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The Power and Promise of Humane Education
This book offers teachers, activists, and educational reformers a vision for a profound educational movement with the potential to inspire compassionate citizenship among students and the creation of a more humane world. It provides specific ideas, activities, lessons, and resources to put this vision into practice.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Zoe Weil
14 books63 followersZoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), where she created the first graduate programs (M.Ed., M.A., Ed.D., Graduate Certificate) in comprehensive Humane Education linking human rights, environmental sustainability, and animal protection, offered online through an affiliation with Antioch University.
Zoe is a frequent keynote speaker and has given six TEDx talks including her acclaimed TEDx, The World Becomes What You Teach. She is the author of seven books including "The Solutionary Way: Transform Your Life, Your Community and the World for the Better;" #1 Amazon best seller in the Philosophy and Social Aspects of Education, "The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries;" Nautilus silver medal winner "Most Good, Least Harm;" Moonbeam gold medal winner "Claude and Medea;" and "Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times."
Zoe is the 2023 recipient of the Spirit of America award and was named one of Maine Magazine’s 50 independent leaders transforming their communities and the state. She is the recipient of the Unity College Women in Environmental Leadership award, a subject of the Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, and was inducted into the Animal Rights hall of fame.
Zoe holds master’s degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Valparaiso University.
Zoe is a frequent keynote speaker and has given six TEDx talks including her acclaimed TEDx, The World Becomes What You Teach. She is the author of seven books including "The Solutionary Way: Transform Your Life, Your Community and the World for the Better;" #1 Amazon best seller in the Philosophy and Social Aspects of Education, "The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries;" Nautilus silver medal winner "Most Good, Least Harm;" Moonbeam gold medal winner "Claude and Medea;" and "Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times."
Zoe is the 2023 recipient of the Spirit of America award and was named one of Maine Magazine’s 50 independent leaders transforming their communities and the state. She is the recipient of the Unity College Women in Environmental Leadership award, a subject of the Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, and was inducted into the Animal Rights hall of fame.
Zoe holds master’s degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Valparaiso University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 9, 2012
3.5 stars--This is essential reading for teachers, parents, scout leaders, librarians--anyone who works with young people. Humane education is the key by with we empower the next generation to become global citizens. Weil shares many stories, and offers her time-tested classroom activities to help guide humane educators-in-training.
Humane education is not about indoctrination or telling students what to think, Weil emphasizes. Rather, it is about giving students the facts and tools they need to make their up their own minds about pressing global issues. In fact, quite a few of Weil's activities are about getting students to research opposing sides of an issue, such as the lesson plan in which some students portray loggers, others environmentalists, and still others public policy legislators.
Nevertheless, I was disappointed to see Weil did not address at all how to deal with potential objections to humane education from parents or the community at large. You don't have to look hard to find parents who would prefer their families to remain ignorant regarding the world's problems. Will all parents be thrilled if their middle schooler comes home and says s/he only wants non-sweatshop-made clothing from now on, or only wants to eat free-range eggs? No, I'd wager that for every parent who appreciates their child's new-found consciousness, there's another who is annoyed by the potential (real or imagined) of having to buy more expensive or hard-to-find products.
Community problems also occasionally crop up too. When the director of my county animal shelter first began implementing the KIND Program in local schools, a rural veterinarian(!) fought it, claiming that somehow KIND would inspire children to become vegetarians in droves and reject hunting. That's ridiculous, any anyone who peruses KIND curricula knows it--and the program was eventually approved for classroom use.
While such objections as the ones described above shouldn't frighten anyone away from humane ed., the fact remains that they are out there, and Weil should have better prepped her readers for dealing with any potential problems.
Humane education is not about indoctrination or telling students what to think, Weil emphasizes. Rather, it is about giving students the facts and tools they need to make their up their own minds about pressing global issues. In fact, quite a few of Weil's activities are about getting students to research opposing sides of an issue, such as the lesson plan in which some students portray loggers, others environmentalists, and still others public policy legislators.
Nevertheless, I was disappointed to see Weil did not address at all how to deal with potential objections to humane education from parents or the community at large. You don't have to look hard to find parents who would prefer their families to remain ignorant regarding the world's problems. Will all parents be thrilled if their middle schooler comes home and says s/he only wants non-sweatshop-made clothing from now on, or only wants to eat free-range eggs? No, I'd wager that for every parent who appreciates their child's new-found consciousness, there's another who is annoyed by the potential (real or imagined) of having to buy more expensive or hard-to-find products.
Community problems also occasionally crop up too. When the director of my county animal shelter first began implementing the KIND Program in local schools, a rural veterinarian(!) fought it, claiming that somehow KIND would inspire children to become vegetarians in droves and reject hunting. That's ridiculous, any anyone who peruses KIND curricula knows it--and the program was eventually approved for classroom use.
While such objections as the ones described above shouldn't frighten anyone away from humane ed., the fact remains that they are out there, and Weil should have better prepped her readers for dealing with any potential problems.
March 26, 2012
When I first saw the book and read the introduction, I said no, this book is not for me is for teachers and adults or for parents. I kept on reading just to see how teachers,principals, adults and educators think about education for teenagers. I read chapter trough chapter and I learned many situations of teenagers like me are having world problems and how teachers or educators are trying to make a difference.
June 24, 2008
Humane education is the future, and not just for school teachers....if you are a parent, teacher, activist...member of society; you should read this book. It has lesson plans in it for actual "group" activities, but you don't need to be in a position to apply them to learn from this great book.
February 21, 2011
Zoe Weil's book is a great introductory guide to Humane Education and how it can be implemented by teachers and educators in schools and at home. The book is clear, concise, interesting and I love that there is a whole section on Humane Education activities for students. This book is also very inspiring and invites you to be more humane in your daily life to preserve the Earth and all of its beings.
September 1, 2012
Zoe is one of my hero's. Her books are inspiring, enlightening, and must-reads for anyone who cares about living in a more humane world. I own all her books and highly recommend them.
January 3, 2013
Super book for educators. I am integrating many of the exercises into class. It considers environment, animals, humanity and critical thinking
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews