Month: August 2012

Humanism Works

There has been a lot of conversation recently about what exactly Humanist groups should be doing with our time. Some people focus on the problems caused by church state entanglement. Some focus on the need to improve science and critical thinking education. Some focus on debunking woo. Some focus on building community and volunteering. All of these various tasks are important. However, I’d like to talk about an area that we haven’t been too good at.And that is the area of teaching basic Humanist life skills.

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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.

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