A Free Education Resource that Helps Students Engage Across Differences in Better Ways

In our time of heightened polarization, our education systems are at risk of being caught up in simplistic, binary, and us vs. them ways of thinking. To help with that challenge, we developed the Builders Education Resource & Action Guide, the latest tool in our Builders Toolkit. This guide is aimed at helping anyone in the education system push back against the divisions that surround us. 

Who is this resource for? It’s made for teachers, administrators, legislators, students, parents, and community leaders. In short, it’s for anyone in a position to help foster critical and independent thinking among young people. 

What’s in it? The guide includes best practices, resources, and recommendations for those working in middle school to college education. We highlight more than 100 recommendations across 6 areas, and more than 90 organizations, including nonprofit, university, government, and communal-led initiatives. These resources will help you:

• Promote critical thinking and digital literacy
• Foster ideological diversity
• Encourage empathy and respectful engagement
• Promote mental health and well being 
• Combat hate and intolerance of all kinds
• Give students a strong understanding of free speech issues

John Sarrouf, of Essential Partners, said, “This guide is needed now more than ever! It provides strategies and tools for educational stakeholders to shape a more empathic, dynamic, resilient educational system for their students.”

Caroline Mehl, of the Constructive Dialogue Institute, said that it’s “an invaluable resource for educators and students alike.”

We suggest updating curriculums with resources that foster empathy and diversity of views. One such resource is our 3Cs Classroom Curriculum, a framework aimed at empowering high school teachers to foster braver and more constructive classrooms using the 3Cs (curiosity, compassion, and courage). 

Note that our Education Resource & Action Guide is a living resource that we’ll update over time. If you have any feedback (for example, resources you think we should include) please reach out.

Thanks to our Movement Partners Manu Meel (of BridgeUSA), Caroline Mehl (of the Constructive Dialogue Institute), and John Sarrouf (of Essential Partners) for reviewing the guide. 

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