Montessori Education and Peace: AMI President Alain Tschudin onboard Peace Boat's 121st Global Voyage

Peace Boat’s 121st Global Voyage recently sailed across the Indian Ocean, calling at the port of Gqeberha / Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Sailing onboard this voyage as a guest educator is Fukatsu Takako, Advisor to Peace Boat's onboard Montessori education programme, and she facilitated a special visit to travel onboard between these two South African ports by Professor Alain Tschudin, President of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) since 2022. He is also UNESCO Gandhi-Montessori-Luthuli Chair on Education for Peace and Transformative Solidarity, a Professor at Stellenbosch University and Fellow of St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge. Prior to this, he was Director of the International Centre of Nonviolence at the Durban University of Technology and lead consultant to the United Nations Special Adviser on Africa on the nexus and fast-tracking the SDGs. He has extensive humanitarian experience, having worked with UNICEF and Save the Children in child protection in Africa and the Middle-East.

During his time onboard, Alain and Takako together visited the onboard Nobel Peace Prize exhibition "A Message to Humanity," installed onboard Peace Boat through a partnership with the Nobel Peace Center in Norway. The exhibition highlights the work of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nihon Hidankyo, including portraits by Magnum photographer Antoine D’Agata and documentation of the atomic bomb survivors' efforts toward nuclear abolition. Professor Tschudin engaged deeply with the exhibits and testimonies, reflecting on the experiences of survivors and the ongoing importance of peace.

A special lecture was also held onboard, entitled “Time and Peace? Why High-Quality Education Matters”, wherein Professor Tschudin explored the relationship between education and peace. Drawing on the legacies of Maria Montessori, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Albert Luthuli, he emphasized the critical role of early childhood education in shaping character and fostering lasting peace. Quoting Montessori:

“It is exceedingly difficult to change or reform an adult. Childhood is the time for transformation, which is why it is so important. The character of the future adult is formed during this period.”

The lecture challenged participants to consider how quality education, combined with deliberate action, lays the foundation for a peaceful society. Professor Tschudin also highlighted the historical connections between Montessori, Gandhi, and Luthuli, illustrating how generations of peace advocates have exchanged ideas and worked toward nonviolence.

The theme of Peace Boat's current voyages, “Time for Peace”, invites reflection on the urgency of peace and the importance of investing time in cultivating it. It can be interpreted in several ways, including: "Now is the time for peace" and "It takes Time for peace." True peace is not merely the cessation of gunfire; it is formed within a society where we live alongside with others, from early childhood through adulthood.

Through visits like this and ongoing programs including the onboard Montessori school, Peace Boat continues to promote the SDGs, advance global understanding, and support education as a cornerstone for building a more peaceful world.

Pictured here Guest Educators Fukatsu Takako (third from left), Alain Tschudin and Tony Elvin together with Peace Boat staff members