A study involving almost one thousand students in a half dozen countries found that children’s empathy, curiosity, and emotional literacy can be improved with a lesson programme
Empathy is a quality that you either have or you don’t have, right? No, not true. It can be taught and most importantly, learned. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the classroom.
The founder of the Empathy Studios, Ed Kirwan believes that empathy is the skill to understand others and the ability to create space for someone to reveal their authentic self while reserving judgment.
A study involving 900 students in six countries found that a short programme of empathy lessons led to measurable, positive changes in their conduct, emotional awareness and curiosity about different cultures and the wider world.
And hey, in only 10 weeks the programme had a positive impact on students’ behaviour too and increased their emotional literacy.
Empathy Studios develops school-based, video-led programmes for students aged 5 to 18. They are shown thought-provoking films, then engage in around 30 minutes of activities and discussions about the issues raised.
Teachers rated students’ empathy, behaviour and other characteristics on a scale of one to 10 before the programme began, and then again five and 10 weeks later. The average empathy score rose from 5.55 to 7, while average behaviour scores increased from 6.52 to 7.89.
Kirwan revealed: “The programme’s success lies in teaching students to celebrate difference, which changes their wellbeing and their behaviour.”
Empathy educator Dr Helen Demetriou from Cambridge University said: “The findings show that a fairly simple, film-based programme can raise pupils’ empathy levels, enhancing their understanding of themselves, others, and global issues.
“It also helps social and emotional skills that we know contribute to improved behaviour and more engaged learning.”
The programme is based on three core concepts:
- Empathy for Myself, which is aimed at helping to develop the students’ emotional literacy.
- Empathy for Others, which covers their abilities when it comes to their mutual understanding and interpersonal relations and,
- Empathy in Action during which the students were asked to develop their own social action projects.
The result is empathy and behaviour both appear to be closely linked. All schools reporting an improvement in student empathy also saw improvements in behaviour after just five weeks.
This went on to be sustained in 80% of cases after 10 weeks. When it came to feedback, many students admitted that they’d learned valuable lessons from the programme, with comments such as: “Everyone struggles”, I’m not the only one who finds it hard”, “although we are all different, we all have so much in common” and “empathy is the number one human skill we need to develop for the future,”
Kirwan said of the programme: “It should not just be an add-on – it should be considered foundational.”
