--- title: Three Christian school educators discuss teaching peace amid division and exclusion url: https://www.faithfulnews.com/en/three-christian-school-educators-discuss-teaching-peace-amid-division-and-exclusion published: 2026-11-13T17:49:23+00:00 language: en section: World Church source: https://christianpress.jp/heiwa1111/ organizations: Hiroshima Jogakuin Middle and High School, Nijima Gakuen Junior College, Keiwa Gakuen High School publisher: FaithfulNews --- # Three Christian school educators discuss teaching peace amid division and exclusion Educators from three Christian schools in Japan gathered to discuss how to teach peace to young people in an era of division and exclusion. The conversation brought together a social studies teacher from Hiroshima Jogakuin Middle and High School, a lecturer and pastor from Nijima Gakuen Junior College, and a Bible studies teacher from Keiwa Gakuen High School. The educators noted that direct encounters with war survivors are becoming rarer while young people increasingly access vast amounts of information online. Students often encounter unreliable information on the internet and may form prejudiced views about foreign people before meeting them in person. One teacher described how students sometimes present suspicious information found online as fact, making it difficult to teach critical evaluation of sources without discouraging internet use entirely. Hiroshima Jogakuin, located approximately one kilometer from the hypocenter of the atomic bombing, has incorporated peace education into its curriculum since the 1970s. The school structures peace learning across six years of middle and high school, adjusted to students' developmental stages. Students learn about the atomic bombing from multiple perspectives, including those of the United States and Asian countries, and consider Japan's wartime responsibilities including treatment of prisoners and colonial rule. Keiwa Gakuen High School does not have a unified peace-focused curriculum but addresses peace throughout Bible studies classes and school life. All students take weekly Bible classes, with first-year students studying the New Testament, second-year students the Old Testament, and third-year students examining contemporary issues. The school also invites journalists who have covered conflicts and arranges visits to Hiroshima and Okinawa. Nijima Gakuen Junior College offers a required first-year course on Christian introduction and an elective peace studies course with thirty to forty students. The instructor uses the concept of positive and negative peace developed by peace scholar Johan Galtung, and addresses topics including Auschwitz, testimony from atomic bomb survivors, and the work of Tetsu Nakamura. The course also examines incidents such as the attack at a disability care facility in Sagamihara to explore questions about the value of life. The educators emphasized that peace education extends beyond war to include coexistence with foreign people and people with disabilities. They noted that some public schools face pressure to avoid discussing peace, war, and politics, but Christian schools have a responsibility to engage these topics seriously. One teacher described how students from different countries engaged in heated debate about comfort women and territorial disputes during a Korea exchange program, but afterward walked together arm in arm, demonstrating that people can become neighbors despite disagreeing. The educators discussed challenges in presenting diverse viewpoints without imposing conclusions. They work to help students encounter different perspectives and develop their own thinking based on facts rather than receiving predetermined answers. One school operates a children's food bank through a church and arranges visits to Asia Institute to expose students to different cultures and backgrounds. Another school accommodates Muslim students' prayer needs while maintaining the school's Christian identity. The educators expressed concern that emphasis on academic achievement and economic productivity may overshadow attention to individual dignity and the value of human life. They argued that Christian schools must continue asking students difficult questions and helping them recognize that people everywhere face hardship, that weakness is acceptable, and that mutual support is essential to living together. ## This story in other languages - [Português (Brasil)](https://www.faithfulnews.com/pt-br/educadores-de-escolas-cristas-discutem-como-ensinar-paz-em-era-de-divisao-e-exclusao)