Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life.
Order a copy:
($15.00 cover price)
From the Institute for Humane Education
From Amazon.com
From Barnes & Noble
or from your local bookstore!
Reading Group Discussion Guide for Most Good, Least Harm.
Download a PDF of the MOGO Questionnaire and Action Plan.
“With an amazingly useful way of thinking and acting, Most Good, Least Harm is multi-faceted in its utility….The innovation in this book is…spreading a message of being socially, politically, and environmentally conscious when making decisions.”
~ Jordan Dacayanan, Sacramento Book Review
During our student residency training last month, we grappled with our goals as humane educators. Do we teach in order to change the world? Do we teach because we love our students and want the best for them? Do we teach with some combination of these two goals? How do we work with the tension [...]
Filed under: humane education | Tagged: goals, humane education, humane educators, residency, students | Leave a Comment »
During the communication sessions during our residency week at the Institute for Humane Education we do an activity called “Spectrum.” Participants find themselves on a linear spectrum of choices that they make in relation to animal protection, human rights/social justice, environmental preservation, and consumerism. After doing the spectrum four times around these separate issues areas, [...]
Filed under: compassionate communication, positive choices | Tagged: agendas, compassionate communication, humane education, positive choices, relationships, residency | 1 Comment »
The current September/October issue of World Watch Magazine explores human population issues. In the editor’s introduction, we learn that “while young people understand that growing populations strain Earth’s resources and that ‘global family planning initiatives will help improve the health of our planet and people around the world,’ only a third believe that having fewer [...]
Filed under: MOGO (Most Good), population, positive choices | Tagged: Cultural Issues, Environmental Preservation, human rights, humane education, MOGO, overpopulation, positive choices, reproduction | 5 Comments »
The anti-immigration sentiment that’s growing in the U.S. is fomenting not only inhumane actions but also a shameful waste of taxpayer dollars. In an opinion piece in the Miami Herald, author Mary Sanchez describes a government raid on an Iowa meatpacking plant in which almost 400 Mayan Guatemalans “were scooped up and shuffled in shackles [...]
Filed under: economy, food and diet | Tagged: animal protection, Environmental Preservation, food and diet, human rights, immigrants, industrial agriculture, slaughterhouses | 1 Comment »
Last month, our M.Ed. and Humane Education Certificate Program students gathered at the Institute for Humane Education for their residency training – five days in which we all came together to learn in person in an otherwise distance-learning format. Twenty-three humane educators from all over the United States, and one from Germany, shared brilliant ideas, [...]
Filed under: humane education | Tagged: humane education, humane education activities, memes, mission, residency, taglines, values | Leave a Comment »
I watched John Edwards confess his extramarital affair on Nightline and found myself pondering his repeated reference to this affair as a “mistake.” Mistake? A mistake is when you put a comma in the wrong place, or do an algebra problem and add two numbers wrong, or when you call a hawkweed flower a dandelion. [...]
Filed under: MOGO (Most Good), positive choices | Tagged: ethics, honesty, integrity, John Edwards, political leaders, positive choices, values | 1 Comment »
In the August 4 Ethics Newsline , you’ll find the results of a research report that asked the question: Which is more important: Economic Growth or the Environment? The answer to this question, from a Harris poll, is: “As economic conditions worsen, people who are asked to make a decision between protecting the environment or [...]
Filed under: Environmental Preservation, critical thinking, economy, positive choices | Tagged: both/and, economic growth, either/or, Environmental Preservation, positive choices | 1 Comment »
In a news release from the Association for Psychological Science titled, “Reflecting on values promotes love, acceptance,” humane educators’ efforts to foster personal reflection on individual values is vindicated. Such reflection, which humane educators typically offer students, results in less defensiveness, more generosity, and willingness to change unhealthy or inhumane choices. It’s always nice when [...]
Filed under: humane education, positive choices, values | Tagged: humane education, love, positive choices, psychology, values, virtues | Leave a Comment »
In my previous blog post, I discussed reframing education in general. From the humane educator’s perspective, almost all the myths of society require reframing. Consider these: If we don’t buy lots of non-essential things, the economy will collapse. You’re either with us or against us. Economic globalization is the greatest hope for developing countries. Economic [...]
Filed under: humane education | Tagged: accountability, education, humane living, positive choices, reframing, schools, students, values | Leave a Comment »
I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me at Zoe@HumaneEducation.org.
The Power and Promise of Humane Education
Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times
Claude and Medea: The Hellburn Dogs
So, You Love Animals: An Action-Packed, Fun-Filled Book to Help Kids Help Animals