zoeweil

I'm the co-founder and President of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE). IHE works to create a world in which we all live humanely, sustainably, and peaceably. We do this by training people to be humane educators who teach about the pressing issues of our time and inspire people to work for change while making healthy, humane, and restorative choices in their daily lives. We also work to advance the field of humane education, and to provide tools and inspiration to people everywhere so that they can live examined, meaningful lives. I'm also a writer. So far I've written six books and several articles.

zoeweil has written 63 posts for Cooperative Catalyst

A Letter to High School Seniors: Don’t Accept College Rejections

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ May 2, 2013 ⋅ 1 Comment

I wanted to share a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “A Letter to High School Seniors: Don’t Accept College Rejections”: Dear High School Seniors, Over the past few weeks, many of you have received letters from the colleges to … Continue reading →

Commercialism is Kidnapping Our Brains Without Our Consent

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ February 25, 2013 ⋅ Leave a comment

Every February the Banff Festival of Mountain Films World Tour comes to Ellsworth, Maine, near where I live; it’s a highlight of the winter for us. We love watching the best films of the several hundred submissions in Mountain Sports and Mountain Culture, and without fail, unless I am traveling for work, I attend all … Continue reading →

Solutionaries: Zoe Weil’s New TEDx Talk

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ July 2, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

I’m excited to share my new TEDxConejo talk: Solutionaries, which explores the challenges and opportunities for making choices that do the most good and least harm through our work, citizenship, and daily choices, and suggests ways to transform education at the root and embrace the power it has has to bring about a better world … Continue reading →

An Open Thank You Letter to Teachers

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ June 18, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

I wanted to share my latest essay published at Common Dreams, a progressive news site. Here’s an excerpt from “An Open Thank You Letter to Teachers”: “Dear Teachers, Another school year is over, and there’s a good chance you haven’t been thanked for another year’s hard work. That might actually be quite an understatement. Not … Continue reading →

The Solution to Every Problem That Impacts People, Animals, and the Planet

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ April 30, 2012 ⋅ 2 Comments

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for One Green Planet, a website dedicated to ethical choices. Here’s an excerpt from “The Solution to Every Problem That Impacts People, Animals, and the Planet”: “About 25 years ago I submitted a question to a local newspaper contest about what I perceived as a largely … Continue reading →

The Heart of Education: A Forbes Magazine Interview

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ April 26, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

I’m delighted to share this interview that Michael Tobias did for Forbes Magazine highlighting the power of humane education! Here’s an excerpt from “The Heart of Education: A Discussion with Zoe Weil”: Michael Tobias: In your opinion, why is humane education so important? Zoe Weil: While there are many ways in which humanity is becoming … Continue reading →

50 Words You Should NOT Say on a Standardized Test

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ April 16, 2012 ⋅ Leave a comment

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for Common Dreams, a progressive news site. Here’s an excerpt from “50 Words You Should NOT Say on a Standardized Test”: “… when I first read about the New York City’s department of education effort to ban 50 words from city-wide tests, I thought that I’d … Continue reading →

Creating a Generation of Solutionaries

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ April 4, 2012 ⋅ 7 Comments

For my blog post, I wanted to share a recent article I wrote for Educational Horizons Magazine. Here’s an excerpt from “Creating a Generation of Solutionaries”: “In June, approximately three million students will graduate from public U.S. high schools, and even though they will have all passed their No Child Left Behind tests year after … Continue reading →

Mike Daisey’s Lies Must Not Make Us Apathetic or Cynical

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ March 26, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “Mike Daisey’s Lies Must Not Make Us Apathetic or Cynical”: “On January 18, I wrote “An Eighth Grader’s Letter to Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.” I had taught a week-long … Continue reading →

The Power of Humane Education

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ January 27, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “The Power of Humane Education”: “It really doesn’t take much to ignite a passion for good among youth and adults alike. A week of [teaching humane education] classes turned … Continue reading →

An Eighth Grader’s Letter to Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ January 24, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “An Eighth-Grader’s Letter to Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook”: This past week, I taught a humane education course to an eighth grade class in Blue Hill, Maine. The course focused … Continue reading →

Don’t Wait for Supermen: Foster Solutionaries

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ November 2, 2011 ⋅ 2 Comments

I wanted to share a recent post I wrote for Common Dreams, a progressive news site. Here’s an excerpt from Don’t Wait for Supermen: Foster Solutionaries: “Three things happened this year in the world of education reform. The controversial documentary films Waiting for Superman and Race to Nowhere came out and became widely viewed and … Continue reading →

Coincidences, Patterns, Beliefs and Baloney-Detection: A Call for Humane Education

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ September 14, 2011 ⋅ 5 Comments

As readers of my blog posts know, I’m a skeptic. To the best of my ability I base my beliefs on scientific, rather than anecdotal evidence, and I am fairly demanding of substantiation when people make unvalidated claims and assumptions or present belief systems as facts. I’m particularly uncomfortable with some of the overarching generalizations … Continue reading →

Returning to School: Education for a Livable Planet

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ September 5, 2011 ⋅ 5 Comments

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent post I wrote for Common Dreams, a progressive news site. Here’s an excerpt from “Returning to School: Education for a Livable Planet”: “Students and teachers are returning to school. I know few in either group who are genuinely excited at the prospect. This is a travesty … Continue reading →

What the Teachers Are Themselves

Posted by zoeweil ⋅ August 17, 2011 ⋅ 1 Comment

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from What the Teachers Are Themselves: “There’s a couplet by Rudyard Kipling that shines a sometimes too bright light on one of the biggest truths we educators … Continue reading →