“I Carry Your Story & You Carry Mine”Empathy Through Storytelling in Grade 8 Boys
Samara Spielberg & Camilla IturraldeThe Allen-Stevenson School, New York City
IntroductionWhenweasked, “Doyouthinkboysinboys’schoolscanshowtheiremotionsfreely?” toEighthGradeboys,alargemajorityofparticipantsrespondedwithouthesitationthattheydonot.Aseducatorsinanall-boysschoolwefoundthisofhugeconcern.
Whyisitthatourstudentsarediscouragedtosharetheiremotionsfreely?
Howcanweaseducatorsfillinthegapsinboys’emotionalliteracy,afundamental
buildingblockofempathy?
Althoughconnectedsuperficiallythroughsocialmedia,ourboysareisolatedandinsearchofconnectionastheynavigatetheirwaythroughthis“All-About-Me”world.Theproblemistheydon’tknowhowtoaccesstheiremotions,engageinunguardedcommunication,andpracticeauthenticity.Withthisinmind,ourboysparticipatedinatwo-month,empathy-basedstorytellingunitcreatedunderthetheme,#NoMoreBullying.Weexaminedthedegreetowhichtheboys’abilitytoempathizeshiftedafterhearingtalesofbullyingfromarangeofpeople—bothfictionalandnon-fictional—towritingtheirownpersonalnarrative,andthenfinallybyretellingaclassmate’spersonalnarrativeinthefirstperson.
ResearchContextandParticipants
Participantsincluded18EighthGradeSpanishstudentsfromtheAllen-StevensonSchoolinNewYorkCity.Foundedin1883,A-SisaKtoYear9boys’schoolinNewYorkCity.Itsmissionistoeducate“gentlemanandscholars...whowillmovethroughlifestronglyandrightly.”InitsnewestVisionStatement,theSchool’spedagogicalpracticesaspireto“buildingboyswhomaketheworldabetterplace.”
International Boys’ Schools Coalition Action Research Program 2018 - 2019Boys and Stories: Pathways to Learning
The Research ActionOur action was conducted in 5 phases ranging from distant stories to more personal and familiar stories of bullying.
Phase1: Exposuretostoriesofbullyingthroughbooks,TV,andnewsstories. DISTANT STORIES
Phase2:Exposuretoastoryofbullyingtosomeoneinourowncommunity.FAMILIAR STORIES
Phase3:Writingofone’sownpersonalnarrativeofbullyingthroughscaffolded MY STORY draftstofacilitatetransportation.
Phase4:Sharingofpersonalnarrativeswithapartnerinthreeiterations. SHARINGSTORIES
Phase5:Studentstooktimetoprocesstheirpartner’sstory.Thentheymadevideos,retellingthepartner’sstoryinthefirstperson,asifithadhappenedtothem.
Further InformationThis poster and further information is available at http://www.theibsc.org/
Researcher’s Email: [email protected]@allen-stevenson.org
Data CollectionBaseline Empathy Questionnaires
Inordertoavoidresponseburden,thebaselinescalewasonlyadministeredatthebeginningandendoftheproject.Itwasacompilationofquestionstakenfromthefollowingvalidated
measurementscales:TheTorontoEmpathyQuestionnaire,InterpersonalReactivityIndex,andtheEmotionSpecificEmpathyQuestionnaire.
Journal Reflections Ouractionrequiredstudentstoengageinvariousdiscussionsandjournalwriting,reactto
others’experienceswithbullying,andtosharepersonaltalesofbullying.
InterviewsInterviewswereconductedinpairsandinsmallgroups.Wefoundthatthemosthonestanddeepestreflectionhappenedwhenboyswereaskedtoreflectinacollaborativesetting.The
opportunitytoseeoneboyshareinavulnerablewaygavepermissiontootherstodothesame.
Data AnalysisMeaningwasextractedbytranscribinginterviews,recordedconversationclasses,andlookingatcommonalitiesacrossstudentworksamplesandjournals.Responseswerecategorizedintothemesaligningtothefourattributesofempathy:perspectivetaking,stayingoutofjudgment,recognizingothers’emotions,andfeelingwithpeople.Themosthonestanddeepestreflectionhappenedwhenboysreflectedinacollaborativesetting.Seeinganotherboybevulnerableandsharegavepermissiontootherstodothesame.Here,andthroughjournalwriting,changesin
empathybecamemostevident.
“I was questioning what I was thinking in that moment and I realized, actually after I wrote my story, how I immediately regret my decisions. Just even now, I’m kind of feeling shameful…I know not to be so impulsive.”
“What I learned is actually
to see from the perspective
of the bully. ‘Cause often
people that are bullies are
actually hurt inside.”
“I feel I have learned it my whole time here
but I never really understood what it
actually was.”
Key Findings and DiscussionDataanalysisevidencedthefourattributesofempathy:perspective-taking,recognizingemotioninselfandothers,stayingoutofjudgment,andfeelingwithothers.
RECOGNIZING EMOTIONSWhenhearingstoriesofstrangerswhoweremistreatedbyothers,manyboysinitiallysaidtheyfeltsad.Bytheend,whenboyswereaskedtoassesstheirownemotions,theybeganusinglanguage,suchas,“itfeltreallyvulnerabletoshare.”Thewords“alone,”“weird,”“uncomfortable,”“relieved,”or“better” occurredoften.Theyalsobecamemorereadilyabletoreadtheemotionsoftheirpeersbasedoffoffacialexpressions,bodylanguage,andtoneofvoice.
PERSPECTIVE TAKINGPost-actioninterviewsdemonstratedthatstorytellingpromotedperspectivetaking.Themostauthenticshiftsoccurredwhenstudentswereintrospective,writing,andsharingtheirownpersonalnarratives,andevenmoresowhentheyrecasttheirpeer’snarrativeinthefirstperson,andshareditasthoughithadhappenedtothem.
SAYING OUT OF JUDGMENTByintentionallyinterweavingactivitiesthatilluminatedtheboys’innatebiasesandpreconceivednotions,theboyscametoseewhereandhowtheyjudgedpeople,andalsosawpeoplemorecompletely,understandingthatnooneisjustonething.
FEELING WITH PEOPLEForatrulyempathicresponse,theboysneededtofirstbeintouchwiththeirownemotionsandthenconnectittothoseofsomeoneelse.Atthisdevelopmentalstage,thecontentneedstobedeeplypersonaland“closetohome,”thatistosaythattheboymustseehimselfreflectedinthestoryheisempathizingwith.
Recognizing emotions Perspective taking Staying out of
judgementFeeling with
people KEY FINDINGS
“It made me put myself in
his shoes and see how he
might have felt during that
time, instead of me just
saying, well it’s not going
to affect me.”
Feeling with people
“I could see that it wasn’t the bully who was the bad person, there was no bad person. It was just that this bully had things going on, had a lot of pent up anger.”
What is empathy?
Conclusion
Almostallparticipantsacknowledgedintheirpost-actionwriteupsandexitinterviewsthatthelasttwophases,sharingtheirpersonalnarrativeandretellingtheirclassmates’inthefirst-person,allowedthemtoconnectmostwiththeother’sfeelings.Aseducatorswelearnedthatsocial-emotionallearningiscentraltocreatinggloballeadersoftomorrowandthatstorytellingisapowerfuloutlettofosterempathy.Thecloserthestoryistothestudent,themoreheisableto“exercise[his]empathymuscles”(Borba,2017).Forstudentstolearn,theyneedtobehealthyintheirmindsandbodiesandhappyintheirhearts.Theyneedtofeelsafelyconnectedtobetheirauthenticandever-evolvingselves.
Key ReadingsBorba,M.(2016).UnSelfie:Whyempathetickidssucceedinourall-about-
meworld.Touchstone.KindleEdition.
Brown,B.(2018).Daretolead:Bravework,toughconversations,wholehearts.NewYork:RandomHouse.
TheResearchQuestion
Howdoessharingpersonal storiesinaforeignlanguage fosterempathyinGrade8boys?
