The Rainbow District School Board celebrated the participants in its Roots of Empathy program May 12. “When students develop empathy, they gain an appreciation of the uniqueness of each individual, their opinions, beliefs and contributions. They gain respect and other important values,” he said.
During the school visits, a number of themes are explored including meet the baby, crying, caring and planning for baby, emotions, sleep, safety, communicating, who am I?, and good bye and good wishes. With each classroom visit, students learned empathetic responses to the baby’s temperament, facial cues and feelings.
Zoe Weil is President of the Institute for Humane Education which works to create a world in which we all live humanely, sustainably, and peaceably.
'To build a culture of empathy we need to be sure the systems and situation around us are humane and sustainable and just. Because we will go with the flow. If that flow is going to be cruel and destructive, that will suppress our empathy.'
School reform that is based on test scores and basic skills has stripped from curriculum efforts to develop empathy in young people and that has enormous consequences for the country.
Indeed, empathy has been swept out of the education debate. This was demonstrated in a recent study that was more frightening than the results of the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment, but that has been all but ignored by reformers such as Rhee: college students today are dramatically less empathetic than previous generations...
Where’s the empathy emergency? It turns out that that today’s reformers don’t see an empathy emergency because empathy is not valued in our culture, a reality that Harvard-based physician-researcher J. Wes Ulm describes in his 2010 essay for Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, entitled “Cache of the Cutthroat.” Ulm argues that Social Darwinism – a perversion of Charles Darwin’s theories – has seized control of our economy and culture.
Prospect Sierra and U.C. Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center are teaming to host a TEDx conference on compassion in education (http://tedxgoldengateed.org) on Saturday, June 11 at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. Tickets are available now via the website.
TEDxGoldenGateED takes place on June 11, 2011 from 1pm to 9pm at the soaring and historic Craneway Pavilion in Richmond California. Join us to hear from a incredibly diverse field of speakers about what science tells us about compassion and empathy, and see how compassion improves learning.
Join us to explore humanity's stickiest idea: Compassion. In true TED fashion, we promise a full day of inspiration, insight, interaction, and delight as we learn about the new science of compassion, and see how compassion helps transform schools and communities.
The new sense of biosphere interconnectivity and responsibility goes hand-in-hand with empathy workshops and courses that help students draw global emotional connections in the same way that environmental curricula help them draw global ecological connections. Empathy curricula now exist in 18 states. In many schools, empathy curricula start as early as first grade.
One interesting example is the Roots of Empathy project, begun by a Canadian educator, Mary Gordon, which has been introduced into first through eighth grades across Canada. By Jeremy Rifkin
"What really matters is whether children master applied empathy, and whether young people (12 to 20) master empathy teamwork leadership and become change makers" through extra-curriculum activities such as tutoring services, help hotlines or community radio stations.
"Those who don't master applied empathy will be marginalized, and if there are children who didn't have a chance to develop these skills, it's our fault, not theirs!" adds Bill Drayton.
Karl Subban is Principal of Brookview Middle School in the Jane-Finch area of Toronto. One of the key initiatives is that Brookview be a "kind and caring" place to be. Karl explains why this is important for student success.
Sura Hart is an internationally recognized trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) and is the contact person for projects integrating NVC into U.S. schools.
An interesting and worthwhile concept has been conceived and given life in Lower Sackville over the past few months. See if you agree.
It is called the Empathy Factory. Sound like an intriguing name? A search of www.dictionary.com reveals that empathy means ". . . the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person’s feelings."
Students at Hillside Park Elementary School in Lower Sackville look over artwork from fellow students in this file photograph. Recently, Grade 6 students at the school were involved in a pilot project designed to instill in them a sense of empathy and a philanthropic spirit.
Can infants teach older children empathy? Canadian educator Mary Gordon is certain they can. In 1996 she founded a program called Roots of Empathy that brings an infant into an elementary classroom numerous times over the course of a year to help children identify and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings and those of others. Since then, Roots of Empathy has been featured in more 12,000 classrooms across Canada, is now catching on in the United States.
For me, one of those people was my fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Mabel Hefty. When I walked into Ms. Hefty’s classroom for the first time, I was a new kid who had been living overseas for a few years, had a funny name nobody could pronounce. But she didn’t let me withdraw into myself. She helped me believe that I had something special to say. She made me feel special.
She reinforced the sense of empathy and thoughtfulness that my mother and my grandparents had tried hard to instill in me -- and that’s a lesson that I still carry with me as President.
Ms. Hefty is no longer with us, but I often think about her and how much of a difference she made in my life. And everybody has got a story like that, about that teacher who made the extra effort to shape our lives in important ways.
And certainly, Rhee has little empathy for “bad teachers,” and in fact, has built her career – and her fame – by sweeping them out the front door. As the legendary educator Mike Rose reported in a recent blog on Rhee, she casually invited a film crew documenting her to watch her fire a teacher live, in a real life version of Donald Trump’s Apprentice.
This is a striking departure from the original mission of public schools, which conceived of our schools as not just skills centers, but civil institutions which cultivate democratic values – empathy, compassion, citizenship, creativity, and other “softer things.”
Ask little Peter Cournoyer, a second-grader at Rocketship Mateo Sheedy, what empathy means, and he describes it this way:
“It’s when you help someone if they need help or if they get hurt,” he says, (which he’s had to do a few times).
Empathy is one of Rocketship’s four “core values,” in addition to respect, responsibility, and persistence, which define the school’s culture and identity. The words are plastered all over the school’s walls as a reminder and reinforcement.
If you had a blank canvas in front of you, how would you paint the word "compassion"? In this project, students have become the teachers. Here's something to think about: If you had a blank canvas in front of you, how would you paint the word "compassion"?
In Appleton, more than 10,000 students have taken on that task, and their work will soon be featured at the Trout Museum of Art.
"We suggested to challenge our students and teachers in the community to visualize compassion and figure out what compassion might look like," museum executive director Tim Riley said.
Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, explains the importance of empathy in a rapidly changing world. He discusses the work of an Ashoka fellow named Mary Gordon, who implemented a program in elementary schools that not only decreased bullying, but actually taught empathy.
The world is changing—faster than ever before—from a society run by elites to one in which everyone can be a changemaker. In this new world, one of the most essential skills for people to master, and for institutions to nurture, is empathy. Beginning soon, Ashoka will launch a global initiative with the mission of fostering a society in which every child masters empathy.
At this moment of historic national momentum to rewrite the future of education and redefine the experience of growing up, the Ashoka U.S. Empathy Leader will have the overall strategic and operational responsibility for launching and growing the Empathy Initiative within the U.S.
The primary mission of the Empathy Initiative is to catalyze a mindshift in society that leads the American people to see empathy for what it is a learned skill that every child must master— and that causes elementary school principals to integrate it into their schools’ core learning objectives and strategies.
A mother and her six-month-old baby will spend time with an elementary school class in Winnipeg as part of a anti-bullying program called Roots of Empathy
The Empathy Factory first delivers a highly motivational and educational workshop on the value of volunteering and giving one's time. We help the students feel the rewards and benefits of giving, and help them tap into their own skills of empathy.
School Educators talking about Empathy Interviews on empathy with trainers with the Center for Nonviolent Communication who are integrating NVC into U.S. schools. Interviewed at the Teach for Life retreat In Palo Alto, California
‘Children Full of Life’ is a short documentary on a teacher in japan who is teaching his grade 4 students to develop empathy.
The depth of the little kids emotions and the ability they develop with this teacher to share them was deeply touching. I was moved to tears a few times, proud of them, proud of their courage. These little people are learning perhaps one of the most important human skills – empathy.
This session focuses on the place of compassion, both in individuals" lives and in larger societal contexts, such as understanding across peoples and cultures as well as the future course of education." It examines how compassion and altruism can be brought into social and educational systems and what the benefits might be.
Grade 4 students at Chalmers Street Public School are learning valuable lessons about caring for...
Students are currently engaged in a program called Roots of Empathy, which sees mothers and babies visit classrooms to teach children about empathy and caring. Supporting this baby basket charity provided a meaningful connection for students and a way to put emotions into action, Berry said.
“This way they can empathize with new moms in need,” she said.
The Roots of Empathy program helps students better understand how to read each others’ feelings, both verbal and non-verbal, and how to positively respond to others’ needs in a show of support.
To get content containing either thought or leadership enter:
To get content containing both thought and leadership enter:
To get content containing the expression thought leadership enter:
You can enter several keywords and you can refine them whenever you want. Our suggestion engine uses more signals but entering a few keywords here will rapidly give you great content to curate.
Your new post is loading...
