Education
Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.
The beauty of what we'll never know
Almost 30 years ago, Pico Iyer took a trip to Japan, fell in love with the country and moved there. A keen observer of the human spirit, Iyer professes that he now feels he knows far less about Japan — or, indeed, about anything — than he thought he knew three decades ago. In this lyrical Read More...
Why climate change is an education issue
According to a recent Pew study, seven out of 10 Americans classified as political independents were not very concerned that climate change would hurt them. Worse still, Yale University researchers recently found that 40 percent of adults worldwide have never even heard of climate change. In some Read More...
Uganda schools educate pupils in entrepreneurship
In countries with high percentage youth and high unemployment rates, school graduates often find themselves at the back of a long queue of job seekers. Social enterprise ‘Education!’ wants to change this. It developed a purely practical-learning based curriculum to help students start small Read More...
Ooom: Colleges turn to meditation to help you destress
Meditation may be an ancient practice, but it has found a home on modern-day college campuses as schools use it to help tackle student anxiety. The American College Health Association found in a 2015 study that a whopping 85.6% of respondents felt overwhelmed by their responsibilities. And Read More...
Free-range education: Why the unschooling movement is growing
"Unschooling" is an educational theory that suggests children should follow their own interests, without the imposition of school. In this report by Christian Science Monitor, one home-schooling mother says, "This life is about freedom and not having limits. It’s about really trusting your kids." Read More...
Mindfulness: the craze sweeping through schools is now at a university near you
Slowly take a raisin and examine every wrinkle and fold of its surface. Feel its texture with your fingers. Inhale its scent. Squeeze it and hear how it sounds. Raise it to your lips, place it in your mouth, explore it with your tongue. Prepare to chew. As you bite into it, notice the bursts of Read More...
Homeschooling gets more popular with the changing economy
Schools, hospitals and prisons have much in common. A central authority drives the experience, taking away the autonomy that’s the key to health, healing and happiness. The modern school system is linked to the Industrial Revolution which required standard education for people to perform standard Read More...
The science of resilience: How to teach students to persevere
Studies show that resilience has a positive influence on academic performance of undergraduates, as well as their social and emotional wellbeing. Resilience in learning, as in life, is about being able to persevere through setbacks, take on challenges and risk making mistakes to reach a goal. Read More...
Meet TOM, the TEDx style project for social action
While TEDx is about sharing stories and fuelling the discussion, TOM is all about the action. It’s a 72-hour event bringing together coders, developers, engineers and doctors to work with individuals with disabilities. The goal is to come up with technological solutions for everyday challenges. Read More...
Standing desks in schools boost engagement in classrooms
At some point in history, sitting down in the school classroom became the norm. And even though researchers already proved that children learn much better if they have a chance to move around, in practice, in the classroom nothing much has changed. Up until now, it seems, because several schools Read More...