What fires should educators light?

With Professor Husic's consent, I am sharing with you some of her words about helping students engage big questions, together with my own strong enthusiasm for helping students connect their learning with larger societal challenges and needed change. Because Professor Husic's essay is long, we have abridged it to fit this space; you can find the longer version online at http://anewprosperity .blogspot.com/2014/03/what-fires-should-educators-light.html.-CAROL GEARY SCHNEIDER WILLIAM Butler Yeats famously said that "education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." At a time when society is faced with the tremendous challenges of poverty and growing inequality, global environmental problems, food security, new and emerging diseases, scarcity of resources, and conflict, more than ever we need not only science and technology, but also innovative thinkers, advocates, and activists.