Illuminated Footprints of Nonviolence in Hongyu Wang’s Nonviolence and Education: Cross-Cultural Pathways

This essay explores nonviolence and nonviolence education through teacher stories and currere by engaging Hongyu Wang’s Nonviolence and Education: Cross-Cultural Pathways. Wang’s study regarding the cross-cultural engagements of four university professors led to an internal awakening to a “crystal clear vision of nonviolence” as she found connections among her participants’ stories and her own experiences (Wang, 2014, p. 54). My personal experience with currere led to a similar awakening to nonviolence. This paper argues that through teacher storytelling, using teacher stories and autobiographical currere, the blurred footprints of nonviolence may be illuminated, making traversable the curving pathway of nonviolence education. Readers are provoked to think about how they might write their teacher story and possibly find greater engagement with nonviolence in their lives and in their professional practice. Keywords: nonviolence, nonviolence education, teacher stories, currere