Rethinking Peace Education: Workshops with Moon A-Young

Moon A-Young, co-founder and representative of the non profit organization PEACEMOMO, joined the 122nd Global Voyage as a Guest Educator to facilitate a series of participatory peace education workshops. Her approach, described as “peace education without teaching,” moves away from traditional lecture based models and toward a horizontal framework in which participants learn from one another’s experiences.

Drawing on her work translating peacebuilding concepts into public education programs, A-Young created spaces where passengers from diverse cultural and regional backgrounds could engage in open dialogue. Rather than positioning herself as the sole authority, she encouraged collaborative learning, emphasizing that peace emerges through interaction, reflection, and shared responsibility.

Workshops centered on experiential learning. Participants took part in hands on activities and simulations, followed by structured discussions that examined what they had felt, assumed, or overlooked during the exercises. This process highlighted how misunderstanding and connection can arise from the same encounter, depending on how people listen and respond to one another.

Life on board the ship provided a practical context for this work. Living in close proximity with people from many backgrounds allowed participants to observe how community norms form, how conflicts are navigated, and how cooperation develops over time. The workshops framed this temporary community as a small scale model for wider society, suggesting that the skills practiced on board are transferable beyond the voyage.

Special sessions were organized for younger participants, focusing on the often unseen power dynamics that shape everyday interactions. Through role playing and cross cultural scenarios, these workshops encouraged young people to recognize their own assumptions and emotional responses in real time, and to consider how these reactions influence communication.

Drawing on her experience as an educator and policy advisor in South Korea, A-Young concluded the program by offering practical tools for fostering dialogue in participants’ own communities. The emphasis was not on mastering a fixed method, but on cultivating awareness, empathy, and the confidence to facilitate conversations across difference.

Programs like these reflect Peace Boat’s commitment to education that is participatory as well as informative, grounded in the belief that peace is built not only through ideas, but through everyday interactions among people willing to learn from one another.