This thesis presents an in-depth qualitative case study of the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) - the first truth commission in the Pacific. Proposed by civil society and church networks during the Solomon Islands conflict, known locally as 'the tensions', the TRC was initially envisaged as a means to prompt reconciliation and build peace during the crisis. Several years later, after the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and the restoration of law and order, the 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2008' was passed in parliament and the TRC was established with a mandate to 'promote national unity and reconciliation'. In February 2012, the TRC's final report was handed to the prime minister. Despite being widely read by Solomon Islanders and others worldwide after being unofficially leaked in early 2013, it has yet to be tabled in parliament or officially released.

In 1998 the Solomon Islands descended into chaos and conflict. Rising tensions that had been brewing for years erupted into open violence between militants from the island provinces of Guadacanal and Malaita. The subsequent five years of crisis and lawlessness prompted a large scale regional intervention, and has resulted in a dramatic makeover of the state. Many other peace building efforts have worked alongside the state-building process, and this case study examines the impact of a number of peace approaches. Reflecting upon peace practice in the context of the Solomon Islands requires viewing the conflict and the subsequent attempts at building peace through a number of lenses. We explore the multiple and interlinked factors that worked together to cause parts of the nation to collapse into conflict. We explore the dynamics of building peace, and we reflect that there have been, and continue to be, parallel processes working at brokering peace, creating stability and (re-)creating and realizing a more sustainable peace. One is self-organizing, emergent and bottom up. It focuses upon reconciliation as a means to peace, valuing and using traditional conflict resolution processes. This has been an organic, self organizing network of communities and organizations, both secular and religious, that has focused upon healing and repair from a broader human security perspective. The other process, according to all interviewed, is an imposed system that aims to reconstitute the state as the main arbiter of order and stability. Although this effort is more visible and better funded, this process has concentrated upon what was necessary in terms of state repair, but this has proven to be insufficient. The other process is The Solomon Islands are still working through a dynamic process of nurturing and cultivating a sustainable peace. This case study addresses the dynamics, at times chronologically and at times thematically.

High-level nation-building efforts seem unlikely to bring durable peace at village level, at least until local reconciliation processes are respected and integrated into wider reconstruction efforts. A question many Solomon Islanders ask is, "What will happen if RAMSI [the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands] eventually leaves?" In a survey conducted in 2010, some 84 percent of respondents backed the presence of RAMSI, mostly attributing their support to the likelihood that, if the mission were to leave, there would be a breakdown in law and order. As if to underline these risks, when a new prime minister was elected by parliament on 16 November 2011, the result was met with mixed reactions from the public. A violent protest in Honiara claimed to represent the people's wish for the immediate resignation of the newly elected premier. The demonstrations suggest that a sustainable peace in the Solomon Islands still remains a mission to be accomplished. RAMSI's mandate focuses on maintaining law and order and a state-focused system that concentrates on bolstering the mechanisms of the government departments. While these approaches are necessary, a more organic, community-driven system that concentrates on healing tensions and bolstering intra-community relations as a tenet for sustainable peace needs to be supported.

This thesis presents an in-depth qualitative case study of the efforts of six classrooms in three Solomon Islands' secondary schools to integrate peace education into their teaching of the social studies curriculum at junior secondary level. It has been claimed that teaching peace has the potential to create a culture of peace and healing in conflict and post-conflict societies and thus in turn to advance a civilisation of peace that extends beyond the post-conflict era. In order to address such claims, classroom observation was conducted in three community high schools, simultaneously over a period of four months. Using the critical features of peace education and curriculum policy, the integration of peace into classroom practice is described. Distinctions between these features in relation to theory and policy are examined as they emerged 'in practice,' allowing indigenous peace practices to inform the classroom curriculum. Building on these empirically grounded findings, this thesis strongly supports the integration of indigenous-based peace practices and perspectives into the curriculum. The diversity within cultures affords an opportunity to understand school curricula as culturally situated. Through the analysis, the concept of peace is understood as the basis upon which a curriculum is constructed. Through the analysis, the concept of peace is understood as the basis upon which a curriculum is constructed. The study demonstrates that a classroom peace curriculum can be culturally relevant if it is guided by a clear concept of peace. In Temotu Nendo, the conceptualisation of peace as nowe is the foundation of the culture's peacebuilding practices. In practice, nowe easily lends itself as a framework upon which the development and teaching of peace can be developed. As a case study, this research was not intended to represent the teaching of peace in all Solomon Islands' schools. However, it concludes that the case study has provided a credible and culture-specific approach to teaching peace in schools, providing insights for other cultures in the country and/or other parts of the world. The integration of peace into the school curriculum from a cultural perspective forms an important contribution to education and peacebuilding and can be extended to other areas of social practice. Finally, the thesis suggests areas for further research and discusses implications and contributions relating to theory, methodology and practice.