Jason Crook
My path to Humane Education began in earnest about five years ago, when I became a father. At that same time, I was a science teacher and had completed my second year at an international school in Beirut, Lebanon. As a father, I seemed to have become more sensitized to issues related to children and to the kind of world these young people would inherit. At the same time, I began to seriously question what it was that I was teaching in my courses. My area of expertise, biology, was also taking a battering, as it seemed people were looking at science and technology as the source of so many of our global issues and concerns.
With these areas dove-tailing, I decided that I would begin to do more in my courses and in my own lifestyle choices to have a more positive impact and challenge my students to think beyond some of the trivial science content they were bombarded with. To that end, I began to incorporate human rights units in my courses and to use contemporary case studies and statistics as examples and problem sets for my courses. The work the students produced and the class discussion we had inspired me to continue, despite some resistance by members of the school community.
I had also been seeking the opportunity to further my own professional development through a graduate degree. It was then that I discovered IHE and the M.Ed. in Humane Education. The timing was perfect.
Since becoming a Humane Educator, I have helped to create and to co-advise a student group in Riyadh (we moved here from Beirut in 2003) called Technology With A Cause that challenges students to raise awareness about important issues and to work to address these issues. I have also conducted a workshop on Humane Education at an international educator’s conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Currently, I am working to promote Humane Education in the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) and as part of that I worked with IHE President Zoe Weil to create a two-day workshop on Humane Education at a NESA training institute in Bahrain in November 2007. My family and I have recently moved to a new school in Guangzhou, China, where I look forward to continuing my work in the classroom and spreading the good news about humane education.
August 30, 2008 - 8:30 am to August 31, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Location: Farm Sanctuary
Live your values. Change the world. Choose MOGO! Let your life reflect what truly matters to you. Discover ways to choose MOGO (the most good), act on what's most important to you, and build a better world. Come to our life-transforming weekend MOGO workshop, th...
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