HEART | HEAD | HAND

The Heart | Head | Hand approach combines educational philosophy and pedagogy to tackle challenging civic conversations. It can be used by students to process political issues, by educators to audit their curriculum, and by communities to engage deeply with one another.

This simple yet substantive approach to the classroom can build empathy, trust, and an open learning environment. 

Let’s work together to find the right options for your institution.

Consulting services OPTIONS

  • Facilitate the Heart-Head-Hand conversation method

  • Conduct a Heart-Head-Hand audit of your curriculum/program

  • Analyze the responses and information from the audit with leaders and identify next steps

  • Create or co-create new curriculum/programs/concepts based on the findings of the audit

  • Serve as a speaker or program leader based on the audit findings

Background: The Story of Heart | Head | Hand 

November 9, 2016: Early that morning, as the results of the 2016 election were rolling in and Donald Trump was declared the 45th president of the United States, I sensed that I was living through a momentous event in American history. Later that morning, I would process that result with my students as I always had. However, I knew that this class would be different. How would I have a civil and nuanced discussion about the election when many of my students would be mourning Hillary Clinton’s loss while others would be elated with Donald Trump’s win?

The answer came to me at about 3AM. I walked into the classroom the next day and wrote 3 columns on the board:

“Heart- how do I feel?”

“Head- what do I want to know?” 

“Hand- what might I want to do?”

I gave students markers and they filled their responses to the questions on the board. After 10 minutes, I put the students in a circle and said the following:

“Because we are in a school, I am going to focus our discussion on your “head” questions. However, we cannot have the best possible discussion if I don’t know what is in your hearts and what you might want to do with your hands.”

The discussion went better than I could have imagined and I returned to that approach after the Parkland shootings, Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and the murder of George Floyd.  

After October 7th, I was sleepless for the next 48 hours, thinking how I could support my fellow educators. Early in the morning of October 9th, it came to me like a flash: the Heart | Head | Hand approach.

Reach out to me and find out how the Heart | Head | Hand approach can benefit you, your colleagues, and your institution.

HOW DOES HEART | HEAD | HAND work in practice?

I’m glad you asked

HEART | HEAD | HAND INSIGHT

“Another framework we have used is termed Heart/Head/Hand. This August, Jonathan Golden, a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute, facilitated two sessions for our faculty on this methodology that he developed while teaching high school students. He shared how he used this protocol after the Hamas terror attacks on October 7. This strategy asks students to speak to three different areas:

  • Heart (emotional/personal) - How do events in Israel make me feel? How do they relate to my identity and story? The story of the family and those whom I love? What are my hopes? Worries? Concerns? Aspirations?

  • Head (analytical/knowledge/understanding) - What do I need to know in order to try and understand events, their history, and what might happen next?

  • Hand (doing civil/action) - What are my options to take action to support those in need and ensure that I live out my beliefs and values?”

    Mitch Malkus, Head of School Charles E Smith Jewish Day School