Based on the Privilege Walk, this activity encourages students/participants to develop an awareness of the kinds of choices we make every day that impact other people, nonhuman animals, and the environment.
Recommended Grades: 9 and up
Time: A few class periods
Zoe Weil is a blogger for Psychology Today (PT), and twice a month we share her blog posts here. Enjoy! We tend to protect and care for who and what we love. Ask any parent if they would be willing to sacrifice themselves to save their child, and they’ll likely answer yes. I had the…
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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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by Marsha Rakestraw Updated: 3/2/2021 The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements expanded the conversation about how common sexual harassment and assault of women is and the roles of power and patriarchy in perpetuating the objectification and oppression of women and girls. In early 2018, an offshoot campaign, the #MeTooK12 arose to help spotlight the prevalence of sexual…
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by IHE Peruse a piece of information, and it may seem objective. Look again with a more critical eye, and you can begin to see the hidden messages, the framing, and the context (or lack thereof) attached to that piece of information. Much of the information we impart to our students, whether through textbooks or…
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by Marsha Rakestraw Technology is not neutral. And while we’re increasingly learning about the pervasive influence of fake news and misinformation, we rarely consider that the algorithms and filters our tech uses contain bias. Those algorithms limit and shape what we see, how we spend our time, and what we think about. Those algorithms can…
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by Marsha Rakestraw It’s the holiday season. Which of these better describes your state of mind: Joyous, meaningful, balanced? Or, exhausted, stressed, conflicted? The winter holidays have gained a reputation for reaching the epitome of the “overs”: overspending, overbooking, overstressing, overconsuming. And more people are expressing a desire to simplify their holidays and bring more…
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by Marsha Rakestraw Right at the start of the school year is a great time to encourage students to think about the world they live in, the choices they make, what a humane world looks like, and the power they have to help bring such a world to reality. What does it mean to become…
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by Marsha Rakestraw My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Leddy, had us students do something that I have never forgotten. She called it a “car wash.” Every week one of us would be the “car,” and the other students would form two lines in front of the car. Zigzagging from one side to the other, the…
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by Marsha Rakestraw While images of polar bears clinging to bits of ice or of widespread deforestation might motivate those of us who are biophiliacs, many people find them uninspiring. Images can influence and galvanize us, but it matters what those images depict. When it comes to climate action, photos of polar bears and protesters…
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