Teaching for peace: evidence-based and engaged learning approaches in conflict transformation education among Palestinian university students

Education in conflict-affected societies can reproduce division or nurture reconciliation. This study examines how evidence-based and engaged learning advance peace education in Palestinian higher education. Integrating Peace Education Theory, Conflict Transformation, Critical Pedagogy, and Student Engagement Theory, we investigate how classroom practices cultivate empathy, dialogue, and civic responsibility under occupation. A mixed-methods design combined a survey of 203 undergraduates at five West Bank universities with interviews of 10 instructors teaching conflict-related courses. Quantitative analyses (ANOVA, correlations, multiple regression) identified interactive teaching, dialogue-based participation, and critical reflection as the strongest predictors of peace-oriented outcomes, explaining 54% of the variance in empathy, perspective-taking, and civic engagement. Qualitative themes corroborated these results, emphasizing dialogue as transformation, emotional safety as a prerequisite for learning, and pedagogical challenges – and resilience – under structural constraint. Findings indicate that engaged, evidence-based strategies functions as a micro-level peacebuilding process, turning classrooms into relational spaces where ethical responsibility and critical consciousness develop. Despite political pressures, Palestinian educators use participatory methods as nonviolent resistance and civic cultivation. The study recommends institutional and policy supports that embed conflict-sensitive, participatory pedagogy across curricula to sustain positive peace.