Roots of Empathy
The Roots of Empathy programme, new to Holy Cross, is an international, evidence and empathy-based classroom programme designed for children ages 5 to 13. It has been designed to help coach the children to recognise and connect with the vulnerability and humanity of a baby who visits their classroom throughout the school year with their parent(s), along with a trained Roots of Empathy Instructor using a specialised curriculum. The experiential learning with the neighbourhood parent and infant is biologically embedded in the students' brains as they observe this secure attachment relationship. Through guided observation, the children label the baby’s feelings and intentions, learning the affective aspect of empathy (emotion) and the cognitive aspect of empathy (perspective-taking).
Throughout the Roots of Empathy programme, emotional literacy develops as children begin to identify and label the baby’s feelings, reflect on and understand their own feelings, then bridge to understand the feelings of others.