Peace Education in the Absence of Violence as a Foundation of Learning: The Case of Cameroon

Abstract

The study looks at how schools can serve as environments for peace in the absence of violence. It sought to encapsulate students' learning and how well they learn in hazardous environments that are fraught with violence. It was therefore aimed at investigating the effects of violence and the absence of peace on their educational and social needs and how this can affect students' education and learning, compounding global values. The research question was pegged on how violence influences the learner’s motivation in learning. It was conceived as a cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach. The study used structured questionnaires having defined and recorded operations in accepted conditions. These defined operations were assured through two pre-tests to ascertain their reliability. 924 students were randomly selected and used as the primary sample, and the structured questionnaires were used to elicit data. The collected data was analysed using JAMOVI and SPSS. The analysis was interpreted using descriptive statistics and ANOVA. The study's findings show high physical and structural violence, poor school quality, and a very compromised socioeconomic background of the learners. This situation reduces schools away from peaceful learning settings and social justice for the students. In perspective, such findings are a trouble spot for global values and more research needs to be carried out to understand how student learning can effectively take place in such precarious conditions.