Humane Edge E-News July 2008

In This Issue:

• HELPING CHANGE THE WORLD IS CHILD'S PLAY
  
• BEYOND ETHICAL CONSUMERISM: 7 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU BUY
  
• FEATURED ACTIVITY: HEAR THE PEOPLE
  
• FEATURED STUDENT: LISA FORZLEY
  
• FEATURED RESOURCE: RETHINKING GLOBALIZATION
  
• BE THE CHANGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOB BIGELOW
  
• HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: CREATING A NETWORK OF CARING
  

HELPING CHANGE THE WORLD IS CHILD'S PLAY

How can we help young people learn about important social justice issues in ways that engage their interests? One means is games. More organizations, businesses and individuals are looking to a games platform for educating and engaging youth in important global issues, from poverty and global warming to food security and wildlife conservation. Check out our new Online Games resource section, which features online "games for change" that may be of interest. We'll continue to add new, quality games as we hear about them. (There are "games for change" that can be purchased or downloaded, but we're focusing on ones you can play for free right from your computer and Internet connection.)

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BEYOND ETHICAL CONSUMERISM: 7 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU BUY

One of the big buzzwords lately is “ethical consumerism” or “green consumerism,” touting the idea that you can have your healthy, vegan, organic, fair-trade chocolate and sugar, locally-produced, compostable cake and eat it, too. Green goodies are definitely in, but not many people are stopping to ask themselves whether or not they even need (or want) that stuff anyway, green or not. Many of the purchases we make may give us short-term satisfaction or pleasure, but they often don’t truly bring us joy, meaning, or accurately reflect our deepest values.

If you want to look beyond the surface of “ethical” consuming and bring mindfulness to the material goods and services you add to your life, ask yourself these seven questions when you feel that urge to lay down some greenbacks.

7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Buy:

1. Is this a Want or a Need?
2. How much will I use it? How long will it last?
3. Could I borrow it ? Make it? Do without it?
4. Will having this add meaning to my life?
5. Is purchasing this item the best way to care for myself and the planet?
6. What is the true cost of this item to:
   
• Myself?
  
• Other cultures?
• Other people?
• Other species?
  
• Other animals?
  
• The environment?
  
7. What will happen to this item when I’m finished with it?
   

I can already hear some people saying, “There’s no way I’m going to take time to think about all that stuff before I buy every single thing. That’s crazy! That’s overload!”

Sure, it can seem a bit overwhelming at first. But, as the cliche goes, “Practice makes perfect.” Making choices that do the most good and least harm isn’t actually about perfection, but when we start bringing awareness to the impact of our choices, and take a few seconds to think about questions like “Is this a want or a need?” then such questions become part of our new awareness and then become easier habits, and then grow into old easy ones, and our positive impact on the world continues to flourish.

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FEATURED ACTIVITY: HEAR THE PEOPLE

There are more than 6 1/2 billion people on the planet. Help people grasp the enormity of that number using BBs and a metal container. Hear the People is an excellent, brief icebreaker to help stimulate thinking about the human population puzzle.

The United Nations has declared July 11 World Population Day, so you can also find information and ideas on their website for learning about and exploring population issues.

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FEATURED STUDENT: LISA FORZLEY

Lisa wanted to connect her professional and personal life. Humane education helped her find a way.  Read about Lisa. 

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FEATURED RESOURCE: RETHINKING GLOBALIZATION

Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World
By Bill Bigelow & Bob Peterson, eds. Rethinking Schools. 2002. (402 pages)

"Everything is connected. You can't really understand what's going on in one part of the world without looking at how it's related to everything else." ~ Bill Bigelow & Bob Peterson

Rethinking Globalization is a collection of essays, articles, poems, teaching ideas, and more, for teachers to use in inspiring students to think critically and creatively about global social justice issues. The book especially focuses on the impacts of globalization on the planet and its people. In addition to readings and teaching ideas, the book includes an extensive resource section of books, songs, videos and websites on these topics.

 Topics addressed in the book include:

• Legacy of Inequality: Colonial Roots
• The Global Economy: Colonialism Without Colonies
• Global Sweatshops
• Child Labor in the Global Economy
• The Globalization of Food
• Culture, Consumption & the Environment

The materials and ideas in the book will help students to look at complex issues from a variety of viewpoints, to look beyond the easy, short-term answers to ones that can benefit all, and to better view the interconnectedness of issues, as well as the impact of our daily choices. A valuable resource.

 

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BE THE CHANGE: A CHANGEMAKER INTERVIEW WITH BILL BIGELOW

Bill Bigelow has taught high school social studies in Portland, Oregon, since 1978. He is curriculum editor with Rethinking Schools magazine and is author, most recently, of A People’s History for the Classroom (Rethinking Schools, 2008.) He is also author of The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration (2006) and co-editor of Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World (2002).

IHE: What role does education play in creating a better world?

BB: Simply put, there won’t be a better world without education. That’s not to say that all good education takes place in school. As we know, a lot of bad education happens in school — but we have to get smarter about educating people about the dimensions of the world’s social and ecological crises and helping them to think about alternatives. A little over 20 years ago, I took a week-long class from the great Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, at Portland State University. I remember Freire saying then something to the effect that, “Pedagogy needs to be more political and politics needs to be more pedagogical.” Well, it’s still true. I’m frustrated by educational leaders who want us to focus on “common assignments,” rubrics, curriculum alignment, and, of course, test scores, but ignore the social and ecological emergency that we find ourselves in. It’s not like we ought to hand our students particular conclusions about what actions to take, but we need to put the world’s problems at the center of the curriculum. And activists need to remember that politics is not about just winning this or that reform or electing this or that politician — it’s about equipping people to understand the world more clearly. “Fixing” the world needs to be grounded in a clear analysis of how and why it’s broken. And activists also need to pay attention to schools.

Last fall, I attended a global warming teach-in in Washington DC, sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization. I learned a huge amount, but I was astounded that not one speaker so much as mentioned the importance of activists developing a strategy to reach out to teachers and students. It was as if every speaker thought that schools were irrelevant to creating a better world.

IHE: What personal and professional experiences have led you to focus on educating others as a method of changemaking?

BB: I was a senior in high school in the 1968-69 school year. My U.S. government teacher was a fellow named Tino Lavezzo. In Tino’s class, we sat in a circle and discussed the world — what was happening in Berkeley, the war, the draft. I realized, “Oh, school doesn’t have to be about reading textbooks and memorizing stuff. It can be about life; it can be about what’s going on in the world.” It was the war in Vietnam that propelled me to ask question after question, and that made me realize how fundamentally this society needed to be changed. So I suppose that seeing the of impact good teaching may have planted the seed that education can be part of changemaking.

IHE: What do you see happening in the world that gives you hope for a more just, compassionate, sustainable future?

BB: Ah, good question. We’re always looking for signs of hope, for indications that change may be around the corner. Ironically, even though I can’t remember a time in my life when I thought the problems were as enormous as they are today, I also feel more hope today than I can remember feeling in a long time. For starters, in public schools, the pendulum is beginning to swing back. No Child Left Behind is now widely seen as a terrible law — one that has increased inequality and stifled good teaching. A few teachers have committed civil disobedience in refusing to give NCLB tests. And a few weeks ago [May 21, 2008] just about the entire 8th grade at a South Bronx Middle School [Intermediate School 318] refused to take a mandated 3-hour social studies test — more than 160 kids. The headline in the New York Daily News was, “Hell No, We Won’t Take Another Test!” So the test-and-punish regime is increasingly discredited and coming under attack.

Last October, Rethinking Schools editors participated in the annual “Teachers 4 Social Justice Conference” in San Francisco. There were over 1200 participants — more than twice the previous year’s number. I sense a real hunger on the part of educators to live their values in their work — to link their work with students with a social and ecological justice project. I think that many people sense that our problems are too urgent to see education as simply teaching testable skills to students.

In Portland, Oregon, where I live with my wife Linda Christensen, we see lots of positive developments. People are really taking the environmental crisis seriously. More farmers’ markets, more bikes, more people using terms like “carbon footprint” and “ecological footprint.” It’s hard to talk with anyone here these days who is not somehow trying to make a difference. In the fall of 2007, with another teacher here, I convened an “Earth in Crisis” curriculum workgroup, and teachers have responded enthusiastically, developing lessons that alert students to issues of climate change, over-consumption, peak oil, fresh water scarcity, and the like. I realize that this is green Portland, and it’s kind of expected here, but as I travel around the country I sense a willingness to think more critically about the need for radical social and environmental change.

IHE: What are the biggest challenges in creating a humane and peaceful world?
  
BB: I think the biggest challenge is that we still are living in an economic system that distributes rewards based on profit. There is a simulation I developed that’s included in the Rethinking Schools book, Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World, called “The Thingamabob Game.” I just revised it with the climate crisis in mind. The activity puts students into seven groups and they each represent a company. They start out with the same amount of capital and in five rounds they make decisions about how many “thingamabobs” their company will produce. At the end of the game, teams will be rewarded with candy based on how much profit they’ve accumulated. The catch is that production and transport of goods requires the burning of fossil fuels and the release of carbon dioxide. With each round, depending on how much students produce, the combined thingamabob production releases more and more CO2. The game begins with 380 CO2 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere, about where we are now. I tell students that we don’t know what the tipping point is that can lead to catastrophic environmental events, but that for the purpose of the game, it’s somewhere between 420 and 480 ppm. If together they exceed the trigger figure, then they’ve hurt the earth irreparably and no one gets any candy. The question is: In a competitive environment, where the rewards will be based not on how nice one is to the earth, but on profit, can these companies exercise enough restraint to save the earth? The game is not rigged; it’s possible for some groups to win, but none ever do. So, as I say, this is the biggest challenge, our need to critique and reorient the profit-prizing, individualistic premises that drive our society. It’s not just the economy, of course, but the economy frames everything.

IHE: What advice do you have for aspiring humane educators?

BB: That we can’t do this work alone. We need each other. Aspiring humane educators need to seek out others doing this work. The entire time I’ve been a teacher — and I began 30 years ago, in 1978 — I’ve always been in one or more groups of social justice teachers who were trying to figure out how we do this work. We’ve developed curriculum together, read books together, cried on one another’s shoulders, discussed tough problems, shared resources. Sometimes these groups have been around particular curricular areas — like the globalization curriculum workgroup that I began to help support work on the book, Rethinking Globalization, but that quickly took on a life of its own and lasted seven years. Other groups, like our Portland Area Rethinking Schools network, began as a small support/reading group of area teachers. Now, we’re a regional network of educators of conscience. And there are supports on the national level, too. The organization that I work with, Rethinking Schools, publishes a quarterly magazine that highlights inspiring social justice teaching, and reports on trends in education. We also publish books on curriculum issues — from the war in Iraq to Mexican immigration to how to teach math, language arts, and history from a social justice standpoint. Today, we also have Teaching for Change, an outstanding catalog of the best social and ecological justice teaching materials available. This is work we have to do together.

Another piece of advice is to be gentle with oneself. This is hard work. And we’ll mess up. And we’ll especially mess up when we’re early in our career and the gulf between our aspirations and our skills can be pretty enormous. No doubt, it’s important for us to be willing to be self-critical, because that’s how we’ll grow. But not self-critical in a harsh way. We need millions of educators to address the enormous social and ecological challenges we face at the same time that we address children’s daunting emotional and academic needs. We have to be in this for the long haul, and for that we need each other’s support and wisdom. 

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HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: CREATING A NETWORK OF CARING

IHE HECP student Susan Hargreaves has been following the humane education path for more than two decades. Her work as Humane Educator at the Caring Fields Animal Sanctuary and as webmaster for HumaneEducators.com allow her to help adults and children make connections about the importance of extending compassion and respect to animals.

IHE: What led you to the path of humane education?

SH: I have been a humane educator for 27 years; how did I begin this satisfying, challenging, and sometimes bittersweet journey?

When I think back in an attempt to gauge the exact moment I discovered great injustice existed in the world, it all started with my Aunt Olwyn saying I should come to work with her since I loved animals so much. I was nine years old and visiting West Yorkshire; off we went on a bright July day in James Herriott country. We drove up past the moors to a chicken hatchery. Aunt Olwyn was the receptionist there. As she went to her desk, she directed me to an open doorway where I could see a conveyor belt where all the baby chicks were hatching.

Imagine my shock at seeing the industrial bins full of dead and dying baby chicks who had just been tossed off the conveyor belt after peeking their heads out of their shells. Hoses filled with gas were connected to the large drums. The chicks were piled one on top of each other, some struggling to climb to the top of the bin in a desperate attempt for air.

I thought to myself, "This has to be wrong! This killing has to be against the law! How can everyone be letting this terrible cruelty happen?"  This was the moment I recognized a need to stop widespread, industrial, routine animal cruelty. At nine years of age I lost my belief that “someone” was watching out for those who could not defend themselves, and that farms were happy places, but what could I do to help? Well, you know, humane education was and is the answer.

IHE: You run a website, Humane Educators Reaching Out.com Tell us about that.
 
SH: HumaneEducatorsReachingOut.com (or HumaneEducators.com) stemmed from a meeting I called for South Florida humane educators. My goal was to get all the humane educators together to act as a resource/support network for each other, and to refer each others' programs, especially in locations where a child may have been charged with animal cruelty. The website serves as a local “one stop shop” for teachers to book multiple humane education programs for little or no cost from a wide variety of South Floridian humane educators. The Kids News section of the site is also an arena to showcase the many local children who help animals.


IHE: How did you get involved with Caring Fields Animal Sanctuary?

SH: Caring Fields Animal Sanctuary, a project of the Pegasus Foundation, is a 23 acre property that cares for abused, neglected and/or abandoned horses and cats. The sanctuary’s co-coordinators realized the need to address the causes of animal neglect, cruelty, & homelessness via humane education. I was asked if I would help co-ordinate the opening of an Education Center on the property and its programs. After getting bamboo flooring down in the main room and beautiful artwork donated, we were ready to host groups, adult workshops and children’s’ school field trips.

It was fortunate that the Caring Fields and the Pegasus Foundation management agreed the education center should be consistently compassionate and all meals would be vegan. Each group who visits the center learns about how they can help other animals, as well as enjoys vegan goodies.


IHE: What kinds of outreach do you do and to what ages or groups?

SH: All group and ages are reached with on-site workshops or presentations at the sanctuary. "You Can Be an Animal Hero" is a popular presentation, where the younger elementary-age children meet Horace B Horse, Kitty T Cat, & Rocky Raccoon, plush characters who tell how children can be heroes to animals and who distribute Animal Hero Cards. We also do interactive plays, where children dress in native wildlife, marine mammal or jungle animal costumes in front of natural habitat backdrops and dramatize the challenges other animals face.

The adult workshops run the gamut from disaster response training, to Compassionate Cooking for the Holidays. To date the most well-attended workshops have been the Stop the Violence workshop and the recent Humane Educators workshop.

IHE: What’s a typical week like for you?

SH: I am fortunate that my activities vary from week to week. For instance, in the last week of school, I visited two schools to receive the culmination of service learning projects from children who had visited Caring Fields and had met the rescued horses and cats; one school made banners saying “Say Neigh to Animal Cruelty.” Another school made catnip sock toys and kitty beds. In that same week I visited a domestic violence shelter in Palm Beach County to give a compassion presentation, which consists of heartwarming stories of rescue, from human to non-human animals and vice versa. I spent the next day calling bus companies in an attempt to get transportation donated so the families from the shelter can visit Caring Fields. 

I then visited the Broward County Jail to give my second presentation there to 65 woman inmates, the State of the Animal Nation, as a representative of Humane Educators Reaching Out.


IHE: What are your goals?

SH: I am forever re-evaluating the effectiveness of my humane education work; if I could be reaching more people, how I can be more effective?

My goal is to one day have an education center that is also a refuge for rescued farmed animals: cows, pigs, chickens and rabbits, too. It would be the kind of place where children and youth can participate in growing organic veggies, preparing vegan food and helping other animals, as well as their own communities.

My work with Caring Fields is the closest I have ever come to that life-long goal. The Education Center is beautiful, and my work there has the power to counteract the root causes of animal neglect and cruelty.

I would also like to find a way to fund the myriad commercials I have imagined over the years that showcase the impact consumer choices have on other animals.


IHE: How is your work being funded?

SH: Caring Fields Animal Sanctuary’s Education Center is funded by donors and is a project of the Pegasus Foundation.

Humane Educators Reaching Out.com is basically, funded by the “skin of my teeth.” Sometimes I am fortunate to get work donated; for example, the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale donated the great web design, and rattlethecage.org is helping with a short online video.


IHE: You recently sponsored a workshop for other Humane Educators in the area. What did you notice? What did you learn?

SH: This was the most well-attended Education Center adult workshop yet. A wide variety of educators attended and showcased their own work. Musicians, performers, anti-violence workers, Americorps volunteers, teachers, humane society representatives, and activists all attended; each had their own important contribution. Overwhelmingly, there was a sense of common purpose and respect and a great willingness to learn.



IHE: Recently you gave a presentation to 65 women inmates. Tell us about that experience.

SH: Initially, I was a little intimidated, and puzzled about the best way to encourage interaction throughout the presentation, as well as the best way to foster empathy. My trepidation continued right up until I stood in front of the crowd in the gray cement hall, after going through a long security laden process to get there. I had customized my trusty slide projector with heartwarming before and after pictures: photos of children who had helped animals, photos of a pig and dogs who have helped humans, even a photo of a cow who had jumped a seven foot gate to escape the slaughterhouse. Through the stories and images I interwove facts establishing the link between animal and human abuse, as well as information about current animal protection laws. 

I was surprised at the extent of the stories of animals the women had witnessed being harmed when they where children, or as adults, and the ways they had helped or identified with other animals. The myriad questions that showed a lively interest all combined to create an enriching experience for me, re-affirming why I became a humane educator. It is energizing to feel the positive accomplishment of reaching others, who in turn reach back. This was the most mutually fulfilling presentation experience I have experienced in some time.

IHE: What are some of your biggest challenges?

SH: My biggest challenge is to find the answer to the puzzle of how to achieve financial autonomy to continue the humane education work at the level I aspire to.


IHE: Share a success story. What has helped encourage you?

SH: My experience with the  women at the jail, and so many other stories of brave children helping animals in spite of their friends urging them to ignore the animal’s plight have inspired me. I have given Extraordinary Animal Hero Awards to children at school assemblies who have saved other animals by using the contact numbers on their Animal Hero Cards and utilizing their own courage. (A few of these stories are highlighted on HumaneEducators.com on the Kids' News page.)


IHE: What are your thoughts about the power of humane education to positively transform the world?

SH: Humane Education is the answer in all of its many forms. Whether it is in the classroom or in the street, in the theatre or in song, or in a single, intelligent, and genuine interaction with one other person, humane education is the answer.



IHE: Any future plans, dreams or projects?

SH: My book, The Hare-raising Adventures of Rabbitta the Third will soon be reprinted and available on the HumaneEducators.com site. I still would like to have an education center with resident, rescued farmed animals, a smaller pilot sanctuary that is easily accessible to schools, treatment centers, etc.…

I feel extremely fortunate to be able to work at Caring Fields Animal Sanctuary’s Education Center; to be able to work alongside others who know the far reaching value of humane education has the potential to create achievements to counter the plight of other animals.

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