Instituto Nueva Escuela celebrates the International Day of Peace

The United Nations Organization celebrated the International Day of Peace on September 21. This day is dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace, through respect for 24 hours of non-violence and ceasefire by the UN.

This year the theme was “Actions for Peace.” It is a call to action that recognizes the responsibility that each individual has to promote it. The UN establishes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will create such a culture of peace for all.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has declared that "peace is more necessary than ever. War and conflict are causing devastation, poverty and hunger and displacing tens of millions of people from their homes. Climate chaos affects the entire planet and even countries where peace reigns are shaken by enormous inequalities and political polarization."

From the Instituto Nueva Escuela (INE) we feel the responsibility of educating for peace through Montessori pedagogy that we promote, making it accessible in Puerto Rico.

Maria Montessori said “Everyone talks about peace, but no one educates for peace, people educate for competition and this is the beginning of any war. When we educate to cooperate and be in solidarity with each other, that day we will be educating for peace.”

Today we can say that in Puerto Rico we educate for peace, Montessori pedagogy is considered one that promotes peace, since it goes beyond the academic area. See the boy and girl as a whole and seek to work on all their parts.

When we talk about everything, it means that the child is accompanied in all stages of development, from academic, emotional, life tools, how to resolve conflicts, respecting life and working in the community.

The environments, which are the rooms, provide a feeling of peace with different elements and practices. One of them that is very beautiful is the peace table that is in every room. This table invites boys and girls to discuss any annoyance, any misunderstanding and to reestablish a healthy relationship between them.

In addition, Peace Day is an important day in each school community, so schools join the call and offer workshops to students on how to promote peace in their daily lives.

This year some volunteers came to schools and offered an “Actions for Peace” workshop using the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals as a basis.

Like the INE, the P.R. Rotary Club, the Supreme Court Foundation, among other entities, joined the call wearing white shirts, holding a minute of silence at 12 and inviting actions that show peace and not violence.