Book Description

The period between the two world wars was marked by enthusiastic peace activity. The wounds of the first world war and fear of a yet more devastating war to come motivated many millions of people to work for world peace. Many members of the large peace organizations were teachers who thought that they could contribute to world peace by promoting "peace education" in the public school. This paper is primarily an attempt to find answers to such questions as: What were the central and persistent issues on which peace education base their work? What exactly went on in public school classrooms in the name of "peace education", and later in the name of "education for war"? What happened to peace education with the coming of the [second world] war? Who were the organizers of "education for war"? What were the central issues on which "education for war" was based? Should a public school curriculum concern itself with peace and war education at all? Most of the material in this paper was gleaned from educational periodicals of the thirties and early forties. The paper deals with public school only, not with private schools nor universities. -- Introduction.