https://reasonstobecheerful.world/kids-learning-empathy-at-school/
"How do you put a stop to bullying? For a primary school in Cambridge, England,
the answer lay in a work of fiction.
For years, one class had had “real problems with bullying and damaging
relationships,” says teacher Helen Mulligan. Malorie Blackman’s book
Cloudbusting, the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys, offered a
way to explore relevant issues without making it personal and potentially
worsening the situation. The pupils discussed the roles and perspectives of
each character — bully, victim, bystander, supporter — and what needed to
change.
“Children who played particular roles were suddenly able to see themselves in
the characters,” Mulligan explained in a video testimonial. She saw pupils, who
for years had not considered their own actions, “suddenly reflect, analyze and
amend the behavior of the characters in the books — and then follow through
themselves.”
The school was using resources from EmpathyLab, a U.K. organization that aims
“to raise an empathy-educated generation” through the power of reading.
Independent research has shown that this is one of the best ways to understand
other people’s perspectives.
Stories allow us to “walk around” the character, and to consider their
viewpoint in a safe way, says Imogen Bond, managing director at EmpathyLab: “We
might think of reading as something that you do in isolation … actually, it’s
something that really connects us to other people.”
EmpathyLab is just one of a number of initiatives built on the premise that
empathy is not so much a trait one is born with, but rather a muscle that can
be trained. Many educators and experts see such training as vital — for
individuals and for wider society."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
