An alternative way of introducing magnetism at all levels of education isproposed. It is stressed that magnetism can be introduced through theinteraction between current-carrying conductors giving the students, at thesame time, the possibility to measure the magnetic permeability μo. Focusingon currents instead of permanent magnets provides a pathway to explore thefull dynamics between the basic constituents, i.e. the elementary charges. Italso connects better to some modern applications of magnetism such as thedefinition of mass, which utilizes a current balance and the link betweenmagnetism and special relativity