Building empathy

One of the things I discuss with my trainee teachers is the importance of promoting empathy rather than sympathy when including a child with a disAbility. An issue that brings about the most debate in this context is, when a student with a disAbility first joins our class, whether we should talk to the class about that child's disability.

What children want

Chadsey and Gun (2005) interviewed a group of middle school children, asking them to explain the things that help them develop friendships with their peers who have a disability. Here are some of the key things they said:

1. Segregation is unfair
2. Teachers should come into classes to give us more information about students with disabilities
3. Don’t let students make fun of students with disabilities
4. Create programs where both students with and without disabilities can hang out with each other
5. Use volunteer peer partners (eg in buddy systems)
6. Group students with disabilities into our social networks
7. Have students with disabilities tell us about their disabilities
8. Clubs or after school activities should include kids with disabilities and should be of interest to everyone
9. Let students with disabilities take the same bus as us

Empathy

"the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another
person's feelings" (Collins Concise Dictionary)

Understanding and relating to each other's experiences is an important part of developing relationships and respect. However, the way we help our students understand others' experiences will influence how they perceive that person.

Sympathy

synonyms: compassion, pity

A relationship built on pity or compassion is an "unbalanced" relationship, a relationship where there is not an equal balance of power or status.

For example, I want to share with you the story of a little girl with Down Syndrome - lets call her Sally. Before Sally came into the class the teacher talked about Sally's difficulties. She suggested that Sally would need help doing certain things.

The intention of the teacher was great - to promote understanding and a smooth transition. And when Sally came into class, it seemed like this is what had happened. However, on closer inspection the children were treating Sally differently. They were using baby-language to her, they were shepherding her around the school without really listening to her, they were mothering and smothering her.

What is the alternative?

Avoid talking about the child when they are not in the room. To those who ask, "Why?", think about how you might act if you have just had a "lesson" on fellow student and then the student walks into the room. First, you probably have developed an expectation of how that person will look and act based on your understanding of the teacher's words. Secondly, you will probably turn and stare - not being intentionally rude, but because you want to "see for yourself" this new person. For a child who needs a sense of belonging, to "blend" with the crowd, this can be very distressing. Even if the reactions are positive or compassionate, the child is starting off being seen as different.

If you want to share, share together. Rather than talking about one child, get everyone to talk about themselves. This way you are building a sense of similarities, and fellow-feeling, rather than setting one child up to be separate. Using "ice-breaker" or "get-to-know-you" activities at the beginning of the year (or any time during the year if there are indications that students may be at risk of bullying/being bullied) can be really effective.

Here are some ideas:

• Sit/stand in a circle. Have a bean bag/ball to be passed around. Have a theme eg. I am good at... but am not so good at .... The person who is holding the ball/bean bag has to complete the sentence, then call someone's name and pass the ball/bean bag on to them.
• Paint and/or collage a self-portrait using words, pictures, phrases, little biographical stories, photos and so on.
• Have each child write and share their "bio" - a short story about themselves.

This means that when you are sharing you are focusing less on the label, more on the person. You are also conveying a sense of similarity and belonging to all children, not focusing on what is making one child different to everyone else. Everyone is different - that is the value of diversity.

Talk about diversity, difference and individuality. Click here for a good article by the Children's Hospital.org on how to talk to children about recognising and valuing diversity. We have become very good at incorporating books that reflect diverse cultures, non-traditional gender roles and different families into early childhood, primary and secondary education. We should be increasing the range of books we use that portray people with disabilities. We should be incorporating units of work on disAbilities into our curriculum - from looking at sporting heroes, to musicians, to works of fiction aimed at promoting understanding about Aspergers, Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, Hearing impairments and so on. Empathy exercises can also be used - eg. we don't have to wait until we have a child with a vision impairment in our classroom before we get children to experience what it might be like by getting them to complete an obstacle course fully or partially blind-folded.

Decide what peers may need to know, and address the issue. Some children with disAbilities will be overwhelmed by emotions at times to the point that they may have a melt-down. We need to ensure that we have processes in place to ensure the safety of the child and their peers. If you are including a child who is at risk of having a melt-down in the classroom, you don't have to talk about the child, but you should talk about the behaviour. Have a discussion that is focused on helping children relate to the experience and problem-solving. For example, address:

• How would you feel if.... (lead children to talk about what makes them frustrated, angry, scared)
• What would you do if you couldn't say what you feel?
• What should we do if... (lead children to design a set of steps to follow if they are afraid someone is going to hurt themselves or others)

You could use a similar process if you need to build awareness of health issues such as epilepsy.

Let the child and parent control the information sharing process, or use rules. In some cases it will be important for the child to share specific things about themselves. For example, a classroom including a child with low vision will need to keep things in the same place and keep the floor clear of obstacles. In this case, you could have rules to this effect in your classroom. You could talk to the child prior to designing the rules to see if they want to share a little of why they need these measures in place. Some children may not want to share information with their whole class, but may want to have the opportunity to share it with a smaller supportive group of peers. For young children, it is the family (parents/caregivers) who should decide what, when and how information about the child is shared.

Be prepared. Especially with younger children, and if a child has a disability that makes them visibly different, you might get questions such as "What's wrong with Johnny?" Brushing off these questions, or treating them as inappropriate behaviour, can make children feel like there is something "bad", "wrong" or "secret" about the child with a disability. Instead, we should answer them as openly and honestly as possible. Teachers should discuss possible answers with the family and/or child before these questions come up. Families have often had much practice in answering these questions.

In the case of the question, "What's wrong with Johnny?" you might say, "There is nothing wrong with Johnny. It is just that his legs don't work the same way as yours so he has to use crutches to help him walk."

The aim should be:

Helping children relate to each others' experiences. We all have things in common, but we are also all unique.

Reference:

Chadsey, J., Gun Han, K. (2005). Friendship-Facilitation Strategies: What Do Students In Middle School Tell Us? Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(2), p52.

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We all need to belong

A couple of posts ago I mentioned research that suggested children could be at increased risk of being bullied if:
- they received extra help at school
- they were alone on the playground
- they had less than two good friends

In my last post I wrote two scenarios drawn from past experiences of students. The idea of these stories is that the best way to ensure that children get the best social outcomes from inclusion is to be very careful about how we include them in our classrooms and on the playground.

The social benefits are often one reason why parents and children choose inclusion. But to ensure the child gets these benefits, we need to make sure we think about what inclusion truly is… and do the best we can with the resources we have got to make it happen.

For example, according to Gee (2002), this is the difference between inclusion, integration and mainstreaming.

We all need to belong. Belonging is a great way to build resilience.

Someone who belongs, and is different, is much less likely to be bullied as their difference is likely to be less visible to those who truly know them as a person.

Because everyone is unique.

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When "inclusion" puts children at risk of bullying

Images from Dave is Brave, Copyright Amanda Gray Http://www.learn2bebuddies.com.au

Tom loves being around other children. He loves drawing and music. But he struggles with understanding and learning new things. He has Down Syndrome.

Tom is "included" in a regular classroom. While his peers are guided by the teacher and work in groups, Tom is usually sitting alone working on his learning contract with his teacher’s aide at the back of the room. This contract is a set of worksheets designed by his special education teacher.

On the playground Tom is usually alone. Except when a group of older students invite him to “play” with them, then urge him to do things that will get him into trouble. Tom loves playing with them and doesn’t understand why he keeps getting into trouble, or why his teacher and parents want him to find other friends.

His parents recently found out that the reason why he likes playing with these boys is because they don’t call him names. He said that lots of other kids tease him, saying that Ms G (his teacher’s aide) is his girlfriend.

………..

Emma loves drama. She is good at counting and loves using pictures to tell stories. But she struggles with understanding and learning new things. She has Down Syndrome.

Emma is included in a regular classroom. She sits up the front with four other children. Two of these children benefit from extra help, and two are students who are achieving well. Her teacher’s aide has a desk nearby.

While her peers are guided by the teacher, she and her group of buddies get extra hints and repetition from the teacher’s aide according to the advice of the special education teacher. When the class work in groups, Emma works with her buddies. The two students who are achieving well help to scaffold and support her learning. The teacher’s aide supervises and gives extra help when needed to make sure the other students’ learning isn’t affected by Emma’s occasional difficulties with concentrating or staying on task.

On the playground Emma is usually seen to be with at least one of the four students she sits with in class. With the help of the teacher’s aide they have taught her to play some of their favourite games, like skipping (Emma usually holds the rope), tips (where Emma occasionally has to be reminded who is in), making up plays and sitting in the library (Emma loves picture books).

Once when a group of older boys started calling her names her buddies saw her crying. They went straight to their teacher, who went straight to the principal, who called a meeting with the boy’s parents. The bullying quickly stopped.

Emma loves school.

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While Tom and Emma are fictional characters, they are built from my observations and the experiences of students and families with whom I have worked. Next time I write here I will talk about these a little more....

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