humaneadjective | hu·mane | \ hyü-ˈmān \
1. marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals synonyms: benevolent, compassionate, good-hearted, kind, merciful, tender, warmhearted |
educationnoun | ed·u·ca·tion | \ ˌe-jə-ˈkā-shən \
1. (b) the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process synonyms: erudition, knowledge, learnedness, learning, literacy, scholarship |
What is humane education? Why does it matter?
Humane education has been broadly defined as the use of education to nurture compassion and respect for living things. We believe it is an innovative, solutions-driven effort to create a better world for people, animals, and the environment. Humane education encompasses environmental ethics, animal protection, human rights, social justice, media literacy, social and emotional learning, citizenship, character development, pro-social literacy, and more in a holistic, values-based learning format. Humane education equips learners with the tools necessary to think critically about the real-world challenges affecting humans, animals, and the environment, and to work together to identify creative and impactful solutions for a better, brighter future.
Humane education encourages many character values, including compassion, respect, empathy, and tolerance. Individuals develop sensitivity to other living beings and the abiotic world within which we all survive, and they learn to appreciate the diversity of life on our planet. Humane education also provides opportunities for individuals to develop responsibility, stewardship, and self-esteem through its solutions-oriented approach. It empowers learners to make choices that align with their values and take action as confident, capable citizens.
We face numerous global challenges, such as pollution, poverty, climate change, animal cruelty and exploitation, violence, inequality, and world hunger. These issues make humane education a necessity for people everywhere. By exploring the link between these seemingly isolated issues in a safe and non-judgmental environment, individuals are encouraged to seek out accurate information and develop positive, meaningful solutions that have the ability to shape the future.
Humane education encourages many character values, including compassion, respect, empathy, and tolerance. Individuals develop sensitivity to other living beings and the abiotic world within which we all survive, and they learn to appreciate the diversity of life on our planet. Humane education also provides opportunities for individuals to develop responsibility, stewardship, and self-esteem through its solutions-oriented approach. It empowers learners to make choices that align with their values and take action as confident, capable citizens.
We face numerous global challenges, such as pollution, poverty, climate change, animal cruelty and exploitation, violence, inequality, and world hunger. These issues make humane education a necessity for people everywhere. By exploring the link between these seemingly isolated issues in a safe and non-judgmental environment, individuals are encouraged to seek out accurate information and develop positive, meaningful solutions that have the ability to shape the future.
Formal Definition of Humane Education:
From the Academy of Prosocial Learning
Humane education encourages cognitive, affective, and behavioral growth through personal development of critical thinking, problem solving, perspective taking, and empathy as it relates to people, animals, the planet, and the intersections among them. Education taught through the lens of humane pedagogy supports more than knowledge acquisition, it allows learners to process personal values and choose prosocial behaviors aligned with those values.
Four Essential Elements of Humane Education:
From the Institute for Humane Education
To ensure that people have the skills and experiences to be solutionaries for a more just, humane, and healthy world, humane educators must enable others to:
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ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE
by preparing them to be enthusiastic and effective researchers who are able to obtain accurate information about interconnected global challenges and discern fact from opinion and conjecture. |
THINK DEEPLY
by developing their critical-, creative-, strategic-, and systems-thinking skills. |
MAKE COMPASSIONATE & RESPONSIBLE CHOICES
by fostering wonder and appreciation for the natural world; empathy for people and animals; and a commitment to doing the most good and least harm. |
FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS
by providing opportunities to collaboratively engage in problem-solving; implement ideas; and assess and improve upon them. |
"Children trained to extend justice, kindness, and mercy to animals become more just, kind, and considerate in their relations to one another. Character training along these lines in youths will result in men and women of broader sympathies; more humane, more law-abiding, in every respect more valuable citizens. Humane education is the teaching in schools and colleges of the nation the principles of justice, goodwill, and humanity toward all life. The cultivation of the spirit of kindness to animals is but the starting point toward that larger humanity that includes one's fellow of every race and clime. A generation of people trained in these principles will solve their international difficulties as neighbors and not as enemies."
- US National Parent-Teacher Association Congress, 1933
