Roots of Empathy
Roots of Empathy is a classroom-based programme aimed at fostering empathy and reducing levels of bullying, aggression and violence amongst schoolchildren. It involves parents bringing babies into the classroom nine times over the course of a school year.
The programme allows students to observe the baby's development, celebrate milestones, and interact with the baby. Students also learn about the infant's needs and unique temperament. A Roots of Empathy instructor uses the supporting curriculum to work with the class the week before and the week after each family visit to prepare and reinforce pro-social behaviours.
Through the programme children learn about the development stages of a baby's first year, their needs, and how the baby communicates its needs to the parent. By observing the interaction between the parent and baby the children learn to understand others' feelings, to put names to those feelings and how to resolve problems.
The programme is currently delivered to year five and six students (9-11 year olds) in 60 classrooms in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. It was developed in Canada and first trialled there in 1996. Barnardos delivers the programme in New Zealand under licence from the Roots of Empathy organisation.
An evaluation of Roots of Empathy has been completed. Early findings suggest that students in participating schools were reported to be more cooperative and sharing while demonstrating less anti-social behaviours such as breaking rules and bullying than in the comparison schools.
