Relaxed school

An empathy arena
In America, for our first empathy circle, we prioritized our Black colleagues. Our topic was bold: Racism in America. We worked behind the scenes with our Mosaic employee group leaders to say, This is your space. That was also quite a lot of orchestration behind the scenes because there were white people who were genuinely hurting.

 

There were parents who were saying, "We don't want to be raising racist children." We worked with our all our employees to say, we know you're hurting too, but this privilege and this space belongs to our Black colleagues. Let us be humble and let us listen.

Via Edwin Rutsch

Teaching our children empathy is one of the most important skills we can instill in them. Emotional intelligence and emotional maturity are often overlooked when it comes to raising kids. We as moms respond quickly to physical needs and take care of those. Emotional needs are trickier to handle but we can get into the habit of appeasing those needs and comforting, instead of actually listening to our children's issues.

Empathy is the ability to understands the emotions that others are feeling. Greater Good Magazine, a science-based publication published by UC-Berkley explains that empathy can have a wide variety of definitions but the main one is being able to imagine how others are feeling or what they're thinking, and then responding in ways of understanding.

Via Edwin Rutsch

Roots of Empathy (RoE) is an evidence-based classroom programme that has shown significant effect in reducing levels of aggression and bullying among schoolchildren.

The programme — for children ages 5 to 13 — has been delivered to more than 3,000 children in 29 primary schools in Lewisham, London since 2012.

It works by raising social and emotional competence and increasing empathy, resulting in the development of social behaviours such as sharing, helping and including others.

The programme is delivered by instructors who are trained and coordinated through the Pre-school Learning Alliance Lewisham Service Hub.

At the heart of the 27-session programme are classroom visits by a parent and baby, where possible from the school community.

Via Edwin Rutsch

Empathy is often confused with pity, sympathy, and compassion, which are each reactions to the plight of others.

 

Pity is a feeling of discomfort at the distress of one or more sentient beings, and often has paternalistic or condescending overtones. Implicit in the notion of pity is that its object does not deserve its plight, and, moreover, is unable to prevent, reverse, or overturn it. Pity is less engaged than empathy, sympathy, or compassion, amounting to little more than a conscious acknowledgement of the plight of its object.

Via Edwin Rutsch

by  Marsha Hebert

Empathic listening may be just what you need to improve your communication and relationship-building skills!

Empathic listening is a powerful tool that enables you to understand others better by listening to them with empathy and understanding. In this article, you'll explore empathic listening definitions, examples, and skills that will help you to become a better listener. 

Active empathic listening involves focusing on the speaker, paying attention to their words and nonverbal cues, and reflecting on what they say to truly understand their perspective. In addition, critical thinking is an essential component of empathic listening, as it enables you to think beyond the surface level of what someone is saying and understand their underlying feelings and motivations.  By developing your empathic listening skills, you'll be able to build stronger connections with those around you, whether it's in your personal or professional life.

 

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice.
http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Via Edwin Rutsch

Description: Scholars debate what “empathy” is and no consensus has been reached. No one doubts the importance of this concept for social justice and human well-being, yet in research and in public discourse its multiple definitions and inconsistent usage have been criticized. This symposium will explore conceptual and methodological developments for increasing the clarity and utility of research on empathy.

 

#EmpathyCircles: The best #Empathy building practice.  http://www.empathycircle.com

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#EmpathyCircles: The best #Empathy building practice.  http://www.empathycircle.com/

"The right stories can do wonderful things around helping young people to understand other people's feelings, according to the founders of Empathy Day

Teachers already know the power of empathy and how it can ensure that troubled children feel safe enough to learn. But can we teach children to understand and connect with other people’s experiences? 

Empathy Day is founded on research showing that empathy is indeed learnable, and that books are a key tool."

by Miranda McKearney and Jo Cotterill
27th May 2021

Via Edwin Rutsch

Empathy is one of the most important skills for kids to learn. It will help them to become kinder, stronger individuals. As a teacher, you have a great opportunity to help students become empathetic. In your classroom, you can give students the opportunity to practice empathy. Try making it fun with engaging activities. And don’t forget to practice empathy yourself. You’re an excellent role model for your students!

 

 

1. Creating Opportunities to Practice Empathy

Encourage students to get to know one another. Start a Random Acts of Kindness Project. Help students find volunteer opportunities.2. Planning Interactive ActivitiesTake a “temperature check” at the beginning of class.Use the “write around” if you’d like students to work on writing skills.Use an appreciation box as an ongoing activity.Choose books that inspire empathy.Hold a class discussion about the book you all read. 

 

3. Demonstrating Empathy with Your Actions

Be a good role model. Listen actively.Help students understand point of view. 

 

 

 

Via Edwin Rutsch

That’s the key to Roots of Empathy, teaching children to pick up on non-verbal signals and to understand the unspoken interactions between human beings. When children are sensitive enough to pick up on these signals they are in touch with their empathetic skills and when this happens it makes it harder for them to turn to violence and abuse as a way of treating others.

‘I think in the future of education the most important word is empathy. If they (children) have empathy they connect to each other. We have a crisis of connection in the world, we need to have empathic children. If children have a sense of belonging when they’re in school they will know how to include others. Schools should be a homecoming for children, somewhere where every child feels they belong.’

 

Via Edwin Rutsch

It is a common belief that people with autism lack empathy. One researcher who helped to popularise this belief is the British professor of developmental psychopathology, Simon Baron-Cohen, who saw autism as an “empathy disorder.”

 

According to Baron-Cohen, one of the features of autism is “mind blindness,” which means that you can’t put yourself into someone else’s shoes, can’t “read” other people’s faces and body language, and so can’t tell what they are thinking or feeling. As a result people with autism find it difficult to respond in an appropriate way in social situations. They may appear emotionless and impolite. 

However, many people with autism - and their families - are confused by this belief, since they feel that they often experience and witness empathy

Via Edwin Rutsch

Like other aspects of modern life, education can make the head hurt. So many outcomes, so much important work to do, so many solutions and strategies, so many variations on teaching, so many different kinds of students with so many different needs, so many unknowns in preparing for 21st Century life and the endless list of jobs that haven’t been invented.

What if we discovered one unifying factor that brought all of this confusion under one roof and gave us a coherent sense of how to stimulate the intellect, teach children to engage in collaborative problem solving and creative challenge, and foster social-emotional balance and stability—one factor that, if we got right, would change the equation for learning in the same way that confirming the existence of a fundamental particle informs a grand theory of the universe?

 

By Thom Markham

Via Edwin Rutsch