{"id":68032,"date":"2023-05-02T01:09:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T05:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=68032"},"modified":"2023-05-02T01:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T05:09:23","slug":"teaching-children-empathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/teaching-children-empathy\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching children empathy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people think that\u00a0<\/span>empathy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 or the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes \u2013 is an innate quality, but it’s not.\u00a0We can learn it.\u00a0Research has shown that\u00a0<\/span>reading can help children develop it<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, by allowing them to put themselves in situations very different from their own and reflect on those experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another argument for teaching empathy comes from a program called Empathy Week, which I worked with.\u00a0It consists of showing students documentary films from different cultures and designed to inspire empathy.\u00a0The first results available to us (before rereading by other scientists) suggest that just one week of lessons based on these films improves the\u00a0<\/span>emotional awareness<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of the participants.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, in work\u00a0<\/span>done with schools<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, I have found that learning that incorporates empathy can also help students increase their\u00a0<\/span>creativity<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Different levels of empathy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our empathy varies based on a whole host of factors, including personality traits, genes, and environment.\u00a0Research has proven that\u00a0<\/span>part of our empathy \u2013 and not that much \u2013 is genetic<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, around 10%.\u00a0This means that potentially much of it can be acquired through our daily interactions.\u00a0But also that we can lose our empathy as we grow up.\u00a0<\/span>Work carried out with a young audience of five to nine years old<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has made it possible to measure their degree of empathy in the face of scenarios describing social injustices concerning other children, of different origins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their brain activity was measured using an\u00a0<\/span>electroencephalogram<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to look for higher levels of a frequency used\u00a0<\/span>as an indicator<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of empathy levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Children did not show bias in their responses but\u00a0<\/span>previous studies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0have shown this to be the case with adults.\u00a0This suggests that people can develop biases over the course of life that reduce empathy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empathy helps us understand what other people are thinking and feeling.\u00a0It helps children to\u00a0<\/span>establish social relationships<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, to take an interest in what they are learning, to work and play together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Encourage children’s creativity<\/strong><\/h4>\n

My research<\/span><\/a>\u00a0focused on the teaching of empathy and its effects on creative skills in design and technology classrooms in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

We assessed the level of creativity of ninth grade students (aged 13 to 14) from two schools at the beginning and end of the school year with the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, which is based on drawn\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span><\/a>\u00a0written questions .\u00a0After students took the test for the first time, one school continued with its usual design and technology classes.\u00a0In the other, these were replaced by sessions focused on empathy, called\u00a0<\/span>\u201cDesigning our future\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n

The students were invited to create a file containing the information and the material necessary for the treatment of\u00a0<\/span>asthma<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in children for young sufferers and their families.\u00a0They were asked to show empathy, for example by not judging their own creations or those of others.\u00a0They were also encouraged to pay attention to the people they were designing the product for.<\/span><\/p>\n

The results showed that only the school where we taught lessons focused on empathy increased the level of creativity in its responses.\u00a0Creativity could thus be worked on, in particular through instructions emphasizing the importance of empathy for the subject treated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching empathy at school would help young people to anchor this quality in their repertoire of social skills, which would improve their learning and prepare them for the adult world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Helen Demetriou is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Cambridge<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people think that\u00a0empathy\u00a0\u2013 or the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes \u2013 is an innate quality, but it’s not.\u00a0We can learn it.\u00a0Research has shown that\u00a0reading can help children develop it\u00a0, by allowing them to put themselves in situations very different from their own and reflect on those experiences. Another argument for teaching […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[32441],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-68032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-empathy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTeaching children empathy - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/teaching-children-empathy\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teaching children empathy - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most people think that\u00a0empathy\u00a0\u2013 or the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes \u2013 is an innate quality, but it’s not.\u00a0We can learn it.\u00a0Research has shown that\u00a0reading can help children develop it\u00a0, by allowing them to put themselves in situations very different from their own and reflect on those experiences. 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