SURRY, MAINE, June 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the second edition of her book, The World Becomes What We Teach, author Zoe Weil, a pioneer in humane education and president of the Institute for Human Education (IHE), offers a transformative new approach to addressing America’s broken public education system.
The book will be available in July.
Weil proposes that schools educate students to become “solutionaries,” and her approach is already being incorporated in select schools and school systems across the United States and in India. According to Weil, the goal of a solutionary is to identify inhumane, unsustainable, and unjust systems, and then develop solutions that are healthy and equitable—for people, animals, and the environment alike.
In the new edition, Weil writes: “. . . doesn’t it make sense for schools to ensure that students understand the formidable challenges before them; to prepare young people to address these challenges; and to engage youth in cultivating their ability and desire to create meaningful solutions to potentially calamitous global problems?”
The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the growing calls for social justice, have brought to light the chronic problems that have plagued public education for years—from inequitable funding and unequal access to technology to the relevance of the curriculum for today’s world. Since March of last year, school systems have scrambled to keep students connected to their classrooms. But with millions of students poised to return to school this fall, one question looms large: What are they returning to?
As outlined in the book, students and teachers could be returning to schools where they are working to solve problems for their families, communities, and the world—while still learning their basic core curriculum. As Weil writes, through a solutionary approach “each child’s interests and talents are fostered and celebrated” and “real-world, viable solutions to problems provide an important and respected measure of learning, along with a true sense of meaningful accomplishment.” The result is that students become excellent researchers, and critical, systems, strategic, and creative thinking and collaboration are practiced daily.
The San Mateo County Office of Education in California has made Weil’s approach the philosophy and framework for their entire county, which serves 113,000 students in 23 school districts. They’ve trained hundreds of educators to bring solutionary learning to students, and these students have developed solutions to problems they care about. Sixty-six student teams recently shared their solutionary ideas at the county’s first annual Solutionary Fair.
Zoe Weil is the cofounder of IHE and created the organization’s online graduate programs and acclaimed workshops. She writes a blog, Becoming a Solutionary, for Psychology Today; regularly appears on podcasts, radio, and television; and is a frequent keynote speaker at educational and other conferences. The author of seven books, she has given six TEDx talks, including her acclaimed talk The World Becomes What You Teach.
Learn more about Zoe by clicking here. For a copy of The World Becomes What We Teach, contact Holly Rodriguez at holly@humaneeducation.org.
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