[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of how the short films foster empathy.

We’ve All Been There
Plot is designed to make us feel empathy by contrasting to different stories which finally share something in common. The story further adopts the viewpoint of human challenge to reinforce the feeling of “universal empathy”, instead of the viewpoint of individual triumph or worse yet, revenge (which is a very common theme in hollywood films). The expressions of the actors is also important.

Absolutely. This film is a masterpiece of empathy building. The director does seem to be proposing a universal empathy similar to the concept of karma.

Moments
My favourite among the ones I was able to watch. Again the story is cleverly told to create a connection with this homeless man, by showing us that he too was once a normal, happy person.

Yes. The film does show us that any of us could become homeless .

This encapsulates in a similar way the universal message that: “no one is immune to misfortune” (furthermore, there is no “justice”, no justification to suffering), and that (this is an extrapolation) fortune or misfortune hits randomly (there is no “justice” in that sense).

Yes. I think the film encapsulates to a certain extent the religious message of “There but for the Grace of God go I.”

The music plays also a big role.

The music is fundamental to us feeling empathy for the characters.

The Alphabet of Illiteracy
I was not able to watch it, as I couldn’t access vimeo. (For the others I used youtube).

Here’s a link to the film on YouTube:

The Reader
Same thing as previous

Here’s a link to the film on YouTube:

We’re the Superhumans
The talent of these people despite their disability. The music is cheerful (in contrast to the other music, which or much more mellow, I’m not sure if that contributes necessarily to more empathy.

I think the cheerful music does foster empathy as it adds to the positive energy of the visuals.

Stand up
Couldn’t watch it.

Here’s a link to the film on YouTube:

Mankind is no Island
The use of word collage was useful. But I’m not sure how the choice of medium (the phone) contributes in any way with the message.

Perhaps the use of the mobile phone to create the film, adds to the sense that homelessness is an issue that affects and concerns us all.

Thanks again for your evaluation, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Angie,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of how the short films foster empathy.

We’ve All Been There
The use of close ups, pauses, color

Close up shots are used beautifully to foster empathy in this short. The pauses are really effective in moving us from one point of view to another.

Moments
Switch between warm and cool colors, music instead of much dialog

Yes. The contrast of colours is really powerful. The way the music builds to a crescendo helps us empathise with the characters.

The Alphabet of Illiteracy
Stark contrast between happy child song and krass words and graphics

Yes. The use of music is masterful here. The contrast between the childish song and the stark images is shocking.

The Reader
Different shots in different places, contrast happy and challenging moments

Yes. The contrast between happy and challenging situations is really noticeable here.

We’re the Superhumans
Strong, radiant colors. Lively music, portraying strength in light of adversity

Yes. The strong and radiant colours help to portray this strength in adversity.

Stand up
Close ups, on the hands for example, or the pained faces

The close-ups of facial expressions and hands help us feel empathy for the character.

Mankind is no Island
Varied pacing of images / clips. Melancholic instrumental

Yes. The variety of the pacing is really impressive here.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Angie.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your excellent answers.

Intuitively I would go with the House on Mango Street, Refugee Boy, and No fixed Address.

Very good choices, in my opinion

The House on Mango Street – I read it in High School, and my teacher had us write vignettes about our neighbourhood, which I really enjoyed.

I’m delighted to hear you had a positive experience of reading this book as a student. I really like the activity of writing vignettes about our neighbourhood.

Refugee boy – especially now, it’s a very hot topic in Europe, and having a narrative about it would be very useful.

Yes. Sadly, it the subject is very topical.

No fixed Address – again, perhaps a selection bias of mine, the story just seems to resonate with my taste for people in unconventional situations.

You make a good point here. I think we are all led by our own reading preferences when selecting books for out¡r students. I think if the teacher is enthusiastic about the book and the subject, it’s much easier for them to transmit enthusiasm about reading.

I’m not sure to be honest how my students would react to any of these titles!

Good point. You never really know until you try them out. You might be pleasantly surprised!

No. As mentioned in the previous post, I hope to implement a reading course.

Best of luck in to implement the reading course.

a) novels have lost their place as a result of the growing presence of visual media and the internet. Why read when you can stream?

Very good point.

b) teachers might feel that time spent on reading in class is “lost time” and so they don’t encourage it.

Yes. I think many teachers have this viewpoint. But, in my opinion, it’s not true that time spent reading is lost time as the benefits of reading are so great.

c) in the case of adult learners, they might already have pre-established set of preferences when it comes to learning, and sometimes reading may not be one of them. They may feel like children if the teacher imposes a reading program.

Great point. I think there has to be more teacher education about the benefits of reading in language learning.

Thanks again for your excellent answers, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the activity sheets.

(1) They are adults, and I can’t make reading mandatory, I can only encourage them to do so.

Yes. It’s difficult to oblige adults to read but an institution can make certain activities a compulsory part of the course.

(2) The course is in Business English: I’m afraid that they might respond to my initiative by saying that’s it’s a bit too off topic or irrelevant to them.

Good point but there are readers which focus on the biography of business leaders and entrepreneurs which would be of interest to professionals.

(3) I might be met with a bit of resistance from those who say they “don’t like reading” and prefer to watch movies.

Yes. if students don’t read in their native language/s, it’s almost impossible to get them to read in English.

1. Circle viewpoints:
Effective. It is well scaffolded to help the learners formulate their thoughts. I think it can also be adapted to different genres and situations. In fact, all you would need is a context (real or imaginative) in which several actors (real or fictive) are involved. Of course, there would have to be a spotlight on the characters or actors.

Yes. This activity is well scaffolded and flexible.

2. Empathy fostering questions:
Effective. They generate empathy by asking learners to relate to the character’s experience, on a personal level. I like how the questions also ask learners to share examples of experiences they have had and that relate to the character’s experience.

Yes. Many of the questions ask students to share examples of experiences they have had and that relate to the character’s experience. This personalisation is a great way of getting students of focusing on commonalities not always differences.

3. Readers Empathy workshop:
Effective: The activity has a nice sequence with plenty of opportunities to communicate to it which would make TBL teachers happy :-)…

Yes. This would work in TBL, won’t it?

I think that a nice follow up to this would be the role plays. Because learners by this time will have gathered enough ideas and knowledge of the characters.

Great idea. Roleplay would be a¡n excellent follow up.

4. Role Play questions
Effective, but when used with n.3, because learners may feel their imagination is too limited to answer the questions. Some questions might be a bit daunting to answer, or simply not be relevant to the story.

Yes. Some of the questions work better with certain narratives.

5. “List of Questions to Discuss the Character” (I forgot the name of this one!)
Effective, but insofar as the students don’t answer all of the questions. The idea is to discuss how the character’s beliefs change. This is obviously very specific to novels and stories.

Yes. The students would only be asked the Character Question they s¡think work best with the narrative they’re dealing with.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your excellent answers.

Things I do regularly
1. Listening
Peers who have observed me say I take time to listen to my learners. I try not to interrupt, I try to give them as much room to express themselves.

Giving students the time and space to express themselves is vitally important. It sounds like you do this really well.

I think sometimes I do this maybe too much as I don’t end up moving the lesson to the next stages.

I think if students are actively engaged in the activities and learning is taking place, we don’t don’t necessarily have to be overly-worried about not covering all the areas of the lesson.

2. Positive and affirmative approach.
This is something I’ve been including more and more, as I noticed some years back I was not doing much positive reinforcement. Actually, my director was the one who brought this up. I try to give genuine praise, not fake praise, too.

Yes. Genuine praise is the key here, in my opinion. I think students know when the praise is not real.

3. Enthusiasm.
This is a trait that both my learners and peers have observed. I think there is a cultural side to this: Americans are much better at showing enthusiasm. French people much less.

Enthusiasm is such an important quality for a teacher to have. I’m interested to hear you think Americans are generally more enthusiastic than French people. I’d be inclined to say that in general Americans are more enthusiastic in their attitude than Europeans in general.

Things I could do more regularly?

1. Giving attention.
I sometimes find myself thinking about the next stage of the lesson while listening to learners. Or, as this happened recently, I take notes on what the learner is saying. In both cases I end up losing sight of what the person was saying.

This is a very good point. It is difficult to focus completely on what each student is saying especially when you’re concerned about covering all the parts of the lesson plan.

2. Holistic view.
I want to make my classroom an “open horizon of encounter” for exchanging with my students on holistic level. This I think has a lot to do with Sidgwick’s statement. I think too often I am focused on the ‘teacher as teacher’ role, as well as with my lesson plan, and not enough on the genuine conversation. There’s a great irony in ELT that via classroom procedures and lesson objectives and course books we avoid the very thing we want to achieve – the ability to communicate.

This is an excellent point. An overemphasis on the syllabus, lesson objectives and course books, can prevent us from taking a holistic approach and forget about helping students communicate effectively.

3. Time-givers.
This is in line with the idea of wanting to “move forward” and get to the next stage of a lesson. I want =to feel it’s okay to “lose control”, and actually transform this into a learning experience.

This is a good point. There’s obviously a limit to how much time one teacher can give to each individual teacher in a classroom.

Thanks again for your excellent answers, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

I am rather sure, as a preamble, that there must be studies showing how a teacher’s belief about a student, as to whether or not he or she felt the student was able to succeed, actually helps shape whether or not that student will actually succeed.

Yes. I think there are probably studies in this area but I haven’t read any such studies. It makes sense that if a teacher believes a student can develop academically then the student is more likely to do so.

For me, teachers who have played a determining role in my success at school are the ones that believed in my ability to succeed. I can remember these teachers, and can be sure that they were empathetic towards me. They were encouraging.

This makes perfect sense. Believing in a student’s ability and being encouraging are characteristics of empathic teachers.

The teacher (Algebra 2, in my Junior year), seemed like he wasn’t concerned with how I was doing, with whether it mattered that I passed or failed. I think that this in turn deteriorated the classroom climate. I became ashamed of not knowing. There was a lack of empathy and mutual trust.

Mutual trust is a prerequisite of an empathic relationship.

I can only think of one who didn’t seem very empathetic. She would call on us, and always call on the good students whom it seems she gave preference to

Unfortunately, teachers having favourite students and calling on them more in the classroom would seem to be quite common. Empathy in the classroom is impossible without fairness.

It didn’t feel like she cared.

Caring is another prerequisite of an empathic relationship.

They are genuine with the learners, and always interested in what learners have to say. They are good listeners.

Being yourself, being interested in what students have to say and really listening to them, are alll qualities of an empathic teacher as proposed by Bridget Cooper.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Maria Penya,

Thanks very much for your excellent answers.

Definitely, Refugee Boy. Zephania is pure empathy and communication and his vocabulary is carefully chosen. Also, the plot is different, how many Western books are set in Eritrea and Ethiopia? Plus, rejection is something we all fear and it can surely help dealing with this fear.

A good choice, in my opinion. Benjamin does seem to be a very empathic person and writer. The fact we all fear being rejected helps us to empathise with the main character in the book.

Also, Furious. I know of a similar case and it’s very hard. I would like to save this experience to all kids.

Yes. Emotional abuse in families is, unfortunately, all too common. A young person who is suffering emotional abuse at home, could be helped by reading a book about another person going through the same experience.

Wonder has become a classic. I used an excerpt with my B1s. They had all read it and / or watched the film. I think it’s excellent because we have the same story from different viewpoints and this fosters empathy and shows that everyone has their reasons to behave the way they do.

Yes. the way the book is structured is wonderful for fostering empathy. The film also follows the same format of showing the different points of view.

I’ve also used Charlotte’s Web, another classic I love. Having the voices from the animals, especially Wilbur and Charlotte, puts us into the shoes of these characters.

Great point about hearing the points of views of animals in the book.

It is well accepted that we are in a visual era. We have a great deal of apps, videos, series, films, etc within a click’s reach. Parents pay for Netflix once a month and there it is to choose from and enjoy, whereas to read, you have to pay every time, select one by one your selection, even go to a bookstore or library (hard to find a good English selection)… the process is slower and then you have to make the “effort” of reading. Viewing has always recquiered lees of an effort and today it’s always at our fingertips.

Absolutely. Communication is increasingly visual and multimodal in nature. It’s certainly quicker and easier to view films and TV series. However, I think that extensive Viewing is a way for students maximise their language learning through watch
films and TV series actively and critically, not in the passive and uncritical way they usually films and TV series.

Thanks again for your excellent answers, Maria Penya.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Maria Penya,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the activity sheets.

Circle of Viewpoints
I Love this routine. It can be useful to foster empathy in general and more specifically to better understand the different personalities and viewpoints in the narrative. Good for all levels since the questions are easy to answer and can be scaffolded. Also good to start a debate.

Yes. This is a lovely Visible Thinking Routine. It works aay¡t all levels, can easily be scaffolded and is a great way to start a debate.

Empathy Fostering Questions
This questions are harder to answer, especially by young students. I find it useful to work with adults to develop and deepen into the plot and characters of the narrative.

You may well be right that these questions could work better with adults.

Reader’s Empathy Workshop
In group it can be a great activity, since beyond empathy it can also narrow bonds between classmates.

Yes. In addition to promoting empathy, this activity can help students form stronger bond with each other.

Character Questions
Wow! Amazing questions to develop in adult groups. They can bring about lively debates. I’m sure they deeply foster empathy and they could be an excellent starting point for a film forum focused session.

Yes. These questions are very powerful and can be used with books, plays, videos and films.

Roleplay Questions
I like this one for younger students, since they don’t have to directly talk about themselves or their experiences, which is often hard for them. It fosters empathy but they don’t feel so exposed as with some other routines, like the Empahy Fostering Questions.

Yes. This one works very well with younger students.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Maria Penya.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Maria Penya,

Being completely present is one of the basic points we mentioned, however sometimes I pretend to be busy with something else so that I can listen to their more spontaneous conversations. This gives me information about the roles and leads in the classroom; their tone of voice, their vocabulary when they think I’m not listening, their true worries…

I like this strategy. Although you’re pretending not to be present, you really are present and listening to their spontaneous conversations. Great stuff!

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Yes, Maria Penya, condescension would have very little to do with empathy. The empathic person would treat the other person as an equal never in a condescending manner.

[Kieran]

Hi Maria Penya,

Thanks for your questions about the paper.

My question is, how do the measure this? How can you measure empathy when this is such a difficult term to define, to understand, and a feeling some people don’t even know exists?

This is an excellent question. The research methodology was very complex and they used a questionnaire which is considered a standard measure of empathy. However, as you point, how do you accurately such a complex construct as empathy in 64 different countries which may have different understanding of the construct of empathy? Another problem is that the questionnaire was administered and answered in English which apparently skews the results as people seem assign them with higher levels of empathy when they answer this type of questionnaire in a foreign language. It’s all very complex!

2. The results are definitely surprising. I’ve only skim read it, do you know wether they mention any differences between rural and urban areas?

To the best of my knowledge, they didn’t look into differences in urban and rural areas. i’m not aware of any other research into this. It would be interesting to know though!

What surprised me most is that saudi Arabia was one of the most empathic countries when I would have thought it would be one of the least empathic due to its treatment of women, LGBTQ people, migrant workers and religious minorities. I’m really not sure how reliable the research findings are.

I hope this helps, Maria Penya.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

You’re very welcome. Maria Penya.

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

1. Empathy is an affect which is generated by cognitive leap. More specifically, it is the process by which I am able to cognitively put myself in the other person’s shoes and attempt to reproduce a feeling which the other person may be experiencing, in order to guide my actions.

This is a very clear explanation of what empathy is.

There is most certainly a genetic basis for this feeling in most humans due to the existence of mirror neurons. Also, common sense has it that the more we are aware of similarities with others the easier it is to put ourselves in their shoes.

Yes. It appears we are hardwired to be empathic. Mirror neurons are a component of an empathy network made up of 14 brain regions.

However, empathy is also something that develops as the result of social context and upbringing. First, the mother – child relation contributes to empathy. The mother seeks to understand the baby and make sure it is not suffering. She tries to understand its facial expressions, for example.

Definitely. Empathy develops as the result of social context and upbringing. Parent-child attachment, especially mother-child attachment, in the early months of life are fundamental to the development of empathy.

The other non-genetic cause is the role of culture, and more specifically of religion. Putting yourself in the other person shoes is an idea that is very prevalent in Christian teachings. The idea is known as the golden rule, and it states, “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27). Empathy is also very much present in Buddhism, and is often referred to as loving kindness, or compassion. Empathy can be considered a secularized version of the religious principles described above. I believe empathy today is what “holds” the social fabric together.

Absolutely. All the major religions have the concept of the Golden Rule. The concept of the Golden Rule is also important in many secular organisations. For many humanists the Golden Rule is a basic principle based on our common humanity and which grew from our natural capacities of reason and empathy.

2. I’m not sure what “universal” here means. But I would absolutely agree to saying that empathy acts as social, emotional, and psychological balm. Because it is an internally generated and motivated feeling, it produces actions which are in turn empathetic. As a result, other people will feel this, and will feel less fear. Because fear tends to generate hostility, the reduction of fear will lay the ground for understanding and trust.

As I understand it, Baron-Cohen is using ‘universal’ in the literal sense, meaning that empathy is a trait that exists in all societies and cultures. I completely agree with you that empathy does work to combat fear.

3. Yes of course. The role of social media is partly to blame. We are constantly bombarded with the message that “image is everything”, “you can become whatever you want if you try”. There is little or no room for failings, for defects (think of how bad the insult “loser” is considered to be).

Definitely. As much of social media promotes narcissism, it works against fostering empathy.

Economically there is also a paradox: the wealthier we become the more afraid we are losing our wealth. This is exemplified by the housing market boom about everywhere in the world: people are afraid being “houseless”, and so purchase a home, which in turn pushes price of housing up, leaving many people at risk of eviction in many cities. Professionally, this is illustrated by the craze in “professional development” and “life coaching”.

Yes. There is also the paradox of the richer we become, the less empathic we become. This seems to be backed up by a wealth of research.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks very much for introducing yourself. Great to have you on the course.

I’m looking forward to working with you on the course, Anthony.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Mariana,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the short films.

After watching the 7 films, I realized that what really got me what the unexpected. Be it the very different alphabet song, the son’s book or the family hug.

Absolutely. Film directors are very good at using the unexpected to make us feel empathy.

In terms of how the films foster empathy, I think they make use of every single resource in a very powerful way. As we discussed on Sunday, music plays a very important role, as do close-ups.

Definitely. Film directors are extremely emotionally literate and know how to make us feel certain emotions through the use of dialogue, music, sound effects, shots and the actors’ facial expressions, body language and actions.

In “Mankind is no Island”, I found the “look away” words interlaced with close up shots of the eyes/faces of people experiencing homelessness incredibly moving. Forcing me not to look away.

This is an excellent example of how a film director manipulates our emotions.

While the “We’re the Superhumans” short tries to showcase that fact that people with disabilities can do anything, as I was watching, I couldn’t help but think of it as inspiration porn. I then found this interesting article written by Penny Pepper called “Turning Paralympians into ´superhuman´ is no help to disabled people”. Pepper says “The hyping of disabled athletes into superhuman status by Channel 4 only deepens our wounds, inflicted by continual assaults on our daily lives. It truly seems that the only acceptable disabled person is a Paralympian – and then only for a few weeks. The disabled sportspeople who went to Rio also carried the burden of securing Channel 4’s viewing figures on the back of a massive publicity campaign.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/06/paralympians-superhumans-disabled-people

The author goes on to say “the superhuman shtick is a tiresome diversion away from what is important. Let us be ordinary, let us be every day and let us at least have rights. Rights to independent living.”

Very interesting point. The article is well-written and puts across a good argument. Giving paralympians ‘superhuman’ status is probably not helpful.

While I was a bit disappointed that “The Reader” is an ad for Whiskey, I was really touched by it. It was very different from the other films in terms of the camera shots and overall atmosphere; it was bright, cheerful, and with lots of smiling faces.

Most people are disappointed when they discover the short film is an ad for whisky. However, I would argue that the film highlights the increasing tendency of commissioning short films which foster empathy to sell their products and services. We can analyse why companies are doing this and this helps to develop our students’ media literacy.

It reminded me of this beautiful ad I used last year in class for the Christmas season. I won’t spoil it for you:

I know this film and think it’s great. I’m certain the director of this film watched and was inspired by ‘The Reader’ as it came out a few years earlier and there are so many similarities between the two films.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Mariana.

All the best,

Kieran

[Author]

Posts