Building positive peace in schools

What is positive peace, and why is it becoming essential for a well-rounded education? We went to Pearson’s International School Leaders Conference to learn more.

Ledetta Asfa-Wossen

18 March 2025

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In a world where structural and cultural violence exist globally, Dr Hilary Cremin, Chair of the Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group, University of Cambridge, argued that school leaders should focus on building positive peace in their schools.“One of the important elements of education leadership in the 21st century is working towards positive peace and there are many reasons for doing this. It isn’t a nice to have, or something to begin once other things have got sorted. Peace is fundamental to everything that we do and there are several reasons why it should be a focus for schools, because conflict is absolutely everywhere.”Among her reasons for positive peace, Cremin cited systemic oppression, and a need for more compassionate leadership of the planet.“Educators and leaders need to focus on positive peace in schools because the world is a deeply structurally and culturally violent place. Even though we often feel that we have made progress, statistics tell us a very different story.”Cremin went on to set the scene by giving some examples of existing structural and cultural violence in the world today.“The richest 10% earn 52% of all income in the world, and account for 48% of carbon emissions. The poorest half get 8.5% of all income. In 2015-2020, women earned only a third of the world’s income (34.4%). There has been some progress but not as much as we’d have hoped and two thirds of the world’s income is still being earned by men. If we look at the UK, a shocking 3.9 million children (27%) were living in poverty in the UK in 2020-21 (46% of children from black and minority ethnic families). While a third of the global child population is living on below $1.90 a day.”She added that building positive peace in schools was critical to nurture compassionate leadership for society and environment and for future generations to thrive.“School curricula can often promote an unsustainable mindset – overvaluing abstraction, teaching a metaphysics of mastery and normalising catastrophe. We tend to teach that all the problems in the world, including catastrophe, are subject to some clever science and that at some point we will be able to get ourselves out of it with a technological solution.”Cremin shared how some schools can unintentionally perpetuate structural and cultural violence, referencing education attainment gaps and instances of inadequate inclusion. In order to help tackle these global issues, she said students need to be taught in schools led by positive peace.So, what is positive peace? Put briefly, it’s a combination of non-violent attitudes, structures and institutions to create and sustain peaceful, well-integrated and fair societies for all to flourish.Referencing Norwegian sociologist and peace academic Johan Galtung’s theory, Cremin went on to discuss how peacekeeping techniques are often used in schools and organisations.“In a school setting, you might have students line up in the corridor on the left in silence, or sitting on the floor in rows. Galtung believed some of these peacekeeping techniques may seem peaceful but create a negative peace, and that we need to focus on peacemaking and peacebuilding, not just peacekeeping.”In Cremin and Terence Bevington’s book: Positive Peace in Schools, ‘peacekeeping’ is described as creating peace around the school, and around people. While peace-making occurs between people; and peace-building focuses on peace within.

Conflict literacy for young people

Drawing on lots of theory and research, she explained how peacemaking and peacebuilding can be robustly applied in international schools.“Conflict is natural but how we respond to conflict is what makes the difference. We can either respond to conflict in destructive ways that add to violence, or learn to deal with conflict in positive ways that lead to transformation and positive peace.”Cremin discussed the value of ‘conflict literacy’ in education, and explored the difference between positive and negative peace as well as how to help students transform conflict into positive change. Positive peace being constructive, non-violent and working towards social justice.When building positive peace, she challenged the audience to think of schools as ‘ecosystems’ where young people can grow and thrive and discussed finding the balance between control and support.Cremin also spoke of the restorative and creative power of silence in schools when not enforced, but done in a communal way that encourages deeper connection, togetherness and understanding.Her talk elaborated on successful examples of positive peace in schools and discussed the potential harm to students by schools that unknowingly build negative peace.As an example, Cremin cited feedback from a student with behavioural difficulties, who noted some points about his school that poorly impacted him as being examples of negative peace. These included ‘the late office’ – where he had to sign and pick up his punishment for being late despite a lack of stability in his home, and CCTV cameras everywhere, which made him feel like he was not trusted and always being watched.“To create a holistic culture of positive peace in schools, we need to combine peacekeeping with peacemaking and peacebuilding. The way to do that is by focusing on peace from the level of inner peace, right through to outer peace, global peace, and ecological peace.”

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How students benefit from positive peace

Inspiring an audience of leading international schools and leaders, Cremin enthused that positive peace in schools is possible and being implemented at various levels globally. The final part of her keynote looked at how students stand to benefit from positive peace.According to Cremin, students who attend a school characterised by positive peace can achieve the following lasting outcomes that will help equip them for a future with much change in it.These include:Inner peace (wellbeing)

The ability to protect personal boundaries, mental health and wellbeing
Know how to accept, control, understand, and express themselves clearly

Outer peace (relationships)

The skills to resolve conflict well, using a range of strategies
Understand how to build and maintain healthy relationships and be able to communicate and collaborate with diverse audiences and groups of people

Community and global peace (citizenship)

Know how to protect a peaceful school community. How to integrate effectively and positively contribute to a thriving peaceful environment
Have the skills and knowledge to work for peace at local, national and global levels

Ecological peace (planetary care)

Be empowered to protect the planet and learn how to protect its ecosystems
The capacity to reconnect with nature

What is indirect violence?

In positive peace theory, there are three types of violence – direct violence, structural and cultural. Direct violence are acts of overt aggression and can include bullying, harassment, verbal or physical abuse. Indirect violence is much more subtle and comprises both structural and cultural violence. Structural violence is when aspects of an organisation or society indirectly cause damage to people or groups through unjust and inequitable treatment. While cultural violence are the discourses, narratives and beliefs that enable structural or direct violence to be enacted.

How to spot signs of structural and cultural violence in schools

According to their book, an example of structural violence at school could include students feeling ill from stress, excessive homework or testing. Or, social and disciplinary exclusion of students who do not fit the normative standard of dominant social groups.Signs of cultural violence could be an outdated and impoverished curriculum where students do not learn about other faiths and cultures or the achievements of women, indigenous and black people. Or, it could be as simple as girls and some boys, not having as much space to play as dominant or more popular groups.

Tips for leading with positive peace at school, work and beyond

Don’t attack people, attack problems
Promote listening and listen respectfully
Build trust by encouraging conversation
Work with local ideas of what peace means in your particular setting to ensure your methods and approaches make cultural sense

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