The Institute for Humane Education: Teaching Solutionaries

The Institute for Humane Education (IHE) is dedicated to helping people understand, teach, and address systemic challenges, so they can create change that does the most good and the least harm for people, animals, and the environment.

With IHE’s resources and programs, educators can prepare students to think critically, creatively, strategically, and systemically as they work toward finding solutions to local and global issues. IHE sees that students thrive when they have the knowledge, skills, and motivation to solve problems they care about—as do schools, communities, and our world.

Institute for Humane Education and K-12 Schools

IHE’s K-12 programs reach tens of thousands of students across the globe. Their Solutionary Framework is a multi-step approach that takes students from problem identification to solution implementation. Students move through four phases in the framework:

• Identify a problem of personal concern
• Investigate the causes and consequences of the problem
• Devise solutions and plan to implement them
• Implement, assess, celebrate!

The framework empowers students to not just see problems in the world but to be equipped to grapple with and solve those problems.

Institute for Humane Education and Teachers

The Institute for Humane Education (IHE) offers a Solutionary Micro-credential Course for teachers, curriculum designers, and administrators. The course provides you with the framework, supplementary tools, and personal coaching you need to lead your students in a solutionary project. You can also expect to deepen your ability to:

• Foster curiosity, compassion, and inspiration in the classroom.
• Enhance problem-based learning by empowering students to engage in systems thinking and ethical analysis.
• Design highly engaging learning experiences using solutionary resources, frameworks, and tools.
• Educate students to be solutionaries who apply what they learn in the classroom to solve problems in their school or community.

Teaching with the Solutionary Framework

The Solutionary Framework is adaptable, and the entire framework does not have to be introduced at once. Students, whether they are in grade school or high school, might benefit from time spent simply building compassion for other people, animals, and the environment. Problem identification and solution development might come later. Sometimes students devise wonderful solutions but, because of their age, are not in a position to implement them. The Solutionary Framework can work with students at all developmental levels. It can be applied across subjects and it can be combined with other instructional frameworks, such as Design Thinking, Trauma-Informed Practices, or Habits of the Mind. 

After participating in a Solutionary project, 96% of students report that they have more compassion and understanding of others’ lives and perspectives and 93% of students report feeling more confident that they can take action and make a positive difference.

Help your students create ethical, actionable solutions to problems they’re passionate about. Learn more about the Institute for Humane Education.