IHE News & Announcements January 2012

• Our Top 10 Humane Education Activities for 2011
  
• 15 Tips for Creating Humane Education Lessons
  
• Connecting People, Animals, Planet: 5 Questions for Ashley Maier
• 5 Strategies to Help Bring Humane Education to Schools
  
• 8 Tips for Sharing Accurate Information
  
• Resources for Teaching About Human Trafficking
  

OUR TOP 10 HUMANE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES FOR 2011

Humane education activities and lesson plans are just one of the perks we provide in our Resource Center. We now have more than 75 humane education activities available for free download, and we add new ones often. Here are our 10 most downloaded activities as of the end of 2011:

1. Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged - How do our own stereotypes and judgments limit our openness and receptivity to others? This activity uses props (or photos) to explore our snap perceptions of others. (grades 4 & up)
2. Don't Tread on Me - What is oppression? Who gets oppressed? Why don’t we all agree about that? Participants explore their own beliefs about oppression and learn about others'. (grades 6 & up)
3. The World's Most Powerful Animal - Who’s the most dangerous AND the most powerful animal? We are! Lead students on an exploration of the positive and negative impacts our choices have on the planet. (grades 2-5)
4. Human Rights for All? - This activity familiarizes students with the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and inspires them to think about the freedoms they enjoy that others cannot. (grades 9 and up)
5. Two Apples - In this icebreaker, participants learn just how important words and actions are when they explore their impact on two apples. (All ages)
6. A Moment in Their Shoes - How will students feel spending a moment in the shoes of a battery hen or a child slave? Use this lively and thought- provoking activity to introduce human and animal issues and the connections between them. (grades 6 & up)
7. Analyzing Advertising - Students learn to be ad-savvy by exploring the pervasiveness of ads in their lives and by analyzing what ads are trying to sell…and trying to hide. (grades 5 & up)
8. Whale's Stomach - Students learn about the impact of our "throwaway" society by exploring all the different kinds of trash found in a whale's stomach. (grades 4 & up)
9. Word Power - Words have enormous power and often assign value. This activity explores sample words in context and what kinds of value those words imply. (grades 4 & up)
10. Where in the World? - Students “shop” for T-shirts to help them make the connection between what they wear and the conditions under which it’s made. (grades 9 & up)

Image courtesy of tracitodd via Creative Commons.

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15 TIPS FOR CREATING HUMANE EDUCATION LESSONS

You're passionate about humane education and want to start bringing it to your classroom or community, but you haven't developed lesson plans/activities (at least this kind) before. Don't worry! Here's a good place to start: with IHE's 15 tips for creating dynamic, effective humane education lessons.

1. Take advantage of the wisdom that has come before. Look for relevant resources and lesson plans are already out there and adapt them for your own needs. There are organizations like IHE that offer comprehensive (as well as focused) humane ed activities, as well as organizations dedicated to animal protection, environmental protection, or human rights that provide terrific lessons and ideas.
2. Find a support system and sounding board for feedback, collaboration, ideas, and contacts. There is no shortage of other humane educators, non-profit groups, and professional organizations that can help you.
3. Educate yourself. You wouldn’t teach a foreign language without knowing it well. Be sure that you’re reading a variety of authors and perspectives, learning about the connections among humane issues, and keeping updated on news and changes in these areas.  (You can also take advantage of resources such as our Teaching for a Positive Future online course and get in-depth training with one of our accredited graduate programs.)
4. Use what you're already doing and tweak it. If you're a classroom teacher, for example, take a lesson you're already using and modify it to include humane principles & issues. What elements of that novel lend themselves to exploring humane issues? Tweak those math word problems so that they reflect real-world concerns. Take that science study outside & pair it with nature reverence-building.
5. Consider: What are your objectives? What will success look like? Have a clear plan for your lessons, but build in flexibility, back-ups and extensions (for when things run too short, too long, or just wrong).
6. Start where your audience is. If people are struggling with urgent personal issues (e.g., homelessness, joblessness), they may not be interested in issues perceived as less immediate, such as global warming or animal cruelty, so start exploring how to inspire and empower them in their own situations, as well as working to build reverence and connection on a broader scale.
7. Be careful about making assumptions about what your audience already know, or what they care about. Don't assume that just because you know (or care) about global warming or factory farming or child slavery, that others do, too. If you're unfamiliar with your audience, you can use online sources (e.g., the school's or group's website) to learn more about the culture, values, and concerns of your audience and tailor your lessons accordingly. You may also be able to visit ahead of time to help you gain insights into what they're passionate about.
8. Integrate the 4 elements of humane education into your lessons:
   
   • Provide accurate (age-appropriate) information
   • Instill curiosity, creativity & critical thinking
   • Foster reverence, respect & responsibility
   • Offer positive choices & tools for problem solving
9. Remember that humane education isn't indoctrination; it isn't about telling others what to think or believe. Humane education sparks curiosity and helps others think critically and creatively and make informed choices. There's a difference between asking your audience to think critically about what they believe, and telling them what they should believe.
10. As often as is appropriate, reveal the interconnectedness of issues; tie in the impacts of what your audience is exploring with the environment, animals, and people. Everything is connected, so whatever the topic or issue, help people see how economics, poverty, climate change, consumerism, generosity, bullying, or psychology ties into doing the most good & least harm for people, animals, & planet.
11. Use a variety of creative strategies throughout the lesson, including plenty of interactivity and focus on developing positive solutions. Especially for younger children, stories, songs, and drama/role play are great tools for introducing topics. Remember with all audiences to use stories, not just statistics. Studies show that people can get overwhelmed and lose interest with statistics and big numbers, and that it's easier for most of us to relate on a one-to-one basis. So start by talking about about one animal, or one slave child, or one family in one community affected by climate change.
12. Tap into the wisdom of the group. Your lesson will be much more effective if you use the model of learning together, rather than setting yourself up as the expert to "teach" the uneducated. Give your audience opportunities to share their creative ideas and publicly explore and test their views. Give them power to lead, question, challenge, and develop positive solutions.
13. Be sure that you're modeling your message. Do the materials you're using for the lessons themselves reflect choices that do the most good & least harm for all? Are you showing respect for your audience? Are you handling controversy or heated discussions effectively and compassionately?
14. Practice practice practice. Especially if you're new to speaking in public or are offering a new lesson, practice. Give your lesson plans to a safe audience of supporters and have them give feedback. Videotape yourself and watch for ways to improve. Don't be afraid. Experiment!
    
15. Evaluate and reevaluate. This is important, both during the lesson and after. If you're trying out a new lesson and it's crashing and burning, don't keep ploughing through. Stop and ask your audience what's not working (or at least try at different tactic). Your students will appreciate your honesty and thank you for respecting their time. If you're a community educator, be sure to have your audience complete evaluations and revise your lesson based on relevant feedback. Consider keeping a notebook to document what worked, what didn't, what you'd like to try again with some adjustments, the feedback you received, etc. One question you might ask yourself when you are reflecting on a lesson or presentation you've given is: If I were to give this same lesson tomorrow, what would I do differently?

Image courtesy of USFWS Mountain Prairie via Creative Commons.

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CONNECTING PEOPLE, ANIMALS, PLANET: 5 QUESTIONS FOR ASHLEY MAIER

As with many who want to create a better world for all, one thing leads to another. Ashley Maier, who currently serves as the Prevention Program Coordinator for the Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, found that her focus on working at the roots of overturning the oppression and exploitation of women led to a connection with the exploitation of nonhuman animals and the planet. Now Ashley uses her connectionist vision -- and her organization, Connect the Dots -- to address the connections between human, animal, and environmental well-being. We asked Ashley to tell us more about her work for a just, compassionate, healthy world for all.

IHE: What drew you to humane education?

AM: Human rights work, actually. Work against violence, against women in particular. I’m one of the rare people who was drawn to expand my lens from human-exclusivity to include non-human animals and the environment due to my human rights work. I remember that I got a pamphlet from Vegan Outreach in 2005. I had been a vegetarian for a long time, but never was fully exposed to the realities of animal exploitation beyond actual consumption of animal flesh. That pamphlet drew me to veganism. Once I was vegan, and I continued to work against domestic and sexual violence, I saw the very norms, standards for behavior, that support violence against women support violence in so many new places. I realized that those same norms support the exploitation of the planet and all of its inhabitants.  I knew that I would never end gendered violence as long as the roots of generalized violence remain intact and manifest throughout our environments, systems, and behaviors. It just clicked. I started making the connections because I had to. The prevention of violence against women demanded it.


IHE: What led you to co-found Connect the Dots and to call it a "connectionist movement" and yourself a "connectionist"?

AM: From the first day that the interconnections clicked for me, I learned that it was not safe to talk about this within my human-exclusive, social justice circles. It was too “radical,” too much to actually imply caring for animals “as much as” humans.  I could lose my job. So I started searching. I felt so very alone. I started to talk to animal rights folks about this and Kath Rogers from Animal Protection and Rescue League said she knew someone who she thought could relate. It was then that I met my partner in this work, Stacia Mesleh. She too came from the anti violence against women movement and she agreed with me! It was like breathing for the first time after holding your breath just to the point of losing consciousness. We started Connect the Dots because we felt that something major was missing from social justice work: work at the intersections, at the roots. We wanted to build a movement of folks who make the connections and who allow those connections to inform their work towards a peaceful and just world.  We wanted to break down the false dichotomies, the walls, that divide human, animal, and environmental movements. We call it a connectionist movement because that’s what it is: a movement of connectionists – folks who make connections between human, animal, and environmental well-being.  And it’s growing! 


IHE: What have been some of your biggest challenges? Your biggest successes?

AM: Honestly, our biggest challenge has been life. Full-time jobs, moves, family …you name it. This isn’t a popular concept at which people are throwing money, as I’m sure you know, so having to do this as a “side project” while attempting to support ourselves by other means has been a big barrier. Also, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard that it’s “too radical.” In general, we find that animal rights folks are supportive of the concept. Human rights folks? Not so much. What we’ve learned is that the very norms that support violence against the planet and its inhabitants are alive and well in our movements. Our challenge is to work to shift these norms. So one of the biggest barriers is also one of the main foci of our work. Finally, if we were celebrities, this would be a whole lot easier. 

Successes? We’re still here! This can be incredibly discouraging and lonely work. But we’re still here. And the movement is growing.  We meet more and more people every day who consider themselves connectionists. People are studying this much more in school, incorporating it into their activism, and living their lives through a lens of interconnection. It’s exciting!  And most exciting of all  - we’re inspiring others to do this work. The best message I ever got was, “You have to hear about my new project – it’s inspired by Connect the Dots!” We know that we didn’t invent connectionist work, but we’re thrilled to help facilitate it.      


IHE: What kind of influence do you hope CTD will have on people? What would success look like?

AM: Success is in our name: Connect the Dots. We hope to influence people to connect the dots of human, animal, and environmental well-being.  Our theory of change is pretty simple: If people make connections between their well-being and the well-being of other animals and the environment, then they can incorporate concern for the planet and all of its inhabitants into their daily choices and the world can become a peaceful and just place. We know it’s bigger than this.  We know that measurable behavior change requires multiple, sometimes complex strategies. Yet by building a connectionist movement, we believe that we can change systems of violence and exploitation. For every connectionist that CtD creates, there is one more step towards comprehensive community health. A peaceful and just world for ALL.


IHE: What gives you hope for a just, compassionate, healthy world for all?

AM: I am able to look back to 2005 and compare where we were to where we are now. The movement is still small, but it’s growing. In 2005, I didn’t think I’d ever find more than a handful of folks who made the connections. IHE didn’t have nearly as many graduates as it has today. The world really is changing. Those of us who do prevention work know that it’s often discouraging because we don’t have the quick, easily identifiable indicators of success that other more crisis or response-focused work does. I can’t tell you the number of positive behaviors that have resulted from my work. I can’t name the exploitive acts that I’ve prevented from occurring. But I can tell you that a movement is growing. I can name individuals who support connectionist work. I can point you to new connectionist resources that didn’t exist 7 years ago. It’s changing. We’re changing. That gives me hope.  

IHE: Future dreams/plans/projects?

AM: We look forward to publishing our book, Connect the Dots Essays: How Human, Animal, and Environmental Well-Being are Connected! We also can’t wait to be able to give out mini-grants to support connectionist work and to host the first annual connectionist conference! We hope that you’ll all join us along the journey. 
 

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5 STRATEGIES TO HELP BRING HUMANE EDUCATION TO SCHOOLS

We have yet to hear of any situation where it wasn't possible to integrate humane education into the classroom - but that doesn't mean it wasn't without some creative and strategic thinking!  So whether you're a classroom teacher or community educator, here are 5 of the most useful strategies you can use to help ease the way for bringing humane education into schools:

1. STANDARDS:
   The easiest and most obvious way is to link humane education content to standards. With 45 states having adopted the new "common core standards" they serve as a useful means for integrating humane education into what you're already teaching. Even with strict requirements, educators can integrate humane principles and issues into their work. Teacher Alison Panik, who took our Teaching for a Positive Future online course, started integrating reverence for nature with her required math and science studies. IHE M.Ed. graduate, Christopher Greenslate, wrote an article highlighting how he integrated humane education into his teaching of language arts, including required books like Lord of the Flies. And IHE M.Ed. graduate, Kurt Schmidt has easily found creative ways to integrate humane studies into how he teaches math. If you're a community educator who wants to offer humane education presentations in schools, it's important to familiarize yourself with standards and highlight the strong connections between them and your content.
   
   
2. LAWS:
   Many educators may not know it, but in several states, it's actually the law to include some form of humane education in their teaching (especially for younger students). Laws vary, but several states have some sort of legislation that requires teaching about the welfare of animals, character education, and/or environmental education. HEART keeps an updated list of laws related to humane education.
   
   And, last June, Maryland became the first state to require "environmental literacy" for graduation. Other states have varying requirements for environmental studies. Introducing humane education studies to your school(s) can help the district meet legal requirements.
   
   
3. BY ANY OTHER NAME:
   While we at IHE like to call what we do humane education, what label we use is not as important as the emphasis on the interconnectedness of human rights, animal protection, and environmental preservation and on nurturing solutionaries. Some educators call it global studies; some say social justice; some just call it education. If there's something happening in your district that aligns with humane education principles and content, plug yourself into that. There are also other programs, growing in popularity in schools, that overlap with some of the elements of humane education. Such programs offer an excellent segue for introducing humane education issues and principles. Here are 3 examples:
   
   Character Education
   
   While fewer than half of states either mandate or encourage character education, many districts encourage teaching positive character traits. While character education itself follows a much narrower definition and vision, teaching about values such as responsibility, caring, and respect easily translates to exploring our impact on people, animals & the earth, and what we can do, both individually and systemically, to create a more just, compassionate world for all.
   
   Social Emotional Learning
   
   According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Social & Emotional Learning, SEL, "teaches the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work, effectively and ethically." Many schools are beginning to integrate some form of SEL into their curriculum, which provides a great connection to humane education.
   
   Service Learning
   
   Service Learning is another concept that's sweeping classrooms around the world. It varies in scope, but its core focus is bringing what students are learning in the classroom into the real world to address real-life issues and to help students become responsible citizens. Humane education is all about solving real-life problems, so service learning provides a terrific opportunity.
   
   
4. CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES:
   If you want to start small, taking advantage of special school opportunities is a great strategy. If you're a classroom teacher, look for special school-wide events, like celebrations of Earth Day, World Water Week, No Name-Calling Week, or Be Kind to Animals Week to integrate humane education lessons. You may even be able to recruit your colleagues to tweak their own lessons. If you're a community educator, you can find special events as a means to plug in to schools; but also look for career days, speaker series, and other special events to offer yourself as an expert or resource.
   
   
5. START WITH ONE:
   If you're a community educator wanting to get into schools, start by connecting with a friendly teacher who's doing humane education-related work in the classroom or community. Find out what s/he's teaching and customize accordingly. Offer to demonstrate a sample lesson and, if needed, to talk to the school administrator (districts vary as to how much control teachers have over issues like guest speakers). Once you've built one successful relationship, you can branch off from there. Word of mouth is very effective. If you're a classroom teacher, look for one other educator and invite them to collaborate with you on a small project or lesson that embodies humane education. Start with that small success and keep going.

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8 TIPS FOR SHARING ACCURATE INFORMATION

One of our essential duties as a humane educator or advocate for our cause is to ensure to the best of our ability that the information we’re sharing is accurate. The first of the 4 elements of humane education is to "provide accurate information." Whether we're giving a presentation to an audience of hundreds, writing a letter to the editor, or even having a conversation with a single person, truthful, credible, accurate information is paramount. Here are 8 tips to consider about providing accurate information:

1. Use reliable sources and double check them. Don’t just take one organization’s/resource's word for it; check several sources. If you’re seeing facts and statistics on a website, do they cite those sources? Are those sources credible, or are they links to more sites and information of the same type (e.g., advocacy sites linking to more advocacy sites)? What’s the original source of that information? One of the assignments when I was a student in IHE's program was to choose a fact or statistic from one of our required texts, and to do my own research to verify the accuracy of the claim. I discovered that my chosen statistic, although honestly intended to be accurate, was actually quite misleading.
2. Whenever possible use primary sources. Can you visit a factory farm yourself? Read that latest study on global warming and not just skim the press release? Talk to a person who’s an expert on the issue in question? Find the original source for the statistic being used? Go to the credible source when you can.
3. Use industry and government sources when possible and appropriate. No, they’re not necessarily more likely to be accurate or credible; but, like it or not, the public often gives more credence to industry and government sources as being “objective” and tends to think that advocacy groups are more “biased.” One of the things I love about Vegan Outreach’s literature is that they often use farmed animal industry statistics and quotes to show just how cruel and destructive industry practices are.
4. Be able to cite your sources. People may want to follow up on what you've told them, so be sure that you can point them to the sources from which you've gleaned your information. I was once yelled at by a mother who was afraid I was trying to indoctrinate her child, until I politely and calmly showed her the sources for the information I had shared. She thanked me for being so thorough and accommodating.
5. Never exaggerate or mislead. It may sometimes be tempting to generalize or exaggerate just a tiny bit, since it’s for a good cause, but honesty and accuracy must prevail. Often people are already skeptical of the kinds of information that humane educators and activists share, so if you get caught telling a little white lie, your credibility vanishes, and a potential future advocate is lost.
6. It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” There are so many challenges in the world, that even if you focus on one issue, there’s too much to know. Certainly it’s important to be as knowledgeable as you can, so be sure to continue to educate yourself; but, it’s okay to tell someone that you don’t know the answer to their question or assertion. People will usually appreciate your honesty, and if you can point them to some credible resources that CAN answer their question, even better.
7. Tell them “Don’t take my word for it.” Invite your audience to explore the issue(s) themselves and do their own investigating. They’re more likely to believe what they read, see or hear with their own senses, rather than getting it second (or third) hand. We WANT to encourage critical thinking and questioning, including of what we ourselves are saying.
8. Admit when you’re wrong. Information is dynamic, and with new knowledge, facts and statistics can change. New studies may reveal new data. Or, you may have found the same statistic from three reliable sources and then subsequently discovered that all of them were mistaken. Don’t hesitate to admit if you’ve been inadvertently sharing an inaccurate piece of information or if someone you’re talking to turns out to know more about the issue than you do. Mistakes happen. Honesty and sincerity are more important than clinging to erroneous data, even if it seems to “weaken” your stance.

Image courtesy of xtrarant via Creative Commons.

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RESOURCES FOR TEACHING ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

On January 11, high school teacher Shelley Wright's students each wore a barcode to school. Their goal? To "represent that people should not be bought and sold, to start conversations with those around them that slavery still exists, and as a visual symbol that our work is not done." January 11 was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and recently President Obama declared January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Modern day slavery continues to flourish, including in the U.S., and human trafficking is a topic both relevant and interesting to students. Many aren't aware that it exists. Social studies teacher, Elizabeth Devine, spends three weeks of her semester-long human rights course exploring human trafficking.

There are numerous useful resources available for teaching about human trafficking with older students. Here are just a few selected examples.

Books:

Ending Slavery
by Kevin Bales (2007)
What can people, community and governments do to end slavery now?

Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery
by Jesse Sage & Liora Kasten, eds. (2008)
Collection of first-hand accounts of modern slavery around the world.

The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking & Slavery in America Today
by Kevin Bales & Ron Soodalter (2009)
Documents cases of modern slavery in the U.S., discusses causes, and offers solutions.

Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- And How We Can Fight It
by David Batstone (2007)
Reveals accounts of victims of slavery and what people can do.

Free the Children
by Craig Kielburger (1998)
An article in the news led a young man on a crusade that has touched millions and has freed thousands of child slaves.

Films:

Call + Response
”...goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India."

The Day My God Died
“Entering the brothels of Bombay with hidden cameras, The Day My God Died documents the tragedy of the child sex trade, exposing human rights violations and profiling the courageous abolitionists who are working towards change.”

Free the Slaves documentaries
A useful collection of brief documentaries about human trafficking and modern slavery.

Human Trafficking
A fictionalized story of human trafficking; useful introduction for high school students.

Not for Sale: The Documentary
“Covers what modern-day abolitionists are doing to fight the rampant terrors of human trafficking in the US and abroad.” From the book of the same name.

Websites/Organizations:

Anti-Slavery International Teacher Resources
Includes curriculum and resource ideas for teaching about modern slavery.

Free the Slaves
A non-profit leading campaigns, as well as offering videos, survivor stories, and resources for teachers.

Human Trafficking
A blog featuring media and information about modern-day slavery.

Not for Sale Teacher Resources
Includes curriculum and offers other opportunities for students and teachers to get involved in learning about & stopping human slavery.

Polaris Project 
Offers an overview of human trafficking & works toward long-term solutions.

Slavery Footprint
Take the survey and find out how many slaves are working for us, based on the products we buy, foods we eat, sports we play, etc.

Slavery Map
A crowdsourced map that allows people to map documented cases of human trafficking/slavery in their communities.

The U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor & Combat Trafficking in Persons 
Includes the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which reports on the efforts of governments worldwide to combat human trafficking.

Also check out IHE's humane education activity, Do You Want Slavery With That?, which explores modern-day slavery with middle and high schoolers.

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