Preparing Future Elementary Teachers to Lead With Compassion

Colleges of education play a critical role in preparing future teachers with the tools and approaches they’ll use in today’s classrooms. One effective and engaging approach is humane education: helping students understand kindness and consideration for animals while supporting academic learning.

Humane education aligns naturally with how children learn. Many students feel a strong connection to animals, and lessons that build on this interest can increase engagement, encourage empathy among peers, and support a positive classroom environment. For teacher candidates, exposure to these materials during their training offers practical strategies they can use immediately when they enter their own classrooms. To support teacher preparation programs, TeachKind offers a free New Teacher Bundle curated specifically for elementary educators. The bundle includes ready‑to‑use materials that make it easy for new teachers to incorporate humane education into literacy instruction and social‑emotional learning programs without adding to their workload.