Tea and Teaching

2/6/2019

This is a recording of the live panel discussion, which took place on Wednesday, February 6 at 12:00pm CST.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world - and we believe humane education should be just as universally understood and beneficial! Join us for a cup of tea while we talk about the practice and inclusion of humane education. Let’s discuss how to make our work more accessible, how to incorporate humane education in formal and informal settings, and how we can grow our field together. Bring your questions about funding, curriculums, resources, marketing, and more to this panel discussion.

Tea and Teaching Panelists:
Sarah Bexell, PhD - Director of Humane Education, Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver
Lisbet Chiriboga - Program Strategist, TeachKind
Erin Comaskey, EdD(c), MA
Morris Darbo - Founder, Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society
Vincie Ho, PhD - Co-Founder, Mini Acts for the Greater Good
Stephanie Itle-Clark, EdD, CHES - Founder and President, Academy of Prosocial Learning
Kimberly Korona, MEd - Senior Program Director, HEART

Links and Resources:

APL

HEART

LAWCS

MAGG Hong Kong

TeachKind

Univ of Denver IHAC

Tea & Teaching Resources

17 Comments

Humane Education Coalition

2/6/2019 04:09:46 pm

Question from live event: Are there other free humane ed. resources that I can access online?

Megan Moon

2/6/2019 04:20:55 pm

We compiled a list of resources shared during the Tea and Teaching live panel discussion! You can find it here: http://bit.ly/2TAeQ0R. Many of the lesson plans are free and available online. I also recommend checking out the Humane Education Coalition's resource toolkit for many free lesson plans, activities, research, educational opportunities, and more: www.hecoalition.org/toolkit. Thank you!

Paula Neuman link

2/6/2019 05:09:03 pm

We have several units we have created for teachers on a variety of topics. They are available for free download.

2/6/2019 06:33:00 pm

Thank you for sharing your resources at BC SPCA, Paula! Here's a quick link to those resources for our participants: http://bit.ly/2TCokZA.

2/6/2019 04:10:42 pm

Question from Uma during live event: For grassroots activists with campaigns centered on plant-based foods and their environmental and health benefits, are their resources for sleek, impactful infographics with citations? I run a campus veg-club that has forged positive relationships with dining services to serve new vegan foods, but our team is lacking digital design skills (& funding to pay someone) to create the educational banners we have been invited to include in campus promotions.

2/6/2019 06:40:48 pm

Uma, I can share a user-friendly (and free!) resource to create your own infographics, if a member of your club can find the time. Canva is a great tool, and it makes design very simple with templates and guides. Here's the link: www.canva.com. It seems like you understand the critical need for accurate, well-cited information when creating these materials, and one source I recommend checking out is ProVeg International: proveg.com/5-pros. I hope this is helpful!

Kim Korona

2/6/2019 09:31:57 pm

Uma, I want to second what Megan said. I have no experience with design and Canva has made it really easy for us at HEART to create really nicely designed, cited infographics for marketing and engaging handouts for lesson plans. I am sure that you could use it to create some really great infographs for your campus dining veg-campaign (which sounds fantastic by the way)! Congratulations on your success so far and good luck.

2/6/2019 04:11:26 pm

Question from live event: Are there any resources or places in which Humane Educators can meet to collaborate or find other educators in their local area?

Stephanie Itle-Clark link

2/6/2019 05:17:15 pm

There are a few places I can suggest.

1) I know regional humane education meet-ups take place in various parts of the US. These are usually once or twice a year per region and are hosted by various groups. If you are in the east coast, email info@prosocialacademy.org and we will add you to the contact list for the next one.

2) If you are a student or graduate of the Academy of Prosocial Learning, there is a private Facebook group where we share resources, ask questions, share job postings, etc. Also, if you would like to know of other humane educators in your area, email info@prosocialacademy.org and ask for educators in your region. We can share names from the Humane Educator Registry.

3) The Association of Professional Humane Educators offers a listserv to members. On the listserv many resources and ideas are shared. If you are a member and are not yet on the listserv, email the membership secretary for help.

4) Humane Education Coalition partners have a Facebook page as well for sharing and discussion.

I am sure there are more ways to connect and I look forward to learning them as well.

2/6/2019 04:12:28 pm

Question from IHE during live event: Could this panel speak about diversity, equity, inclusion, and general challenges in approaching social/human rights issues?

2/6/2019 09:25:26 pm

I really appreciate the question, but it is fairly broad so I hope that I am able to touch upon some of what you are asking.
1) At HEART we teach a really powerful activity called the Cultural Iceberg, that we adapted from “People Power” by the North Shore Multicultural Society. To help students identify and share their cultures in a creative fashion and begin to understand diversity through “visible”, “semi-visible”, and “non-visible” characteristics. (a good introduction activity to discussing diversity and human rights issues) - if you are interested in this activity please contact me at: kim@teachheart.org

We also have a lesson that is available in our free Justice for All K - 5 guide, http://teachheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Comprehensive-Resource-Guide.pdf, pg.182 called Find Your Voice (lesson description- We all have different identities. Youth will break into groups based on a shared identity they feel characterizes them, and answer questions as representatives of that particular group. They will share their responses as a way to share their voice, break stereotypes and assumptions, and promote empathy)

Additionally, we have a packet of lessons on a range of topics including: Bias-based bullying, Islamophobia, Black Lives Matter, Immigration Rights, and Speaking Up and again if anyone is interested in these materials please contact me.

Another lesson from our Justice for All Guide, Secondary School - Boxed In (lesson).........................................Page 24 This lesson invites students to explore ways that
stereotypes and gender expectations affect themselves
and other members of their communities. They will
be encouraged to think of ways that some of their
own characteristics or behaviors are boxed in by social
norms. Students will learn how to affirm one another’s
personhood when certain identity traits do not conform
to social expectations., http://teachheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Secondary-School-Resource-Guide.pdf

I also have a lesson we created based on role-play on environmental racism that I can share with anyone who is interested.

For inclusion - I encourage you to start with the SEL lessons in both of our free Justice for All guides: Agreements for Peace, Community Circle, and STEP. (these lessons are in our K - 5 guide, and we have modified versions in our Secondary Guide) because these lessons will help to create a respectful, kind, and inclusive classroom culture for discussing these topics.

It is very important to set the Agreements for Peace at the beginning of the program to set the tone and encourage respectful dialogue, with open and honest communication. Also, consider a talking piece so that students practice really listening to one another and not interrupting.

2/6/2019 04:13:08 pm

Question from Kyla during live event: As a guest educator, how do you present yourself and your program to schools and teachers in an effective way that best demonstrates the importance and relevance of the program/presentation?

2/6/2019 08:45:47 pm

Unfortunately there is no one straight answer. In my experience it is partially a numbers game, especially when you are first starting. Schools are strapped for time so it is contacting as many places as you can, multiple times, until you start to get responses. For the first organization I worked at we actually had a directory of all the schools in the area and we did a mass mailing, with a really engaging flyer with clear succinct description of the program we were offering, and we offered it for free. Then, we followed the mailing with phone calls and/or emails. We were able to book enough engagements to keep a full schedule. Once you are able to offer your program it is key to have the adults and youth complete evaluations about the program and ask if you can quote them. Then, you can incorporate these quotes on your website and marketing materials to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of your program. Nothing speaks more volume than quotes from students or educators who express what they gained and/or valued about your program.

Other strategies that we have used are reading the mission statements of schools and finding school mission statements that connect to what we are teaching in our programs, for examples, some schools might say their mission is to inspire youth to become life-long learners who are actively engaged in their local and global community. This is what our programs at HEART are all about so I would email individuals at the school about our free program, provide a concise description and explain how it connected to their mission and then ask to set up a meeting.

For contacting schools, consider contacting the assistant principal, they are a little less busy then the principal, and often interested in bringing in enrichment programs. You might also consider contacting the guidance counselor(s), parent coordinator, or PTA since there are also individuals or groups who might be looking for enrichment programs for students. Other opportunities for providing outside programs are advisory periods - there are some schools that have well-planned out advisory periods, but others who are desperate for engaging content. I have partnered with a couple of schools to train all their advisory teachers in several humane ed lessons to teach the lessons themselves.

Another great option is to partner with a teacher who wants to offer an after-school club and help the teacher to run the club - with an after-school club you have a lot more freedom with the content and activities you provide, and you often get more time to do projects as well.

If you want to talk about this in more depth feel free to contact me at: kim@teachheart.org

Lisbet Chiriboga link

2/7/2019 07:26:48 pm

Hi Kyla, I go into this topic in more detail in my summit presentation "Strategies for Building Relationships with School Communities". So please check that out if you can. But in a nutshell: find out about laws in your area that pertain to humane education, learn about how it can foster prosocial behavior and motivate students academically so you can explain that to schools in terms that they understand, and finally learn about the epidemic of youth violence against animals happening in the U.S. I find that this last issue is the one that typically helps to make the strongest case. You can find more information about all that I've mentioned here on TeachKind.org. And feel free to contact me at LisbetC@TeachKind.org with any questions.

2/6/2019 04:13:35 pm

Question from Dana during live event: Are there examples of after school programs & humane clubs, etc. in schools in the U.S?

2/7/2019 06:17:44 pm

Hi Dana, so sorry for the delay in responding to your question. Yes, there are definitely after-school programs that happen related to humane topics and there are specific comprehensive humane clubs as well - but comprehensive humane clubs are still relatively new,and I don't know how many there are. At HEART we are able to bring humane education to lots of youth through after-school clubs. We have taught single-focused issue clubs and more broad based clubs. For example, we partnered with a local animal adoption center to offer a program for 5 - 7 year olds on all different animal issues (cats and dogs, beyond cat and dog animal companions, wildlife, and farm animals). Each session was once a week for three weeks where they learned about an issue and then did a service project and we offered several of these series over a period of several years. We have also offered animal clubs to middle school youth, environmental clubs, social justice clubs where we met with youth once a week for the whole semester and we taught youth about issues, had discussions, and then we did student-directed service projects. I knew of someone who organized a humane club where the students choose a topic that they wanted to work on and the kids in the club broke into three groups, and one group looked at a human rights aspect of the issue, one group looked at the animal protection aspect, and the last looked at the environmental impact. Each group researched the topic, taught the others, and then they did a large service project to tackle the issue from each aspect. I can provide more specifics about all these different types of clubs if you want to set up a call. kim@teachheart.org.

2/7/2019 07:18:37 pm

Hi Dana, There are afterschool programs and clubs all over the country. PETA has a program that helps students run a school animal rights club. We provide free monthly action kits and lots of other materials, as well as expert advice. Here's where they can sign up: https://www.peta.org/students/resources/students-united-for-animal-rights/
And since student clubs usually have an adult adviser, TeachKind works to support them too!
https://www.peta.org/teachkind/humane-classroom/animal-rights-club/
Feel free to contact me at LisbetC@TeachKind.org for more information.

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