Introduction
Learning about nonviolence is highly purposeful—and educational. What do we believe about the true role of education in our lives? Hear our thoughts on that with the above welcome video from our founder and president, Michael Nagler.
“Nonviolence & the New Story of Humanity” is for thoughtful individuals and groups who want to think deeply about core assumptions that keep us locked in an old story of violence, social injustices, and greed. This online training is highly practical for educators, workshop facilitators, youth group leaders, and anyone eager to bring a constructive, birds-eye approach to their leadership, activism, and/or community organizing.
It’s Time for a New Vision
Violence, social injustices, greed….all are propped up by incredibly faulty assumptions about our human purpose. We’ve created this online training for those who are eager to bring about change constructively and effectively. Educators, workshop facilitators, and youth group leaders will find it highly practical for their change work.
The course materials often refer to the New Story, a worldview that upholds a positive image of the human being. As you’ll realize throughout this training, the New Story underscores our capacity for compassionate relationships with one another and all of life. In addition to learning more about the New Story, you’ll practice applying it to some of the toughest problems humanity faces, through the lens of your own life experiences.
The 5 course animations highlight the link between the New Story and nonviolence, which are deeply intertwined. Besides the New Story, the animations cover:
Developing our inner power for the benefit of society
Moving beyond consumerism
Restorative, healing approaches to conflicts
Responding to terrorism with nonviolence
Here are a few tips to make the most of this course:
1. Learn the material in the order it’s presented – This training course is intended to build your understandings of interrelated topics. It’s most enriching to work through the material chronologically, from Part 1 to Part 5. We also recommend a chronological approach to the material in each Part, starting with the Objective and closing with the Invitation to Action:
Objective: that Part’s learning goal
Definitions: important terms covered in the video animation
The Skeptical Friends’ Opinions: a few arguments that many skeptics of nonviolence raise when considering the animation topics (you might find yourself in the skeptic’s shoes at times!)
Animation: the animated video
Analysis: a series of prompts to reflect on the video, brainstorm real-life applications, and practice nonviolence
Invitation to Action: further ideas you can use to take your nonviolence practice into the world, in relation to the Part's topic
2. Practice mindful, active listening – The more we can give our full attention to what we’re watching/reading/listening to—along with what others are saying—the more we can remain aware of our internal reactions.
We invite you to fully engage with the content and notice your reactions as they arise. You might notice your breathing rate quicken or slow down, or your muscles tightening or relaxing. You might become aware of certain thoughts popping up as you take in new or already-known ideas. Observe any value judgments that might surface about any of the content, yourself, or other people.
3. Team up with others if possible – While you’ll certainly gain much from this course on your own, nothing beats learning and taking action with others. We therefore encourage you to work in a group if possible, perhaps in your classroom or workshop setting.
Could you use some tips on teaching the material to a class or folding the training lessons into your activism and/or workshop plans? We’ll gladly offer you some suggestions. Feel free to email our team to request a consultation: info@mettacenter.org.
4. Take advantage of the Library – We aim to support your unfolding practice of nonviolence, particularly where taking concrete action is concerned. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and we’ve created a course Library for you with that in mind. The Library contains additional resources, categorized by topic, to empower your ongoing learning and practices. Turn to it as often as you’d like, even when you’ve completed the course—you have unlimited, lifetime access to the training material.