All posts tagged: Education

Jacques Callot, L'Hiver (Winter), ca. 1610, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

Winter as a Human Challenge

Published by Bruna Martins

Content written by the Educators Council team, originally published as the December 2025 Educators Newsletter. Image credits: Jacques Callot, L’Hiver (Winter), ca. 1610, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain. For most of human history, winter was the season that shaped communities more than any other. Cold, darkness, food scarcity and isolation meant that survival depended not on individual strength but on how well people worked together. Across Europe,  including Britain, winter prompted shared labour, shared resources, and shared rituals designed to lift spirits and keep households connected. Many of the traditions we now associate with Christmas, New Year, and the “festive season” began simply as collective strategies to endure winter: exchanging small gifts, singing together, sharing food, blessing orchards, and supporting neighbours who were struggling. Far from being purely celebratory, these traditions were born from a time when cooperation was essential for survival. For teachers, winter customs offer a rich way into discussing community resilience, social responsibility, and seasonal rhythms of the past. They show students that behind today’s festivities lies a deep history of people …

Teaching Memory

Published by Bruna Martins

Content written by the Educators Council team, originally published as the November 2025 Educators Newsletter. For many, November invites reflection—not only on those who have died or survived, but on how we remember them. This month offers an opportunity to explore the emotional, cultural, and social dimensions of loss, and how individuals and communities commemorate sacrifice, survival, and personal grief. National mourning serves as a powerful, unifying ritual. But behind the ceremonies are diverse experiences of remembrance. This month’s newsletter focuses on social histories: how people mourn, how memory is shaped, and how pupils can engage with remembrance as a dynamic, human process. Through these lenses, we invite reflection on how histories of commemoration influence shared understandings of loss and resilience. For every topic, we will provide practical resources that help educators approach this topic in a clear and visual way with students, helping them bring awareness and sensitivity to different cultures. How does Veterans Day foster community spirit in the United States? Historiography since the 1960s has become more considerate of social history. As …

Students at computers with screens that include a representation of a retinal scanner with pixelation and binary data overlays and a brightly coloured datawave heatmap at the top.

AI in Education: Promise and Peril

Published by Bruna Martins

Content written by the Educators Council team, originally published as the October 2025 Educators Newsletter. Image credits: Kathryn Conrad / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming part of classrooms and students’ daily lives. While it promises new ways to learn, research, and engage, experts are increasingly warning about its dangers, particularly for young people. At our recent Educators’ Council meeting (August 27), members shared how students are already struggling with long texts and turning to AI for shorter, easier summaries. As one council member put it, “We are preparing a generation of visual learners, but they must still learn to read deeply and evaluate critically.” This shift is only part of the story. Behind the convenience of AI lies a complex set of risks, from accuracy problems to serious threats to mental health. The Dark Side of AI Engagement AI chatbots are not neutral. They are designed to keep users engaged, using human-like responses, emotional cues, and conversational tricks. This can encourage dependence, distraction, and in some cases, harm. A few examples highlighted in the media were:  …

AHE Launches History et cetera Video Series

Published by James Wiener

A new series of entertaining and educational videos created by Ancient History Encyclopedia, in co-production with Past Preservers, will expand and enhance the availability of online resources pertaining to the study of the ancient world. Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE), a nonprofit, digital humanities website focused on global ancient history, announced today that they are launching a series of videos under the title History et cetera with Past Preservers. This new series will bring fresh and engaging video content to Ancient History Encyclopedia, offering the “YouTube generation” expert knowledge on a variety of topics related to history, archaeology, and much more. This video series is designed to appeal to students, educators, and history enthusiasts alike.