The Roots of Empathy programme is an evidenced- based social-emotional learning initiative aimed at fostering empathy and emotional literacy in children. It was developed by Canadian educator Mary Gordon and the programme operates in classrooms worldwide. It centres around bringing infants and their parents into the classroom setting to engage children in observing, interacting and empathising with the baby’s development and emotions over the course of the school year. The programme aims to cultivate empathy by providing children with opportunities to explore and understand their own feelings and the feelings of others.
This year the programme was rolled out in our two 5th classes. Ms Harnett’s class was introduced to baby Luca and his mum Erica (a past pupil) and Mr Nugent’s class was introduced to baby Rhea and her mum Aoife Frances. Visits were done on a monthly basis and the students got to witness the babies develop over the full year.
Through age-appropriate activities and guided discussions, students in both classes were afforded the opportunities to learn how to recognise and express emotions, develop problem-solving skills and build positive relationships.