Reviews Jon Biddle, English lead and NEU rep at Moorlands Primary in Norfolk, is passionate about fostering a love of reading for pleasure. Here he shares ideas and tips for schools to try.
The power of books in developing empathy PUPILS currently have to cope with a wide range of external issues, some of which have undoubtedly been caused by the ongoing Covid crisis and some of which are now a regular feature of modern life. These pressures often lead to them feeling overwhelmed and can create problems around mental health. A greater focus on the importance of empathy in education would go a long way to addressing this. The fifth national Empathy Day, organised by EmpathyLab, took place in June in schools and libraries across the UK. It was a huge success, featuring sessions from authors including Michael Rosen, Kwame Alexander, Malorie Blackman and Cressida Cowell. As one of EmpathyLab’s pioneer schools, we’ve done a lot of work on developing empathy skills with our pupils and staff. We follow the simple model of focusing on Reading for Pleasure across the school, which directly leads to improved empathy skills, and then to increased social action. Previously, we’ve based work around books on refugees, inter-generational relationships and homelessness. This year, we focussed on family members and understanding the emotions they might be experiencing. We explored a range of texts, including picturebooks such as Ruby’s Worry by Tom Percival and Felix After the Rain by Dunja Jogan, as well as longer books including A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (a must-read). We then discussed how these stories could relate to our lives at home and shared suggestions for ways to support family members. These ranged from simply asking ‘How was your day?’ to phoning absent relatives for a catch-up or offering to take on more responsibilities. Children realised they had the power to actually change the way somebody was feeling. Many pupils wanted to read more books that dealt with empathy in families. We thought carefully about the books selected for our daily storytime sessions and ensured that there was at least some element of social action 38
(Above) An empathy scrapbook (Below) Reading The Life of Stephen Lawrence moved pupils deeply
in them, something that the children could apply to their own lives. Our focus on learning to see events from different points of view has also had a positive impact on classroom discussions about reading. Children are increasingly willing to justify their book recommendations to each other with comments about the characters and their feelings rather than just about the plot. Our key stage 2 classes have created empathy-related reading scrapbooks, based on the inspiring work of Rob Crossley and Ceridwen Eccles on Twitter (#lovereadingscrapbooks). The children select a book that they feel includes a strong empathy angle, take it home and produce a scrapbook page about it, independently or with a family member. This encourages conversations about empathy and feelings and provides a good opportunity for them to talk about books with their parents, as well as being a valuable classroom resource when other children need ideas about what to read next.
educate Your magazine from the National Education Union (NEU)
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Letters to Doreen Lawrence As our work on Reading for Pleasure and empathy has become more embedded in our school over time, pupils have become more confident when speaking out and will challenge things that they perceive to be wrong. A couple of hours before writing this article, one of our classes read The Life of Stephen Lawrence by Verna Allette Wilkins. They were so moved by his story that they decided as a class to write a letter to his mother, Doreen, telling her how much they admired her courage and resilience. We know that reading and talking about stories have the power to change the way people think and act, which is another compelling reason for making them an integral part of the school day. n Visit empathylab.uk @EmpathyLabUK @jonnybid
