Humane Edge March 2008

In This Issue:

• ARE BIOFUELS OUT OF GAS? EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES WITH STUDENTS
• WISE ABOUT WATER WOES: WORLD WATER DAY
  
• FEATURED ACTIVITY: WHALE'S STOMACH
  
• FEATURED STUDENT: GINNIE MAURER
  
• FEATURED RESOURCE: THE LUCIFER EFFECT
  
• BE THE CHANGE:AN INTERVIEW WITH PHIL ZIMBARDO
  
• HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: BECKY MORGAN LOVES BUGS
  

ARE BIOFUELS OUT OF GAS? EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES WITH STUDENTS

Biofuels have been hailed as a champion that can help vanquish our oil addition. However, recent reports reveal that it may be just as destructive as the fossil fuels it's meant to replace. The impact of biofuels and the need for transportation & energy alternatives NOW provide excellent opportunities for students to think creatively and critically.

Farmers of crops like corn, soybeans and sugar cane have been happily watching prices soar. The recently-passed U.S. energy bill calls for the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels annually by 2022. And on February 24, a Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet flew from London to Amsterdam, powered by 25% biofuels. The excitement about and investment in biofuels as an alternative to oil has been significant. However, recent studies have reported that biofuels may actually do more harm than good. For example, according to a recent Washington Post article, a study by Princeton University reported that use of “traditional corn-based ethanol would produce twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as regular gasoline.” Additionally, a study by the Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota revealed that “converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands…to produce biofuels will increase global warming pollution for decades if not centuries.” Several other media outlets reported on the studies, including the New York Times  and Newsweek.

As reported in a recent article in the UK’s Guardian, a study by Friends of the Earth also reported on the negative impacts of biofuels on human rights.

Biofuels impact people, animals and the planet in a variety of ways, and thus demonstrate the interconnectedness of all (and the widespread impact of our choices).

The biofuels controversy provides an excellent opportunity for older students to weigh the positive and negative impacts of how we transport ourselves and obtain and use energy. Students could, for example, examine and explore some of the negative effects of biofuels, such as:

• How the clearing of previously “untouched” land releases previously-sequestered carbon into the atmosphere
• The massive amounts of water that are needed to grow the crops that become biofuels
• The runoff from pesticides and fertilizer (and the exposure of people, animals and plants to these chemicals)
• The destruction of ecosystems to create plantations to crow biofuels crops
• The deaths of all the animals affected by habitat destruction, lack of water and food, etc. -- including some endangered species
  
• The reduction of available food for people, as food crops are forced to make way for fuel crops
• The increase in prices for crops that are both food and fuel, which makes food more expensive and less obtainable for poorer people
• The displacement of farmers and indigenous people to use that land to grow fuel crops

• Monitor how different countries are dealing with transportation and energy issues and discuss which choices seem like the ones that will do the most good and least harm (and be the most sustainable) for all.
• Explore what types of transportation and energy alternatives are available – as well as explore sustainable ways of living, growing food, transporting ourselves, and using energy – and develop ideas for humane, sustainable options.
• Explore solutions advocated by bioregional and local economy advocates (one recent example is Bill McKibben’s book Deep Economy), and explore what options might work for their own community.
• Explore the impacts of their own transportation and energy choices and brainstorm ways to make choices that do the most good and least harm for people, animals and the planet.
• Participate in an activity, such as Spaceship Earth, in which students explore one of two scenarios in which our fossil fuels are gone (or nearly gone) and must develop plans of action for how their community will live successfully and sustainably.
  

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WISE ABOUT WATER WOES: WORLD WATER DAY 

Many children take for granted washing their hands, using flush toilets, getting a drink of clean water, and having water on demand for whatever they want. But nearly 1.1 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water. World Water Day is a project of the United Nations. The focus of World Water Day this year is sanitation. The UN’s WWD website includes fact sheets about the effects of sanitation on health, the environment, children, etc.

There are a variety of ways you could explore water issues with students, including:

• Brainstorming a list of what needs water to survive (people, animals, plants).
• Having students list everything they can think of that contains or uses water (soda, nuclear power plants, agriculture, canned food, etc.). Which of these uses are vital to our sustainability and survival and which are not?
• Having students list all the ways they use water every day, calculating how much water they use each day, and then comparing their use with how much water people in other countries use.
• Having students carry around a gallon jug full of water and seeing how long it takes them to use it all up (drinking, hand washing, teeth brushing, etc.). Then repeating the exercise, seeing if they can reduce the amount they use (while still maintaining proper hygiene).
• Brainstorming all the ways that students can conserve water.
• Learning about people taking positive action to help those who need clean water, such as Ryan Hreljac, who learned about the water crisis and, at age seven, raised money so that a well could be build in a Ugandan village. Now Ryan’s Well Foundation works in 14 countries around the world. 
  

A few additional resources that may provide useful information and teaching ideas.

Water Aid (UK)

Water for the Ages

Water Partners International

Water Wise (UK)

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FEATURED ACTIVITY: WHALE'S STOMACH 

Efforts to ban
plastic bags and water bottles are increasingly successful, but we still throw an enormous amount of plastics away, which continues to hurt marine life. Use this activity to help students learn about one of the impacts of our "throwaway" society.

Whale's Stomach

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FEATURED STUDENT: GINNIE MAURER

Synchronicity and connection brought HECP student Ginnie Maurer to humane education and IHE. Now Ginnie's using humor and writing to bring humane education to others. Read about Ginnie's experience.

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FEATURED RESOURCE: THE LUCIFER EFFECT

What is evil? Is everyone capable of evil? Are there just a few bad apples responsible for atrocities like the Holocaust? Abu Ghraib? Or, are systems & circumstances the cause?

In Philip Zimbaro’s book, he explores evil, and what systems, circumstances and conditions exist to cause people to take evil action (or allow evil action to occur). Zimbardo focuses a great deal on the issue of dispositional qualities (who we are, our traits, etc.) versus situational qualities (what conditions and factors influence our behavior). Zimbardo uses his own infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, as well as the atrocities at Abu Ghraib (and several other examples) as a background for exploring what it takes for "good" people to do evil...and what people can do to avoid falling into such a trap.

Throughout his book, Zimbardo explores important concepts, such as: “What does it take for the citizens of one society to hate the citizens of another society to the degree that they want to segregate them, torment them, even kill them?" (11) or why anonymity reduces our personal accountability and sense of civic responsibility, or how playing a role can cause us to do “terrible things.” (214)

Zimbardo’s book is full of great opportunities to explore such concepts with older students. Below are a few possible ideas.

1. Zimbardo says the following about evil:

“Evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanize, or destroy innocent others – or using one’s authority and systemic power to encourage or permit others to do so on your behalf.” (5)  In other words, “knowing better, but doing worse.”

Students could reflect on that definition (you may want to define and discuss some of the words within the definition), and then:

• Brainstorm some examples of evil in the world. What factors allow that evil to occur/exist?
• Discuss: What are they personally doing that’s evil? (What choices are they making that harm others?)
• Discuss: Who are “innocent others?” (animals? children? everyone?)
• Discuss: If it’s considered “normal” by mainstream society, is it still evil? Have students brainstorm actions or traditions that were at one time considered “normal,” but that most of us would consider evil today (genocide, slavery, infanticide, etc.). What about actions/traditions considered normal today? (female genital mutilation, raising animals in factory farms, etc.) Do they meet the definition of evil? If so, if it's considered "normal," by mainstream society (or the primary culture involved), is it evil?
  

2. In one section, Zimbardo asks readers to reflect on how well they really know themselves and others, and how  they’d behave in challenging situations. After considering these ideas, small groups of students could be given scenarios and discuss how they might react in such situations (genocides in Rwanda, My Lai, Holocaust, Darfur; the Spanish Inquisition; bullying; hazing; riots, etc.).

3. Students could look at the language of violence and evil, both from the perspective of how we demoralize and objectify (such as calling people cockroaches or other animal names) and in the way we use euphemisms to distance ourselves from the violence and evil (such as Hitler’s “final solution,” which doesn’t sound like mass murder and focuses on problem solving).

4. Martin Luther King, Jr., said “[We] must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.”

Using the above quote as a springboard, students could explore the ways we passively cooperate with injustice, both on the small scale (seeing someone get teased and not doing anything about it; listening to someone tell a racist joke, etc.) and the larger scale (not speaking up when a corporation does something unethical, etc.), and then brainstorm ways to safely, positively and effectively respond in such situations.

5. Zimbardo discusses how our need to be included (and our fear of being excluded) can cause us to make harmful choices. This concept is especially relevant to older students. Using some of the examples given in Zimbardo's book, and connecting them with resources such as the book The Wave by Todd Strasser, or teacher Jane Elliott's famous blue/brown eyed experiment, can be useful in exploring how the need to belong can shape our behavior.

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BE THE CHANGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. PHIL ZIMBARDO

IHE: WHAT ROLE DOES EDUCATION PLAY IN CREATING A BETTER WORLD?

PZ: Education is the single most vital key to creating a better world. It can promote mindful and critical thinking, reduce prejudices and stereotype perceptions, enable people to move out a focus on negative pasts or fatalistic and hedonistic present orientations toward a healthy focus on future orientation. One of the most important gains of education is becoming more future oriented, which in turn is the foundation for hope, for delayed gratification, for causal and abstract thinking, for taking the view of the other, for planning, for saving, for envisioning alternative self images, and for optimism in place of cynicism and revenge. Education of women reduces excessively large families, civilizes men, encourages education of their children, and becomes a vehicle for change, to oppose male dominance, and promote peace and justice over war and cruelty.
    
IHE: WHAT PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES HAVE LED YOU TO FOCUS ON EDUCATING OTHERS AS A METHOD OF CHANGEMAKING? 

PZ: As a poor child from a family on welfare and with no one even graduating from high school in all of my family, education was pivotal in my transformation from a street kid in the South Bronx ghetto to a Professor at Stanford University. It was my elementary and junior high school teachers who modeled the vitality of ideas, the joys of curiosity, the excitement awaiting in a new book, the delight in turning vague ideas into a written document to be shared with others. They also taught us to cooperate when fighting was easier, to share when taking was the advantage of the bigger kids, and to be civil when crude was the norm of the neighborhood toughs. More than six decades later I carry those lessons to my students -- to all those with whom I connect in any way. Education makes change by making everyone who touches its magic center feel special about him or herself. Special in recognition of encountering the fascination of one's own mind, of playing with ideas, of going beyond the concrete here and now -- what is -- to soar to new realms of what might be, who can I become. Education is the handmaiden of natural human development, which is all about continual changing as chronology unfolds. It accelerates being into becoming in ever new ways. It welcomes change over stasis, brings order out of chaos, and individuals out of masses.

IHE: WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES YOU HOPE FOR A MORE JUST, COMPASSIONATE, SUSTAINABLE FUTURE? 

PZ: Despite incompetent, callous, and corrupt leaders in our country and in many countries throughout the world, and despite the endless ethnic and religious conflicts, I remain hopeful for a better future filled with justice, peace, and caring for people, animals and nature. That hopes springs eternal because the many good-hearted people outweigh those who have lost that goodness. There are many global movements emerging and many young people everywhere who want change that will create a world that extols the human condition, that embraces our need to be earth's caretakers, that chooses charity over greed, caring over indifference, creation over destruction. And of course, I am infused by hope from programs such as this one for Humane Education, and Matt Langdon's Hero Workshop, among others.
    

IHE: WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN CREATING A HUMANE AND PEACEFUL WORLD?  

PZ: An educational system that is less concerned with assessment,discipline, and rote learning and more dedicated to instilling endless curiosity through personal exploration and discovery, that champions cooperative rather than competitive learning, that makes evident there is zero  tolerance for bullying and harsh teasing, that makes each student feel special and privileged to be a life-long learner and that seeks to promote each student's talents and strengths. Values that center around peace and humanity must be at the core of what families, communities, religions and schools teach, preach and model. All of that is easy to say, but hard to create because of the challenges of cynicism, selfishness and a growing sense of social isolation. The goals for positive change and their obstacles are entwined and must be systematically dealt with by those with vision and passion and resources.


IHE: WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ASPIRING HUMANE EDUCATORS?

PZ: Be the apex of the pyramid that creates faith, hope, charity and compassion in even a few students, who in turn educate a few more, who in turn continue to spread the message, model the vision, walk the right path, enact the heroic imagination, and soon we will have a pyramid that is solid, enduring and visible to all. Such vibrant pyramids of knowledge and humane values will multiply and stand as the evidence that good can triumph over the most insidious evil.

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HUMANE EDUCATION IN ACTION: BECKY MORGAN LOVES BUGS

"This is my passion, teaching about our impact on Earth, our interconnectedness, the choices we make. If I can do that, and kids start to think about what they eat and ask questions and make small shifts, we can make a difference. It's tough, because everything in our culture is teaching them the opposite." ~ Becky Morgan (from IdahoStatesman.com article) 

As the Executive Director of the Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) in Boise, Idaho, Becky Morgan joyfully gets her hands dirty. The BUGS program reaches students, parents and community members each year through its summer programs, workshops, connections with school and community groups, and other activities. According to Becky, the mission of BUGS is to cultivate "a community of critical thinkers and problem solvers who will help build and promote a strong local food economy and find personal meaning and purpose by exploring connectivity with the natural world." Becky's program offers all the elements of organic gardening as "an authentic learning environment through which children, teachers and community members engage issues of ecology, local food economies, sustainability, nutrition, health and literacy."  


Becky shared with us some of her experiences, challenges and successes with reconnecting people with the natural world.

IHE: WHAT LED YOU TO THE PATH OF HUMANE EDUCATION?

BM: I feel like humane education has always been my path. I did not particularly seek out the career path of education, or for that matter, humane education. I left college with a biology degree and a lack of clarity in terms of job future.  However, I had two concretes: I loved kids and I loved the outdoors. I had no plans of being a teacher and had never taken an education course in my life. I taught environmental education for two years in California; my favorite part of this job was rehabilitating injured and orphaned birds of prey. This experience indirectly led me to Boise, Idaho, where I got a job teaching 4th/5th grades at a small private school based in experiential learning and inquiry. At Foothills School I always felt it my mission to get kids outside, exploring and experiencing nature first hand.  This, coupled with fostering a reverence and respect for themselves, others, and the natural world, were truly my priorities in teaching.

 
I was raised by parents who valued and prioritized time in the outdoors; we hiked, camped, adventured and explored.  As a kid I spent as much time as possible just playing outside. Some things have not changed. I still love to play outdoors. I also just like to be outdoors. It is where I feel most alive and connected. I not only believe on an intellectual level that we are all interconnected and interdependent, I feel that connection on a deep spiritual level when I am surrounded by nature’s beauty.  

   
IHE: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE BOISE URBAN GARDEN SCHOOL (BUGS)?

BM: I left my teaching job of nine years, unsure about what was next. Serendipitously I reconnected with the former head/founder of my school and she said, “You need to know about BUGS.” Again, I led with my passions: kids and nature. Now I am the executive director of a non-profit where I again work with kids and can focus my teaching on what I believe to be most important.

IHE: WHO'S YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE WITH BUGS?

BM: Children, teachers, community members. We mostly work directly with kids, but I am always amazed by how many adults inquire about when we will offer workshops for the community at large. BUGS addresses an urgent and critical need by serving youth, many of whom were identified by teachers, counselors and social workers as “at risk,” and do not have access to a safe, nurturing environment in which to spend their summer hours. Last season more than half of BUGS' participants received scholarships to attend the seven week summer program. BUGS fills a need and is one of only a handful of local resources available to schools and neighborhoods wishing to develop urban gardening and environmental education for youth.

IHE: HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES BUGS REACH EACH YEAR?

BM: With our expanded programming this year, we will directly reach 30 students in the summer program, 100 students in the pilot school workshop series, 40 service learning students from Boise State University, 240 Boise High School students, 30 homeschooled students, and 30 adults in workshops. This does not account for the numerous others, like parents participating in the programs alongside their children, the public visiting the weekly farm stand, ecology clubs and other organizations that visit the garden regularly, as well as the public at large.

IHE: HOW IS BUGS FUNDED?

BM: BUGS is funded through grants, individual donations, community business sponsorships, and minimally, through tuition. We are mindful of balancing tuition-based programs with the need to reach those who cannot pay. BUGS programs are available to all community members regardless of financial status.

IHE: HOW ARE YOU USING BUGS TO TEACH KIDS ABOUT HUMANE EDUCATION ISSUES? 

BM:I believe that compassion lies at the center of humane education; compassion for self, other people, creatures, and the environment of which we are a part. According to many experts and child psychologists, young people are growing increasingly detached from and fearful of the natural world upon which they depend for their survival.  BUGS reconnects youth with the land and people who grow their food, and by doing so ensures that human and environmental health play an important role in our children’s education. Critical thinking skills are fostered in experiential learning environments where inquiry methodologies exist.  BUGS empowers young people to act responsibly, meaningfully contributing to the creation of an environmentally sustainable and healthy community. This is humane education.  

IHE: AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BUGS, WHAT'S A TYPICAL DAY OR WEEK LIKE FOR YOU?

BM: It totally depends on the time of year, but as the Executive Director of a small non-profit, I wear many hats all year round. I spend a lot of my time on administrative tasks, responding to inquiries and requests for services, answering emails and phone calls, creating publications, writing grants, etc. It is my mission to continue to increase awareness in our community of BUGS and our core values and beliefs about creating change in and beyond our own lives. I attend a lot of meetings and try not to say no to anyone who wants to sit down with me and talk. I visit master gardener classes, give community presentations, and have booths at events like Boise’s first Green Expo this spring. I partner with service learners at Boise State, and work closely with local professors and teachers at all grade levels. I partner with other community organizations like Idaho Office for Refugees, Life’s Kitchen (a formalized program for at-risk teens preparing restaurant food), the Treasure Valley Food Coalition, etc. And finally, I develop curriculum and teach.  

IHE: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS YOU GET STUDENTS ACTIVELY INVOLVED? DESCRIBE SOME OF THE BUGS/PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES.

BM: Our summer program centers on the concept of living systems, and we begin with an exercise that looks closely at the waste we produce. Students bring their lunches the first week and we slowly and thoughtfully categorize and talk about every piece of “leftover” food and trash once they finish eating. It is quite a powerful activity, especially in a group when the piles of plastic bags and juice boxes begin to form. As a part of the BUGS in the Schools workshop series we visit each classroom and take them through an activity which puts food at the center of a huge web and ask them the question, “What is food connected to?”  Collectively we create a web, mapping the interconnections of food with resources, travel, businesses, animals, consumerism, etc.

IHE: WHAT KINDS OF CONNECTIONS DO YOU SEE KIDS MAKING ABOUT WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM AND THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE WORLD? HOW IS IT CHANGING THEM?

BM: I think that the best way to foster these connections is to create a space where kids can get their hands dirty and interact directly with the soil, compost, water, seeds, starts, weeds, flowers, and finally, the fruits and vegetables of their harvest. I would argue that this is true for all of us, adults included. We have become so removed from where our food comes from, the importance of healthy soil, where our water comes from and how much of it we have; the only way to reconnect is to create an environment where kids can participate in the process, engaging in a way that promotes responsibility and empowerment. I see the emergence of confidence as they can speak about what they grew, harvested and ate. I see kids teaching and influencing their parents. A parent from last summer’s program said, "We’ve got an organic gardener on our hands and he’s not only cooking more, but he’s excited about vegetables." Not your typical teen reaction!

IHE: WHAT KIND OF IMPACT IS BUGS HAVING IN THE COMMUNITY? 

 
BM: We believe that our garden, kitchen and classrooms will continue to inspire students and adults to change their own behaviors in regard to diet, health, environmental degradation and personal responsibility. It is essential to address the larger environmental issues related to food, energy and water in a personal, meaningful context and find tools to make an appropriate response – and a difference.

IHE: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES?

BM: Funding. I think we sing the same song as most non-profits. I believe that we address issues that almost everyone cares about on some level (even if not a conscious level) and I know that the funds are out there. I am looking for ongoing community partnerships that will allow us as an organization to move away from a constant dependence on grants for sources of funding. We have established a partnership with the Boise Co-op and are seeking additional community business sponsors. We would then be able to hire additional staff and have people in the right positions for their expertise.  

IHE: SHARE A SUCCESS STORY. WHAT HAS HELPED ENCOURAGE YOU?

BM: This past year we have had wonderful local media coverage, and as a result, much more visibility in the community. I have sensed a shift in the public’s engagement in these issues and feel that there has been an awakening to the importance of local food education in our community. We had a very successful first annual harvest dinner fundraiser last September, and since then, I have received multiple phone calls from individuals with land or ideas for how we might acquire some land. BUGS is becoming a catalyst for change in Boise, Idaho, and that is very encouraging to me.

IHE: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?

BM: Our long-term plans include a permanent community garden and learning center. Both our land and buildings would be an education in and of themselves. I envision a piece of land 3-5 acres for the BUGS garden, community and refugee gardens, space for junior master gardener classes, master gardener classes and others to use, a green building with composting toilets, solar energy and a gray water system, a local foods café, and classroom and workshop space for both children and adults.

Ultimately I see this educational facility as a launching pad for others to learn how to grow their own gardens at home, create school gardens, prepare, cook and preserve their harvests, utilize renewable energy sources, use their water supply efficiently (and reuse it!), and renew sense of community that many are missing. 

I would love to create a year-round program for students ages 11-14 in which they spend the year reconnecting to the land and to themselves. 

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