Kevin Kester
Biographic Data
| ID | 78489 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kevin Kester |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kevin |
| FAMILY NAME | Kester |
| SIGNATURE | KESTER K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Seoul National University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9025-3217 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 72 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Unsettling conflict and peace through teaching in higher education
This article serves as the introduction to the Teaching in Higher Education Special Issue (SI) on ‘Conflict, Peace and Teaching in Higher Education’. Conflict permeates contemporary life, and highe
Healing the scars of war
Peace education research in East Asia, 2020–2025
Four questions for teaching conflict for peace, justice, and sustainability
Conflict is an inescapable reality in contemporary life, and higher education (HE) is not immune. From armed conflicts to campus protests, university educators increasingly navigate volatile environments where teaching is intertwined with global struggles. Educators may face violence, displacement, or the effects of heightened militarization and censorship on campuses. As student movements advocating for peace and justice intensify, universities …
Peacebuilding through education in Northeast Asia
This article critically appraises the Common Curriculum Guide for Peace Education in Northeast Asia developed by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) under the auspices of UNESCO. The authors – who drafted the Guide – reflect on the development process, which involved researchers and educators in and beyond schools in China, Japan and South Korea, three countries entangled with historical conflicts and soc…
Postcritical global citizenship education in practice
From the inside out and outside in
Peace education as a form of global citizenship education in universities in divided settings
Peace education has been practiced as a form of global citizenship education for several decades. Since the establishment of the SDGs in 2015, this overlap between the two fields has been further amplified amid enduring and escalating conflicts that now emerge as key components of the contemporary global order. Through ethnographic data collected in four divided and conflict-affected settings – China/Taiwan, Cyprus, Korea, and Somalia/Somaliland …
What does “Asia–Pacific” mean to Aper? Toward high-quality scholarship and inclusive practices in international education
Toward a conflict-sensitive approach to higher education pedagogy
Higher education has become an important agenda in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. A major aspect of this agenda is the conceptualization of education as a tool not just for development but for peacebuilding. Yet there are few studies examining how university educators might be equipped as frontline peace workers. This study explores: How might conflict affect teaching in higher education, especially in and with students from conflict-aff…
Protecting and supporting children and women affected by gender-based violence
Given the well-documented toll of gender-based violence on the wellbeing of women and girls, schools and universities can be key sites of advocacy and prevention. Peace educators have identified tackling gender-based violence as a priority for the field. Yet, two gaps persist. Firstly, the lived experiences of female survivors outside Europe and North America remain little understood in research. Secondly, the severe structural barriers female su…
Honoring the Peacebuilders
Revisiting ‘Asia as method’ in education research
Learning from Asia
Prefigurative pedagogies for working toward peace and justice in changing times
This study examines the contribution of university educators toward prefiguratively creating tomorrow today in the higher education classroom. Educators often teach for peace and social justice through a variety of normative pedagogical frameworks. Yet, this linkage of pedagogy and prefigurative politics in university classrooms is frequently under-examined. Moreover, such research has not yet been conducted within the context of Korea. Hence, th…
Korean Middle School Teachers' Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Multicultural Education
Korean society has rapidly experienced increasing multiculturalism for over two decades. This qualitative case study explores Korean teachers' conceptualizations and implementation of multicultural education with/for multicultural students in middle schools in Seoul, Korea. Interviews were conducted with six Korean middle school teachers experienced in teaching multicultural students. The findings reveal diverse perspectives and practices of mult…
Whither epistemic (in)justice? English medium instruction in conflict-affected contexts
Higher education has become increasingly diverse in recent years as patterns of migration expand and grow. However, while different linguistic communities are brought together, English is often conceived as the de facto lingua franca for research, teaching and learning. This is perhaps especially so in ethnically diverse conflict-affected settings where English is perceived to be a neutral and unifying language. This study directs attention to tw…
Global citizenship education and peace education
This paper argues for a postcritical praxis in global citizenship education (GCE) and peace education (PE). The paper begins by critiquing the interlocking fields of GCE and PE as problematically framed around the three key pillars of liberal peace. Then, drawing on postabyssal thinking the paper illustrates that the Western-centricity of liberal peacebuilding is not only colonialist/imperialist but that it is an erasure of the other. The paper a…
Toward a Decolonial Praxis in Critical Peace Education
Diffraction, transrational perspectives, and peace education
This paper draws on the theoretical lens of diffraction to conceptualize a new approach to transrational peace education theory and praxis in the post-2016 posttruth political era and Industry 4.0 economic period. The paper reviews foundational concepts and approaches from key founders of the field – Paulo Freire and Betty Reardon – before turning to two contemporary peace education scholars – Wolfgang Dietrich and Hilary Cremin – to investigate …
Peace Profile
Betty Reardon, recognized as a leading scholar in the field of peace education, for nearly 65 years, has contributed significantly to the development of the field and its acceptance as a program of
Southern voices in peace education
Three gaps seem to be present within the literature of peace education: relatively little self-critique of the internal workings of the field; a dearth of studies featuring the personal narratives of peace educators; and an underrepresentation of peace educators from the Global South. To address these three gaps, this qualitative investigation explores the personal narratives of Latin American, Asian and African peace educators and critiques cert…
Transrational Peacebuilding Education to Reduce Epistemic Violence
We believe there are three crises facing peacebuilding education today. The first is the nationalism present in many peace education programs. The second is the continuing cultural imposition of We
Postmodernism in post-truth times
Positive peace in schools
In Positive Peace in Schools, Cremin and Bevington are primarily interested in illustrating how schoolteachers might integrate ‘Johan Galtung’s theory of positive peace’ (p. 1) into school life, in
Peace education and peace education research
Kevin Kestera* & Hilary Creminba Endicott College of International Studies, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Koreab Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Global citizenship education and peace education
This paper argues for a postcritical praxis in global citizenship education (GCE) and peace education (PE). The paper begins by critiquing the interlocking fields of GCE and PE as problematically framed around the three key pillars of liberal peace. Then, drawing on postabyssal thinking the paper illustrates that the Western-centricity of liberal peacebuilding is not only colonialist/imperialist but that it is an erasure of the other. The paper a…
Transrational Peacebuilding Education to Reduce Epistemic Violence
We believe there are three crises facing peacebuilding education today. The first is the nationalism present in many peace education programs. The second is the continuing cultural imposition of We
Toward a Decolonial Praxis in Critical Peace Education
Diffraction, transrational perspectives, and peace education
This paper draws on the theoretical lens of diffraction to conceptualize a new approach to transrational peace education theory and praxis in the post-2016 posttruth political era and Industry 4.0 economic period. The paper reviews foundational concepts and approaches from key founders of the field – Paulo Freire and Betty Reardon – before turning to two contemporary peace education scholars – Wolfgang Dietrich and Hilary Cremin – to investigate …
Southern voices in peace education
Three gaps seem to be present within the literature of peace education: relatively little self-critique of the internal workings of the field; a dearth of studies featuring the personal narratives of peace educators; and an underrepresentation of peace educators from the Global South. To address these three gaps, this qualitative investigation explores the personal narratives of Latin American, Asian and African peace educators and critiques cert…
The contribution (or not) of UN higher education to peacebuilding
This paper examines the role of United Nations (UN) peace academics in teaching for peace within the UN higher education system, and questions what contribution, if any, UN peacebuilding education makes to the broader field of peace and conflict studies education, and in the lives of the people it touches. The study draws on ethnographic data collected over a six-month period at one UN university in 2015. The data collection period involved parti…
The United Nations, peace, and higher education
Peace and conflict studies (PACS) education in recent decades has become a popular approach to social justice learning in higher education institutions (Harris, Fisk, and Rank 1998; Smith 2007; Car
Postcritical global citizenship education in practice
Protecting and supporting children and women affected by gender-based violence
Given the well-documented toll of gender-based violence on the wellbeing of women and girls, schools and universities can be key sites of advocacy and prevention. Peace educators have identified tackling gender-based violence as a priority for the field. Yet, two gaps persist. Firstly, the lived experiences of female survivors outside Europe and North America remain little understood in research. Secondly, the severe structural barriers female su…
Prefigurative pedagogies for working toward peace and justice in changing times
This study examines the contribution of university educators toward prefiguratively creating tomorrow today in the higher education classroom. Educators often teach for peace and social justice through a variety of normative pedagogical frameworks. Yet, this linkage of pedagogy and prefigurative politics in university classrooms is frequently under-examined. Moreover, such research has not yet been conducted within the context of Korea. Hence, th…
Korean Middle School Teachers' Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Multicultural Education
Korean society has rapidly experienced increasing multiculturalism for over two decades. This qualitative case study explores Korean teachers' conceptualizations and implementation of multicultural education with/for multicultural students in middle schools in Seoul, Korea. Interviews were conducted with six Korean middle school teachers experienced in teaching multicultural students. The findings reveal diverse perspectives and practices of mult…
Postmodernism in post-truth times
Learning Citizenship by Practicing Democracy
Edited by ELIZABETH PINNINGTON and DANIEL SCHUGURENSKY (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2010), 337 pp., $67.99 (hbk), ISBN 1443817228 Learning Citizenship by Practicing Demo
Peace education
Each year the Asia-Pacific centre of education for international understanding (APCEIU), operating under the auspices of UNESCO, hosts a peace education training-of-trainer’s program for teacher-educators from Asia-Pacific member states. In this paper, I examine through a qualitative case study approach the programmatic design and evaluation of the APCEIU training program, seeking to monitor its medium-term impact on educators in order to underst…
The contribution (or not) of UN higher education to peacebuilding
This paper examines the role of United Nations (UN) peace academics in teaching for peace within the UN higher education system, and questions what contribution, if any, UN peacebuilding education makes to the broader field of peace and conflict studies education, and in the lives of the people it touches. The study draws on ethnographic data collected over a six-month period at one UN university in 2015. The data collection period involved parti…
The United Nations, peace, and higher education
Peace and conflict studies (PACS) education in recent decades has become a popular approach to social justice learning in higher education institutions (Harris, Fisk, and Rank 1998; Smith 2007; Car
Peace education and peace education research
Kevin Kestera* & Hilary Creminba Endicott College of International Studies, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Koreab Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Southern voices in peace education
Three gaps seem to be present within the literature of peace education: relatively little self-critique of the internal workings of the field; a dearth of studies featuring the personal narratives of peace educators; and an underrepresentation of peace educators from the Global South. To address these three gaps, this qualitative investigation explores the personal narratives of Latin American, Asian and African peace educators and critiques cert…
Transrational Peacebuilding Education to Reduce Epistemic Violence
We believe there are three crises facing peacebuilding education today. The first is the nationalism present in many peace education programs. The second is the continuing cultural imposition of We
Postmodernism in post-truth times
Positive peace in schools
In Positive Peace in Schools, Cremin and Bevington are primarily interested in illustrating how schoolteachers might integrate ‘Johan Galtung’s theory of positive peace’ (p. 1) into school life, in
Diffraction, transrational perspectives, and peace education
This paper draws on the theoretical lens of diffraction to conceptualize a new approach to transrational peace education theory and praxis in the post-2016 posttruth political era and Industry 4.0 economic period. The paper reviews foundational concepts and approaches from key founders of the field – Paulo Freire and Betty Reardon – before turning to two contemporary peace education scholars – Wolfgang Dietrich and Hilary Cremin – to investigate …
Peace Profile
Betty Reardon, recognized as a leading scholar in the field of peace education, for nearly 65 years, has contributed significantly to the development of the field and its acceptance as a program of
Toward a Decolonial Praxis in Critical Peace Education
Whither epistemic (in)justice? English medium instruction in conflict-affected contexts
Higher education has become increasingly diverse in recent years as patterns of migration expand and grow. However, while different linguistic communities are brought together, English is often conceived as the de facto lingua franca for research, teaching and learning. This is perhaps especially so in ethnically diverse conflict-affected settings where English is perceived to be a neutral and unifying language. This study directs attention to tw…
Global citizenship education and peace education
This paper argues for a postcritical praxis in global citizenship education (GCE) and peace education (PE). The paper begins by critiquing the interlocking fields of GCE and PE as problematically framed around the three key pillars of liberal peace. Then, drawing on postabyssal thinking the paper illustrates that the Western-centricity of liberal peacebuilding is not only colonialist/imperialist but that it is an erasure of the other. The paper a…
Revisiting ‘Asia as method’ in education research
Learning from Asia
Prefigurative pedagogies for working toward peace and justice in changing times
This study examines the contribution of university educators toward prefiguratively creating tomorrow today in the higher education classroom. Educators often teach for peace and social justice through a variety of normative pedagogical frameworks. Yet, this linkage of pedagogy and prefigurative politics in university classrooms is frequently under-examined. Moreover, such research has not yet been conducted within the context of Korea. Hence, th…
Korean Middle School Teachers' Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Multicultural Education
Korean society has rapidly experienced increasing multiculturalism for over two decades. This qualitative case study explores Korean teachers' conceptualizations and implementation of multicultural education with/for multicultural students in middle schools in Seoul, Korea. Interviews were conducted with six Korean middle school teachers experienced in teaching multicultural students. The findings reveal diverse perspectives and practices of mult…
What does “Asia–Pacific” mean to Aper? Toward high-quality scholarship and inclusive practices in international education
Toward a conflict-sensitive approach to higher education pedagogy
Higher education has become an important agenda in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. A major aspect of this agenda is the conceptualization of education as a tool not just for development but for peacebuilding. Yet there are few studies examining how university educators might be equipped as frontline peace workers. This study explores: How might conflict affect teaching in higher education, especially in and with students from conflict-aff…
Protecting and supporting children and women affected by gender-based violence
Given the well-documented toll of gender-based violence on the wellbeing of women and girls, schools and universities can be key sites of advocacy and prevention. Peace educators have identified tackling gender-based violence as a priority for the field. Yet, two gaps persist. Firstly, the lived experiences of female survivors outside Europe and North America remain little understood in research. Secondly, the severe structural barriers female su…
Honoring the Peacebuilders
Peace education research in East Asia, 2020–2025
Four questions for teaching conflict for peace, justice, and sustainability
Conflict is an inescapable reality in contemporary life, and higher education (HE) is not immune. From armed conflicts to campus protests, university educators increasingly navigate volatile environments where teaching is intertwined with global struggles. Educators may face violence, displacement, or the effects of heightened militarization and censorship on campuses. As student movements advocating for peace and justice intensify, universities …
Peacebuilding through education in Northeast Asia
This article critically appraises the Common Curriculum Guide for Peace Education in Northeast Asia developed by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) under the auspices of UNESCO. The authors – who drafted the Guide – reflect on the development process, which involved researchers and educators in and beyond schools in China, Japan and South Korea, three countries entangled with historical conflicts and soc…
Sociology (25 works) · Political science (22 works) · Peace and Human Rights Education (21 works) · Pedagogy (20 works) · Global Education and Multiculturalism (16 works) · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy (14 works) · Law (14 works) · Higher education (13 works) · Peace Education (12 works) · Law (11 works)