for their 
actions.  With the potential of teaching conflict resolution 
skills, building stronger relationships and providing alternative 
approaches to discipline, many schools are adopting RJ principles 
to bolster their comprehensive school approaches to discipline.  

We will examine what schools in our area are doing to prevent violence, learn more about restorative 
justice in the schools and learn a new method of communication.

Respecting Environment
Peaceful Living involves appreciating the interconnectedness of all life, valuing our natural resources and 
changing patterns of consumption that are negatively impacting our planet.  The skills, aptitudes, and 
attitudes needed to heal the earth or to build sustainable economies and healthy communities differ from 
those that currently predominate.

Workshops in this strand will introduce participants to local environmental education resources that can 
help guide us in how we relate with water, plants, and animals as essential elements in our surroundings.

Dr. Gordon Bazemore will deliver the Keynote Address on "Restorative Justice in the Schools".

Gordon Bazemore is Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Director 
of the Community Justice Institute at Florida Atlantic University. 

Gordon has advised and provided training and technical assistance to more than 30 states and several federal agencies on restorative juvenile justice, restorative reentry, performance measurement, and victim services reform. He has served as a keynote speaker at more than 40 state juvenile and criminal justice conferences in the past decade. Internationally, Gordon has spoken on restorative justice at conferences in Northern Ireland, Germany, Colombia, Australia, Canada, Belgium, and Brazil.

For 20 years, Gordon’s research has focused primarily on juvenile justice and youth policy, restorative justice, crime victims, community corrections, and community policing. He has authored almost 200 publications including 65 peer-reviewed journal articles, 34 book chapters, 25 monographs and technical reports, and has authored three books.  He is currently working on a book tentatively titled “Pillars for a New Juvenile Justice: Restorative Justice, Youth Development, And Community Building".

Cost for the Conference:
Friday Night:  $10,   Students:  FREE
Saturday Workshops:   $25, includes continental breakfast and lunch, Students:  FREE
Friday & Saturday:  $30 if purchased in advance; $40 on day of the event

The Teach Peace Conference is an educational event aimed to bring together individuals from all sectors 
of the community for the following goals:

1.  To share and to learn with each other how we teach and make peace in our formal and informal environments.

2.  To create new strategies for teaching and making peace at home, in school, in the workplace and in the world.

3.  To encourage research, education and action towards building a positive culture of peace in our world.