UoB School is marking Empathy Day by focusing on understanding each other better and sparking a new national conversation about empathy. The theme is ‘walking in someone else’s shoes’ – rather than thinking about how you feel, you gain an insight into how other people feel to help you understand them better.
Empathy Day was founded by EmpathyLab in 2017. It aims to help us all understand each other better, and spark a new national conversation about how to build a more empathetic society.
Why is it important?
Empathy gives us:
- The ability to feel and understand other people’s emotions and perspectives.
- Develop a core life skill which is vital for successful relationships, collaboration and learning.
- A force for social change as empathy is put into action.
Walking in someone else’s shoes…
Stories are a great way to help us understand more about the world and by getting to know characters, empathise more with people in real life. Our Year 7 pupils have been reading a selection of books in English and then analysing certain characters to see if they could ‘walk in their shoes’ and empathise with their situation. Click here to view our empathy character work.
“Stories offer us a window into other people’s lives and I’m so proud of the way our Year 7 pupils have engaged with the idea of ‘reading for empathy’ this week. They have thought about the lives and experiences of characters whose lives are different from their own and have been inspired by a wide range of books. Mx Bloomfield has been able to create the most incredible displays in the library with all the artwork created!” Ms Middleton, UoB School Librarian.
