Transforming our educational system won’t be easy, but I believe that it is the most important and strategic path toward creating more just, peaceful, and sustainable societies populated by healthy, happy, successful people. Because the world inevitably becomes what we teach, it’s up to each of us – whether we are teachers, school administrators, parents,…
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What Do the Primary Causes of Death in the US Have to Do With the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico? What are the biggest killers of people in the U.S. today? What is the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico? How can these two seemingly disparate problems possibly be connected? This unit…
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by Marsha Rakestraw As we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., and his legacy, today, it’s important to remember that, with global challenges growing and violence, injustice, cruelty and destruction flourishing, it’s vital that we address issues of social justice (human rights, environmental preservation, animal protection, media, culture, and changemaking) with students — to help them…
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Students will investigate the “birth place” of their clothes, learn about how those clothes are connected to the oppression and exploitation of children and women, and consider positive solutions. Recommended for grades 6-12. Time: 2-3 60 minute classes, and longer for solutions projects
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by Marsha Rakestraw One of the most powerful aspects of humane education is its focus on positive solutions. Educating students about global challenges is important, but it’s the integration of connection, creativity, critical thinking, and creating solutions that really feeds and enables students’ hunger for becoming changemakers for a better world. In the Summer 2014…
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by Marsha Rakestraw “You can’t be afraid of words that speak the truth, even if it’s an unpleasant truth….I don’t like words that hide the truth.” ~ George Carlin We use euphemisms every day, words and phrases that are a less direct or “nicer” way of talking about uncomfortable, harsh or sensitive topics. Sometimes they…
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This brief activity is a great icebreaker for groups of humane educators or student (or adult) solutionaries to help them define their visions. Recommended for grades 8 and up. Time: 30-45 minutes
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by Institute for Humane Education As part of our educator professional development, we encourage teachers to start infusing humane education into their classrooms by finding small ways to tweak their lessons. After learning more about the impact of plastic bags, high school math teacher Tristan Bates decided to whip up a fun little activity for his…
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by Marsha Rakestraw If you’re as old as I am, you probably remember math word problems asking you about the speed and direction of trains. Or geometry problems that asked you to calculate areas of objects drawn on paper. Or probabilities focused on dice roles. If you were lucky, you might have gotten to explore…
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Is human population growth threatening to overshoot and jeopardize the earth’s carrying capacity? If so, what can be done about it? In this activity, students will be able to: describe and model human population growth during the past 600 years with an exponential function, considering both the total amount of growth and average and/or instantaneous…
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