Schools and Organizations

As we lay the foundation for a world in which every child masters empathy, we begin with an acute awareness of the challenges ahead: too often, essential skills like empathy get crowded out of the learning agenda; and too often, even when a skill like empathy is addressed, it fails to permeate the school culture. 

Overcoming those challenges will require powerful examples of empathy at work in education and among young people at large, and unequivocal evidence of its essential role in preparing students for success—in school, at work, and in life—in a quickly evolving world.

The good news is that many schools around the world already see this future and are leading the way there. Ashoka is collaborating with leading elementary schools to show why empathy matters for children's success and how to create the sorts of school environments in which every child learns and practices this skill. More specifically, we're looking for schools, school networks, and children's programs with:

 

  • Influence: schools that have demonstrated their desire and ability to lead,  and/or those that are regularly upheld as effective models. We're looking at schools of all institutional types—public, public charter, and private; large and small; urban and rural, low-income and affluent. We're also looking for influential networks that reach large numbers of schools, students, parents, and educators. 
  • Alignment: schools that already see empathy as critical to their mission as educators and to the long-term success of their students. We're looking for schools that want to integrate empathy learning beyond one classroom or program, and make it an anchor of the school-wide commitment to create the ideal environment in which to work and learn.  
  • Innovation: schools with a history of changemaking, and of pioneering new ideas. We're looking for the principals, superintendents, teachers, parents and others who see the need for change in education, and won't hesitate to develop and try new methods and models.

Know of a school or children's program we should talk to? Email us at empathy@ashoka.org.