Empathy Skill sets
Empathy has to be one of the most difficult things to teach kids. After all kids, by definition, are self-centered. How on earth can you get kids thinking about others? Well...it can be done. Some subjects are just more naturally designed to help kids learn these skills.
In Design Thinking, we give students a "How might we..." (HMW) question to start their project with. In teaching, we give students an "essential question" (EQ). These are synonymous in the sense that we are asking students to think broadly about a particular topic, peak curiosity, and to begin the task of seeking information deeply and intensely particular to the related question.
In Design Thinking, we give students a "How might we..." (HMW) question to start their project with. In teaching, we give students an "essential question" (EQ). These are synonymous in the sense that we are asking students to think broadly about a particular topic, peak curiosity, and to begin the task of seeking information deeply and intensely particular to the related question.
Here are the subjects in school that I think are good Empathy classes:
1. Literature
2. History
3. Civics
4. Art
5. Music
6. English Language Arts
7. Geography
8. Foreign Languages
Essentially, any humanities type of course. In some cases other courses could fit in this category, depending on the actual content. Some examples are: Biology, Physical Science, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, Physical Education, Health.
1. Literature
2. History
3. Civics
4. Art
5. Music
6. English Language Arts
7. Geography
8. Foreign Languages
Essentially, any humanities type of course. In some cases other courses could fit in this category, depending on the actual content. Some examples are: Biology, Physical Science, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, Physical Education, Health.
There are a large number of methods that can be used to gain empathy. Traditionally, teachers use the ones that are most "comfortable" for them, however; expanding the students knowledge base through all of these varying practices will actually improve their ability to gain empathy more efficiently. Research shows that the more advanced the design thinker is, the quicker they are able to get to human centered solutions because they are more efficient with the process.
Empathy Methods - Classroom Use
Empathy is the foundation on which all of the design process is built. Generally, during Empathy design thinkers would:
Observe: view users and their behavior in the context of their lives.
Engage: Have conversations with different users by walking up and asking or by scheduling a specific time.
Immerse: Walk through the same experience has your users.
Some Simple Methods include:
Interviews - get to know someone's opinion on a specific "need" or topic.
Observations - watch someone engage in a specific activity
Surveys - Ask questions with identifiable/specific responses to gain more information.
Camera Study - Take a series of photographs to learn more about a specific experience or time.
What? How? Why? - What is a person doing? How are they doing it? Why are they doing it this way?
Story share-and-capture - Used to discuss learned information within a group.
Space Saturation - the grouping and classifying of information gleaned during share-and-capture
Empathy map - based on what you learned what did they "Say, do, think, feel"?
Journey map - tell the journey of a specific event/experience by organizing data to show step by step.
Composite characters - Creating a "semi-fictional" character that embodies the observations you've made about a variety of users.
Sketch noting - using visual pictures as a means of recording information.
Observe: view users and their behavior in the context of their lives.
Engage: Have conversations with different users by walking up and asking or by scheduling a specific time.
Immerse: Walk through the same experience has your users.
Some Simple Methods include:
Interviews - get to know someone's opinion on a specific "need" or topic.
Observations - watch someone engage in a specific activity
Surveys - Ask questions with identifiable/specific responses to gain more information.
Camera Study - Take a series of photographs to learn more about a specific experience or time.
What? How? Why? - What is a person doing? How are they doing it? Why are they doing it this way?
Story share-and-capture - Used to discuss learned information within a group.
Space Saturation - the grouping and classifying of information gleaned during share-and-capture
Empathy map - based on what you learned what did they "Say, do, think, feel"?
Journey map - tell the journey of a specific event/experience by organizing data to show step by step.
Composite characters - Creating a "semi-fictional" character that embodies the observations you've made about a variety of users.
Sketch noting - using visual pictures as a means of recording information.
How do these apply in a classroom?
Complete Design Challenge:
When doing a complete design challenge, your students would be working to solve a "how might we" problem. An example might be: "How might we improve the experiences of a new student in our school?" All of the "Empathy" they would be collecting revolves around this question to help them get a multifaceted understanding of the problem.
They might talk to:
Students, staff, parents, security, administration, and teachers from their school and from other schools, and create surveys for new families, staff, etc.
They might observe:
The enrollment process at your school, the enrollment process at another school, videos from the internet, photographs from the process.
They might immerse by:
Having a new student shadow them (and they shadow the enrollment process).
Using Design Thinking Skills with Content:
Sometimes you may want to help students practice specific methods without the complication of an entire design challenge, or because you've noticed they are struggling with a specific method. This provides ample opportunity to align your lessons to the Common Core State Standards, if your state uses them. Design Thinking Methods really get kids investigating and evaluating content.
(For Full lesson plans see the lesson plans page on this site)
Some ways to use Empathy Methods in a classroom might include:
1. Using a series of pictures that students as a tool to investigate a specific event as in a camera study.
Have students work in teams of 4. All the students in the group must agree what the series of events are
saying about their content.
2. Using a single picture (possibly as a unit anticipatory activity) have a team of students (2-4) determine the solutions to a "What-How-Why" ladder. How much can they learn from the picture to help them know more about topic at hand?
3. Have students complete notes on a specific unit or chapter by recording them on post it notes using 1 idea per post it or visual references. In a team of 4 the students can share out their own learning (Story share and capture) and then group or categorize the notes using the (space saturation) method.
4. While learning about groups of people involved in specific interactions, students could create a composite character to help provide a general understanding of that group of people.
5. Students could create an empathy map to help record things specific characters "say, feel, think and do" in a video, or during a reading.
6. Students could capture layers of events in a history course by creating journey maps to show the series events from a variety of perspectives.
When doing a complete design challenge, your students would be working to solve a "how might we" problem. An example might be: "How might we improve the experiences of a new student in our school?" All of the "Empathy" they would be collecting revolves around this question to help them get a multifaceted understanding of the problem.
They might talk to:
Students, staff, parents, security, administration, and teachers from their school and from other schools, and create surveys for new families, staff, etc.
They might observe:
The enrollment process at your school, the enrollment process at another school, videos from the internet, photographs from the process.
They might immerse by:
Having a new student shadow them (and they shadow the enrollment process).
Using Design Thinking Skills with Content:
Sometimes you may want to help students practice specific methods without the complication of an entire design challenge, or because you've noticed they are struggling with a specific method. This provides ample opportunity to align your lessons to the Common Core State Standards, if your state uses them. Design Thinking Methods really get kids investigating and evaluating content.
(For Full lesson plans see the lesson plans page on this site)
Some ways to use Empathy Methods in a classroom might include:
1. Using a series of pictures that students as a tool to investigate a specific event as in a camera study.
Have students work in teams of 4. All the students in the group must agree what the series of events are
saying about their content.
2. Using a single picture (possibly as a unit anticipatory activity) have a team of students (2-4) determine the solutions to a "What-How-Why" ladder. How much can they learn from the picture to help them know more about topic at hand?
3. Have students complete notes on a specific unit or chapter by recording them on post it notes using 1 idea per post it or visual references. In a team of 4 the students can share out their own learning (Story share and capture) and then group or categorize the notes using the (space saturation) method.
4. While learning about groups of people involved in specific interactions, students could create a composite character to help provide a general understanding of that group of people.
5. Students could create an empathy map to help record things specific characters "say, feel, think and do" in a video, or during a reading.
6. Students could capture layers of events in a history course by creating journey maps to show the series events from a variety of perspectives.
