Helen Maynard – Director of Studies K-6

The role of empathy in learning 

Last month I was fortunate enough to travel to Cambodia to undertake volunteer work. The group I went with spent 2 weeks in a village outside Siem Reap giving the Cambodian people a “hand up”. We built a family home, delivered rice to over 240 families, visited 2 schools – feeding and face painting 400 students (a completely new experience for all), built duck farms, pig pens and facilitated a number of medical centre visits for villagers in need. It was hot and sticky work but some of the most rewarding I have experienced.

This experience had a profound impact on me and lead me to make connections with my day to day life. The Khmer Grannies – as I affectionately named them – would ensure that we delivered rice to the most needy families. Children, when given an extra pencil or balloon, (these were very popular and created many laughs) would either give it to a younger child or hand it back to us. It left me pondering if we are missing something in our society. This led me to think about empathy and how we foster this as parents and educators.

Roman Krznaric theorises that the 20^th century is the age of introspection, but the 21^st is one of “stepping outside ourselves” to experience the world through other perspectives, something increasingly important in our uber-connected society.

Learning has to start and end with oneself: What do I know, and how can I relate to the world around me? I think more so than ever this is a vital component to education in our rapidly changing world. If future generations are to solve some of the complex problems of our world we need to be able to step into the shoes of others.

Learning should result in personal and social change through a combination of self-direction, reflection, and collaboration with ideas and the people who have them. Hence, we must be able to empathise.

Currently, P-12 staff at Emanuel are looking at Learning Dispositions more deeply and how we foster these in our students. We know that the knowledge model of education has changed and that for our students to be successful many attributes will play a vital part in their success.

I found these articles interesting in respects to parenting;

www.parentingscience.com/teaching-empathy-tips.html

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_ways_to_foster_empathy_in_kids

Kindy reading groups

Carmen Yunis and Carrie-Ann Grieve would still like some extra people to help them with their reading groups, particularly on a Wednesday morning. If you are able to assist please contact them directly.