Now that you have some ideas about what peace education can look like and how you can apply it in different settings, look at some methods that you can use for your educational activity in the Materials tab.

Together, we will zoom on in 3 inspiring methods: Silent Exhibition, Living Library and Violence Barometer. 

Silent Exhibition

The first method we present to you is a personal favorite of the team who created this course. With the “Silent Exhibition” you can create an inclusive, lively and interactive space for discussion within a group – and nobody speaks.

How does it work?

The preparation is the most amount of work here! You need a space that is big enough for you to put different inputs on tables, on the floor or on the wall.

• Write down questions that you want the group to discuss on big flipchart papers. There should be enough space for participants to write their answers next to the question.
• Include other exhibition elements such as YouTube videos on computers that you place in the room with headphones, printed-out statistics, newspaper articles, quotes, cartoons, photos, etc. Place a paper next to each element, so participants can write their comments next to it.

Now that you have prepared everything, gather your group and give the following instructions.

• You are not allowed to speak anymore, but you can communicate with each other via writing on the papers in the room.
• If you agree with something someone else wrote, you can write a plus (+) next to that statement.
• If you disagree with someone else’s statement, you can comment right next to this statement. Feel free to stay anonymous.
• Depending on the size of the group and of the exhibition you created, you could give between 30 and 60 minutes for them to explore and interact with the exhibition.

Afterwards, have a debriefing.

• How did the exhibition make them feel? What did they learn? What surprised them? If your group is bigger, it can help to have the debriefing first in small groups and then to gather what they discussed in the big group.
• Feel free to also have a reflection about the method itself in your debriefing. Often, people who don’t feel so comfortable in speaking up in big groups find this method an empowering way of having discussions.

How can I do it online?

We have used this method also in online spaces. We recommend the platform Riseup Pad for simple silent exhibitions with just text or Padlet for creating more multimedia-heavy silent exhibitions.