Toni Álvarez: "Armed men can't enter schools to conduct a workshop on safer internet."

BarcelonaIn a context of military escalation and in a world that hasn't seen so many armed conflicts since World War II, how can we talk about peace and war in schools? Toni Álvarez, a special education teacher and member of Demilitarize Education and CGT Ensenyament, proposes listening, dialogue, and denunciation for an education for peace and global justice, but also advocates addressing conflict. Although more and more time is being given to students' small, personal conflicts, he believes we focus on relationships with others and the question is how this affects the community, thus recovering the concept of security. "We understand security through weapons, through armies, and, in the end, what gives us security is having a roof over our heads, having food to eat, being surrounded by those we love, being able to relate harmoniously, and resolving conflicts through listening and dialogue," says Álvarez.

Is militarization present in schools?

— There is a presence of weapons and police forces, and in Catalonia, there is less military presence compared to the state. It's normal for Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) to enter primary schools with guns. In September, they bring the catalog with the workshops they offer while patrolling. From Demilitarizing Education, we questioned the various Education Departments that have existed since 2008 and told them that "we can't have armed people entering schools to teach a workshop on safer internet," and they told us it's part of the uniform. They are very clear that it's part of their way of doing things, although they contradict the spirit of Motion 55/XI of the Parliament of Catalonia on demilitarization and Law 21/2003 on the promotion of peace. The same thing happens in educational spaces such as the Teaching Halls of Catalonia, where they still have a strong presence.

What is the current state of peace education?

— It's as if we were left in the performanceOn January 30th, some of us perform a dove parade and sing peace songs. Unfortunately, there are increasing reasons to denounce militarism and war, which ultimately is a total disaster: the genocide in Gaza, the Dozens of wars are currently underway around the world or the continued increase in military spendingAnd there's no awareness that wars are built little by little, day by day, through speeches, publications, metaphors, endorsements, and who is given a voice: to soldiers, to epic poems, to the military. There's no talk about anti-military dissent in the same countries at war, such as deserters and mothers against the war. And of course, all of this isn't part of the culture of peace in schools. In part, because there's self-censorship. People are increasingly less willing to explain why they fear being seen as part of something they're not meant to be, even though the curriculum is very explicit about what a culture of peace and conflict are. Education has become depoliticized, and in the end, we're engaging in politics. Every day we walk into the classroom, we're engaging in politics. By action or omission.

But what has made teachers afraid to stand out?

— Often, teaching sessions are merely informative, and there's no clear understanding of what's appropriate to think. There's a lack of opportunities for coordination, sharing, and, I mean, time for dialogue. Socially, we don't think teachers or professors have a role to play when we really are essential. It's true that schools are certainly much more democratic with students than before, trying to include everyone, but this isn't the case with teachers everywhere.

Doesn't participatory methodology apply to teachers?

— Exactly. We're losing it with the staffing decree, bureaucratic management, and the loss of internal democracy in schools. Self-censorship isn't unfounded. Participatory educational projects aren't always available, and it must be said that many management teams also suffer directly from the bureaucratization of the department, along with the insecurity and disdain generated by the lack of resources in education in Catalonia.

And how does the current context affect it?

— Well, it affects children directly because many of them suffer from it at home every day, either because they come from countries at war or because they suffer the consequences of an exclusionary and impoverishing economic system, with evictions and unfair living conditions. But it's hard for schools as institutions to understand that it's their own doing, even though it's also theirs. Everyone suffers from war, except for a minority who take economic advantage. In the end, 99% of the people suffer from war, but 99% of the people aren't capable of standing up to it: we don't go to war, nor do we pay for it with our taxes, and we also criticize it. And schools must do this too. Transfer that historical anti-militarist knowledge that Catalonia possesses. We have experienced insubordination.

And you have also personally experienced it. How do you live? the debate on the return of military service?

— As a reaction. Many people have forgotten what military service meant.

Have you noticed a rise of hate speech in schools?

— It also happens that these discourses are encouraged by those in power. We have PRODERAI, which is a protocol for locating or identifying student radicalization. One of the things it says is that we monitor whether certain students, usually racialized, stop drinking Coca-Cola. There's everything, but what often ends up prevailing, as in militarism, are also these more testosterone-fueled forms. It's the era of clickbait And violence is widespread. It's more seductive. There are thousands of people in Russia demonstrating to say they don't want war, thousands of people in prison, as is the case in all countries at war with anti-militarist dissidents. What voice are we giving these people?

Lack of vocation, low standards... is the school currently the focus of much criticism?

— There's a lot of alarmist talk about schools. We rely heavily on results like the PISA tests, and there are worrying things in schools, but very interesting things are also happening that didn't happen before. My experience, and that of 90% of the people I know who work in education, isn't catastrophic; it's worrying. It's worrying because there are a lack of resources, because there are children you can't properly care for, because there's an exclusionary system. So, it's true that we're dealing with many more things than before, but at the same time, I also think: how well we're dealing with that? Because if we only focus on knowledge, which is very important, we miss out on relationships. In the end, society is built on knowledge, but also on relationships with other people. Do we really want a democratic society? Well, this comes at a cost: everyone having an opinion about school, but also making room for dissent.

You come from special education. What do you think about the inclusive school?

— It is a recognized human right.

Does it work as it is built or does it need more resources?

— Let's put them in. We didn't give up on it instead of asking for all this. But what's happening? The only activists for inclusive education are either those dedicated to it or the families of those who suffer. We have a very ableist society. What it means for these children, and especially for everyone else, to grow up together gives me goosebumps. There are traumatic, disastrous things, and there are beautiful ones that work. There are more than 5,000 centers, imagine that.