Bring on the Learning Revolution: Another TED Talk by Ken Robinson

Here’s another great talk on education by Ken Robinson: What do you think? Zoe Weil Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Share Your Thoughts: What Should Schooling Be For?

I’ve written a lot about what I think schooling should be for and what we at the Institute for Humane Education believe should be the greater purpose of education. Now I’d love to hear from you. This week I’m using my blog to post questions to my readers. Here’s the first: What should schooling be [...]

WebSpotlight: Cooperative Catalyst

Want to join a juicy and meaningful discussion about education? Visit Cooperative Catalyst. I’ve recently been introduced to this blog discussion and it’s an exciting place to explore issues of education and schooling. I’ve also just become a contributing blogger there. You can read my first post here. Hope you’ll join me there! Zoe Weil [...]

A, B, C and Not Yet: Embracing Our Identities as Successful Changemakers

I’ve been reading the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. The book identifies key factors that spur positive change. In one section, the authors discuss creating a new identity and a growth mindset. They tell the story of Molly Howard, a special education teacher who became [...]

Share Your Voice: What is the Biggest Challenge Facing Education Today?

At the U.S. Department of Education blog, readers are invited to answer this question: What is the biggest challenge facing education today? I wrote the following, and I hope you will share your thoughts as well: I believe the biggest challenge in education today is that our current purpose for schooling is inadequate. We are [...]

Observing the Natural World & Creating Poetry

During our Summer Institute, June 28-July 2, we introduce the participants to a form of nature observation called “Seton watching.” Each of us finds a place at the Institute for Humane Education’s meadow, woods, or by the pond to sit and observe a small window of nature for 25 minutes. It’s always remarkable how much [...]

What Superhero Would You Be?

During our Summer Institute for teachers, June 28-July 2, participants offered the group short presentations on any humane education topic. Andy Beardsley, a high school English teacher, explored superheroes with us and then invited us to consider what superhero we would be, what powers we would have, and how our superhero story would originate were [...]

Reflections on Our Summer Institute

Last week twelve educators gathered for the Institute for Humane Education’s summer training institute for teachers. One teacher came from down the road a half mile, and another from Hong Kong. We ranged in age from 19 to 69. What we had in common was an interest in bringing the most pressing issues of our [...]

The Real Crisis in American Education

Last fall I came across this quote in Harper’s magazine from Mark Slouk: “Why is every crisis in American education cast as an economic threat and never a civic one?” Great question. The lens through which we look at schooling will determine the kind of schooling we offer our children, and if our goal continues [...]

Pretending in Education

In the July issue of The Sun magazine, in the “Readers Write” section on pretending, Susannah Mackintosh writes this: “I’m an actor, but for 12 years I held day jobs as a teacher. I taught everyone from homeless preschoolers to union members to teen felony offenders to fifth-graders (by far the most challenging). At some [...]