What Should We Teach?

What Should We Teach?

What should we teach students in school? Given the realities of globalization, constantly evolving technologies, rapidly shifting job opportunities, and a planet in peril from climate change, it’s important to re-evaluate the body of knowledge and skillsets that we require children to obtain. It helps to come to this task with a beginner’s eyes, unfettered…

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cultivating kindness

Cultivating Humane & Ethical Values

Most people want a compassionate, healthy, just world. Use these resources to help cultivate humane values (such as kindness, compassion, empathy, and integrity) in your students and yourself. Curated by the Institute for Humane Education.

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classroom

What’s Wrong With Education and How to Make It Right

Zoe Weil is a blogger for Psychology Today, and we share her blog posts here. Most people in industrialized countries have experienced thirteen years of formal schooling, so it is not surprising that many consider themselves to be legitimate critics of education. Our feelings about schooling run the gamut. Some believe that if the curriculum…

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solutionary

Teaching Critical Thinking: An Interview with Steve Pearlman

I recently read Steve Pearlman’s excellent new book, America’s Critical Thinking Crisis: the Failure and Promise of Education, and I immediately reached out to him. At the Institute for Humane Education, we share Steve’s conviction that critical thinking is critically important, and we’re thrilled that he offers pedagogical approaches for creating critical thinkers. Steve is…

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Bringing the “I Can” Mindset to Children around the World: An Interview with Kiran Bir Sethi

Kiran Bir Sethi is the Founder and Director of The Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. She is also the founder of Design for Change (DFC), the world’s largest movement of change of and by children. DFC is now in 70 countries impacting over 2.2 million children and 65,000 teachers. Kiran has received many awards for…

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9 Strategies for Cultivating Empathy and Compassion in Your Classroom

by Marsha Rakestraw To create a just, compassionate, sustainable world for all – and to help our students become solutionaries — it’s vital that we help them (and ourselves) build empathy and compassion for people, animals, and the earth. We humans are wired to care about those with whom we have close relationships (our family,…

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class

5 Simple Tips for Creating a Compassionate Classroom

by Samantha Gentrup As teachers get ready for the school year, we have to decide what our classrooms will look like and what our rules and procedures will be. We essentially have to create our classroom culture. What can we do to make sure we build a classroom of kindness and compassion for all beings?…

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We Must Develop Truly Solutionary Solutions

If you conduct a web search for “kid heroes” you’ll discover wonderful children doing great things. It is inspiring to read their stories, learn about their generosity, and know that kindness and compassion flourish. Yet you’ll likely discover that many of these children are involved in efforts that do not seek to change the systems…

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