Pathways Toward Peace

Summary

This article examines how education can disrupt threats of conflict, specifically in the presence of ethnic diversity.

The authors present a historical analysis of Botswana, using methods of process tracing drawing on documents, in-depth interviews, and Afrobarometer survey data. It defines mechanisms by which educational redistribution and recognition can disrupt resource-based and identity-based inequalities that often lead to conflict. This model holds promise for conflict avoidance and mitigation in multiethnic states globally.

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Key Takeaways

We offer the following practical steps and actions based on this research below (click to expand).

+ For Policymakers

INSIGHTS		ACTIONS
In response to the question, “What kind of society would we like Botswana to be by the year 2016?”, two widespread responses from citizens were stablility and freedom from discrimination.	➟	Explore ways to promote a perspective of oneness made up of many parts, honoring values of both national unity and diversity and fostering both stability and minorities’ sense of identity and belonging.
Post-Independence Botswana chose to construct national unity through schools, with the intention of disrupting patterns of violent conflict that existed in neighboring countries.	➟	Consider the significance of decisions about which communities are represented in curriculum and language of instruction; and the potential for peacebuilding through educational redistribution, school-based initiatives, and recognition.
High rates of access to education across ethnic groups mean that most Motswana have frequent contact with government institutions and the social citizenship they provide.	➟	Leverage frequent contact between minority groups and government institutions to better understand and address incomplete attention to issues of recognition.

+ For Educators

INSIGHTS		ACTIONS
Ethnic diversity is no longer the real or perceived post-Independence critical threat to be managed by the state. The contemporary threat is limited recognition of ethnicity and language, perpetuating inequalities, and lack of full participation.	➟	Seek to disrupt existing inequalities in classrooms and schools, enabling full participation of students and families.
The recent period highlighted lack of recognition of ethnic minorities, especially in school curriculum and language of instruction policies.	➟	As educator communities within and beyond schools, advocate for practical ways that lack of recognition can be addressed.
Real change would only occur, said a University of Botswana professor, if education “promoted your language” and “the school system promoted your culture.”	➟	Mitigate marginalization by giving attention to issues of recognition in schools and in classrooms.

+ For Researchers

FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO EXAMINE:
Possibilities of alternative education structures that respond to culturally and linguistically assimilationist practices in schools and what the implications are for national unity that includes recognition; Perceptions of both historical and contemporary identity-based inequalities and their relationships to current feelings of unity and/or resistance, held by majority and minority ethnic group members.
Additional reading Training can help Botswana’s teachers manage multiculturalism (2016)

Citation (APA): Dryden-Peterson, S. & Mulimbi, B. (2017). Pathways toward peace: Negotiating national unity and ethnic diversity through education in Botswana. Comparative Education Review, 61(1), 58–82.

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