Teaching Peace: Lessons from a Peace Studies Curriculum of the Progressive Era

Abstract

The historical roots of peace education as a school reform movement can be traced to the progressive era in the United States. This essay offers a content analysis of the first comprehensive peace education curriculum, published in 1914 by the American School Peace League, under the direction of Fannie Fern Andrews. Examining the curriculum raises fundamental questions about the teacher's role in social change; it also reveals ideological tensions within the peace movement of the WorldWar I period.