Peace, Dialogue and Citizenship Education in West Africa: Non-Formal Learning for the Development of Strong Institutions and Civil Society

我的博士研究与发展援助委员会名单上国家的可持续发展有关。我研究了受冲突影响和脆弱社会中对话、和平与教育的相互作用。特别是，我认为对话在建设和平和教育话语中经常被视为和解与社会变革的途径，我对个人和社会变革之间经常采取的线性方法提出了挑战。我强调非正规学习空间和日常生活作为这种对话和潜在变革的载体的重要性，我认为这些空间在受冲突影响的地区发挥着关键作用，在这些地区，正规学校往往停止运作，但迫切需要和平与公民教育。我的论文从Paulo Freire和Martin Buber的作品中发展了一个“人性化对话”的概念，并将其应用于现实世界的情况：阿比让的街头讨论空间，Côte科特迪瓦。这些空间由两种不同的形式组成：一种是全会风格的空间，称为agoras或parments，曾经聚集了数百人；另一种是小型的，非正式的朋友和邻居圈子，称为grins，在这里讨论问题，同时准备传统的茶。在21世纪初Côte科特迪瓦政治危机期间，这些空间成为重要的政治环境，代表了学习和行动的场所，有时在2010-2011年选举后危机中转向暴力。这些场所也体现了政治和社会的分歧，在这些场所，支持瓦塔拉的北部科特迪瓦穆斯林重新聚集在一起，而广场则主要是为支持巴博的西部和南部科特迪瓦基督徒提供服务。在我的研究中，我在冲突后的背景下考虑这些空间，探索它们在和平时期的转变，并研究对话如何在不同的空间中发生，以及成员如何看待他们的参与是否有助于和平与和解。我在2014年进行了定性研究，在40个讨论空间进行了100多个小时的观察，并对30名参与者进行了深度访谈。调查结果显示，grins和agoras的成员实际上都认为和平是一个自上而下的过程，需要从政府开始；然而，通过社交网络和小型协会的创建，空间往往成为地方层面变革和改进的起点。这项研究还强调了在不可能进行群体间对话的情况下，单一群体对话的价值。例如，考虑到Freire的反思和行动的概念，研究表明，通过讨论空间，基层变革的场所实际上是发展起来的，邻居们会在那里形成协会，以应对他们认为对社区最紧迫的问题。在GCRF博士后期间，我将能够在此基础上进行扩展，同时将其应用到跨国教育项目中。联合国和其他发展组织最近就青年在全球和萨赫勒地区建设和平中的作用发表了重要宣言。作为教科文组织目前在萨赫勒地区开展的全球公民教育项目的研究员，我将利用我的研究和经验，为失学青年和有被极端主义团体招募风险的青年制定非正规教育战略。此外，我在和平与公民教育和对话学习方面的理论知识也将有助于学习材料和评估系统的开发。更重要的是，在奖学金期间，我将能够与该地区的学者、学生和发展实践者交流，分享我的发现，并将它们动员到项目、研究和政策中。因此，GCRF博士后奖学金为我以前的研究提供了一个理想的延续。

My doctoral research relates to the sustainable development of countries on the DAC list. I examine the interface of dialogue, peace and education in conflict-affected and fragile societies. In particular, I consider how dialogue is often viewed as a pathway to reconciliation and social transformation in both peacebuilding and educational discourses and I challenge the linear approach often taken between personal and societal change. I highlight the importance of non-formal learning spaces and daily life as vehicles for such dialogue and potential change and I argue that these spaces take on a critical role in conflict-affected areas where formal schools often cease to function but where peace and citizenship education is acutely needed. My thesis has developed a concept of 'humanising dialogue' drawn from the works of Paulo Freire and Martin Buber and applied it to a real-world situation: street discussion spaces in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. These spaces were composed of two distinct forms: plenary-style spaces called agoras or parlements that once amassed hundreds of people and small, informal circles of friends and neighbours called grins where issues were discussed whilst preparing traditional tea. These spaces became important political milieus in the early 2000s during Côte d'Ivoire's political crisis and represented sites of both learning and action, sometimes veering towards violence in the 2010-2011 post-electoral crisis. The sites also exemplified political and social divisions, with grins generally regrouping northern, Muslim Ivoirians who supported Alassane Ouattara while agoras generally catered to Christian Ivoirians, many from the West and South, who supported Laurent Gbagbo. In my research, I consider these spaces in the post-conflict context, exploring their transformation in peacetime and examining how dialogue occurs in different spaces and how members view their participation as contributing, or not, to peace and reconciliation. My qualitative study conducted in 2014 involved over 100 observation hours in 40 discussion spaces and in-depth interviews with 30 participants. Findings showed that members of both grins and agoras actually viewed peace as a top-down process that needed to start with the government; nevertheless, spaces often became the starting ground for local-level change and improvement, through social networks and the creation of small associations. This research also highlighted the value of single-group dialogue in settings where intergroup dialogue was not a possibility. For example, in considering Freire's concept of reflection and action, the research demonstrated that through discussion spaces, sites of grassroots change were actually developed where neighbours would form associations to combat the issues they found most pressing to their community. During the GCRF postdoctoral fellowship, I will be able to expand upon this research while simultaneously applying it in a multinational education project. The United Nations and other development organisations have recently made prominent declarations regarding the role of youth in peacebuilding, globally and in the Sahel region. As a Research Fellow for UNESCO's current Global Citizenship Education project in the Sahel, I will use my research and experience to develop strategies for non-formal education for out-of-school youth and those at risk of recruitment into extremist groups. In addition, my theoretical knowledge of peace and citizenship education and dialogic learning will also contribute to the development of learning materials and evaluation systems. More so, during the fellowship I will be able to engage with academics, students and development practitioners in the region to share my findings and to mobilise them in projects, research and policy. Thus the GCRF Postdoctoral Fellowship provides an ideal continuation of my previous research.