Visit highlights empathy education with University of Galway and Cillian Murphy

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Earlier this year, Sabine Klahr, the interim vice provost for Penn State Global, attended the “Acting with Empathy” event in Dublin, alongside Marc Brennan, professor and UNESCO chair; Max Crowle and Michael Donovan from the Penn State Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center; and two student delegates. The event, focused on empathy education, was co-hosted by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre with Irish actor and UNESCO patron Cillian Murphy.

Held at the historic Stella Theater, the private event featured an exclusive screening of “Small Things Like These,” adapted from the Claire Keegan novel, followed by a discussion with Irish broadcaster John Kelly. The evening also included a live Q&A with Murphy and two UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre youth researchers about Murphy's patronage in empathy education.

“Cillian has been a massive advocate for youth voice and empathy education for over 10 years,” said Brennan. “His patronage of the UNESCO Centre in Galway has allowed the importance of empathy to become elevated to such a wider global audience.  His support and impact have truly been a game changer."

Researchers from the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre launched the Empathy Project in 2017 to enable the development of interventions such as curricula for secondary schools, programs for community youth work, and policy frameworks for governments.

The "Activating Empathy" program, developed in collaboration with the Penn State Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, has had a significant impact by equipping young people with empathy, social values, and civic behavior through youth work programs and secondary schools across Ireland. A key goal was to implement “real-world” applications based on researched evidence by and for engaged youth.

While many empathy education initiatives are targeted towards elementary school children, this 12-week program was designed with a curriculum for teachers of 14- to 18-year-old students and another adapted for teaching 18- to 25-year-olds.

The program aims to teach youth to understand empathy, develop and strengthen empathy skills, and apply those skills. It also focuses on identifying and addressing barriers to empathy through a social action project. Students are empowered to see the empathy in their daily lives and apply it through civic engagement.

“Ionbhá: The Empathy Book for Ireland”, co-edited by Brennan and Murphy with Pat Dolan and Gillian Browne of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, was created as a companion to the "Activating Social Empathy" curriculum. It includes reflections on empathy from notable Irish figures and musicians, such as President Michael Higgins and Hozier, to Ireland’s general public.

Empathy education has since been successfully rooted throughout Ireland. The program was activated in 25 Irish schools, and evaluated based on student attitudes, social values and interpersonal behaviors. Positive changes were reported in youth, and the curriculum is now available as a free resource for schools in Ireland.

In the long run, the Empathy Project is hoping to help decrease bullying and violence and strengthen the way people retain information with interactive learning. The consistent reflection built into the curriculum also promotes personal growth among students.

“The demand from schools, universities and a wide range of other settings for the empathy education curriculum has been enormous,” Brennan said. “It’s amazing to see that people get it. Empathy isn’t about sympathy; it’s about trying to understand each other. In our divided society and world, the ability to understand where others are coming from is huge!”

The UNESCO Centre is now looking to create international opportunities for this crucial youth education. As a result, plans to launch the UNESCO Global Observatory  for Youth Empathy and Engaged Citizenship, to be co-located with Penn State, were also shared with potential sponsors in attendance at the “Acting with Empathy” event.

Penn State, in partnership with the UNESCO Centre at the University of Galway, has been a driving force in developing the Global Observatory for Youth Empathy and Engaged Citizenship. 

The global consortium will bring together internal and external partners to focus on empathy, global citizenship and social justice efforts aimed at building more stable, civil societies. Its goal is to make empathy universally understood through programs, interventions and research that will shape global policy. Partners will form a global empathy education think-tank to share and connect research and to support young people to take active roles in their communities. An emphasis will be placed on serving youth in vulnerable states or those located in post-conflict countries.

During times of turmoil, empathy must be at the forefront, noted Brennan.

"Empathy isn’t just a soft skill," he said, "It’s the foundation for building a better, more understanding world.”

To learn more about the observatory, Penn State’s ongoing work with UNESCO, or how to become involved, visit https://agsci.psu.edu/unesco.