“Man” is Missing a Better Vision for Humanity

Posted on January 10, 2013 by zoeweil

This animated viral video has been circulating on the Internet. It’s entitled “Man” (a dismaying title in an era where sexist language should have faded into oblivion), and it depicts the cruel, destructive manner in which humanity has lived on the Earth. As I watched it, I found myself so eager to see how this animation would demonstrate the transformation we can, and must, experience to fix the messes we’ve created and right the wrongs we’ve perpetrated. No such luck. We just become the victims of even more powerful aliens. No utopian vision this.

In various talks and workshops over the past year, I’ve been speaking about a different reality than what this video demonstrates: a reality in which we are living in less violent, discriminatory, and cruel times; a reality painstakingly researched and described by Steven Pinker in his book, The Better Angels of our Nature. Many don’t believe this reality is actually true, given the horrors in the world: a continuing slave trade, sex trafficking, and gender discrimination; the frightening despoiling of nature; the massive abuse and killing of more than one trillion animals each year, and more; yet it is true.

So as I watched this animated film, I found myself thinking how behind the times it was; how dystopian, when what we need right now are visionary ideas and examples of solutionaries doing the important work that lies ahead. But I do hope you will watch this video anyway, and then construct your own ending, one in which we build a humane and healthy world for all.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”

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What Can We Do When Children Cannot Imagine a Better World?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of Tom Hickmore via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “What Can We Do When Children Cannot Imagine a Better World?”:

“I recently spoke to the middle school students at an alternative, independent, progressive school. I talked first to the 5th and 6th graders and next to the 7th and 8th graders. As I often do when I give presentations, I opened my talk by asking the kids what they thought were the biggest problems in the world. Like every group, their lists included such topics as global warming, poverty and war, along with many other issues.

Then I asked a question I hadn’t ever posed before. I asked if they could imagine a world without these problems. Only three children out of 40 raised their hands. I was stunned. These are children. Children are blessed with active imaginations, yet these kids couldn’t imagine a world without a laundry list of terrible problems and crises.”

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”

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Let’s Be the Best FOR the World Not IN the World

Posted on December 3, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of erasmusa via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “Let’s Be the Best FOR the World Not IN the World”:

“Almost every time I do [the True Price] activity at U.S. teachers’ conferences, some audience members feel flummoxed by the challenge of bringing such an activity into their curricula. Forced to teach to seemingly endless standardized tests, many cannot see how such a multidisciplinary, critical and creative thinking activity could fit into the requirements they must fulfill, even though the exploration of these items and the process of answering these questions can fit beautifully and powerfully into language arts, science, math, health and social studies courses. Exploring such questions can also become an elective or add greater educational meaning and purpose to courses in economics, geography, psychology, environmental science, ethics and more.

In Manitoba, there were no such questions, no such quandaries. Prior to arriving at the conference, I had perused the ministry of education’s website, discovering this mission statement: ‘Our role is to ensure that all of Manitoba’s children and youth have access to engaging and high quality education that prepares them for lifelong learning and participation in a socially just, democratic and sustainable society.’”

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”

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We Notice What We Look For

Posted on September 20, 2012 by zoeweil

Image courtesy of frankieroberto via Creative Commons.

Have you ever noticed that when you are thinking about getting a certain make and model of car, you begin to see that make and model everywhere? This past summer, I spent more time than I ever had before swimming in the ocean where I live. In previous years, I’d swim in the ocean only a few times a summer. Why so few? Because the ocean in Maine is frigid. In the bay where we live it warms up on sunny days and at low tide, but the timing needs to be just right.

But last year I bought a 5 millimeter wet suit, and now I swim all the time. I head out with a mask and snorkel, and I see so much. Rock crabs and hermit crabs, periwinkles, sea stars, mussels, clams, sea urchins, rocks of so many hues, a forest of seaweeds, a garden of sand-buried sea worms with tentacle fronds emerging from their holes, waving in the current until startled, when they instantly disappear. It’s magical.

Many years ago when I was walking on the shore, I came across hundreds of sea stars, dead and beached on the ground. I wondered what could have caused this. Was it the dredging happening in the Union River that emptied into our bay? From then on I always searched for sea stars at low tide, eager to see them and feel assured that their numbers had recovered. Now, swimming out to the small island that comes and goes with the tide offshore, I saw dozens. And so I decided to count them. In my circuit around the tiny island a couple of weeks ago I counted 52 sea stars ranging in size from 1/4 inch to almost a foot across. Simultaneously, I counted the rock crabs – 75 of them. I saw all these sea stars and rock crabs while swimming for only 20 minutes. And it struck me that while I would periodically notice something new, mostly I saw what I was looking for.

Which reminded me of a story of an old woman sitting on a stool on a road between two villages. One day a traveler walked up to her and asked, “What kind of people live in the village to the north?” The old woman asked the traveler what sort of people he’d encountered in the village to the south, and he said, “Oh I met the worst people. They were greedy and rude and mean. They were thieves and liars and cheats.”

“I see,” the old woman said, “I’m afraid that you will find the same kinds of people in the village to the north.”

The next day another traveler approached the old woman asking, “Can you tell me what sorts of people are to be found in the village to the north?”

Again the old woman asked what sorts of people the traveler had found in the village to the south, and he responded, “I met the most wonderful people! They shared everything they had and opened their arms and their homes to me. They were kind and loving, gracious, and honest, and good.”

“Oh,” the old woman said, “You will find exactly the same sort of people in the village to the north.”

I love this story, and I loved experiencing for myself what it feels like to find what one is looking for.

So my tip for today is this: Ask yourself what you want to find today, this week, this month, this year. Answer this question for  yourself wisely and with hope and vision. You will find what you are looking for.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Get tickets now for the October 13 NYC debut of my 1-woman show — My Ongoing Problems with Kindness: Confessions of MOGO Girl – at United Solo, the world’s largest solo theatre festival.

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Baghdad Cafe: Making the Impossible Real

Posted on May 9, 2011 by zoeweil

My husband and I recently watched the indie film, Baghdad Café. I complained during the beginning that the film seemed boring and that we should watch the other Netflix film about the Galapagos that had arrived. Fortunately, I was too tired to actually get up and bring the Galapagos DVD over to the computer, and so we stuck with Baghdad Café. I’m so glad. It’s an unlikely and quirky film. The characters are not really believable, and nor is the premise, but by the end I didn’t care. I loved the message: Anything is possible. We are capable of so much more than we usually dare to imagine, and if we just dared, who knows what could happen.

Unlike many films these days in which the end is dark and uncertain (or in which there is really no end at all), this film is deeply satisfying. It offers no pat ending, but rather the possibility of more happiness and achievement to come. Jasmin and Brenda, the protagonists in Baghdad Café outstrip our expectations. What if we were to outstrip our own expectations of ourselves. What might we achieve?

And so this film leaves me asking myself and you these questions:

  • What do you want to create?
  • What do you want to be part of?
  • What do you want most for our world and your life?

As Capt. Jean-Luc Picard from the starship Enterprise would say, “Make it so.”

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

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A Powerful, Crucial Vision for the Future of Schooling: Teaching 2030

Posted on April 8, 2011 by zoeweil

Teaching 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools… Now and in the Future is perhaps the most cogent, reasonable, clear, and yet visionary book about educational reform in the 21st Century. Written through a collaboration of twelve teachers/teacher-leaders and changemakers, Teaching 2030 steers clear of rhetoric, either/ors, political side-taking, and focuses on what we need to create for a future in which all our children are well-educated for the changing world. It is a brilliant book, written with clarity and practicality, and it would not be difficult to implement every one of their suggestions. This book has the capacity to truly transform schooling, and I’m excited to include it as required reading for the students in our M.Ed. and M.A. programs in humane education.

It might appear that such a book is just for teachers or educational reformers and policy-makers, but it is one of the most important books that each of us could read this year simply as citizens. Schooling serves as the bedrock for our future, and each of us has an enormous stake in its success and relevancy.

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

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The Darkest Night: Solstice Reflections

Posted on December 20, 2010 by zoeweil

All over the northern hemisphere, for thousands of years, people have been celebrating the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Traditional religions have made some of their most important celebrations fall at the end of December. Jesus, for example, was historically thought to have been born in the spring, but the Christian church decided that his birth would be celebrated in the dark of winter – when pre-Christians were already celebrating, burning yule fires, and decorating trees.

There’s a reason why the darkest nights of the year, which fall at the end of December in the northern hemisphere, evoke celebration. Imagine life without electricity. Imagine as the shorter and colder days increase and all you have to stay warm and to see for hours each afternoon and evening is firelight. Imagine how important it would be to gather with loved ones, sing and dance, share the bounty you’ve painstakingly gathered in the warm months, and then to revel in the longer days that begin immediately upon the passing of the darkest night.

What I like about this time of year – even with central heating and electric lights – is the opportunity the dark, cold days provide to turn inward, to introspect, to slow down. It seems that the months of summer fly by, and I cannot find time to get together with friends, but when winter comes, suddenly I am gathering more often over candlelit dinners to talk, laugh, sing and play games. It is also a time to consider my hopes and goals for the coming year, to reflect upon what I want to bring to light.

This solstice, let us all imagine what light we might bring to a world that needs us. And then let’s put our imaginings into practice.

Go in light,

Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm

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Do You Think About the Future?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by zoeweil

Michael Chabon wrote a thought-provoking essay, “The Omega Glory,” (pdf) which is featured on the Long Now Foundation website. The Long Now Foundation “hopes to provide counterpoint to today’s ‘faster/cheaper’ mind set and promote ‘slower/better’ thinking… to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.”

Chabon’s essay asks us whether and how we think about the Future. I’ve capitalized Future to distinguish it from thinking about one’s personal future, or a five or ten-year vision of the future. Now I consider myself someone who thinks about the Future a lot, because my work in humane education is meant to help pave the way for a peaceful, sustainable and humane Future. I’m also a big science fiction fan, so I’ve been thinking about the Future ever since discovering Star Trek in 1974.

Yet Chabon’s essay made me pause. If I’m honest, I don’t think about the Future all that often. I think about the future a lot, but not the Future. If I did, such thinking would likely profoundly inform my present and would temper and make more meaningful and wise my thoughts about actions on behalf of the future and the Future.

Take a look at Chabon’s essay, and do share your thoughts.

Zoe Weil, author of Most Good, Least Harm

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