I find that many pupils struggle to see the human being behind the news story, and in order for them to truly understand the lives of others, we must ensure that their experiences are enriched. That they learn about the hopes, fears and dreams of others. Only then can we create a tolerant society in which the value of a human being means more than their celebrity status, their wealth or their physical appearance. I believe that this project is vital for that reason.
Bali Rai

Download a summary of our current  EmpathyLab Thinking  outlining why we’re doing it, the difference we want to make and the action research programme we’re planning on developing.

Download our EmpathyLab Think-In flyer  and find out more about the event .

Here is some of the reading that is helping us shape EmpathyLab:

• Roman Krznaric, Empathy, a handbook for revolution , Random House 2014
• Roman Krznaric, Empathy Education , Oxfam 2008
• Jo Broadwood, Arts & Kindness , People United 2012
• Roy Anderson, Making Education Work , Pearson 2014
• Richard Layard, Happiness , Penguin 2011
• Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level, why equality is better for everyone , Penguin 2010
• Margot Sutherland, Using Story Telling as a Therapeutic Tool with Children , Speechmark 2011
• Trisha Waters, Therapeutic Storywriting – a Practical Guide to Developing Emotional Literacy in Primary Schools , 2004
• Alida Gersie, Reflections on Therapeutic Storymaking – the Use of Stories in Groups , Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1997

And we’re being inspired by The Empathy Library , Roots of Empathy and Ashoka’s Start Empathy campaign.

The words, stories, empathy and neuroscience research which is framing our thinking and the rationale for our work: