Roots of Empathy – Program Model

Roots of Empathy

Mission – To build caring, peaceful and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults.

Vision – To change the world, child by child.

 

“Mary Gordon is the inspiration behind Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy”

 

Empathy is second nature:

Mary Gordon’s organization focuses on tackling the bullying problems within our young children by increasing empathy to encourage positive pro-social behaviours to help reduce aggressive behaviours in our school-aged and child care centre aged children.

Mary Gordon and her team believe our young children are “the leaders of tomorrow who are sitting in the classrooms of today and they need imagination and empathy to be able to identify and solve society’s problems. Empathy is foundational to helping children navigate relationships, form connections and be inclusive of others. They also believe if children have empathy, they can change the world”.

 

Mary Gordon Founder & President:

Mary Gordon grew up in Newfoundland to later move to Toronto, Ontario. Mary’s passion of teaching and her love for children started in her kindergarten class, which later inspired her fulfilling child advocate journey. Mary Gordon is recognized internationally as an award-winning serial social entrepreneur in the field of education, and is an educator; author, parenting expert and child advocate who has created programs informed by the power of empathy. Mary Gordon created Ontario’s Parenting and Family Literacy Centres in 1981, which have been used as a best practice model internationally. In 1996 she created the Roots of Empathy program in Ontario, a program for elementary school aged children. In 2005, Mary Gordon created the Seeds of Empathy program for 3 to 5 year olds in child care. Today, her programs are available in every province of Canada. In 2007, the program expanded internationally to New Zealand and the United States (Seattle, WA). It is now in 11 countries including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Costa Rica and the Netherlands (fall 2018). The curriculum has been translated into French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

Mary Gordon – Author:

“Mary Gordon chronicles the creation of her award-winning classroom program. Mary shares her vision of a society of compassionate and caring children who will pass on their legacy of empathy to their own children in her book” –

“Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child”

 

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy:

Are classroom programs where infants visit elementary schools/child care centres students and children on a regular basis, in order to allow the students/children to observe the infants’ development and emotions, while educating both their mind and heart lessons to the students and children.

 

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy:

At the heart of the programs are a neighbourhood infant and parent who visit the classroom/centre throughout the school year. A trained Roots of Empathy instructor coaches the students/children to observe the baby’s development and to label the baby’s feelings. In this experiential learning, the baby is the “Teacher” and a lever, which the instructor uses to help children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others. This lays the foundation for safer and more caring classrooms/centres, where children are the “Changers.”

The programs also guides our young children to become responsible, caring, and open minded citizens, along with teaching them how to be aware of and how to understand their own and others feelings and emotions. “All key ingredients to understanding Empathy!”

 

Seeds of Empathy: The Program

“The Seeds of Empathy Program is designed for early childhood settings to foster social and emotional competence and early literacy skills and attitudes in children three to five years old while providing professional development for their educators.

The program teaches a series of themes, each on a three-week cycle. During the first and second weeks of each cycle, literacy coaches (specially-trained staff members from the centre) engage small groups of children in interactive and creative activities.

In the third week, a family guide (another specially-trained staff member) hosts a family visit, where an infant/baby (two to four months old at the beginning of the course) and his/her parent(s) visit the children in the centre for half an hour.

 

Around the lavender blanket the children are able to watch a loving and secure relationship attachment between the parent and the infant. Here the parent is in sync to the infant’s feelings, needs and intentions.

 

The family guide encourages the children to observe the baby’s development, to label the baby’s feelings, and to talk about their own feelings and those of others”.

 

Seeds of Empathy: The Curriculum

Through a series of themes, interactive, and creative activities the “little teacher – infant” teaches the children many skills:

Math – calculating the infants weight

Literature – understanding feelings and perspective talking

Art – paint inner feeling which a child finds hard to express aloud

Music – awakens the feelings deep inside a child

Movement – understanding the term “baby steps” and development of the infant

Dramatic Play – a child imitating what they have observed the infant doing – baby giggle

 

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy: The Positive Experiences and Outcomes: 

Children in Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy classrooms/centres experience with/through their “little teacher – the visiting infant”, visiting parent, instructor, and their teacher/early childhood educator many positive outcomes:

Develop executive functioning skills

Develop emotional literacy – identifying feeling and giving them names

Develop emotional regulation

Develop resilience

Develop positive pro-social behaviours

Experience interaction and communication skills with the “little teacher – infant” and supporting teachers, instructors, and early childhood educators

Gives children a voice – just naming their feeling reduces the level of cortisol associated with the negative feeling

Learn how to observe

Learn to challenge cruelty and injustice

Learn to form consensus

Learn about temperament of baby – learn about their own traits

Learn the value of inclusion

Teaches problem solving – problem with the baby and with own relationships

See the importance of care unfold and happening – see how others are feeling

Building and contributing to a culture of caring in the classroom

Build community – positive connections with infant, family, friends, all teachers, instructors,  and early childhood staff

Encourage responsibility 

Through observation cues from the infant, the children naturally improve their knowledge and abilities to:

Learn how to help the infant

Learn what the infant needs not what they want

Respect the infant for whom they are

Understand when the infant is hungry, tried, wants to play

 

Seeds of Empathy Teaching Team:

Infant and Family:

“Seeds of Empathy volunteer “Families, Infant, Mother/and or Father” are the heart of the program. Together they demonstrate to the children at the centre their parent-child attachment relationship, the first and most powerful model of empathy. The “little teacher – infant” has an important role to model – helping children to understand the meaning of empathy, showing to the children the growth and development of an infant. At the same time the infant and family build positive connections with the children, the centre, and the local community. By engaging with families in the community they explore together local culture, traditions, language which helps to create connections outside the centre”.

 

Administrator:

“The Administrator” is the liaison between the Seeds of Empathy Program Manager and the centre. She or he is responsible for ensuring that the schedule of literacy circles and family visits is maintained and that the literacy coaches and family guides fulfill their roles. The administrator attends the family visits and participates as a literacy coach when possible”.

 

Family Guides:

“The Family Guide” coaches the children to observe, comment on, and draw conclusions about the baby’s development during a family visit. The family guide also gives the children a vocabulary for labelling the baby’s feelings. This vocabulary helps them to understand and talk about their own feelings and the feelings of others, thus giving preschoolers a basis for developing a “literacy of feelings.””

 

Literacy coaches:

“Seeds of Empathy trains at least two staff who work with three-to-five-year-olds to become “Literacy Coaches”. Literacy coaches read to the children during literacy circles and attend family visits. Literacy coaches in Seeds of Empathy are powerful models of literacy for the children, and help them to develop positive attitudes toward and competencies in early literacy”.

 

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy Today:

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy programs are funded by government grants, foundation funding, corporate and individual donations. 

Research results from national and international evaluations of Roots of Empathy indicate significant reductions in aggression and bullying and increases in sharing, inclusive, and helping pro-social behaviours. The organization continues to collect surveys every year from the children, classroom teachers, early childhood educators, instructors and parents to evaluate these programs. Together, continuously learning, growing, and improving these programs, and believing in our young leaders of tomorrow the world will became a peaceful place.

 

“Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy

Encourage caring individuals and caring civil society”

Mary Gordon.

 

Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy Organization Team:

Founder & President: Mary Gordon

Chair: Christy Clark

Board of Directors: –

Dr, Jean Clinton

Garry Green

Mary Ito

Mario Nigro

Jonathan Ross Miles

Martha Durdin

Lyle Viereck

International Advisory Board: –

Gwynne Dyer

Dr. Bruce Perry

Research Advisory Board: –

Allan Schore Ph.D.

Dan Batson Ph.D.

Tome Boyce Doctor, Professor

Suanne Denham Ph.D.

Lise Eliot Ph.D.

Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl Ph.D.

 

British Columbia Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy Contact:Darcy Morgan, dmorgan@rootsofempathy.org  604-367-5509

 

Roots of Empathy Website and Contact Details: 

https://rootsofempathy.org

https://rootsofempathy.org/seeds-of-empathy/

 

Roots of Empathy Head Office:

250 Ferrand Drive, Suite 1501
Toronto, ON
Canada, M3C 3G8
Tel: (416) 944-3001 Fax: (416) 944-9295
Toll-free: 866-766-8763
mail@rootsofempathy.org

 

References: 

Roots of Empathy 2020, Retrieved from: https://rootsofempathy.org

Dietze, B., & Kashin, D. (2016). Empowering Pedagogy for Early Childhood Education. Toronto, Ontario. Person Education Canada Inc.