Ep. 57, Rick Weissbourd: Director of the Making Caring Common Project
In this episode of Catalysts for Change, Jill talks with Rick Weissbourd, Faculty Director of Human Development and Psychology at Harvard Graduate School of Education. The director of the Making Caring Common Project, Rick’s work focuses on children's moral development, on vulnerability and resilience in childhood, and on how to encourage and prioritize caring, compassion, and companionship among children in and out of school.
Making Caring Common is a national effort to make moral and social development priorities in child-raising and to provide strategies to schools and parents for promoting caring, a commitment to justice and other key moral, emotional and social capacities. As part of the Making Caring Common project, Rick leads Turning the Tide, a national effort to reform college admissions that has engaged almost 200 college admissions offices in promoting ethical engagement, reducing damaging achievement pressure in high school and increasing equity and access for economically disadvantaged students. Rick is a founder of several interventions for children, including ReadBoston and WriteBoston, citywide literacy initiatives led by Mayor Menino. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, CNN, The New Republic, NPR, and Psychology Today. He is the author of two books including The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children's Moral and Emotional Development.
We talk to Rick about perceptions of caring, achievement, and happiness for children and adults, the need for emphasizing care in our lives, and much more about his work with Making Caring Common. If you would like to learn more about Rick’s work and about the Making Caring Common Project, check out the links below.