Roots of Empathy by Elsie Hambrook for the Moncton Times and Transcript
Babies visit classrooms to help children recognize their own feelings.
Dateline: Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A program that involves an infant visiting an elementary school classroom once a month, contributes to equality between the sexes. So say the nurses, parents, teachers and principals who suggested the "Roots of Empathy" program be implemented in New Brunswick schools.
Recently, the Advisory Council on the Status of Women asked, in an informal contest, what action in 2011 would most advance equality between women and men. Of all the many suggestions we received, the most frequent submission was "Roots of Empathy". As one submission said, "Understanding the feelings of others leads to increased empathy, and increased empathy will lead to less violence — not only against women but against all of society."
When we are able to identify our own emotions, we gain in self awareness and control of our feelings and our actions.
Empathy — the ability to see and feel things as others do — is central to successful social relationships in all stages of life, said another entry. "Feelings are transformed from abstract, unfamiliar entities into things we can identify, control, change, and share with others."
The program involves a baby and parent visiting a classroom monthly and a trained instructor coaching students weekly throughout the school year. The students watch the parent-infant interaction, discuss how the baby is feeling and watch the baby develop abilities.
Founded in Canada in 1996, by educator Mary Gordon, Roots of Empathy now reaches more than 325,000 children worldwide.
In New Brunswick, the program is offered in some regions, where someone takes the initiative and money is found to pay for instructor training and resources. Sometimes school districts and the United Way collaborate to offer the program.
According to the program, "Everyone deserves to be safe and secure, and the students witness this as they sit around the green blanket which defines the baby's personal space, while they also learn about neuroscience, human development and the monthly themes which include crying, communicating, emotions, safety... "
The children get attached to their "classroom baby". A father whose baby had participated in a Roots of Empathy class elsewhere in Canada, recounts how his infant attracted young fans when he was out in the community. The father remarked, "I felt like I was out with a rock star."
One New Brunswick principal who wrote in said, "I have witnessed the development of emotional empathy in children who are more often 'me-oriented' by nature. To see the way they react to and interact with the infant and his/her mother has been inspiring and encouraging. And the students love the time they spend learning about their own feelings through the sessions with baby."
What these New Brunswickers saw in Roots of Empathy that made them think it would benefit the status of women in society was that it contributes to more caring, more self-awareness, more social and parenting skills, more valuing of child rearing, less aggression, more pro-social behaviour.
Emotional literacy is what some call it — being able to "read" emotions, to be able to express how we are feeling, and to recognize how others are feeling. When we are able to identify our own emotions, we gain in self awareness and control of our feelings and our actions. "The boys are particularly attracted to the baby and it is a joy to watch these future parents engage in learning about the baby's temperament and needs and problem solve to meet them." In the 1980s in Philadelphia, Myriam Miedzian observed classes very similar to Roots of Empathy and described them in her book, Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking The Link Between Masculinity And Violence. "Empathy is routinely discouraged in boys. Traditional 'masculinity' is identified with toughness, concern with dominance, emotional detachment... Empathy — the capacity for vicariously experiencing another person's feelings, volitions or ideas — has very different, even opposite, qualities."
Imagine the impact on boys when a father comes into the class with the infant, as happens in about 30 percent of Roots of Empathy classes. Male nurturance is rarely discussed elsewhere. As the program literature says, "For boys, who traditionally in our society have less opportunity to talk about feelings, these discussions can be enlightening."
Students might also learn to avoid too-early parenthood: they gain insights into the huge demands of child rearing and the baby's absolute dependence on its parent.
The founder of Roots of Empathy, Mary Gordon, says "Traditionally, schools have measured children's competence in subject areas. Roots of Empathy measures the affective side of children's knowledge, understanding, and attitudes... We measure what we treasure."
Last month CNN travelled to Toronto to feature "Baby Indigo" as "she went to work" as a "tiny teacher" for Roots of Empathy. Last year, TIME magazine's website featured an article, entitled "How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy." A Toronto instructor tells of a Grade 1 child from her Roots of Empathy program who confronted a Grade 3 student who was bullying another Grade 3 student. The younger child said to the bully: 'That is not Roots of Empathy. You are hurting his feelings.' "Everyone learned from a small child's words!" As another child summarized when asked what he learned at Roots of Empathy, "Try not to get mad at a baby because he might learn to be mean when he grows up."
Elsie Hambrook is the new Chairperson of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Her column on women's issues will appear in the Times & Transcript every Thursday. She may be reached via email at the address below.
eMail: [email protected] Website: http://www.acswcccf.nb.ca
Dateline: Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A program that involves an infant visiting an elementary school classroom once a month, contributes to equality between the sexes. So say the nurses, parents, teachers and principals who suggested the "Roots of Empathy" program be implemented in New Brunswick schools.
Recently, the Advisory Council on the Status of Women asked, in an informal contest, what action in 2011 would most advance equality between women and men. Of all the many suggestions we received, the most frequent submission was "Roots of Empathy". As one submission said, "Understanding the feelings of others leads to increased empathy, and increased empathy will lead to less violence — not only against women but against all of society."
When we are able to identify our own emotions, we gain in self awareness and control of our feelings and our actions.
Empathy — the ability to see and feel things as others do — is central to successful social relationships in all stages of life, said another entry. "Feelings are transformed from abstract, unfamiliar entities into things we can identify, control, change, and share with others."
The program involves a baby and parent visiting a classroom monthly and a trained instructor coaching students weekly throughout the school year. The students watch the parent-infant interaction, discuss how the baby is feeling and watch the baby develop abilities.
Founded in Canada in 1996, by educator Mary Gordon, Roots of Empathy now reaches more than 325,000 children worldwide.
In New Brunswick, the program is offered in some regions, where someone takes the initiative and money is found to pay for instructor training and resources. Sometimes school districts and the United Way collaborate to offer the program.
According to the program, "Everyone deserves to be safe and secure, and the students witness this as they sit around the green blanket which defines the baby's personal space, while they also learn about neuroscience, human development and the monthly themes which include crying, communicating, emotions, safety... "
The children get attached to their "classroom baby". A father whose baby had participated in a Roots of Empathy class elsewhere in Canada, recounts how his infant attracted young fans when he was out in the community. The father remarked, "I felt like I was out with a rock star."
One New Brunswick principal who wrote in said, "I have witnessed the development of emotional empathy in children who are more often 'me-oriented' by nature. To see the way they react to and interact with the infant and his/her mother has been inspiring and encouraging. And the students love the time they spend learning about their own feelings through the sessions with baby."
What these New Brunswickers saw in Roots of Empathy that made them think it would benefit the status of women in society was that it contributes to more caring, more self-awareness, more social and parenting skills, more valuing of child rearing, less aggression, more pro-social behaviour.
Emotional literacy is what some call it — being able to "read" emotions, to be able to express how we are feeling, and to recognize how others are feeling. When we are able to identify our own emotions, we gain in self awareness and control of our feelings and our actions. "The boys are particularly attracted to the baby and it is a joy to watch these future parents engage in learning about the baby's temperament and needs and problem solve to meet them." In the 1980s in Philadelphia, Myriam Miedzian observed classes very similar to Roots of Empathy and described them in her book, Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking The Link Between Masculinity And Violence. "Empathy is routinely discouraged in boys. Traditional 'masculinity' is identified with toughness, concern with dominance, emotional detachment... Empathy — the capacity for vicariously experiencing another person's feelings, volitions or ideas — has very different, even opposite, qualities."
Imagine the impact on boys when a father comes into the class with the infant, as happens in about 30 percent of Roots of Empathy classes. Male nurturance is rarely discussed elsewhere. As the program literature says, "For boys, who traditionally in our society have less opportunity to talk about feelings, these discussions can be enlightening."
Students might also learn to avoid too-early parenthood: they gain insights into the huge demands of child rearing and the baby's absolute dependence on its parent.
The founder of Roots of Empathy, Mary Gordon, says "Traditionally, schools have measured children's competence in subject areas. Roots of Empathy measures the affective side of children's knowledge, understanding, and attitudes... We measure what we treasure."
Last month CNN travelled to Toronto to feature "Baby Indigo" as "she went to work" as a "tiny teacher" for Roots of Empathy. Last year, TIME magazine's website featured an article, entitled "How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy." A Toronto instructor tells of a Grade 1 child from her Roots of Empathy program who confronted a Grade 3 student who was bullying another Grade 3 student. The younger child said to the bully: 'That is not Roots of Empathy. You are hurting his feelings.' "Everyone learned from a small child's words!" As another child summarized when asked what he learned at Roots of Empathy, "Try not to get mad at a baby because he might learn to be mean when he grows up."
Elsie Hambrook is the new Chairperson of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Her column on women's issues will appear in the Times & Transcript every Thursday. She may be reached via email at the address below.
eMail: [email protected] Website: http://www.acswcccf.nb.ca