I'd Rather Teach Peace

“A welcome addition to the literature . . . belongs in every library."--Margaret Mary Reher in American Catholic Studies  “In 1982, popular Washington Post columnist McCarthy was asked to teach a course at Washington's School without Walls. Responding to the suggestion that he teach writing, McCarthy said, "I'd rather teach peace," and that's what he's been doing ever since in every kind of school all over the country. He teaches his students about the famous (Gandhi and King) and about those who should be famous (Dorothy Day and Jeanette Rankin). He tells them startling things (since the end of World War II, there has never been a democratically elected government as a result of U.S. military presence in a foreign country), and he encourages them to talk about what they're learning. Here he offers a kind of how-to manual, explaining how he gets kids to explore issues relating to peace and how he motivates them to think creatively. Instead of theory, he gives us practice --and a sense