What boundaries should a school set on student speech, if any, in order to foster social-emotional learning, civil discourse, and friendship among students? How might they hold themselves and their students accountable for upholding school values, even when they are not reflected on the national political landscape? We invite you to watch the 3rd episode…
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We speak with Jamie Woodhouse, UK educator and thought leader on sentientism. An ethical worldview informed by evidence, reason, and compassion, sentientism prioritizes the well-being of humans and animals other than human. We discuss strategies for introducing sentientism in the classroom, the questions students ask, and ways teachers can incorporate sentientism in the curriculum.
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We speak with the New Jersey School of Conservation’s Kerry Kirk Pflugh and Tanya Sulikowski, and Garwood, NJ middle school teacher, K.C. Bree about the SOC and about New Jersey’s first-in-the-nation mandate for climate change education in every grade. The SOC, a newly-reopened 75-year-old center for experiential learning and fieldwork, provides professional development as well as interdisciplinary programming for students including applied science, math, humanities, and arts in an idyllic outdoor setting. Students learn about humans’ responsibility toward other animals and the planet, and are empowered to take action.Working cooperatively, they often develop new respect for their classmates.
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We speak with Jackie Broder, director of the Mamakating Environmental Education Center in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The Center abuts the Basha Kill wetland, a vital self-contained ecosystem. It helps students, families, and community members to connect with the area’s distinct biodiversity and rich history and to develop an emotional connection with nature.
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Today we’re here to invite you to watch our new video podcast series “What Would YOU do?”. Created in partnership with EdEthics of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, each episode includes a dramatization of an ethical dilemma that could be faced by educators along with a discussion of the case facilitated by Harvard professor Meira Levinson.
We have two episodes available on our website and they are a great resource for PD!
One examines the debate over a form of project-based civics education called Action Civics, in which students research a topic of their choosing and then take action to create change. A parent’s campaign to end the action civics project prompts a high school to examine the purpose of civic education, the rights of young people to influence their community, and the ways that polarized discourse influences schools.
The second episode explores the challenges of teaching about climate change in a community where a large portion of the residents work in the natural gas industry. A new science teacher is surprised when many of her students and their parents object to her lessons on climate change. How far should the beliefs and values of the local community in which a school is embedded inform curricular and other teaching decisions?
To watch, simply go to our website ethicalschools.org and click on VIDEOS. We hope you like it!
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We speak with Lian Zeitz, co-founder of the Climate Mental Health Network, which promotes wellness in light of the climate crisis. According to a recent survey, 70% of young people are fearful for their future due to climate change. Teachers can foster wellness by interweaving insights into their curricula, and by instilling habits of hope and resilience. The Climate Mental Health Network prioritizes input from students, working with a Gen Z advisory board.
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We speak with Dr. Deb L. Morrison, research scientist at the University of Washington School of Education, about centering climate science throughout the K-12 curriculum. Dr. Morrison talks about ClimeTime, a Washington State-funded program that teaches how to engage in climate science and climate justice education across disciplines, and describes nationally-available resources. She emphasizes the…
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We speak with Dr. Deb L. Morrison, research scientist at the University of Washington School of Education, about centering climate science throughout the K-12 curriculum. Dr. Morrison talks about ClimeTime, a Washington State-funded program that teaches how to engage in climate science and climate justice education across disciplines, and describes nationally-available resources. She emphasizes the importance of integrating society, technology, and science education and says that climate science can be taught even in very conservative areas through place-based education, addressing what matters to kids in their communities.
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We speak with Katie Worth, investigative journalist and author of Miseducation: How Climate Change is Taught in America. Ms. Worth explores what children across the country are taught, or not taught, about climate change. In 24 states, oil and gas company representatives teach children about the wonders of fossil fuels, downplaying or denying their climate impacts. With an eye on sales in Texas, textbooks falsely depict a scientific debate over climate science, and often cover it in the last unit of the last chapter.
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We speak with high school science teachers and trans men, Sam Long and Lewis Maday-Travis, who have developed resources and trainings to help biology teachers develop gender-inclusive curricula. Science tells us that sexual and gender diversity is both normal and positive.
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We speak with Carlos Alberto Torres, Distinguished Professor at UCLA. Dr. Torres worked closely with Paulo Freire and now directs the UCLA Paulo Freire Institute. He argues that we need to create a model of ethics education that combines social justice and natural justice, or sustainability. Freire viewed the planet as an oppressed entity. We talk about creating a political culture in our schools that centers peace and the global commons, what in other places is called civic culture. Part one of a two-part interview.
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We continue our conversation with Dr. Garrett Broad of Fordham University, talking about high school and college students’ experiences working with non-profits and about what students know/should learn about food and food justice. Students often join non-profits with unrealistic expectations. There are tensions between keeping the organization afloat and pursuing radical change.There are no silver bullets; entrenched problems have complex solutions.
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Ethical Schools is an an initiative of Ethics In Education Network ®, which offers customized professional development programs for administrators, teachers, and youth workers who wish to prioritize ethics. Please contact us to schedule a free (no pressure) consultation and site visit.
