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Abdul Moeed

Teachers in conflict zones hold the power to unite or divide—shaping futures, fostering peace, or perpetuating conflict.



Education is often deemed as the great equalizer or the balancer that helps shaping minds and bringing them from “darkness” to “light”. However, this is not true when it comes to conflict torn areas where teachers as impartial figures have a dual role to play, i.e. by being in harmony with the state as well as be the testaments of oral history for the youth. Therefore, these teachers can be deeply exclusionary, non-neutral, and negatively impact the students they are meant to uplift.

The connection that this blog unpacks is between the loop that these students in the conflict driven areas go through in tandem to the teaching pedagogy as well as the “hidden curriculum” they are exposed to. In conflict zones, teachers play a vital role as a source of stability for students but are often entangled in the conflict themselves, either due to societal divisions or an education system shaped by the conflict's power dynamics. Such is the case we have encountered in Pakistan as well where in 2010 during the terrorism in the “FATA and Khyber Agency”, we saw education subjected to the dispersal in hands of the Mullah Leaders promoting exclusionary practices and brain-washing the ideologies of the children of the Pashtun by forcing the ideological bases of Tehreek-Taliban on them.

Moreover, the community leaders who then become teachers in these conflict-driven zones also have their biases such as ethnic, religious or social biases. Which then in-turns leave lasting impacts on students. Children marginalized by teachers due to their ethnicity, religion, or political views often internalize feelings of inferiority, alienation, or resentment toward the society that has discriminated against them. This is part in parcel uncovered by the infographic below which highlights different forms of class-room discrimination carried out especially in conflict-driven zones.


Empirical evidence of which can be found out from this study that was conducted in 2016 in Nigeria on schools in conflict driven zones, found that teachers often lowered their expectations for students from minority groups or those displaced by conflict, assuming they would underperform academically. This implicit bias widens the gap between struggling students and those who benefit from a more neutral, supportive education.

In a nutshell, while education is vital in coping and giving hope to students effected in chaos-torn areas, it is also essential to note that the dispersal of that education needs to be inclusive and eradication of those biases by the integral role played by the teachers as the delivery mechanism needs to be played rightfully. Otherwise, education can be a tool for promoting ethnic violence coupled with unequal distribution of resources, teachers as agenda setters and the biased curriculum. Henceforth, these discriminatory practices by the teachers in such areas need to be eliminated to bridge those societal divisions.

Hereby, I would like to end this blog with a powerful quote that highlights the significance of education in conflict zones,

“Education is a lifeline, helping children heal and rise above the trauma of conflict.”

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13 Comments


I really appreciate how this blog addresses the paradox of education in conflict zones, highlighting how teachers, who should serve as impartial figures, often become embroiled in the socio-political dynamics of their environments. It also draws attention to the "hidden curriculum" and the implicit biases that permeate classrooms in conflict-affected areas, which can marginalize students based on ethnicity, religion, or socio-political beliefs. This discrimination can lead to lasting psychological impacts on these students, instilling feelings of inferiority and resentment. Empirical studies, such as the one conducted in Nigeria, further illustrate how teachers' lowered expectations for minority or displaced students exacerbate educational inequalities. Therefore, it is crucial to consider how to foster an inclusive educational environment that actively works to dismantle…

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Teachers have a vital role to play at times of conflict as they not only impart education but help students partake in school, which is one of the normal aspects of life. However, this brings forth the concern that who is responsible for equipping the teachers with relevant skills to cope with the trauma of conflict themself as well as help their students cope with it without marginalizing them as the article mentions that teachers expect less from children coming from conflict. Teachers cannot be neutral actors as they themselves are going through the conflict, but the curriculum can play a role in ensuring that teacher bias does not interfere in the classroom.

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This narrative suggests the need to have properly trained teachers and staff in order to ensure that children are given the best kind of support. Surely, teachers play a large role in cultivating the minds of children. However, how hard would this be to ensure in a war town environment? How can we provide adequate physchological support for both children and teachers when the primary focus is surving the adversities of life?

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This blog highlights the dual role of teachers in conflict zones and how they can either foster peace or perpetuate division.The point about education being viewed as a "great equalizer" is contradictory to the reality in conflict-driven areas, where teachers can become instruments of exclusion due to societal biases or political pressures. Moreover, the observation that teachers often expect minority groups or students displaced by conflict to underperform academically also makes me think of the self-fulfilling prophecy—where these students may indeed end up underperforming because of the low expectations placed on them. This raises the question of whether there are any modules in teacher training that focus on how to support such students and create a safe, inclusive classroom space.

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thank you for engaging and definately that's the reality and on the pinnacle of teacher's role what's important to note is that the pedagogies that they undertake reflect their biases and can also act in further perpetuating these differences, but to answer your question from an over-arching sort of a framework i believe what's instrumental is that the teachers must be themselves be able to navigate them through the self-constructed realities of those contexts and propagate the agendas that are fair in essence.

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The blog correctly encapsulates how the teaching practices cast a shadow on the inclusive nature of education, in conflict-ridden areas. While it is a norm to think of education as a cope and hope for those suffering in conflict-zones, the article goes against the bandwagon and provide sufficient information with relevant data to convey the extent to which teachers instill ethnic disparities and how that come about in conflict zones. The way teachers bring with them their own beliefs, ethnicity, religion, and biases and incorporate that in their teaching practices does more harm than heal the situation. They are not cognizant of the impacts they leave on the students, and hence they discriminate among students which leads to more differences…

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that's indeed true and thank you for extending the main argument of my blog where i feel like that its vital to underscore how sometimes the power, autonomy or the scrutiny of these teachers is also highly undermined, hence its important to view it from that lens as well because some times in an over-powered institutions fuelled country, teachers might find themselves in a dilemma to be divided by and for the state too.

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