Cultivating Empathy
In this section, we explore how and why to support young people in cultivating empathy, which is defined as “relating to others with acceptance, understanding, and sensitivity to their diverse perspectives and experiences.”
This involves young people: exploring inequality and identity, including social structures and power in relation to themselves and others; sharing their stories and listening to stories of others with diverse perspectives; and relating to others with acceptance and understanding.
This module will support you to:
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Deepen your understanding of the framework for SEL generally, and where Cultivating Empathy fits within this;
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Explain the value that incorporating and modeling empathy brings to your work with young people;
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Recognise the ways in which social identities and implicit bias impact interactions with the young people that you work with;
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Practice active listening skills that model empathy;
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Identify best practices for supporting empathy building in your work with young people; and
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Plan next steps for incorporating concepts learned about empathy into your work.
The key staff and volunteer practices that support this skill area are:
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Providing opportunities with appropriate structure for sharing experiences and promoting equity;
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Modelling empathy skills with young people.
We will explore and practice these approaches in the training. You can find more detail in your participant notebook (see below) as well as on page 53 of the Thrive Guide.
Resources
A series of resources to support you to build a foundational understanding of cultivating empathy.
In this workbook, you will find the following activities:
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Four Squares
Take a moment to use words or images to express four different aspects of who you are, before using these to connect with others in your group.
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Empathy translation
Take a look at the examples and come up with a more empathic response in each situation. As you’re discussing these scenarios with others, consider what else might be going on for this young person and how you can best support them.
- Sharing our Stories: Guided Reflection
NB. For this exercise, we encourage you to choose an event that you have already processed through and is not emotionally activating. Please practice self-care during this exercise - go only as deep as you are comfortable with. This is an activity to be used during training, so that if you need support at any time, you can let a facilitator know.
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Reflection Questions
Three questions to reflect on and capture key learning and take-aways from this section.
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Implementation Plan
Choose one standard from the ‘Structure’ practice and one from ‘Modelling’ that you would like to work on in your work with young people. What are three (or more) strategies you want to try implementing to better meet your chosen standards?
See moreFurther Reading
A selection of articles, books and websites offering additional resources designed to deepen your understanding.