Peace Education in Higher Education: Awareness, Attitudes, and Predictors of Student Engagement

Abstract

In an era of increasing global unrest and polarization, peace education has become a vital tool for fostering empathy, critical thinking, and civic engagement among young people. This study examines the levels of awareness and attitudes of university students toward peace education, particularly across five dimensions: conceptual understanding, relevance, application, policy awareness, and self-assessment. Anchored in Social Learning Theory, Transformative Learning Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Human Needs Theory, the research utilized a quantitative descriptive-correlational design. Data were collected from 298 students at West Visayas State University-Himamaylan City Campus in Negros Occidental, Philippines using a validated, researcher-developed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics revealed that students were highly to very highly aware across all dimensions, with the highest mean scores in conceptual understanding and awareness of scope. Attitudes toward peace education were also very positive (M = 4.62), indicating strong student support for its integration into campus life. A significant and strong positive relationship was found between awareness and willingness to engage in peace initiatives (r = 0.81, p < .001), with regression analysis showing that awareness accounted for 65% of the variance in engagement. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening awareness as a foundation for active student participation. The study recommends the establishment of a Campus Peace Education Program and the enhancement of curricular and co-curricular strategies to foster sustained engagement. Results contribute to the growing body of literature supporting peace education in higher education and provide empirical evidence for policy development and program implementation in Philippine universities.