The power of the pronoun "I".
Imagine telling the story of someone else's life, but doing it from their point of view using that powerful word, "I". Participants were asked to do just that through an interview process. I chatted with a fellow workshop participant and learned as much as I could about his life. I then took on the role of him and told everyone about "my" life. Through this process, I internalized so much more information about this stranger than I would have if I just wrote it down and reported out. Putting myself in his shoes and seeing life from his perspective gave new insight.
Shelley, one of the workshop leaders, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of empathy for feeding creativity. Seeing the world from multiple perspectives is powerful and can lead to the creation of new, original ideas. Creativity can often come from joy and happy places, but more times than not, it comes from pain and hurt. With the continued release of creativity, comes the further development of compassion and empathy. This empathy and understanding of others is something that is largely lacking in many of the students I work with. They don't know how to imagine the world from someone else's shoes and are primarily concerned with themselves. An activity like this could be a powerful tool for helping my students to develop a better understanding of others' feelings. Empathy development is essential for fighting the terrible culture of bullying that exists in many schools today.
No comments:
Post a Comment