Today’s Solutions: November 26, 2024

Education

Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.

two young girls play happily on an outdoor swing set

Empowering ways to compliment girls that go beyond their looks

We recently published articles on how gender biases in children’s toys can limit kids by preventing them from developing a variety of skills through play, and how toymakers, like Lego, are working to eradicate these harmful biases in play. Gender biases are not limited to toys but are embedded Read More...

child plays with xylophone

Music education helps children with autism communicate their emotions

We recently wrote about the healing power of music therapy in hospitals. Today, we’re again looking at the power of music, but this time, as an educational resource for children with autism.  Children with autism often have difficulty expressing themselves verbally, but research has shown Read More...

Couple having annimated conversation

The human library lets people break down prejudice through conversation

Libraries are great resources for learning and these days when you visit a library, your options aren’t limited to printed text — you can borrow movies, audiobooks… and even humans. That’s right, the concept of borrowing an actual human being to talk to about a plethora of topics is on Read More...

Two queer latinx young people in conversation

ENLACE uses telenovelas to amplify the voices of queer Latinx youth

Navigating adolescence in itself is a gargantuan hurdle that takes a physical, mental, and emotional toll on budding adults. During this time, queer Latinx youth may find themselves at particularly trying crossroads of isolation and discrimination. According to a 2019 focus group conducted by Read More...

The Sioux Chef leans over a kitchen counter with a team of cooks behind him

Meet the Sioux Chef who’s putting Native American foods on the menu

Isn’t it ironic that when we think of American cuisine, we rarely, if ever, think of Native American dishes? Sean Sherman, who goes by “The Sioux Chef,” is on a mission to reverse how colonization has erased Native American food from the menu, and instead give it a space to shine. Sherman Read More...

Little blonde girl walks through book shelves at library

Solutions from librarians on how to approach culturally offensive books

We recently shared how Disney added disclaimers at the beginning of many of their movies notifying the audience that the movie contained insensitive and discriminatory depictions of certain racial, ethnic, or cultural groups. Rather than take the movies off their platforms altogether, Disney is Read More...

child organizes sticks into numbered cases

Boston study strengthens the case for universal preschool

When Boston moved funding from preschool programs to kindergarten programs in the 1990s, the decision of which students got to attend public preschools was left to a lottery system. By doing this, the city unknowingly provided data for one of the largest preschool research studies in Read More...

Child holds yoga mat in front of her friends

To fight child obesity, family and friends need to accept kids as they are

Despite the launch of many programs and initiatives designed to get kids in the US to eat healthier, like the elimination of junk food from school vending machines, child obesity rates keep rising and increased more rapidly during the pandemic. So, the question remains: what are these schemes Read More...

High school students learn in a classroom

Want to get students engaged? Consider career-based classes

Students who are engaged in the classroom are more likely to participate and retain more information, but what exactly keeps kids engaged? Researchers from Ohio State University surveyed 20,000 high school students across the US and discovered that education classes related to specific careers, Read More...

female inmates in classroom set in prison

Government lifts ban on federal student aid for incarcerated individuals

Federal student aid, including the Pell grant, is a valuable resource for students pursuing higher education, but since 1994, these funds have been unavailable to incarcerated individuals. Last month, the federal government finally lifted the ban on federal student aid for incarcerated individuals, Read More...