Empathic Instruction (EI) is a series of evidence-based professional learning exercises for educators. Both teachers and students lose out when they do not share relationships built on trust, respect, and care. Fortunately, teachers are some of the most empathic members of our society. EI will help teachers in your community harness the power of the empathy they already possess.

Proven Impact

Dr. Okonofua's research shows that empathic teaching leads to:

  • Improved student-teacher relationships and behavioral outcomes
  • Reduced suspensions, up to 50% in randomized studies
  • Better outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities and students of color

“definitely causes you to pause, to think, 'What am I doing to resolve conflicts? How am I doing it?... How could I make it better?'

— Participating Teacher

Tailored to the Community

Positive teacher-student relationships matter in every classroom. But the path to positive teacher-student relationships is rarely the same from one relationship to the next. A key to EI’s effectiveness comes from acknowledging this reality and providing the most effective approaches to address each unique situation. But how?

Teachers find professional learning more appealing and resonant when they recognize its relevance to their own experiences. In order to make EI relevant and applicable, our team of Stanford-trained researchers collects input from teachers and administrators in each of our partner districts. The team then uses that information to tailor the EI materials with local examples, familiar language, and references to shared priorities and resources. In turn, teachers become better equipped to internalize and apply empathic teaching practices in their own work.

“The questions stir you… it makes us conscious of what we are doing. To note and actually write it out and identify it... And it’s not necessarily something that we’ve been taught to do per se.

— Participating Teacher

In the News

Low Burden, High Impact

  • Job-embedded, asynchronous professional learning for teachers and administrators.
  • One 45-minute professional learning exercise per semester.
  • Teachers learn research-based approaches for classroom management and relationship building, and make plans for applying those approaches to their current students.

Evidence-Based

  • Empathic teaching promotes positive student outcomes and higher teacher job satisfaction and confidence.
  • A kick-off presentation by Dr. Okonofua highlights the latest research and explains the psychological processes that make empathic teaching so powerful.
  • EI exercises draw from numerous research-practice collaborations across diverse contexts.

Elevate Teacher Voice

  • Capture teachers' insights and challenges, as well as opportunities for district and school leaders to better support teachers in the future.
  • Teachers' opinions and observations remain confidential: they are only shared in aggregated form.
  • End-of-year reports summarize key findings from your district.

Easy to Implement

  • Districts appoint an EI facilitator who works with the EI team to customize the exercises to your district and schedule activities.
  • It takes less than 6 hours per semester for the facilitator to support implementation across a whole district.

 

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