Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The war in Ukraine is in the order of the day. Every day we are exposed to information and images that
tell of war scenarios and we all, without exception, absorb different war situations. In the educational
landscape, the question arises whether or not we should talk to children about this issue, namely about
what they see or hear on television and other media. The document "Talking about War", organized by
the Portuguese Psychologists' Association, starts by making it clear that the best thing to do is to be
available to listen to the children's concerns, talk to them and answer their doubts, trying to clarify them,
keep them informed and correct misconceptions. The depth of this approach depends on the age of the
child, their maturity and degree of development, as well as the likelihood of hearing from other sources
or in the family relationship with the conflict (UNICEF, 2022). We understand that it is a subject that
should also be approached in the classroom, with some care and reflection, allowing children to
understand inherent concepts and associated practices. We also understand that, in parallel, there
should be a concern to provide new learning opportunities, leading children to want to participate in
building a better world, thus being true peace builders. This can be done by trying to answer questions
such as What is war? Why is there a war? Will this war come to Portugal? What and who are the
refugees? How can war end? among others. This article seeks to discuss the results of a research
developed with young children, about their perceptions regarding the war in Ukraine and war scenarios.
The study is qualitative in nature and made use of audio-recorded reflective dialogues. The participants
were 24 children aged 7 and 8 years old, from the 2nd grade of a public school in the north of Portugal.
In a perspective of peace building and education for non-violence, the results show that these children
have a broad notion of what war is, and the scenarios associated to it, revealing that they are aware of
the violation of human rights. They also show an attempt to find different possible solutions, such as
dialogue and empathy, thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
Description
Keywords
War Refugees Children's conceptions Reflective dialogues
Citation
Pereira, Ana; Freire Ribeiro, Ilda; Mesquita, Elza (2022). Shadows and marks: The potential narrative of children about war. In 14th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies: EDULEARN22 Proceedings. IATED: Palma de Maiorca. p. 9019-9026. ISBN 978-84-09-42484-9
Publisher
IATED