Why This Conversation Matters
Across the United States and around the world, people are grappling with division, polarization, loneliness, and conflict. Many of us look at the challenges facing our communities and wonder how we arrived at this moment.
One important question often goes unasked: How do we teach people to practice humanity?
The answer matters because every adult in our society was once a child sitting in a classroom. Every community leader, voter, business owner, policymaker, and neighbor passed through an educational system that helped shape their understanding of themselves and others.
Education has always been about more than reading, writing, and mathematics. It is also about preparing young people to live in relationship with others. If we want healthier communities, stronger relationships, and a more compassionate society, we must consider how schools help students develop the skills and values necessary for practicing humanity.
What Does It Mean to Practice Humanity?
Humanity is not simply an idea. It is a practice.
Practicing humanity means learning how to treat others with dignity, empathy, respect, and compassion. It means understanding that every person has value and that our actions affect those around us.
These skills do not develop automatically. They are learned through experience, relationships, mentorship, and education.
Students need opportunities to listen across differences, solve problems collaboratively, navigate conflict respectfully, and develop an understanding of the diverse experiences that shape the lives of others.
Just as schools teach literacy and numeracy, they can help students build the skills necessary for healthy relationships and strong communities.
Every Adult Was Once a Student
When we encounter people whose actions frustrate or concern us, it can be tempting to view them as entirely separate from ourselves.
Yet nearly every person influencing society today once sat in a classroom. They learned from teachers, interacted with peers, and absorbed messages about how to engage with the world.
This reality highlights the profound importance of education.
Schools are not merely preparing students for careers. They are helping shape future citizens, leaders, parents, coworkers, and community members.
The lessons students learn about empathy, responsibility, and belonging may ultimately have as much impact as the academic content they study.
Emotional Wellness Is Educational Success
For generations, educational systems have often measured success primarily through test scores, grades, and graduation rates.
While these outcomes matter, they are only part of the picture.
Students who feel disconnected, isolated, or unseen may struggle academically regardless of their abilities. Conversely, students who experience belonging, support, and meaningful relationships are often better positioned to thrive.
Research increasingly confirms what Indigenous communities have long understood: emotional wellness and social connection are foundational to learning.
Students learn best when they feel safe, valued, and connected.
Education that supports emotional wellness is not separate from academic achievement. It strengthens it.
Indigenous Education and Relational Learning
Indigenous cultures have long recognized the importance of relationships in human development.
In Ojibwe communities, learning has traditionally occurred through family relationships, community participation, observation, storytelling, mentorship, and shared responsibility. Education was not viewed as simply the transfer of information. It was a process of helping people become good relatives, responsible community members, and contributors to collective well-being.
This perspective offers valuable lessons for modern education.
Knowledge matters. Skills matter. But relationships matter too.
When students understand their responsibilities to one another and develop a sense of belonging, they are better prepared to succeed both in school and in life.
Why Indigenous Education Matters
Indigenous education contributes to this work by expanding how we understand learning, wellness, and community.
Teaching accurate Native American history helps students understand the complexity of our shared past. Learning about Ojibwe language and culture introduces students to different ways of understanding relationships and responsibility. Exposure to Indigenous perspectives can help strengthen empathy, curiosity, and cross-cultural understanding.
These lessons benefit all students.
At its best, education helps people recognize both their individuality and their interconnectedness.
Questions & Answers
What does it mean to practice humanity?
Practicing humanity involves treating others with dignity, empathy, compassion, and respect while recognizing our shared responsibility to one another.
Why should schools focus on emotional wellness?
Emotional wellness directly influences learning, relationships, resilience, and long-term success. Students who feel connected and supported are better positioned to thrive academically and personally.
How does Indigenous education support student success?
Indigenous education emphasizes relationships, belonging, cultural identity, responsibility, and community—all factors that contribute to healthy development and effective learning.
Is academic achievement enough?
Academic skills are essential, but long-term success also depends on emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience, and the ability to build healthy relationships.
Connecting This Topic to Anton Treuer's Work
A central theme throughout Anton Treuer's work is the idea that education should help people build stronger relationships with themselves, their communities, and the broader world.
In The Cultural Toolbox, Treuer explores Indigenous teachings and values that promote resilience, belonging, respect, and healthy human relationships. The book offers practical insights into how cultural wisdom can help address modern challenges and strengthen communities.
n The Language Warrior's Manifesto, Treuer highlights the importance of preserving Indigenous languages as a means of preserving cultural knowledge and ways of understanding the world. Language is not simply a communication tool—it carries values, relationships, and teachings about how to live in community with others.
Together, these works emphasize that education is about more than acquiring information. It is about helping people develop the knowledge, character, and relationships necessary to live meaningful lives.
Conclusion
Every person shaping our world today was once a student.
That reality places tremendous responsibility—and tremendous opportunity—on educators, families, and communities.
If we want a more compassionate society, we must intentionally teach the skills that make compassion possible.
If we want healthier communities, we must help young people develop the tools for building healthy relationships.
The question is not simply how we educate students.
The question is how we help them practice humanity.
The answer may shape the future more than any test score ever could.
Recommended Internal Links
Books
Additional Resources