Coffin Corner

Today, we're thrilled to unveil StartEmpathy: a new digital home for parents, educators, students, and fellow enthusiasts looking to make the case for why empathy matters, and to share and discover the best practices for developing it. Here you can keep-up-to-date on the mounting evidence of why empathy is a crucial 21st century skill, and understand the latest in brain, science and education research. You can discover profiles of schools and programs that are getting empathy education right, and simple tips and tricks for cultivating empathy in your home, in your school, and even in yourself.

A few ways to get started:

• VOTE on your favorite school or organization in Ashoka Changemakers' competition, "Activating Empathy: Transforming Schools to Teach What Matters". We've whittled the more than 600 entries received down to 15: now it's your turn to decide the winners.

• SHARE your favorite book or movie that helped you get into someone else's shoes for the chance to get into our top 10 list of the best empathy-building stories.

• JOIN our community and recruit your friends by liking us on Facebook, using the hashtag #StartEmpathy, and signing up for empathy updates and opportunities.

Ready. Set. Go!

These days, depressing statistics about the state of US schools abound: former New York City Schools Superintendent Joel Klein recently co-authored a report with Condoleeza Rice stating the dysfunction to be found in America's public schools threatened our economy, our global influence, and our national security. That kind of bad publicity has led school administrators across the country to put recess on the chopping block, along with everything else not expressly focused on academic learning.

But what if the secret to improved learning lay outside the classroom? What if equipping kids with the kind of skills and habits essential to success the workplace-the kind not measured on standardized tests-could also put an end to bullying? And what if the success of our schools lay in more recess, not less?

A new Stanford study on Playworks, founded by Ashoka Fellow Jill Vialet, suggests just that.

Read more.

"If you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far." Daniel Goleman

Look no further than the role of empathy in human-centered design, in conflict resolution, in the boardroom -yes, even in the preservation of the earth (don't take our word for it ) - and you'll realize that empathy matters for reasons beyond the fact that learning outcomes improve (though for the record, they do). As a loyal reader of Empathy Matters, chances are you knew that already.

But we also know that there are some folks out there who could use a little more convincing. That's why we've put together a cheat sheet to help you make the case, whether you're a teacher urging your principal to prioritize play, or a parent deciding what kind of education you really want for your child. So the next time you find yourself being asked whether empathy can really be taught, or trying to explain just how it impacts the learning environment, you'll be ready.

Read on.

A year ago, filmmakers Tom and Amy Valens set out in search of a community of educators who refused to let the current national obsession with reading and math distract them from the equally vital mission of helping students learn to think -and act- empathetically.

Their search ended at the front door of the Mission Hill School, and in the classrooms of veteran educators Ayla Gavins, Jenerra Williams, and Kathy Klunis-D'Andrea.

We recently followed Tom and Amy's video cameras inside the classrooms, to understand how a public elementary in a low-income Boston neighborhood is able to enjoy a 96% attendance rate, with zero suspensions this year. There we discovered what's possible when adults commit to meet the full range of needs -intellectually, socially, and emotionally- that children bring to school each day.

See for yourself.

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