Fostering Connections: The Role of Empathy in Our Lives
We live in a society where we’re constantly encouraged to be positive, find the silver lining, and “stay strong.” But what if that advice isn’t always what people need? What if, instead of trying to fix things, we simply need to be present with others in their pain? That’s where empathy steps in, making a […]
Eco-Friendly Living: Tips and Tricks for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint at Home
These days, environmental issues are a big part of international discussion, so more and more people are looking for ways to live healthier lives and contribute less of a carbon footprint. One of the most important places to start making a difference is at home. Adding environmentally friendly habits into our daily lives can foster […]
Ways to Implement Self-Care in Young Children
In today’s fast-paced world, instilling the value of self-care in children is more important than ever. Self-care means taking care of the whole self. It is the foundation on which we build our care and love for the world (We R Native, 2021). The Medicine Wheel is an ancient symbol used by some of the […]
Understanding Compassionate Empathy: Connecting with Others on a Deeper Level
Empathy is a basis of human interaction, allowing us to understand and share the emotions of those around us. Among its various forms, compassionate empathy stands out as particularly impactful. While emotional and cognitive empathy focus on understanding, compassionate empathy goes further, driving us to take action to aid in relieving the heavy emotions another […]
Fostering Peace Skills in Youth Through Representation
In today’s diverse and media-heavy world, the power of representation is greater than ever, particularly for youth. Representation extends beyond visibility and helps teach youth valuable life skills. Media representation refers to how the media portrays groups or individuals with different characteristics. It refers to how some aspects such as gender, age, ethnicity, physical ability, […]
Using the Enneagram as a Tool for Empathy
I’ve never had much interest in personality tests, until I was introduced to the Enneagram of Personality by a close friend (and former TREE facilitator!) around five years ago. Since then, it’s something that I reflect on often as a way to have a deeper understanding of myself and to have a stronger understanding of […]
The Rewards of Celebrating Differences
One of the TREE workshops that I facilitated in the last session was with a Grade 1/2 split class, using the TREE Grade 2 curriculum. I really enjoyed working with the students and their teacher, since they were nice students who listened quite well and had high participation in group activities. But of course, some […]
Building Empathy
In the fourth week of TREE’s Grade 3 Conflict Resolution curriculum, the focus is on Empathy. How to build empathy for another person, and how to show empathy to another person. At the beginning of the class, the students are asked to share some of the feelings that they have experienced before. Everything from sad, […]
Becoming an Active Bystander: Online Bystandership
When thinking about being an active bystander, we often think of examples from when we are at school, our workplaces, or in public. What is more difficult to think of, but just as prevalent for most of us, (if not more), is how we can be an active bystander in the online world. Having a […]
Becoming an Active Bystander: 5 D’s of Bystandership
When seeing harm happening in our communities, it can be difficult to know what we can do about it. It often takes time to know how to intervene, and can be difficult to think of in the moment. The 5 D’s are a few methods that can be used in different situations when we see […]
