Workable Peace Curriculum

Workable Peace is an innovative secondary school curriculum, teaching, and learning project that integrates the study of intergroup conflict and the development of crucial civic and social skills into social studies and humanities classes.

Workable Peace provides teachers with academically rigorous training on teaching history and intergroup conflict, and provides extensive curriculum materials and resources. Using a unique combination of content and skill activities, Workable Peace enables students to learn about conflict in ways that enliven the imagination, awaken moral reasoning, and impart social and civic skills that they can use throughout their lives.

A decade in development and classroom testing, Workable Peace was developed by the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. The Workable Peace Curriculum Units consist of a series of seven curriculum guides for secondary schools and youth programs. Each Curriculum Unit reflects core concepts and content in State and National curriculum standards. They have been been successfully used by middle and high schools across the United States and internationally, as well as by post-secondary institutions ranging from community colleges to the graduate level. You can watch videos from the Workable Peace Teacher's Guide here.

The Seven Workable Peace Curriculum Units Include:

• Civil Rights and School Integration in the United States
• Managing Conflict in the Middle East
• The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States
• Religion and Nationalism in Northern Ireland
• Indigenous Rights and the Environment in Latin America
• Ethnic Conflict and Genocide in Post-Colonial Africa
• Ancient Greece and the Peloponnesian War

Read What Others Have Said About Workable Peace

“Workable Peace is a program that really does work! My students were involved until the very end and they learned a lot.”

“Performing in this role play gave me a chance to speak in class, and allowed me to have an opinion on what we were working on, which I find I can’t do a lot in my classes.”

“It is imperative that people learn how to deal with conflicts, and how to resolve them appropriately without violence… This simulation is one of the best things that we do in school.”

“Not only did this unit teach me about history, culture, and politics, but about peaceful negotiations and what it takes to create a society in which all members feel accepted and independent.”

Clients and Partners

Workable Peace has worked with several schools and organizations, including:

• Cambridge Rindge & Latin (MA)
• Newton South High (MA)
• Snowden International High (MA)
• South Boston Harbor Academy (MA)
• Brookline High (MA)
• Belmont Hill (MA)
• Fenway High (MA)
• Wellesley High (MA)
• Conard High (CT)
• Friends' Central (PA)
• Wilmington Friends (DE)
• High Tech High (PA)
• Maine East High (IL)
• Miami Country Day (CA)
• Foothills Academy (AZ)
• Rye Neck High (NY)
• Ames High (IA)
• School of the Humanities (WI)
• Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information
• John F. Kennedy Library and Museum
• Hopi Summer Program, Harvard University
• Youth Leaders International
• State of the World Forum Emerging Leaders Program