Will you help build this site?

This website is:

  • a multi-media interactive educational tool to change the face of education to support more effective learning in a context of violence; and
  • an international networking hub so that researchers and educators can strengthen their work through connecting with others working in this area

Our goal is to:

  • educate a broad range of audiences, including adult literacy learners; other students and trainees; tutors, teachers and trainers; administrators, policy-makers, funders, and researchers;
  • build a deeper understanding of the issue of learning and violence;
  • reveal new possibilities for teaching and learning;
  • create substantial change by sharing local initiatives internationally; and
  • Intervene in cycles of violence, poverty and learning failure to build a better future.

The site was launched in Canada in 2006 on a shoestring budget; grants in 2007 and 2008 made it possible to develop it further and broaden the commitment to it. Although a substantial amount of new and adapted material has been added to almost every section of the site, much still remains to be developed. Over the next few years we hope to get funding to bring in more creative ideas and resources, as well as new volunteers and partners from all educational sectors and from many parts of the world. See “Who we are” to learn more about who has been working on the site so far! Will you join us in this undertaking?

Next Steps

Interactive content

One of our next priorities will be to develop more interactive content. We want to build on and add to existing animations and visual images, and add music and other multi-media material. Adding this content will make the site a more active educational tool to help students and educators explore and deepen their understanding of how violence has impacted their own and others’ learning, and of how to learn and teach more effectively. Are you a visual artist, film maker, musician, or…? Are you interested in creating something for this site? Let’s talk about your ideas (and where/whether we could find funding if necessary)!

Diverse voices and experiences

We want to make sure that the site reflects and is shaped by diverse voices and experiences. As a result, we are looking for partners and volunteers from all communities.

Have you created any resources which offer insight into the specificity of the experience of any particular group or into the commonality of our human experience? We want to know about the impacts of violence and the supports for learning to be used with different groups, ages, and in diverse contexts. Have you developed resources or approaches? If so we want to hear from you!

Selection Criteria

We want materials that work towards the website goals and that are:

  • interactive, powerful, and dynamic;
  • well-organized, timely, and easy to use; and
  • original, so we don’t duplicate other websites.

When we review materials that are directly about violence and learning we want to be inclusive—we’ll include as wide a range of items as possible. We will ask, does this piece:

  • help to broaden the theory and practice of learning in a context of violence?
  • provide nuance and complexity about issues related to violence?
  • speak to a range of audiences, including learners, tutors, practitioners, policy-makers, academics, researchers, administrators, and/or funders?
  • strive to attract a range of users who are open to learning from one another?

We want to be more selective with materials that are more tangential to the core issues. We will ask, does this piece:

  • use an anti-oppression framework and advocate for individual change and systemic change?
  • move toward our dreams of a world without violence and inequality.
  • deepen understanding and/or discussion of the impact of violence on learning?
  • highlight practices and research that are rooted in people’s lived experiences?
  • include marginalized voices?

When we post your materials, we will work closely with you to make sure we have all the correct acknowledgements and references and that you approve editing and formatting changes.

[Note: We prefer materials from the not-for-profit sector and do not make commercial endorsements.]

Please join us!

Will you help develop this website? Please post your ideas, comments and questions in the forum or by email. Send your materials and your ideas to Jenny Horsman, Coordinator, Learning and Violence Website: jenny@learningandviolence.net.