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Empathy workshop

16 February 2020

Our Y7 students have just participated in an empathy workshop, as part of their Personal Social and Health Education programme. What a great skill to improve on in school! We met with the IIL teacher and workshop leader Mr Chase Jones to learn more.

Why is IIL hosting an empathy workshop? 
At IIL we are holistic in our approach to education, meaning we educate all aspects of a person as they develop. A critical component to this is our Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) classes where we discuss how to handle conflict in relationships. Often conflict results from a lack of empathy and the goal of the workshop is to help our Year 7 students make stronger connections and develop their empathy skills to help them handle conflict better and become more resilient.

What is your background in this area?
With my Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development, Masters in Education Leadership, and a qualified Peer Mediation Trainer I have been giving workshops similar to this one for over 10 years.

Could you tell us more about the workshop?
The workshop focused on establishing positive communication amongst the students by having them identify real conflict that occurs and determining underlying reasons for the conflict and creating rules which could prevent similar types of conflict in the future. Students were encouraged to consider various perspectives in each conflict and reflect on the feelings of each party involved. The goal was that students realised the importance of considering others and helping them make stronger connections by identifying strengths in others which they also see in themselves, hence, developing a social skill they can use for life.