Educating for peace in the early years: the experiences, perspectives and support needs of Early Years educators in two divided societies: Northern Ireland and Israel

It explores educators’ understandings of peace, perceptions of their roles in fostering peace within early childhood settings, the ways these understandings are enacted pedagogically and the support needs of professionals working in early childhood. Using a qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted across thirty early years settings representing a diverse range of educational sectors in Northern Ireland and Israel.

Informed by the theoretical frameworks of relational peacebuilding, everyday peace and contextualised peace education, the findings reveal educators’ responsiveness to social, cultural and conflict-related contexts, the centrality of trust, dialogue and collaboration and the embedding of peacebuilding practices within everyday routines and interactions. The study contributes new empirical insights into the role of early years educators in cultivating social cohesion and advancing peacebuilding from the earliest stages of education.