Ashley Kiani
Growing up in the 1980’s, I remember people being very concerned for a short time about acid rain and the ozone layer, but not doing much to improve it. Now that these issues have burgeoned in relevance, number, and available information, it’s hard to know what will make a difference.
Being able to formally study these concerns, especially environmental protection and animal welfare, attracted me to the IHE. This work, perhaps unlike any other, is a constant struggle of determination, optimism, and opportunity. Now in my final term in the program, I look back on the support from IHE that has made these work goals not only bearable but attainable.
Although I am not yet working full time as a humane educator, I practice humane living daily through many different lifestyle choices. These are personal decisions that every individual must make for themselves. Going through the M.Ed program has allowed me to expand such decisions and realize their consequences -- how a seemingly trivial action may have repercussions on a number of other beings, for better or worse.
Working on my thesis Independent Learning Project (ILP) has also brought to light the positive impact of small daily actions, which my project hopes to promote. I plan to submit articles to Canadian publications, promoting actions that people can take in their every day lives. It may not be within reach for all people to lead fully humane lives or have sustainable jobs, but it is those minute measures that may make enough of a difference to bring Earth back to balance.
In the fall of 2007 I gave a talk in Toronto at the Northern Dogs Conference, organized by the World Society for Protection to Animals. I spoke about promoting an understanding of humane education – what it is, who can use it, and why it works.
I look forward to many more opportunities to educate in the future.
Watch and share IHE President, Zoe Weil's TEDx talk -- an inspiring vision of how to create a just, compassionate, healthy world for all through solutionary education.
April 28, 2012 - 8:30 am to April 28, 2012 - 5:00 pm | Location: Nightingale-Bamford School
How can we best prepare our students for the important roles they must play in meeting the challenges of today's world? How can we help youth to become creative and critical thinkers who embody the qualities of wisdom, compassion, and integrity and who focus their grea...
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