The research of this project will revolve around how empathy develops in younger children and teenagers. The final product is a pamphlet discussing the benefits of empathy and suggest means of fostering it. The pamphlet will be directed towards the teachers, mentors, parents and anyone who works with children. The goal of the product is to help increase knowledge of how to support the development of empathy

Birch, Nicholas

English

SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland | Parkland College

Parkland College
A with Honors Projects Honors Program
2016
Development of Empathy
Nicholas Birch
Open access to this Article is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland. For more information,
please contact spark@parkland.edu.
Recommended Citation
Birch, Nicholas, "Development of Empathy" (2016). A with Honors Projects. 161.
https://spark.parkland.edu/ah/161
References 1. Wölfer, R., Cortina, K. S., & Baumert, J. (2012). Embeddedness and empathy: How the social network shapes adolescents’ social understanding. 
Journal of Adolescence, 351295-1305. Doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.04.015 2. Farrant, B. M., Devin, T. J., Maybery, M.T., & Fletcher, J. (2012). Empathy, Perspective Taking and Prosocial Behaviour: The Importance of Parenting Practices. Infant & Child 
Development, 21(2), 175-188. Doi:10. 1002/icd.740 3. Reid, C., Davis, H., Horlin, C., Anderson, M., Baughman, N., & Campbell, C. (2013). The Kids’ Empathis Development Scale (KEDS): A multi-dimensional measure of empathy in primary school-aged children. British 
Journal of Developmental Psychology, 
31(2), 231-256. Doi:10.1111/bjdp.12002 4. (M. Birch, personal communication, December 3, 2015). 
 
 
 
The Development of Empathy 
Product of Nick Birch 
 
 
 What is Empathy?  Empathy is a person’s ability to 
understand someone else’s emotions. 
Prosocial behaviors and talking skills 
are promoted with empathy and vice 
versa. Aggression and bullying are 
also tied to a lack of empathy1.           
Empathy 
is learned 
primarily 
during 
youth in 
three places: At home, in school, and 
amongst peers. 
          
 
 
 
There is an 
overlap between 
the three as peers interact at home and 
in school through prosocial behavior and 
parents interact with teachers to overlap 
school and home. 
What is a Role Model? 
Children see you for extended periods 5 
times per week for several years. This gives 
you considerable impact on their lives. Kids 
learn by example and, therefore, you must 
show them empathy2. Here are some ways 
to model empathy: 
• Be understanding with the children 
and vocalize your understaning4. 
• Emphasize the Golden Rule, treat 
others the way you wish to be 
treated2. 
• Let the children view you as a 
human, do not uphold a perfect 
personality otherwise the lesson will 
not be able to be grasped1. 
What is Prosocial Behavior? 
Empathy is fostered by peer interaction 
at school and can be observed through 
prosocial behavior, or someone’s 
tendency to engage others. Here are 
some ways to encourage it: 
 
• Create group activities (However, 
you must make sure every child 
participates)3. 
• Offer the children a simple ice 
breaker activity to allow them to find 
similarities between each other1. 
• Changing the seating arrangement 
to allow children to become 
exposed to more students for 
extended periods of time1. 
• Ensure everyone participates in 
class discussion to encourage 
communication amongst peers1. 
What is Parent Interaction? 
This is how the school and home aspects 
connect. Your interaction with the parent(s) 
is pivotal in how children develop empathy. 
Be sure to: 
• NOT simply state, “Johnny is a good 
student” during parent meetings so 
that parents can be informed on their 
child’s social development and can 
help foster it4. 
• Discuss how the child interacts at 
home in order to gain insight on the 
child’s behavior outside of school to 
help understand the child’s needs4.  
• Immediately contact parents if 
anything concerns you so as to stop 
the problem from both school and 
home4. 
School Peers 
 
Home 
Em
pa
th
y
Prosocial Behavior


Development of Empathy

Scholarship at Parkland

Parkland CollegeA with Honors Projects Honors Program2016Development of EmpathyNicholas BirchOpen access to this Article is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland. For more information,please contact spark@parkland.edu.Recommended CitationBirch, Nicholas, "Development of Empathy" (2016). A with Honors Projects. 161.https://spark.parkland.edu/ah/161References 1. Wölfer, R., Cortina, K. S., & Baumert, J. (2012). Embeddedness and empathy: How the social network shapes adolescents’ social understanding. Journal of Adolescence, 351295-1305. Doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.04.015 2. Farrant, B. M., Devin, T. J., Maybery, M.T., & Fletcher, J. (2012). Empathy, Perspective Taking and Prosocial Behaviour: The Importance of Parenting Practices. Infant & Child Development, 21(2), 175-188. Doi:10. 1002/icd.740 3. Reid, C., Davis, H., Horlin, C., Anderson, M., Baughman, N., & Campbell, C. (2013). The Kids’ Empathis Development Scale (KEDS): A multi-dimensional measure of empathy in primary school-aged children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 231-256. Doi:10.1111/bjdp.12002 4. (M. Birch, personal communication, December 3, 2015).    The Development of Empathy Product of Nick Birch    What is Empathy?  Empathy is a person’s ability to understand someone else’s emotions. Prosocial behaviors and talking skills are promoted with empathy and vice versa. Aggression and bullying are also tied to a lack of empathy1.           Empathy is learned primarily during youth in three places: At home, in school, and amongst peers.              There is an overlap between the three as peers interact at home and in school through prosocial behavior and parents interact with teachers to overlap school and home. What is a Role Model? Children see you for extended periods 5 times per week for several years. This gives you considerable impact on their lives. Kids learn by example and, therefore, you must show them empathy2. Here are some ways to model empathy: • Be understanding with the children and vocalize your understaning4. • Emphasize the Golden Rule, treat others the way you wish to be treated2. • Let the children view you as a human, do not uphold a perfect personality otherwise the lesson will not be able to be grasped1. What is Prosocial Behavior? Empathy is fostered by peer interaction at school and can be observed through prosocial behavior, or someone’s tendency to engage others. Here are some ways to encourage it:  • Create group activities (However, you must make sure every child participates)3. • Offer the children a simple ice breaker activity to allow them to find similarities between each other1. • Changing the seating arrangement to allow children to become exposed to more students for extended periods of time1. • Ensure everyone participates in class discussion to encourage communication amongst peers1. What is Parent Interaction? This is how the school and home aspects connect. Your interaction with the parent(s) is pivotal in how children develop empathy. Be sure to: • NOT simply state, “Johnny is a good student” during parent meetings so that parents can be informed on their child’s social development and can help foster it4. • Discuss how the child interacts at home in order to gain insight on the child’s behavior outside of school to help understand the child’s needs4.  • Immediately contact parents if anything concerns you so as to stop the problem from both school and home4. School Peers  Home EmpathyProsocial Behavior

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Development of Empathy

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