Empathy Mapping

Now you are going to practise empathy by thinking carefully about someone else’s experience.

Working in pairs, start with an A4 sheet of paper or a page in your jotter. Draw a pupil in the centre of the page and give them a name.

This pupil is just about to start secondary school.

Divide your page into four sections and discuss what this pupil might be experiencing:

• What might they be thinking?
• What might they be feeling?
• What might they be saying?
• What might they be doing?

There are no right or wrong answers. The aim is to think carefully about someone else’s point of view. And we may all have different views of starting secondary.

If time allows, your teacher may ask you to share some of your ideas and discuss:

• How easy or difficult was it to imagine how this pupil might feel?
• Did all the pupils you created feel the same?
• How could understanding these feelings help you show empathy to new classmates?