Guest Post: Education Should Cultivate Curiosity and Collaboration

 Michelle Cintron is a humane educator, activist, and president of the Federation for the Protection of Animals of Puerto Rico (FEPA).

 Michelle is a participant in our online course, Teaching for a Positive Future. We loved this essay she shared in class about some of the new insights she has gained about education, and she kindly agreed to allow us to share it here:

It is not until recently that I have considered aspects of education other than imparting information. I might organically have fostered some of the elements [of humane education] in my interventions with groups, but not as a conscious effort.

Recently, while getting my eCornell Plant Based Certification, I was able to hear Dr. Antonia Demas' lecture on “Nutrition in the Public School System.” Her approach with children inspired me to learn more about education. She emphasizes fostering curiosity, [one of the elements of humane education], as a critical part of her method to lead children toward a healthier diet. She says:

“I've done lots of experiments with kids in terms of the way you introduce foods to them and their perception. The typical adult attitude is,'Kids hate vegetables, and I'm going to assume they have very limited palates and that they are not going to like the healthy foods,' and many adults project that attitude to children. I've taken foods that kids and many adults are traditionally not supposed to like, such as Brussels sprouts, and I've designed whole experiments around those foods. So, it's all in the way you package it. I've taken the Brussels sprouts' big stalk that's growing, which is pretty wild looking if you think about it—it's got this tall stalk with the Brussels sprouts attached to it and these leaves at the top—and I'll take one of those stalks into the classroom and ask one of the students, 'What do you think this is?' Usually they have no idea what it is, because they haven't seen a plant that looks like that. So then we examine it and I say, 'Well, do you notice these little balls next to the stalk, what you think they are?' Usually someone will say, 'Oh, they look like baby cabbages,' and I tell them, 'Yes, those are baby cabbages; they're called Brussels sprouts, and I'm going to let each of you pluck off one of the little baby cabbages, or Brussels sprouts, and I want you to look at it and examine it.'

So they have the Brussels sprout in their hand, and I tell them to take off a leaf as carefully as possible. And what does the leaf look like? They'll say, 'It looks like a little bulb,' and it does look like a little bulb. So that little bulb becomes many little bulbs; they pluck off a number of them and decorate them with berries and nuts, and it's really beautiful. So they have these cute little balls with Brussels sprout leaves that are full of real health-promoting foods, and the kids then eat the Brussels sprouts. So they get very excited about it because of the way it's introduced."

This is a wonderful example of how to open a door and let children walk through it out of their own interest.

I’ve also found inspiration for problem solving tools, [another element of humane education], in John Hunter’s World Peace Game. He says:

“I’ve learned to cede control of the classroom over to the students over time; there is a trust, an understanding and a dedication to an ideal. I simply don’t have to do what I thought I had to do as a beginner teacher: control every conversation and response in the classroom. It’s impossible. Their collective wisdom is much greater than mine and I admit it to the openly.”

Up until now I’ve had a pattern of wanting to give my students all the answers; now I understand that this is my biggest area of opportunity. My goal now is to continue exploring so that I can get to a place where I am able to impart the information with an open enough door that my students can walk through freely and willingly as part of an educational process based in collaboration.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by guest posters are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute for Humane Education or its staff.

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