The union said it is critical this support is provided to ensure that schools remain safe, inclusive and respectful places for all.
AEU president Correna Haythorpe said the Gaza conflict is also being felt in Australia’s classrooms, staffrooms, and communities, which brings a layer of complexity for the profession in how to manage issues which may arise.
“Teachers are reporting increased tension and distress among students,” Haythorpe said.
Haythorpe said teachers are supporting students from Palestinian, Jewish, and other backgrounds, including refugees, who are grieving, angry, confused or afraid.
“Right now, they are having to help students make sense of complex, confronting global events, often without the resources or professional guidance needed.
“They are trying to teach empathy, critical thinking, and civic understanding in a deeply polarised climate, where even raising these issues can attract scrutiny or backlash, from the public, from parents and from education departments.”
It is the right of teachers to educate for peace through the curriculum without fear of reprisal or employer disciplinary action, Haythorpe implored.
“They need reassurance that they will be backed when they engage students thoughtfully in discussions about war, justice and peace.”
Today, the AEU has called on all governments to ensure that:
- Teachers have the resources, guidance and support they need to educate for peace and to engage in respectful discussions with students and colleagues, without fear of hate and discrimination;
- Teachers have a right to engage appropriately and respectfully with their colleagues about community issues, including all global conflicts and in particular, the current conflict in Gaza, and;
- Teachers and other educators and all those who are enrolled in public education who are impacted by the conflict are provided with the support they need.
“Australian teachers must be given the professional trust, support, and protection they need to teach with courage, care and conscience,” Haythorpe said.
Peace education, the AEU said, is both about and for peace.
“It is a field that requires pedagogy and curriculum that is intended to eliminate all forms of violence, secure a culture of peace building and develop community and individual empowerment,” the union said in a statement.
To be effective, the union claimed, peace education must acknowledge the intersections and interdependencies between global and local manifestations of violence and injustice.
Through its longstanding commitment to both the peace movement and the rights of children and young people, the AEU said it has an obligation to ensure teachers have access to resources and tools to educate about and for peace, without fear of censure or reprimand.
“Effective peace education relies on teachers having the professional agency to develop and provide teaching and learning experiences which call out the violence and injustice which is at the heart of war and conflict," the union said.
“The agency of teachers and their professional judgement, based on their knowledge, skills, and experience, must be exercised in a way which enables teachers to make decisions and act in the context in which they work.”
The union said it must be done without members being “confined by kneejerk political reactions or limitations on their professional rights”.
The genocide in Gaza, the AEU said, shows the critical importance of peace education and the role of educators to help students develop critical thinking skills and media literacy to counter the spread of disinformation, and to achieve communities free from conflict, with peaceful relations at the centre.
