To all our HEART Network members, we wish you a very happy and healthy New Year. We hope that you and your loved ones (including those who are furry, feathery, and scaly) enjoyed the holidays and have a compassion-filled future ahead in 2022! |
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With another year behind us, we want to hear from you. Tomorrow, we will send out our short end-of-year Network members survey via SurveyMonkey. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your other folders (e.g., spam, promotions, or social). It is only five questions and will take less than three minutes to complete. Individuals who joined the Network prior to October 2021 must complete this survey by Monday, January 31st to continue your Network membership throughout 2022.
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The Transformative Power of Perspective-Taking |
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In these polarized times, it seems that it is becoming increasingly more challenging for people to look at an issue or topic from someone else’s perspective. It is critical that we teach students the value of seeing situations from multiple viewpoints. Humane educators have always recognized the importance of perspective-taking as an essential method for fostering empathy. In the lessons we share here, A Day in the Life, students put themselves in the place of an animal through role-playing, or by writing a letter in the first person, to better understand the lives of animals, their natural behaviors, and their needs. If we can teach students how to put themselves in someone else’s paws, feet, or fins, it is a step toward encouraging compassion for animals. It is also a way to demonstrate the need to recognize diverse viewpoints and provides students with strategies for how they can look at a situation through a variety of lenses to better understand who others are, their perspectives, and their behaviors. When we know who someone is, we can find ways to build bridges and create more harmonious and equitable communities for people and animals.
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Young people love acting and playing pretend, which helps them explore the
world in dynamic ways. The aim of this lesson is to use make-believe to help
students explore the world from the perspective of farm animals.
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Students will read a brief story about
an animal’s life and will be asked to
imagine life from that animal’s perspective. They will then write a letter to communicate what a day in his or her life is like.
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HEART recently partnered with The Gryphon Press to create a free classroom guide to accompany its newest publication, Jake and Ava: A Boy and A Fish, written by renowned ethologist Jonathan Balcombe. The story highlights the sentience of fish and their familial relationships. The guide includes five engaging lessons aligned to academic standards and social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies. The lessons support reading comprehension, cover a range of topics that foster empathy for fish, and encourage students to think about how we can protect fish habitats.
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Find Great Resources in the Member Center |
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Trying to start or expand your humane education program? Looking for camp activities? Want a new book idea? Need a new lesson? Search no further. Check out our Network Member Center and peruse the "Bulletin Archive" to find a wide range of helpful humane education resources. When you visit, you can also access the HEART Network member logo to display on your email signature or website.
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Collaborate with Network Members |
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The HEART Network private group provides an opportunity for you and other Network members to ask questions, start discussions, share resources, collaborate, access additional humane education tools, and more.
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Network Registration is Open! |
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Let your friends and colleagues know that it is free to join the HEART Network, and that signing up takes less than five minutes on our Network registration page.
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