Empathy is a word that most students have probably heard, but it is not a word that many people fully understand. Psychology Today defines empathy as “the experience of understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and condition from their point of view, rather than their own.” Empathy is an important trait everyone should possess, as it helps us to understand other people’s experiences and communicate effectively with others. Teaching students empathy will benefit them (and the rest of the world) in the long run.
Table of Contents
Resources
Many resources are available on the internet to teach students about empathy and introduce the concept of empathy to schools without necessarily implementing a new curriculum. While empathy may seem like a skill that shouldn’t be taught, talking to students about what empathy is and why it’s important is key to bringing about positive change in the public world. emotionless technology.
Lesson Plan
1. 4SC Academy:
Find videos related to empathy at 4SC Academy, such as Harlow’s Rhesus Monkey Test:
Advocate for Love, Moral Fortune :
Who is to blame? and Anthropomorphism:
What are the characteristics of humans for non-humans?, among others. Teachers have access to resources such as worksheets, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more that are included in each subject’s lesson plans. Explore Academy 4SC’s entire library of applicable content under the Empathy tab.
2. Strengths of 4SC Leaders:
4SC Leaders provide a variety of workgroups that challenge students to think critically about important issues as they act as decision makers and thinkers through detailed solutions. Each breakout group comes with step-by-step instructions, Google Slides Templates to use with virtual breakout rooms, and topic-specific questions to help students get started. Activities can be done individually or in groups. A fun task force is effective school anti-bullying policies.
3. Developing Empathy:
Teaching Tolerance provides a lesson plan that “helps students better understand and practice empathy.” Lessons include objectives, essential questions, vocabulary, overview, material list, activities, and a follow-up. Students will learn whether they are doing a good job of empathizing or if they could be more empathetic, and they will have the opportunity to practice being empathic listeners in pairs. At the end of the session, the class will gain an understanding of empathy and apply their new knowledge in a controlled situation.
4. Top 7 empathy lesson plans and why you need them:
This article from Applied Education Systems explains why schools need to teach students empathy in the age of technology and provide level seven of the best lesson plans with corresponding explanations. . Lessons from Teaching Tolerance, Teachers Association, Hasbro & Ashoka, Bullying Prevention, Brookes Publishing Company and others are reviewed. There’s something here that every teacher can use in their classroom!
5. 40 Kindness and Empathy Activity Exercises for Students and Adults:
This article contains tips on how to teach kindness, seven kindness activities for elementary school students, preschool children, and adults. middle school, world kind day activities, information on how to teach empathy, four empathy activity worksheets for students and adults, fun empathy exercises for the classroom, a Take-home messages and references. PositivePsychology.com has tons of classroom activities, worksheets, games, exercises, and information to use!
How to Teach Empathy:
Teachingthinking published an article on how to teach empathy to students. The author, Terry Heick, explains the difference between empathy and sympathy, distinguishes between the two different types of empathy (emotional and cognitive empathy), and explains how exactly empathy can be taught in a course.
Why the world needs an empathy revolution:
This article, from Greater Good magazine, describes why the world needs an empathy revolution. Jill Suttie, writer, begins by discussing Helen Riess’s Empathy Effect and her research on empathy, particularly in the healthcare field. Suttie discusses the science behind empathy, how to teach empathy with Riess’s new program EMPATHICS, and using empathy beyond healthcare. It’s a great source of information!
Empathy vs. Empathy:
How to Practice Empathy and Connecting Energy:
This website outlines one of the most important things to understand when learning empathy:
difference between empathy and sympathy. sixseconds also offers a humorous video about empathy and sympathy before kicking off the discussion about listening versus fixing, the “least” trap, validation versus reassurance, and empathic experiences. compared to empathy. Overall, this site is perfect for students and teachers to learn to empathize (rather than empathize) and recognize the dos and don’ts of empathy.
Empathy:
Psychology Today provides a quick overview of the definition of empathy and whether a person can be overly empathetic. This site is ideal for teachers who want to give their students some information before starting a lesson!
There are actually three types of empathy.
This informative website helps readers understand the three different types of empathy (cognitive, affective, and compassionate) in the hope that they can develop all. The author describes how to build these three different types of empathy very well, making it a great resource for students!
How to Teach Empathy in Four Simple Steps
The Design for Change Framework was created for groups of students working together on school or community projects. But parents can easily use the simple framework above to teach their kids empathy at home. When you help children through the four stages of FEELING, IMAGING, DOING, SHARE, you are helping them cultivate their inner core strength.
Teaching empathy through feeling.
FEEL
In the FIDS process, empathy (FEEL) comes first. Sharing how you feel (modeling) and inviting children to share how they feel is an essential part of a healthy parent-child relationship. By practicing empathy in this way, family members learn to understand each other. Family get-togethers can be a great time to share feelings and get to know people who may need help.
In the DoGoodFromHome challenge, the “feeling” phase is understanding the needs of others. During the COVID-19 crisis, your child’s bond with their elderly grandparents can spur your child to feel deeply about their older neighbors. Regardless of the situation, children will feel empathy for others based on their own relational experiences in life. When parents initiate conversations that help children better understand the needs of others, they help children put themselves in the other person’s shoes.
Teach empathy by imagining
IMAGINE
The process of imagination gives children voice and stimulates their creativity.. You have the power to help. While you may have many ideas about how your child can or should help others, this step has nothing to do with your creativity. It’s about your son’s ability to imagine how he is motivated to help. It’s about your daughter’s ability to deal with the suffering of others without being told. Once your child has thought it over and decided how he would most like to respond, ask him how you and other family members can help him. Let your child take the lead!
Teaching empathy through action
DO
The third step involves action. Maybe your daughter decided to write to the elderly in nursing homes during the COVID-19 crisis. Maybe your son offered to mow the neighbor’s lawn when that neighbor broke his leg. The situations and ideas are endless. When children perform actions driven by their own emotions and imaginations, they experience the power of ingenuity.
How to teach empathy by sharing stories
SHARE
The final step is to share with others. Why? At first glance, you might ask yourself, “Isn’t it enough to do acts of kindness without external validation?” Indeed, that is the goal. With lots of relationship and empathy practices, children become caring adults. Care becomes part of who they are on the inside, regardless of the external rewards.
The framework for change requires children to share their work for a number of important reasons. First, sharing stories creates awareness and inspires other children to learn. For example, the DoGoodFromHome challenge has been shared on social media to inspire other children to perform simple acts of kindness during difficult times globally.
Finally, the most important reason to share is to reflect on learning. To share with others, even with his own family, a child must be able to tell a story – the story of “what I feel, what I imagine I can do and what I did”. Tell a story that requires your child to reflect on the process. This enhances self-awareness and helps children associate their initial feelings of empathy with how they react. These types of stories create learning and provide children with a process they can build on throughout their lives.
Conclusion
Empathy is one of the most important traits to have when building lasting relationships and friendships, yet it is often overlooked. However, learning to empathize – to be able to understand, communicate and share experiences with people from different backgrounds, people with different stories – is important in a world filled with challenges. disaster and disaster. Teaching (and learning) how to develop empathy in the classroom is no easy task, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
