EMPATHY

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EMPATHY

• A Caring and Respectful Schools
• Initiative

For God Who said, Let light shine out of the
darkness, has shone in our hearts to bring to
light the knowledge of the glory of God on the
face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 46
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School PLUS A Framework for Catholic Education
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• Caring and Respectful School
• Environment
• Permeated with love and freedom
• Open and welcoming
• Culturally affirming
• Equitable
• Community of faith, hope and love

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Guiding principles

• In response to the Caring and Respectful section
  of the School Plus intiative, we are committed to
  reflecting our faith in a positive approach to
  meeting this goal through
• Networking new ideas
• Celebrating our successes
• Sharing resources
• Developing school-wide intiatives
• Publicizing our intiatives
• Our committee believes each of our schools has a
  unique and effective way of meeting the needs of
  a safe and caring environment while reflecting
  our Catholic faith.

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Empathy is . . .

• the ability to identify with the feelings and
  perspectives of others AND . . .
• to respond appropriately to the feelings and
  perspectives of others.

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• Empathizing with someone is not the same as
  pitying or feeling sorry for him or her. This is
  an important distinction. When you pity another
  person, you look down on him or her. You think
  How awful or What a terrible situation that
  person is in or even Thank goodness Im not in
  that situation. Pity sets you apart empathy
  brings you together.

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Stages

• Awareness of Self
• Understanding of emotions
• Enhance sensitivity to the feelings of others
• Take the perspective of the other person

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Self - Awareness

• Kids who have learned to acknowledge and master
  their emotions are more self-confident,
  healthier, score higher in math and reading, get
  along better with friends and have lower levels
  of stress. John Gottman

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Understanding of Emotions

• The more aware the child becomes of his own
  emotions and their effect on him, the more he is
  capable of recognizing emotional states in people
  around him and aware of the effects created by
  different emotions. Mary Gordon
• Individuals have difficulty feeling for the
  other person simply because they may not
  recognize the other persons hurt, discomfort,
  anxiety, pride, happiness or anger. Michelle
  Borba
• Once they are more emotionally literate, they
  can understand their own feelings, their empathy
  will grow. Michelle Borba

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Enhance Sensitivity to the Feelings of Others

• One of the biggest reasons some kids are more
  sensitive is that they can correctly interpret
  peoples emotional cues their tone of voice,
  posture and facial expressions. Michelle Borba

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Take the Perspective of the Other Person

• Understanding a person does not mean condoning
  it only means that one does not accuse him as if
  one were a judge placed above him. Erich Fromm
  (taken from The Virtues Project Educators Guide)
• Encouraging a child to imagine how the other
  person feels or to put herself in that persons
  place is a powerful way to nurture empathy.
  Michelle Borba This enables an individual to
  really step into another persons shoes and feel
  with him.

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Service Projects clearly demonstrate empathy

• Volunteering at Nursing Homes, Humane Society,
  Preschools, Church
• Fundraisers such as Telemiracle, United Way,
  Dress Down Days, Adopt-a-Child

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Discipline that Builds Empathy

• C - Call attention to the insensitive,
• uncaring behaviour.
• A - Ask, How would you feel?
• R - Recognize the consequences of the
• behaviour
• E - Express and explain your disapproval of
• the insensitive behaviour.

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Reflection and Assessment

• Empathy is not something that is innate. It is
  something that needs to be taught, modeled and
  learned.
• We are responsible for the future generation of
  empathetic citizens.
• As a team, parents, teachers and other
  significant caregivers are vital pieces of the
  puzzle.
• Are we well enough prepared?

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Resources

• The Virtues Project Linda Kavelin Popov
• ISBN -880396-84-X
• Thinking, Feeling, Behaving An Emotional
  Education Curriculum for Children Ann Vernon
• ISBN
• Building Moral Intelligence The Seven Essential
  Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing
  Michelle Borba
• ISBN 0-7879-6226-0
• Roots of Empathy Changing the World Child by
  Child Mary Gordon
• ISBN 0-88762-128-7
• What do You Stand For? A Kids Guide to Building
  Character Barbara A. Lewis
• ISBN 1-57542-029-5
• Bully Proofing Your School A Comprehensive
  Approach for Elementary Schools Carla Garrity
  et al
• ISBN 1-57035-279-8
• Odd Girl Out
• The Girls recommended by Gwen ( a novel
  appropriate for grade 7-8 girls)
• The Hundred Dresses Eleanor Estes
• Creating a Caring Community Conflict Resolution
  in the Classroom created by United Nations
  Education