Cowichan Valley School District brings us a feature story about the Roots of Empathy programs that are helping their students thrive:
That’s right, babies are helping our young students learn and understand social responsibility, one of the core competencies in B.C.’s redesigned curriculum that is being implemented across the province. Social responsibility includes the ability to resolve problems peacefully, empathize with others, and create and maintain healthy relationships, and it’s an incredibly important competency that children need to learn to thrive in today’s world.
So where does this learning all happen? Through a program called Roots of Empathy, which is an evidence-based classroom program that has shown significant effect in reducing levels of aggression and bullying among school children while raising social and emotional competence and increasing empathy. Five of these programs are run in elementary schools right here in the Cowichan Valley School District in order to support the emotional literacy of learners.