Author: Valeria Valentini is an English language teacher in the secondary school. She has got a degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and a Diploma in Supporting teaching and learning. She holds a master’s degree in Anglo- Irish studies, Dublin.
Abstract
Introducing the study of empathy in the classroom arises from the necessity to teach the language of emotions to students and consequently to develop the ability to understand and share thoughts and feelings of other people. Empathy is connected to emotional intelligence, which the American psychologist Daniel Goleman describes very well in his book Emotional Intelligence. It belongs to the so-called life skills, which are life competences adopted by World Health Organization (WHO). The ability to understand someone else’s feelings gives people the opportunity to develop inclusivity, especially towards different races and cultures. This project aims at providing students with useful tools in order to learn how to recognise and master their own emotions through the English language, while helping them to better understand other people’s feelings, without judgement.
Introduction
In Italy, the Law No. 107 of 2015 regulates school-work training (PCTO), which is an educational system that allows secondary school students to spend alternating periods of study in schools with periods of training in companies. This training is compulsory for all students in the last three years of secondary school. Among the competences required of pupils, in this type of experience, there are the so-called “soft skills”, competences that mainly concern relational and behavioural skills that characterise the way in which one deals with others.
Empathy is one of the fundamental skills necessary in the classroom and in the workplace, because “those who are empathic are able to identify not only with the feelings but also with the thought patterns of others and are therefore able to consider the points of view and motivations of the people with whom they enter into relations” (1). It is therefore considered appropriate to develop at school this competence, which is useful in all circumstances one has to face when interacting in society. If empathy could be developed in our students, it would be easier for them to connect and empathise with others.
The activities carried out were designed to include all the students, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or gender identity. The aim of inclusive teaching is to make all pupils achieve the highest possible degree of learning and social participation, valuing the differences present in the class group.
Project target groups and objectives
Students in the first two years of secondary school. The objectives are as follows:
Specific objectives
· Enhance communicative competence in L2-English;
· Acquire specific vocabulary related to emotions and feelings;
· Develop emphatic soft skills. General objectives
· Promote socialisation and school inclusion;
· Facilitate communication and peer to peer bonding;
· Improve self-awareness and self-esteem.
General methodology
The main strategies adopted are pair work, group and individual work. Technological devices were used, as well as teaching materials such as worksheets, questionnaire and videos. The project activities took place in the classroom.
Project phases.
Phase I: Warm-up
The attention and participation of the class group must be activated before starting the activity. Warm-up allows us to introduce the didactic action to be developed with the students. By means of a slide presentation or by writing a few words on the blackboard / interactive whiteboard regarding positive and negative emotions, we introduce the language of emotions that students will encounter while carrying out a questionnaire. Thus, the activity thus becomes almost a challenge among the students since they try to recognise as many emotions as possible. In this first phase, the students transcribed the words presented on a sheet of paper or on a device and translated them, reworking the material provided verbally and through images.
Phase II: Definition of the concept of empathy
The concept of empathy was introduced through explanation of some terms closely related to the language of emotions and feelings. Students were asked to correctly associate feelings with the relevant written words. At the end of the activity, the students asked the teacher questions to clarify any doubts they might have on the topic.
Phase III: General comprehension.
The next step was to answer a questionnaire on empathy (2), published by the Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands (See APPENDIX-I for details).
In this phase, the students filled in the questionnaire by answering questions that investigated their emotional responses to friends’ and family members’ particular behaviours. This was followed by a discussion on the different answers given, on the scores achieved and an explanation of the different types of empathy. Each student, depending on the score achieved in the questionnaire, became aware of the type of empathy they possessed and had the opportunity to reflect on how to develop other types of empathy in a process of metacognition. Developing awareness of their own emotions and understanding how emotions act in their minds enabled the students to become aware of their personalities and their strengths and weaknesses.
The questionnaire was administered to the students during school hours, in the presence of the teacher and no time was set for completion. It consists of 18 sentences and is divided into three types of empathy: cognitive empathy (Understanding), affective empathy (Contagion) and prosocial motivation (Support). Each sentence is a statement on how one can react to the feelings of others. There are no right or wrong answers, but the student has to choose among three possible answers (“not true”, “sometimes true”, “often true”). (See APPENDIX-2 for more details). The importance of using real material taken from reliable and safe sources made the project more attractive in the eyes of adolescents, as they had the opportunity to test themselves with a type of communication present in everyday life.
Phase IV: Video viewing
In this training step, digital resources were used to show a video on empathy. Again, authentic material was used. The video, entitled “The power of Empathy” (https://youtu.be/jz1g1SpD9Zo), is by the American author Brené Brown, lecturer and researcher at the University of Houston. (See APPENDIX-3). The author is an expert in human relationship studies and, in one of her many writings, she states: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability and authenticity”. (3). Making students understand the possibility of being vulnerable and still being accepted is a great achievement for their emotional future.
As the video is quite complex, I devised simple questions, a cloze test and a comprehension exercise. The video tells the story of a fox who is going through a bad time and a bear friend of his tries to help him overcome his problems by using empathy. A deer also appears in the video and uses compassion to help the fox. The material is viewed twice and some comprehension questions are then asked.
Phase V: Ongoing assessments
A cloze test was administered in pairs as an in-progress check (See Appendix-4). Cloze tests are exercises consisting of inserting previously deleted words into a text. Cloze tests require the ability to understand the context and vocabulary in order to identify the words to be inserted in the deleted parts; they are usually administered to assess the level of knowledge of a second language and to understand the students’ learning processes.
In the remaining time, students performed a multiple-choice comprehension exercise (See Appendix-5), reflecting on empathy, compassion and feelings represented by the three animals. The multiple-choice questions allow to check the achievement of objectives, ranging from simple knowledge to levels involving the ability to apply acquired knowledge in new contexts. The exercise was adapted and customised to meet the students’ needs. (4)
Phase VI: Final evaluation
The activity ended with the group correction of the two tests and a meaningful discussion on the results. The assessment was carried out taking into account what was implemented and observed during the students’ pair work and/or individually and also on the outcome of the answers on the initial questionnaire and with the identification of the different types of empathy of each student.
Systematic and continuous observation was very significant; any learning difficulties were understood and remedied by taking appropriate support or remedial measures. Learning was valued in order to “break out of the climate suspicion and emotional tension that is generated when encountering and declaring failure, error, difficulty”. (5)
Results
Test results showed the ability to link and integrate knowledge and skills learnt during the project. As each student learns in a personal way, the use of one assessment methodology cannot be successful for all students. Using a multiple system of assessment methods increases the possibility of fostering the academic success of as many students as possible and includes the weakest students in learning.
Here are the key areas of knowledge that were acquired:
· understanding soft skills, the so-called “transversal competences”, i.e. those skills that bring together personal qualities, attitude in the work environment and knowledge in the field of interpersonal relations.
· Understanding the three types of empathy (cognitive empathy, affective empathy and emphatic concern).
· learning vocabulary related to feelings and emotions.
The students also acquired the following skills:
· the ability to respond to a questionnaire on empathy in English (authentic test for teenagers).
· understand an oral test by watching a video.
· being able to use specific vocabulary appropriately.
· being able to explain concepts related to empathy.
· critically re-elaborating and personalising the acquired information.
· developing emotional competences to connect and empathise with others.
Project evaluation and students’ response
At the end of the project, a self-assessment questionnaire was administered to the students in order to reflect on the activities carried out, to assess the degree of self-awareness achieved at an emotional level and to test the level of satisfaction of the students, so that changes could be made to the project. A form with six questions was used (6 – See Appendix-6)
Almost all the students easily followed the project activities and to question 4 In your opinion, what are the strengths of the work you have done? some students gave the following answers:
· “Works of this kind enable people to better know themselves and above all make them think”.
· “Thanks to this work I have a clearer view of what empathy is all about”.
· “It was the fact that I observed my behaviour and I understand that in many cases it is not correct towards other people’s feelings”.
· “Putting yourself in other people’s shoes”.
· “Understand what kind of empathy I have”.
· “Having learnt to put oneself in people’s shoes and be sensitive.”
· “Being able to understand people”.
· “Being able to understand the type of empathy and above all what it is”.
· “For some people, it was useful to know or outline their personality”.
· “Thanks to these aspects, many people have been able to overcome depression or even a difficult time they were going through”.
· “Being able to understand people’s emotions and trying to help them”.
In question 6, the students were asked: What did you learn from this activity?
Here are some answers:
· “It made me discover aspects of myself that I never noticed until now”.
· “I realised that one should not stop at appearances and should always dig to find the true essence of other people …… they could change your life”.
· “I have definitely learnt to be less indifferent towards others’ feelings”.
· “One must put oneself in others’ shoes because it is easy to judge from the outside.”.
· “Being heard and understood makes us feel good”.
· “I learnt to be empathetic”.
· “To understand when others need help and to understand how to help and motivate them”.
Conclusions
At the end of the project, the students learnt to recognise the importance of empathy in human relationships, to reflect on the opportunity to develop this ability to recognise and welcome other people’s emotions, by accepting and understanding them.
Studying another language allows us to learn not only vocabulary or language functions, but also another culture and helps us to be more tolerant and open towards others. The English language in this case becomes the necessary tool to open up to one’s inner and outer worlds and as scholars McKenzie and Hassed state, “Paying attention to others is a prerequisite not only for good mental health, but also for empathy, compassion and understanding the effect of what we say and do” (7).
Bibliography
Brown B., The power of Empathy. Website: https://youtu.be/jz1g1SpD9Zo
Brown B., The power of vulnerability, Cristiana Panebianco, Blogtaormina. Website: http://www.blogtaormina.it/2012/11/01/brene-brown-la-forza-della-vulnerabilita/132159/
(3)Brown B., (2012), Daring Greatly, Penguin books.
Capozucca E., L’empatia come soft skill per avere successo in azienda, L’Economia, Corriere.it
(5) Colaprice G., (2019), Valutare le competenze ovvero la valutazione orientante FORMAZIONE SU MISURA Scuolaoggidomani.it, Rizzoli Education.
Cottini L. La didattica Metacognitiva, Website: http://www.fisica.uniud.it
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Di Pietro M. (1992), L’educazione razionale emotiva, Trento, Erickson. Goleman D., (1996), L’intelligenza emozionale, Milano, Rizzoli.
(4) Green S., Brené Brown on Empathy, Website: https://ed.ted.com/on/rZyfgE9r/think Harris P., (1991), The child and the emotions, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore. Hastings B., S. Mckinlay, R. Fricker, J. Bowie, (2021), My Voice, Pearson.
Lagreca I., La metacognizione, EDSCUOLA. Website: https://www.edscuola.eu/wordpress/?p=100970
Lucangeli D., Vullo L., (2021), Il corpo è docente, Trento, Erickson.
Marmocchi P., Dall’Aglio C. e Zannini M., (1993), Life skills education in schools, Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS), Educare le life skills. Come promuovere le abilità psico-sociali e affettive secondo l’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità, Trento, Erickson.
(7) McKenzie S., Hassed C., (2016), Il libro della mindfulness, Trento, Erickson.
Piazza V., Ianes D., (1999), Insegnare domani, Trento, Erickson.
2) Rieffe C., Leiden University/ University of Twente, Empathy questionnaire. Website: https://surfdrive.surf.nl/files/index.php/s/NpWN2zs5yql40Tx
Redazione Dea Scuola, Life skills: le 10 competenze che migliorano la vita degli studenti, blog.deascuola.it
(6) Trinchero R., (2019), Costruire e certificare competenze nel secondo ciclo, Fabbri Editori
Salvitti C.,(2018), Gli stili di apprendimento a scuola, Tricase (LE), Youcanprint (1)Valazzone M., Empatia. Website: https://www.pazienti.it/contenuti/condizioni/empatia
Valentini V., Il potere dell’empatia: un progetto nel biennio della scuola superiore, Website: https://www.educare.it/j/temi/scuola/esperienze-e-progetti/4154-il-potere-dell-empatia-in-classe-un- progetto-nel-biennio-della-scuola-superiore
APPENDIX-I
APPENDIX–4
Listening comprehension
Watch the video and answer the following questions:
1) How many characters can you see in the video?
2) What does the fox have over its head?
3) What symbol do you see at the end of the video?
1. Complete the exercise with the following words:
disconnection –– judgement–– choice – painful – pregnant –- difficult – sympathy – perspective – emotion- connection- alone – feeling
So what is empathy? And why is it very different than…………………………………………. ?
Empathy fuels connection, sympathy drives ………………………………….
Empathy, it’s very interesting. Teresa Wiseman is a nursing scholar who studied professions very diverse professions,
where empathy is relevant. And came up with 4 qualities of empathy.
1 Taking. The ability to take the perspective
of another person or recognize their perspective as their truth.
2 Staying Out of………………………………………………. Not easy, when you enjoy it as much as most of us do.
3 Recognising………………………………………….. in Other People
4 and then communicating that.
Empathy is feeling with people and to me, I always think of empathy as this kind of sacred space. When someone’s kind of in a deep hole and they shout out from the bottom, and they say,
“I’m stuck, it’s dark, I’m overwhelmed,” and then, we look and we say:
“Hey. I’m down. I know what it’s like down here. And you’re not………………………………………………………………………………………………. “
Sympathy is… “Oh!………. It’s bad, uh huh…….. Uuuuhhhh… no.”
“You wanna sandwich?………Um.. “
Empathy is a choice, and it’s a vulnerable ………………………………, because in order to connect with you,
I have to connect with something in myself that knows that ……………………………………
Rarely, if ever, does an empathic response begin with, “At least”.
I had a, yeah, and we do it all the time. Because you know what?
Somebody just shared something with us that’s incredibly………………………………………………………………………………………………. ,
and we’re trying to silver lining it. I don’t think that’s a verb, but I’m using it as one. We’re trying to put the silver lining around it. So,”I had a miscarriage.”
“At least you know you can get……………………………………….. “
“I think my marriage is falling apart.” “At least you have a marriage.” “John’s getting kicked out of school.” “At least Sarah is an A student.”
But one of the things we do sometimes, in the face of very difficult conversations, is we try to make things better.
If I share something with you that’s very……………………………………………………………………………………………. I’d rather you say,
“I don’t even know what to say right now, I’m just so glad you told me.” Because the truth is, rarely can a response make something better.
What makes something better is ………………………………….
APPENDIX-5
https://ed.ted.com/on/rZyfgE9r/think
Circle the correct option:
1 Empathy fuels and sympathy drives disconnection
A emotions
B judgement
C connection
2 Empathy is feeling………………………………. people
A with
B happy for
C sad for
3 The four qualities of empathy are:
A Perspective taking, staying out of judgement, recognise emotions and communication
B Being judgemental, lack of emotion, sympathy and anger
C Pity, disagreement, appreciation and apathy
4 When the bear follows the fox into the dark hole, he communicates ………………
A empathy
B sympathy
C curiosity
5 When the deer looks down into the hole and talks to the fox, he communicates ………
A disagreement
B sympathy
C empathy
APPENDIX-6
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Did you find any difficulties in following the activities of this project?
2. What difficulties did you have in answering the questionnaire, the listening test and the comprehension exercises? What do you think these were due to?
3. Were you able to overcome them? How?
4. In your opinion, what are the strengths of the work you have done?
5. Why do you consider them strengths?
6. What did you learn from this activity?