One of the beautiful things about humane education is that it can be taught alongside any subject. English? Write poems from the point of view of a child factory worker. Social Studies? Look at the history of segregation in the USA. Science? Investigate the facts to understand climate change. Any teacher can find a way to bring humane education into their classroom.
If you are already doing that (and you might be since you are on the HEART blog), we have a way for you to make your work with students even stronger. Consider joining forces with some of the other teachers in your school to coordinate your lessons. There is something so powerful about looking at an issue from multiple angles. Let’s take climate change. Imagine that first, the science teacher does a unit on climate change. Then, the English teacher helps the kids do a letter writing campaign asking the government to take action. And finally, the art teacher asks the kids to create educational posters about what people can do to stop our world from warming. And think about what it would be like if all those lessons took place on the same day, or even in the same week.
We all know that students learn information in different ways. Approaching the same topic from more than one perspective allows the children to really get familiar with the material, and enables them to explore it in a way that is comfortable for them. Perhaps you have a student who doesn’t like art, but enjoys writing. Or vice versa. Approaching the issue in this multidisciplinary way gives every student the chance to shine, and increases the chances that this important knowledge will stay with them. It might even make the subjects that are usually less interesting to them more dynamic.
Since the school year has just started, talk to your colleagues and ask them if they plan on covering any humane topics this year. Let them know what you’re planning on doing in your classroom. And then, together, think about how you can work together to complement each other’s lessons.
