I loved the concept of this book, particularly as a practicing elementary school counselor. I am continuously working on teaching empathy to my students, and I often do so in the classroom through my own lessons. As a school counselor, I am not the intended audience for this book (which is aimed at teachers). I would recommend this as an introductory book on the concept of empathy in the schools.

I could appreciate many of the classroom applications mentioned in this work, but felt that they only scratched the surface. For example, I love the idea of incorporating empathy as a topic for writing assignments and reflection. I think that this could be explored more deeply by connecting the concept of empathy with what is already being learned in the classroom (how it relates to a book the class is reading, events within history, etc.).

I realize that the next part relates to my experience as a school counselor, but I have to admit that I was thrown off by how Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is not formally incorporated in this work. We use a couple of SEL programs in my school, and I think that these programs are worth mentioning when considering how to teach empathy. (If you're curious, I use Second Step lessons identified through a needs assessment administered at every grade level; my teachers all have a Sanford Harmony kit that they can use throughout the week.) I think I was just a bit confused by the lack of inclusion of school counselors as a resource for teaching empathy, but again, I realize this comes from my own personal experience.

As mentioned above, I think this is great for providing basic K-12 ideas on how to make empathy an active part of your classroom. However, I would recommend exploring further materials for a more in-depth approach. There are many evidence-based SEL curricula worth considering (particularly for elementary school). ( )

Teaching Empathy: Strategies for building emotional intelligence in today's students by Suzanna E Henshon, PhD introduces the concept of empathy as a learned skill to teachers. The purpose of this guide is to support elementary school teachers who want to build their student's emotional intelligence skills. Yet, the materials are adaptable to all age groups.

Empathy is a dimension of emotional intelligence. The author focuses on this single aspect as a floor for other EI aspects. She suggests that increased student empathy will benefit students. In the classroom, empathy is a tool for content comprehension. In the real-world, empathy builds relationship satisfaction. So far, so good. She provides a personal example of why empathy is important in school settings.

For content, Dr Henshon provides some conceptual basics about the relationship skill of empathy. Critical to her definition of empathy is caring about others. Also, she discusses understanding the emotions and needs of others. Caring and understanding serve relationship-building across students' lifetimes. Then, she shows how the material can be used in lesson plans.

Each short chapter presents classroom activities and discussion topics useful in syllabi and lesson plan creation. This book opens with a discussion about helping students define empathy. Later, she writes about the teacher's role beyond content delivery. Readers are encouraged to model empathy in the classroom and the community.

Where this book falls short is the limited definition of empathy and the creation of a direct link to caring about others. Empathy is undoubtedly about the ability to understand another's feelings. Examples provided seem to place being nice over having an accurate understanding of what happened. Why should I be nice? How does caring look? Friendship is not enough. Accurate empathy goes beyond emotion to also understand circumstances and worldviews. My hope is for an ongoing conversation about the role of empathy and emotional intelligence in the broader social dialogues of our times. How does one use empathy to solve problems?

While this book provides a guide to help their students build better relationships, gain greater understanding from other course materials, and enjoy the benefits associated with social engagement, it does not place empathy in the context of problem-solving tool. In that aspect, this book is disappointing. ( )

This is a thin but practical book aimed mainly at younger students but which contains a number of ideas useful for classroom "teachable moments." That said, too much of the book is spent convincing the reader of the value of empathy and teaching empathy, and too much of the book assumes that the teacher has classroom time available for doing explicit lessons in empathy. As a science teacher with a strict scope & sequence, I can't take time out to do stuff that's appropriate for humanities classes (reading stories about empathy and discussing characters' choices). But there are a few useful bits where I can imagine shifting one of the author's scripts into something more suitable for my classroom context, and I'll implement those. ( )

No disrespect to the author, but I really did not like this book much at all. I don't feel that the book offers many meaningful contributions to the existing body of literature on empathy, nor does it provide concrete guidelines for how to teach empathy--at least not enough or as many as I was expecting. I was looking for the strategies that were promised--not repetitive chatter. I provide individual and group counseling to middle school students, so I was a bit shocked not to see any content regarding the role of school social workers in supplementing/adding to these lessons on empathy. I have read other books on emotional intelligence that actually provide examples of interactions between teachers/parents and children/youth with suggestions about how we can respond or intervene to promote empathy. If empathy requires experiential learning, how are we to respond in the moment such that we promote these experiential learning opportunities? We cannot just say that empathy should emerge primarily from organic relationships without expanding upon our role in that... in a concrete way. What do I say when x happens or when y student says z? What are some empathic responses? You cannot expect all of us to guess at how to model empathy for young people when your book promises to give strategies. I admit that my being autistic might have influenced my interpretation of this book, but assume we are all autistic and spell it out!

I also found the book to be culturally insensitive. Although I appreciated the attempt to encourage acceptance of trans and gender non-conforming people (I am transgender, myself), I did not approve of the historical figures chosen by the author. Mother Theresa is *not* a saint. The folks who traveled out west were *not* pioneers because people already discovered the west before they got there. These are just a couple of examples. In our school, a lot of the kids, who are predominantly of color, are legitimately sick of their histories not being represented by classroom instruction. Abraham Lincoln was a racist who did not actually want true racial equality. I rest my case. Please recognize that the kids you teach know you are lying to them. They aren't stupid, and I don't appreciate these continued efforts to encourage teachers to tell those lies. They may have to adhere to regulations or add specific content to the curriculum, but that does not mean they are barred from offering a more truthful version of our shared history as a species. If your empathy is superficial and based on regurgitated "facts," is it really empathy? Are we really encouraging empathy by erasing social ills and marginalizing those students who are oppressed by them? Please do better in that regard.

I did like the examples of youth activism. Those examples were the most meaningful of all the examples provided in the book. I think that sharing those examples with students is a good strategy for encouraging compassion for others. I am also a strong youth activism advocate and wish we could make activism a bigger focus. I and many other scholars, organizers, social workers, etc. have had difficulties getting schools to approve of activism, especially around educational justice. This may be one way to get around that. ( )

The thought I kept returning to over and over again while reading Henshon's book, Teaching Empathy, is everything she says seems like it should be common sense. I've come to the conclusion she gives deceptively simple advice in a very short book (less than 150 pages). Yes, we should be aware of the differences in our society. We should be taking that awareness and creating action that makes a strong and lasting impact. We know this and yet instead, we live in a society which places blame on outsiders. We are given permission to hate any and everyone we cannot understand. Our current administration encourages us to act intolerant and is completely dismissive of our ignorance. Henshon's book is deceptively simple because in our heart of hearts we know we should be practicing empathy as well as teaching it to our children. Her book is timely, but is it too late? I hope not. ( )