Motivation

There are some essential features for the implementation of an Empathy for Children programme. ‘Implementation’ here is defined as the way the program is put into practice. We should not think of the programme by itself as being effective. It is the well implemented programme that is effective. Therefore, it is important in an Empathy for Children programme to carefully consider how to support implementation regarding a number of factors that are crucial for quality implementation.

 

• Adherence
• Dosage
• Delivery
• Participant responsiveness
• Program differentiation
• Monitoring of control,
• Programme reach
• Adaptation

Here we should emphasize two key points; adherence and adaptation. Adherence to the program requires thoroughly working with the core components and activities in the program. The various elements that the programme is comprised of are crucial to producing the intended effects. But adaptation to the local context is also necessary. Changes made in the programme to fit the school’s capacity and resources, to students’ and teacher’s cultural values and former experiences can also be crucial.

 

We recommend that trainers closely follow the E4C Toolkit that can be downloaded below, but at the same time we must emphasise that the trainers’ sensitivity to the teachers, and the specific needs of the group, and the teachers’ adaptation and sensitivity to a specific school context and learning situation are crucial factors for the success of an Empathy for Children programme. 

 

The trainers’ willingness to dive into dialogue with the participants is absolutely imperative. The dialogue exercises, the physical exercises and the inner exercises are all vital for the process, but the trainer can switch some of the exercises presented in the program with the `extra exercises´, which can be found at the end of the E4C Toolkit. This allows for the possibility of fine-tuning the balance between the various types of exercises. Bear in mind that the teachers have to become familiar with the dialogue as well as the physical and inner exercises. Trainers should be mindful of the fact that it is important to repeat the same exercises several times to support awareness.