The literacy of empathy : building a culture of care in classrooms

Abstract

This study explores students’ capacity to develop a literacy of empathy, which contributes to a caring classroom culture. The primary goal of the work has been to instill the capacity for care in children, the capability of building a culture of care in the classroom and an awareness of empathy’s impact on others as a moral, life-long skill. Provoking contextual and personally relevant discussions in empathy with the class community, developing vocabulary related to emotion and an evaluation of written responses in journal form are considered. The study has been conducted in a grade four public school classroom setting. The findings indicate the potential for empathic instruction to transcend grade level and indicate the relevance for inclusion of instruction around a literacy of empathy as a reconceptualization of general classroom curriculum.