How can we explain empathy to young children ?
VM : Empathy comes hand-in-hand with love . Empathy means putting ourselves in another person ' s shoes , in order to understand how he / she feels and to be able to embrace the differences and similarities between us . Empathy is a product that comes out of the filter of love . Through empathy learners understand the ideals of equality , coexistence , cooperation , peace and respect . And what better place for those blessings to bloom than in the classroom ?
JP : Teaching is a demanding job and we are used to juggling several different tasks and giving our all , but in order to avoid a stress meltdown , we need to take off ourselves . As teachers , whatever our mood we are used to going into class as usual without letting our students know we are feeling overtired or even depressed . I think at times when we feel our energy level is low we have to take the backseat for a while and allow our learners to take the initiative and sometimes the lead . This not only empowers them , but gives us a bit of a breather . It is important we recognise the signs of stress and overtiredness before they impact our health . One idea could be to arrange a ' breather ' session with a colleague . You can combine two classes and one teacher could cover both classes while the other has a short ' time out ' session to recharge .
You must be very proud of “ A – Z of Hope ”, the latest book created by Heart ELT . Can you tell us what materials teachers can find in the book ?
Vassiliki has kindly shared one of her activities with our readers . You will find it on pages 23- 25 . Thank you very much , Vassiliki .
Julie joins our conversation with Vassiliki . Julie , you believe in Carl Jung ’ s words
“ an understanding heart is everything in a teacher and cannot be esteemed highly enough . One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers , but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling . The curriculum is so much necessary raw material , but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child .”
JP : A-Z of Hope contains 26 activities to inspire and bring fun to the classroom . Several activities in the book are classed as ' zero resource ' lessons . This means that they can be used by teachers working in difficult circumstances who may have little or no resources ; perhaps just a blackboard and chalk . As we started to think about the plight of such teachers , it occurred to us that one other function of the A-Z of Hope could be that those of us who consider ourselves ' privileged ' teachers , with a rich array of resources at our fingertips , could take time to empathise with teachers who are working in very difficult circumstances .
- but you also say that teachers should start with “ loving themselves ”. Why is it so important ?
Image credit : Heart ELT
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