Changemaker Curriculum Live

First published on April 24 2021:  https://dadvengers.com/how-to-cultivate-empathy-in-our-children-and-why-it-matters/ ‘Don’t mess with that cupboard; its got poison in it; and poison is so dangerous, people can die if they drink it.  What would Mommy and Daddy do without their little boy?’ The 3 year old boy looked at his Daddy and said, calmly, ‘but Daddy, you could just get another little boy.’ This conversation stays with me.  It marks the beginning of my curiosity about our childrens’ empathy and it’s led me on a journey filled with so many questions:  Are we born with the ability to read and respond to each others’ feelings?  If not, when does this develop?  Does it happen naturally or does it need to be taught?   Why might this be important? How empathetic am I?  How might understanding empathy help me support my two children, now 7 and 9, to grow up well and happy? Empathy, commonly confused with sympathy, is not feeling sorry for so...

Originally published on 21st May 2021:   https://www.edge.co.uk/news-and-events/blogs/shaun-mcinerney-is-senior-project-coordinator-for-changemaker-education-at-ashoka-uk-a-post-funded-by-the-edge-foundation/ ‘Why is it that everything you care about is worth precisely zero points in the IB?’ This was not strictly true. I was sitting in the back of a 4x4 bumping along potholed Mumbai roads, engaged in a lively conversation with a colleague, an IB History teacher, about where our school priorities should lie.    Living in Mumbai in the early 2000’s, as it embraced globalisation in all its complexity was exhilarating. The past and future combined to create a hyperreal present. Teaching IB Economics developed critical awareness but was it helping young people make sense of themselves in the world?  My answer, and the source of my colleague’s jibe, was the Community Leadership Programme I started.  130 students exploring their emotional selves and a social...