Roots of Empathy Program: Changing the World, Classroom by Classroom

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In one Grade 4 class, nine-year-old Sylvie was wearing running shoes that did up with a Velcro strap. Some of the other children taunted her, saying she wore “baby shoes” and “geeky shoes.” She was the target of a double-barreled criticism—her shoes were not only cheap and unfashionable, they were immature. This is the kind of humiliation that would shrivel the spirit of any nine-year-old. But then something happened. When the class headed outside for recess, Sylvie’s best friend June swapped one shoe with her. The empathic insight and quick thinking of that child gives us hope. Her actions said, “I’m your friend and I’m proud to wear your shoes and be just like you.” She turned a mean, exclusionary attack into something playful, without saying a word. Every other child in the class got the message: “This is my friend, make fun of her and you are making fun of me. Keep it up and you may find yourself outnumbered by kids who care.”

This story is one example of anti-bullying behaviour that develops in children who experience the Roots of Empathy program. Challenging cruelty and standing up for injustice are some of the actions that result from the social and emotional learning of the program. Roots of Empathy encourages children to be “changers.” June’s action changed Sylvie’s world and the world for those who witnessed it.

Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression and violence among schoolchildren while raising social and emotional competence and increasing empathy. The program involves students, right in their own classrooms, in the human dynamic of the parent-baby relationship. It is a program that has the capacity to instill in our children a concept of themselves as strong and caring individuals, to give them an understanding of empathic parenting and to inspire in them a vision of citizenship that can change the world. Our mission is to build caring, peaceful, and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults.

Why empathy? The ability to take the perspective of another, the cognitive aspect of empathy, is crucial to conflict resolution. In ROE what children discover through the teaching of temperament and the uniqueness of the baby and themselves is that we are all different in how we see the world (separate from the immutable differences, i.e. what we look like) but we are also the same in many ways, and this is exhibited through our feelings. This piece of understanding of our shared humanity is why Roots of Empathy has been called a “pedagogy of hope,” and why in Japan it is called “Canada’s olive branch to the world.”

Dr. Fraser Mustard of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research has said of Roots of Empathy, “It is probably the best program of its kind to teach early child development with all of its ramifications for children in primary schools. This is a program that can help communities build tolerant, pluralistic, democratic societies.”

There are 27 Roots of Empathy sessions over the course of the school year, comprised of 9 curriculum themes that are specialized for four different age groups: kindergarten, Grades 1 - 3, Grades 4 - 6, and Grades 7 - 8. Each theme revolves around three classroom visits each month led by a highly trained and certified ROE Instructor. The centrepiece of each theme is a visit from the Roots of Empathy family (a neighbourhood parent and baby). We look for families that represent diversity or that may be marginalized, because stereotypes are broken with one example. We believe that it is not the structure of the family that is important, but the quality of relationships. We also encourage Dads to participate in the program to give students a positive model of male nurturance. The family visit is preceded by a preparation session with the Instructor, and is followed by another session to discuss the visit and work on activities that reinforce what the children are learning in each theme.

The Roots of Empathy curriculum has been compared with curricula from most provinces and aligns in many areas of learning. The experiential work the ROE Instructor does with the students, particularly in the sessions held before and after the baby visit, touches on social studies, art, science, and mathematics. The Vancouver School Board has assessed that Roots of Empathy addresses their stated values of social responsibility. Perhaps the strongest curriculum link of all is the way the program reinforces the school’s literacy goals through the many discussions and writing assignments built into each session. The curriculum employs well known children’s literature to illustrate emotions such as loneliness and sadness, and to underscore themes such as inclusion and bullying. The ROE curriculum has been evaluated and recommended by Curriculum Services Canada.

The classroom is a powerful unit of change. As I meet teachers across the country through my keynote presentations at conferences, I am always impressed by the fact that they never lose sight of the importance of teaching, despite politics that may exist. The multiple roles that teachers take on in their students’ lives is largely unrecognized by the public and all too often the only significant adult interaction that some children have in their day is with their teacher. Teachers teach so much more than the three R’s – they teach children how to relate to one another. Roots of Empathy supports this affective learning.

The ROE curriculum uses music, drama, visual art, and writing to allow the children expression of their feelings. We are very concerned about giving voice to children and even the shyest child participates in the program. Roots of Empathy teaches participatory democracy where each child is respected and feels that it is safe to ask questions, disagree, speak up, and express emotions. In the photo with the ROE Dad and baby below, the children are presenting a booklet of poems that they have written to the baby. This exercise builds solidarity in the classroom as there is no competition, but instead a shared consensus that they love this baby and want to give gifts from their hearts. Teachers claim that the children are never so completely engaged as when they have their ROE family visit. Frequently, teachers tell us that ROE provides them with the only opportunity to participate with their class and observe their children and at the same time. Many teachers gain significant positive insights into the emotional lives of their students. As a former teacher, I would never expect a classroom teacher to deliver our rigorous curriculum on top of everything else they do. This is why ROE is a gift, delivered by ROE Instructors, who may be from a community agency, or who might be school staff members who do not have their own classroom, such as principals, guidance counselors, or librarians.

Research tells us that classrooms which experience Roots of Empathy exhibit an increase in pro-social behaviour and a decrease in bullying, aggression, and violence. While ROE doesn’t teach anti-bullying strategies, the program prevents bullying from happening by developing in the children an internalized mechanism that enables them to understand the impact of their overt or covert actions. ROE mobilizes onlookers, or bystanders, to challenge the cruelty of bullying, rather than targeting bullies. It works.

Beginning in 2000, Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl at The University of British Columbia has been conducting national evaluations on the effectiveness of the Roots of Empathy program. One result from the 2001/02 study was that children who had experienced the ROE program, compared to children who had not, were more advanced in their emotional and social understanding on almost all dimensions assessed. In the 2002/03 evaluation, results revealed a 61 per cent decrease in relational aggression among ROE children and a 67 per cent increase among comparison children. For more information on these evaluations please go to www.rootsofempathy.org/Research.html.

At the end of the year children have an opportunity to write wishes for their ROE baby on leaves of a “wishing tree.” What they wish would put policy makers to shame and reinforce for every teacher why they are teaching children—because they can change the world. Those who teach children touch the future.

Roots of Empathy has programs in every Canadian province except for Saskatchewan and the Territories, including French, English, and Aboriginal communities, for a total of 1,141 programs, reaching 28,525 children. The program is currently being implemented in Australia and will be implemented in New Zealand in 2006. We are also developing Seeds of Empathy, which will involve preschool children in a variety of settings. In the Fall of 2005, the book Roots of Empathy will be available at your local bookstore through Thomas Allen Publishers.

For further program information please contact the National Roots of Empathy office at mail@rootsofempathy.org or visit our website at www.rootsofempathy.org. If you would like to be on the electronic mailing list for our newsletter and bulletins, please email greenblanket@rootsofempathy.org

Mary Gordon is the Founder, President and the inspiration behind Roots of Empathy.
www.rootsofempathy.org