A Humanist Approach to Education

Humanists are very active in education. When the religious right complains about the Humanist influence in public education, they aren’t just spouting off meaningless rhetoric. Humanists have had a huge influence on public education. Much of what we consider to be basic principles of a good education nowadays come from Humanist educators and psychologists. People like Piaget, Maslow and Carl Rogers.

A Humanistic approach to education involves understanding what the child needs to learn and how to facilitate their natural learning instincts. It embraces human nature and encourages a child to explore, flourish and question. Our goal is to raise well-rounded, ethical, compassionate adults. We don’t just want workers for a factory or someone who can memorize lines. We want our kids to learn how to think for themselves and to be actively and joyously engage in the world.

I am a member of the Kochhar Humanist Education Center, which is run by the American Humanist Association. They recently released - Ten Commitments: Guiding Principles for Teaching Values in America's Public Schools. (see: http://khec.americanhumanist.org/the-ten-commitments)

The goal of this document is to lay out what values should be taught in school. We know it isn’t enough to just fill our kid’s heads with facts. However, in a democratic and pluralist society, such as America, there are a wide variety of faith backgrounds and values held. The challenge is to devise a set of values to be taught at all levels of education, from kindergarten through college, that everyone can agree on despite our various faith and philosophic backgrounds.

 The 10 values that Humanists think should be taught in our schools are:

·         Altruism

·         Caring for the World Around Us

·         Critical Thinking                            

·         Empathy

·         Ethical Development

·         Global Awareness

·         Human Rights

·         Peace and Social Justice

·         Responsibility

·         Service and Participation

I have signed this document as I agree – these would be great. They should be universal and should complement private faith education nicely. What do you think?

Jen Hancock  
Email:jen@jen-hancock.com
https://www.facebook.com/JentheHumanist
 

Immortality vs. Death

Tony Nicklinson recently died in England.  It was bittersweet -- bitter because he was only 58 and had lived the last 6 years of his life locked inside a body that allowed only his brain to function normally; sweet because he had wanted to die.  He had taken England to court to allow him to die of doctor-assisted suicide, but they had refused his plea.  He refused food, caught pneumonia, and died peacefully 10 days later with the full consent and understanding of his wife and children.

In a battle between immortality and death, everyone knows that death will always win.  Yet some countries, including most of the states in the U.S., go to very extreme lengths and endless expense to force immortality upon those who wish it, as well as those who don't.  Only three states in the U.S. - Oregon, Washington, and Montana - allow assisted suicide.   What we allow our dogs, cats, and other beloved pets, we do not allow our suffering humans.


Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez has written several columns agonizing over the excruciatingly slow death of his father.  Watching it first hand made him vow not to die like that.  He observed that, "hanging on seems to be the norm in our culture, thanks to advances in medical technology and the widely held opinion that death is optional."  We diagnose diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia, while other cultures might use the simple diagnosis of  "old age."  University of Hawaii professor emeritus S. Cromwell Crawford pointed out that "we've got the money and we're spending it, but is this the right thing we're doing morally?"  As 6 year old Hush Puppy in the movie, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" so correctly observed about modern society, "When you get old, they plug you into the wall."


Eskimos might put their elderly out on ice floes; the Jains of India practice "sallekhana" - starving oneself to death at the time one decides is right -  and think of it as "a good and honorable death."  In looking for a place sympathetic to dying, Whitney Braun, a bioethicist at Loma Linda University Medical Center, noted that "though you'd think religious societies would be more comfortable with death, in some respects it's the nonbelievers who have better hospice centers and more end-of-life options.  As 6 year old Hush Puppy in the movie, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" observed of modern society, "When you get old, they plug you into the wall."


Living isn't easy, but dying in many countries, especially the U.S.,  can be harder.   Death is the norm in nature for everything that lives.  Indeed, there is a certain beauty in fulfilling the natural cycle of life and death.  But the quest for immortality eats up the major chunk of Medicare, as well as the hearts and minds of the families who tearfully maintain a vigil by the bedsides of their loved ones, watching them die piece by piece, function by function.


I remember an old Star Trek program where the society had evolved to the point where the bodies had disappeared and only the brains were left.  If there were technology that would keep the brains from deteriorating, perhaps then immortality would make sense.  Without that possibility, let nature take its course.

Suellen Zima
Comments?? E-mail Suellen at ZimaTravels.com