Cultivating Compassion in our Students
Goetz et al. (2010) defines compassion as “the feeling that arises in witnessing another’s suffering that motivates a subsequent desire to help” (p. 352). As political rhetoric continues to divide the population and alienation caused by increased isolation, brought on at least in part by addictive technological platforms, it becomes increasing important that children learn to connect to others, feel empathy for their peers and help to move our society towards a kinder place. As educators we believe we can make a difference by cultivating compassion through empathy, mindfulness and thoughtful conflict resolution.
Mindfulness
The Mind Up! curriculum, created by the Hawn Foundation seeks to bring knowledge of simple neuroscience along with a straightforward, secular meditation practice in order to build student's capacity for mindful contemplation, focused attention and pro-social behaviour. To learn more please visit their website.
The Four Pillars of the Mind Up! Program
Teaching students to be present and aware of their moods and reactions can help them make smarter decisions and decrease feelings of insecurity and anxiety. This leads to happier students. Happier students tend to be kinder and more empathetic.
Connectedness
I Am Eleven, by Australian documentarian Geneviève Bailey, chronicles her journey to 15 countries to explore the lives of 11-year-olds in very different environments. The film highlights the common struggles and fading innocence of young adolescents. It is a great film to spur on conversation and help young students look beyond themselves, finding connection with other kids halfway across the world.
Conflict Resolution
Integrative Thinking is a collection of frameworks designed to push deeper understanding and foster creativity. It was initially used in business and now with partnerships between the University of Toronto's Rotman School and several school boards, these frameworks are beginning to make their way into Ontario classrooms. Causal Models, one of the Integrative Thinking frameworks, are a way to break down and find the root causes of problems. You start in the middle and work your way out. As you can see in one of the examples, one set of students chose 'Bad Grades' as their problem. One of the causes was not paying attention in class. They would then look at what causes them not to pay attention in class. This led to daydreaming, which led to lack of sleep, which led to staying up late, which led to video games. This framework can be used in classes to parse out complicated world issues like climate change and lack of education for girls. It can also be effectively used to resolve conflict between students, creating empathy by revealing the true motives of both parties.
Causal modelling helps to dig past the hard outer layer of a problem. When students can see the root causes for a complex issue they feel empowered and can better empathize with whoever might be suffering in the situation.
Empathy
The 'Just like You' series of short films showcase children with various physical and mental differences alongside their best friends. The films spotlight the strong bond and compassion shown between the sets of friends. Exposing students to differences at a young age helps them to becoming more accepting of others as they get older.
You can visit their site to see more of their free films, learn about the organization's founders and see how you and your class can get involved.
Roots of Empathy is a Toronto based program, where students welcome a baby and its primary caregiver into their classroom. The students learn about child development first hand, as the baby visits the class several times over the course of the year. A strong bond is forged between the child and the students. The goals of the Roots of Empathy program are to promote emotional literacy, foster empathy amongst young people and prepare them for responsible citizenship.
To learn more about the program, and to request a spot in the program, please visit their website.