Written by I have spent a lot of time in ‘thinking mode’ since the last F2F. I had been worried about the fact that my action plan had not advanced to a great degree, yet I was still interested in my topic and so I took the advice I often give my students: keep reading, keep mulling things over, stay conscious and open minded, observe, listen, talk to others … and it worked. My ‘pivot’ may have brought me to a more complex place, but I am ok with that; we are lifelong learners after all, and I am a great believer in the power of patience and perseverance. I have been avoiding the blog, because in truth while I can get up every day in front of my students, I fret about putting my ideas out there into the ether unless they seem fully formed and coherent and able to contribute to advancing a conversation / process. What I am learning is, it doesn’t matter. I should know by now that there is no learning without risk.
So, after an inspiring ‘Google Meet’ conversation last night with @ddoucet and @lmustard (thanks both!) Here is what I’ve been thinking about …
My initial question came from an article I read in the Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2017/06/in-the-ai-age-being-smart-will-mean-something-completely-different I was curious about what kind of skills would help our students to be ‘future ready’. The articles talks about how advancements in Artificial Intelligence will make traditional definitions of ‘smart’ obsolete since machines will be smarter than any human ever could be. What will be required in the future, are people who possess the skills often associated with emotional intelligence; how one thinks, listens, relates and collaborates. This launched a deep dive into the role of empathy and into the ways in which technology can be leveraged to infuse empathy into the curriculum in order to encourage action. Now, the pivot. As I read more I started to gravitate towards the idea that infusing empathy requires much more than a few one-off experiences, it cannot be an add-on; it would require a cultural shift in the approach to the set up of my classroom, the way I interact with my students and the teaching strategies I chose. I realized that this is already happening in subtle ways, but that I would like to pursue this goal more explicitly / consciously. Next, I was involved in a few conversations involving our school strategy in the areas of well-being, international mindedness and culturally responsive communities. I started to really notice that empathy seemed to be a key point of intersection for all of this work. I met with a couple colleagues involved with our strategic plan, and I intend to have a few additional discussions around these points of intersection in the next month. I am still particularly interested to look at how the role of empathy can inform our strategy in the area of innovation. In talking with colleague @sgupta and my Cohort coaches, I was encouraged to chase these ideas down the funnel into something manageable. So, where am I going from here? Well, I do have an interesting Design Challenge coming up with my Gr. 11’s (DP1) . Collaboratively, the students will work in design teams to create their vision of a sustainable urban future for Toronto in 2050. We are thrilled to be supported by Maximum City http://www.maximumcity.ca in the development of this project and I feel that this project will provide an interesting opportunity for me to hone the development of empathy in a project-based way. Design thinking will be applied and so the interesting question for students will be – what information do you need to know about city dwellers in 2050? What will their needs be? This will require the application of foresight to empathy, which is another whole area of interest to me. Thank you dear blog readers for tuning in! Special thanks to Derek and Laura – I made my deadline! 🙂
@acampbellrogers I am so glad you are taking this slow. Some of my best ideas come from lots of processing and thinking time. They also happen when I am riding my bike to school and I have no other distractions and my mind is allowed to wander…..to “pivot”.
So interesting that you see empathy as being elevated to a higher place of importance in a world where we are increasingly “connected” but also “disconnected” from one another. When we talk less and only “connect” via technology I think you are right in thinking it is at the expense of “feeling” how each other is feeling.
User centered design has empathy elevated and up front in the process of creating a solution. A great action plan would be to develop some protocols and create time in your Gr 11 design challenge for kids to engage with empathy and put themselves in the shoes of their user. How deep you go and how much time you spend with this step will also send a message to your students of the value of this step. Some resources to consider below.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/how-to-develop-an-empathic-approach-in-design-thinking
http://tlpnyc.com/design-thinking-empathy/
http://kidfriendlyky.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Design-Thinking-Empathize.pdf
I think this is totally manageable and worthy action plan.
It will also open you up to some amazing new ideas that will take you beyond this plan into some exciting places.
Im excited to hear where this goes.
J
@gnichols @lmcbeth @ckirsh @adamcaplan
@acampbellrogers
Check this out too! – https://447fb22f4f39c6a0aa6f-261a87cdde440177d386c8cb8767ad03.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/emapthy-interview-guide_Worksheet.pdf
@jmedved Thank you so very much for this thoughtful feedback and the helpful resources. I too think a lot on my bike rides to and from school! The empathy map resource will be useful in my upcoming project … I have just learned about another researcher, Andrea Saveri https://andreasaveri.com/
who looks at what is required to make students future ready… so I plan to look into this idea of applying foresight & empathy to the design process for my Gr. 11 challenge … thank you for the stimulus!
Great work @acampbellrogers! I love the pivot and a refreshed look at how to reimagine the culture in your classroom and how you approach your craft.
I loved that you were anchoring in the Strat Plan at Branksome and it seems like it’s taking a larger focus in the very near future. I wonder how your work will help lead and inspire others to embark on a journey exploring empathy and fostering it in students.
How is the project going now? What went well? What didn’t go well? Was there anything that was surprising? Would you do anything differently?
So curious and so appreciative of this post as we explore the skills students will need beyond what machines can do.
Thanks for your comments @ddoucet ! Yes, my plan has crossed that zone of being something that only I look at to becoming something more relevant to whole school culture … I think that really these conversations have been more interesting for me. In exploring the Strat Plan links I had the chance to speak to our IT Director, Head of Talent Management & Strategy & the Director of our Chandaria Research Center. I found a multiple perspective conversation on this topic to be a excellent lens through which to view the intersections of strategy with the development of a “culture of empathy” … quotations used as I’m not even sure that’s the right phrase yet to get at what I am feeling about the whole project. But – it is coming together in a quiet, thoughtful way.
On a whim I threw some empathy mapping at one of my classes a couple of weeks back in response to some school-wide concerns about the grade’s ability to self regulate and level of academic preparedness. It was really interesting and led to some important conversations. I plan to follow it up with additional discussion. around how we might solve some of the concerns voiced by students, teachers, parents, administrators through a Parlay round table on Empathy. I’ll include more on that in the final blog…
I’m getting there! 🙂 Thank you again for reaching out with offers of support.