In the second of our conversation with Matt Meyer, he shares some insights on bringing peace education into the classroom. Professor Meyer explains, “If one understands, if one thinks about the power of love and the power of hate, the power of passion in one's own pedagogy, and in one's own life and movement building, then one will have access to a greater range of more powerful tools than if one was unconscious of these very important forces.”  

He continues, “If you go in with respect, with the truth, with your own honest self, no matter what you teach, you will most likely get it back from at least the vast majority of students you're teaching. And to me that says a lot, not just about how to become a good teacher, but how to become a good organizer and a good person.” 

Matt Meyer is a New York City-based educator, activist, and author, is coordinator of the War Resisters International Africa Support Network, and United Nations/ECOSOC representative of the International Peace Research Association.

The audio from this interview is from a series of video reflections that were posted on the Ikeda Center YouTube page in Spring 2016.