![]() Instead, let’s watch what happens with our students and our classrooms when we repeat the importance of kindness. When we as teachers plan for kindness, let us not limit our plan to a single event or a single age group. They are building Secret Kindness Agents into their program, and fifth-graders are in charge. The actions reverberate.Īs for my own class, we are advising an anti-bullying middle school club in a neighborhood that has seen its share of violence. We talk about it at meetings and in classes, and we’ve heard from staff that students are more compassionate. Many instructors are making kindness part of the curriculum. Professors and students talk about how they receive kind actions and what a kind action really means. The tone in the hallways and classrooms is changing. As a group, we not only acted on our kindness we discussed how our actions could improve.Īs one post-graduate student explained, “Kindness is behaving like a human.”Īs for the results at our university, the halls throughout our building now hold notes about kindness. This requires collectively talking about these ideas and listening. Instead of simply doing what we think best, we envision the effects of our actions on others. This is the first step toward social justice. It’s about really seeing the people around you. It’s about trying to understand what others need from you and doing your best to provide it. It is not enough just to say, “Good job.” Active kindness is about more than just being nice. “This person probably doesn’t even know me,” I overheard her say. I chose this student because I knew she was struggling but working hard at school. I wrote on a card, “I see the good work you do” and arranged for it to be delivered to a student. ![]() I quickly learned, however, that active kindness requires more work than I’d expected. The first assignment my class chose seemed simple: We would each share an anonymous, positive note with someone-kindness with no expectation of a response. From practicing kindness as a means of action, students’ perceptions of others can change. How would a classroom culture change if students were regularly, anonymously sharing positive notes with classmates? How could classroom agreements change if we regularly asked students to act on kindness, without any expectation of thanks or even recognition? What assignments could we do as a class? What could we learn? These types of assignments are initially about awareness and a way of thinking about identity. ![]() We considered how teachers of any grade-not just elementary-could encourage students to be kind. Compassion is when you do something good without any expectations-based on realizing that ‘the other person is also just like me.’” That involves attachment because it is based on expectation. He states, “Compassion is not just being kind to your friend. In my class, students drew on the work of the Dali Lama-who also inspired Pearson-to consider the idea of kindness. Kindness can help us build connections to those whose experiences are different from our own. Why? As we advocate for social justice, we need to understand that kindness is a point of connection-a first step that can further new awareness and understanding of different ideas, cultures and people. Most schools discuss the value of kindness in elementary school, but at some point, the talk stops. When is the last time you considered this? We began by discussing what it means to be kind. After reading this story, I decided that my own students at Ohio Northern University could benefit from practicing active kindness as well. Each week, Mangahis’ high school students become spies, working in secret to seek out and offer acts of kindness at their school. “ Secret Agents of Kindness” tells the story of how educator Ferial Pearson’s program of active kindness inspired Erin Mangahis, another teacher, to take on this work. How do we teach compassion? It requires action.
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