“Part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, it were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.’” - Neil deGrasse Tyson Empathy is the key to encouraging prosocial behavior, limiting aggression, and diminishing social prejudice in our world. “To empathize is to civilize,” says Jeremy Rifkin,… Read More Teaching Empathy: Essential for Students, Crucial for Humanity
Art teachers get to have fun. They teach through play, spread joy, and get their students’ creative juices flowing. While we may acknowledge, theoretically, that joy, creativity, and learning are related, the daily reality of teaching appears to leave less room for artistic values and persuasions. The common perception is such… art teachers inspire creative… Read More The Educator as Artist
“The heart of the Waldorf method is that education is an art – it must speak to the child’s experience. To educate the whole child, his heart and his will must be reached, as well as the mind.” - Rudolf Steiner Speaking to a child’s experience and level of development is the key to reaching… Read More In Praise of Kindergarten
Middle school has a particular reputation, and it’s not necessarily a good one. Children often approach these years of schooling (6-8 or 7-8) anxiously — concerned about cliques, closed-off cafeteria tables and bullies roaming the halls. Parents send children into these schools with trepidation as well. But, for some, it may come as a surprise… Read More K-8 Comeback: Clear Merits over Middle School Model
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane.… Read More Teach Children to Seek Significance over Success