Education
Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.
How the laundromat can help shrink the literacy gap in America
The average US family spends more than two hours a week at their neighborhood laundromat, and many bring their kids with them. That’s downtime that experts say could be put to better use, which is why 600 laundromats across the US are installing family-friendly literacy spaces for kids under Read More...
You have to see these photos of ancient trees bathing in starlight
In one giant sequoia’s lifetime multiple generations of humans will be born and die. These enormous trees, native to California, can live for thousands of years. Though that time frame is considerable, writes photographer Beth Moon in her book, Ancient Skies, Ancient Trees, “compared to the Read More...
A South Korea school is enrolling illiterate grandmas to save it from closing
South Korea’s birthrate has been plummeting in recent decades, falling to less than one child per woman last year, one of the lowest in the world. The hardest hit areas are rural counties, where babies have become an increasingly rare sight as young couples migrate en masse to big cities for Read More...
These off-the-grid “Earthships” are the most eco-friendly rentals on Airbnb
Sustainability is a hip buzzword in travel these days, which means, of course, that the term is overused and nobody knows what it really means anymore. Reusing hotel towels and ditching plastic straws are small steps in the right direction, but there’s strong evidence that travelers are eager to Read More...
How books can be a powerful ‘punishment’ for those who commit hate crimes
In 2016, an old schoolhouse in Virginia that was once used for teaching black students during the era of segregation was sprayed with offensive graffiti. From the moment Prosecutor and Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Alejandra Rueda heard about the racist and anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled across the Read More...
What educators can learn from the elementary school Lebron James set up
The elementary school that superstar basketball player Lebron James set up in his hometown of Akron, Ohio isn’t like other schools connected to celebrities. That’s mainly because the I Promise school, as it’s known, is not a charter school run by a private operator but a public school Read More...
The inspiring story behind Peter Tabichi, the world’s best teacher of 2019
We could all learn a thing or two about generosity from Peter Tabichi, a math and physics teacher at a secondary in a remote part of Kenya’s Rift Valley. Tabichi gives away 80 percent of his income to help the poorest students at the poorly-equipped and overcrowded school who could otherwise not Read More...
Kids in Ukraine are taking media literacy lessons to better identify propaganda
The war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists has triggered an unfortunate surge in propaganda and disinformation. To combat this, schools across Ukraine have integrated media literacy techniques within their lessons to help students better assess the Read More...
These artists used old IKEA furniture to make funky habitats for wild animals
Although putting IKEA furniture together is known to cause immense stress for humans, the giant Swedish furniture store has now found a way to bring some peace to the world’s smallest critters. The company has just kicked off a collaboration with London–based artists, architects and designers Read More...
Trade schools in America are losing the stigma and attracting more students
There’s an immense amount of social pressure on graduating high school students to enroll in expensive four-year universities, which creates a glut of people all applying to the same white-collar jobs. No wonder university graduates are struggling to find jobs. Meanwhile, graduates of trade Read More...