Education for peace in a peace-friendly context: testing a virtual learning tool to improve teachers’ competencies for conflict transformation in Colombia

Colombian society has been exposed to decades of sociopolitical violence with apparent effects on its social infrastructure that may inadvertently lead to more structural, cultural, and interpersonal forms of violence. Peacebuilding efforts are required, and education for peace plays a key role. This requires building conflict sensitivity within the school system and improving teachers’ competence-based knowledge in several domains. To achieve this aim, we developed and tested the ‘Eco-GesTE Virtual Learning Environment.’ Nine teachers (male and female) from a public school in Ibagué (an intermediate city in Colombia) completed 10 Interactive Virtual Learning Scenarios (IVLS) to improve emotional, social reasoning, integrative, and conflict transformation competencies over three months. They completed two conflict management style measures, before and after the intervention, besides a qualitative survey after the intervention. Non-parametric, paired samples Wilcoxon tests suggest marginally significant individual changes whereby teachers reported using fewer conflict-avoidant styles after completing the intervention. Qualitatively, participants also reported learning emotion regulation and listening skills, as well as feeling better equipped to handle situations with domain congruency. They also reported using more perspective-taking during conflicts. Findings suggest potential for competence-based knowledge online interventions to strengthen conflict transformation competencies among teachers and contribute to violence-free educational environments.