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Advocacy Group Project

Empathy Interventions for the Diversity of Disability

Becky Chenoweth, Karen Gilliam, and Emily Lemons

Lewis and Clark College

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Advocacy Group Project

Empathy Interventions for the Diversity of Disability

Introduction
In K-12 schools, it is common to have a week dedicated to the topic of Diversity where

students and staff celebrate our human differences and advocate for multiculturalism, equity, and

inclusion toward all individuals. During this week, classroom and school wide activities promote

discussions around diversity, multiculturalism, equity, and inclusion through tools such as film

screenings, guest speakers, parent education events, workshops, panels, live music, and themed

assemblies (The Buckley School, 2017). However, there is one aspect of diversity week that does

not seem to get as much attention: Disability. The topic of disability is not addressed during this

week that is meant to celebrate multiculturalism, equity, and inclusion, eliminating the

opportunity to advocate for the intersectionality of diversity within disability.

The following pages consist of a proposal for an empathy intervention curriculum for a

fourth grade cohort that advocates for disability to be included in the diversity discussion.

Instead of using one week to discuss and explore the topic of diversity, this curriculum would

take place over the course of a month—in addition to diversity week—complete with lessons on

the topic of diversity of disability with the goal to increase awareness and create empathy

between students. These lessons would be taught by the school counselor with assistance from

classroom teachers. In the proposal, the advocacy problem is identified as the lack of empathy in

our social models, how this leads to bullying of students with disabilities, and why empathy

intervention in school culture is so imperative. Secondly, the proposal rationalizes how the

empathy intervention curriculum, or product, will resolve the advocacy problem. Lastly, the

proposal addresses how our product supports advocacy for disabilities as diversity, and gives a

detailed outline of our empathy intervention curriculum.

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Problems Identified
When disability is not viewed as a component of diversity, it creates attitudes that lack

empathy, fostering “otherness” or exclusion, and can lead to bullying in schools. As empathy “is

the ability to understand and share the feelings of others” (Oxford University Press, 2017),

celebrating and advocating for the diversity of disabilities presents a need for action. Therefore,

the need for empathy interventions is critical. When the field of education recognizes human

variation as a form of diversity, it will advocate inclusion between students with disabilities and

temporarily abled-bodied (TABS) students within the school community (McCullough, 2017).

Empathy interventions will create opportunities for students to empathize with the similarities

and differences faced by all students within the school and community, learn language to address

disability, promote conversations around disabilities in the educational context and ideally

beyond the school community. By including disability as a form of diversity, students will be

able to recognize the visible and invisible disabilities of their peers and develop a “meaningful

understanding of disability or any genuine appreciation for the diversity” (Lalvani, 2015).

Social Model

According to the article Empathy, Caring, and Bullying: Toward an Understanding of

Complex Associations, psychologists Dorothy Espelage, Sarah Mebane, and Ryan Adams (2004)

state that a lack of empathy between children creates bullying behavior. The article describes a

child’s “ability to empathize with others is related to the ability to create pro-social behaviors

and block aggressive behaviors,” identifying a learned social behavior (Espelage, Mebane, &

Adams, 2004). The behavior can be connected to the social model, where instead of the medical

model saying “this person is the problem”, the language can shift to a social model approach,

where “society is the problem” (McCullough, 2017). With the social model, the problem is
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externalized from the person and pointed toward the influence of social structures. By

externalizing the lack of empathy toward disability, a school culture can address the need to

promote language that advocates the intersectionality of diversity and disabilities.

Other than language, there are barriers that prevent a school wide culture to change. In

the work of Susan J. Peters (2009), she points to “several significant barriers to achieving

equitable rights and fundamental freedoms for disabled people exist”, and that “these barriers are

contextually dependent on cultural, economic, and political factors that constitute both causes

and effects of the discrimination inherent in educational inequality”. The barriers around the

problem of not viewing disability as a component of diversity in schools have to do with a “lack

of reliable or comparable demographic data” and a “lack of conceptual and attitudinal

understanding regarding impairment and disability” (Peters, 2009). This requires the

administration to know their school populations by review the data, to be knowledgeable of

disability, and promote inclusive attitudes about its diversity into the school culture.

Bullying

According to the documentary Bully (2011), director Lee Hirsch points out that “one third

of all students are bullied”. In this film, the narrative of Alex Libby displays an unfortunate

victim of lack of empathic understanding prevalent among students in the school system today.

This film relays the reality of Alex Libby, a 12 year old student with Asperger’s syndrome and a

long history of being bullied, as he struggles to fit into his first year of middle school. Alex’s

narrative is a disheartening example of the cruelty embedded in our schools and therefore in our

society as a whole. While statistics are difficult to quantify, “children with disabilities and

special needs…may be at a particular risk of being bullied by their peers” (Quigney & Studer,
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2016). Therefore, the need for awareness and sensitivity of diversity and the building of empathy

is imperative, starting at the grade school level.

Empathy in School Culture

To ensure students with disabilities are accepted and not bullied by their peers, a basic

understanding of empathy and a strong school culture are vital. According to a Colorado study,

school culture has a strong impact on bullying: “when the overall school climate encouraged

learning, and cooperation, children with high self-esteem were unlikely to be bullies; when the

school climate was hostile, those with high self-esteem were often bullies” (Berger, 2015).

Empathy intervention is not only effective to empower bystanders and improve school culture, it

can change the attitude of peers because “…bullies tend to be low on empathy, they need peers

to teach them that their actions are not admired” (Berger, 2015). Empowering students with tools

on how to approach bullying is crucial. These tools not only increase empathy and anti-bullying

awareness, they build a stronger school culture where peers “must do more than simply notice

bullying...if they empathize with victims [and] refuse to admire bullies, classroom aggression is

reduced” (Berger, 2015). As these tools change attitudes around bullying, students will be

empowered to advocate and empathize with students with disabilities.

Problem Rationale
Raskauskas & Modell (2011) have narrowed down three areas that schools can target

when addressing/modifying programs for the entire school community: awareness building,

efficacy building, and skill building. Integrating empathy interventions allows staff, students, and

families to understand what defines disability and similarities and differences within disability.

Including disability in diversity curriculum creates a multifaceted framework for students to

understand human variation. To appreciate and understand human variation, schools must
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cultivate empathy in and between students. Not only does an empathy intervention address

acceptance of human variation, it is the groundwork necessary to reduce bullying. When

everyone is on the same page, the school climate is shaped into a safe and supportive

atmosphere. Students can recognize the appropriate language that surrounds disability, and feel

empowered to report or correct other students because the approach emphasizes “educating and

involving everyone affiliated with the school about bullying and their roles in changing the

culture” (Raskauskas & Modell, 2011).

Our empathy intervention curriculum is designed to connect disability with diversity, and

cultivate empathy in a fourth grade class to curb bullying and ‘otherness’ of students with

disabilities. Our curriculum is a level-one art based empathy intervention targeting an entire

fourth grade cohort, including all general and special education classrooms. All classes would

focus on the connection of disability to diversity and human variation to cultivate empathy. We

chose to focus our empathy intervention on the fourth-grade age group, the tail end of ‘middle

childhood.’ This age group is ideal for cultivating morality, understanding complex rationales,

and is a pivotal moment in social status for bullies. “Age is also an important factor. For most of

childhood, bullies are disliked, but a switch occurs at about age 11, when bullying becomes a

way to gain social status.” (Berger, 2015). Fourth graders are at a crucial age for bullying

interventions and increasing conversations around empathy.

Problem Addressed
Our empathy intervention is designed to be a Level-1 Response to Intervention. “In Level

1, the environment is the general education classroom in which is implemented scientifically

validated instructional strategies and curricular options” (Quigney & Studer, 2016). As

mentioned above, school culture and the effectiveness of bullying rely heavily on the
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intervention and sense of empathy of peers. Due to this, a cohort-wide curriculum has the highest

potential of cultivating empathy and eventually reducing bullying. This age group is also able to

understand complex topics, and participate in a group discussion.

The first step of the curriculum is a pre-assessment to gauge school culture, personal

beliefs, and collect data. The assessment is based on the approach of Dr. Michele Borba (2017)

in her research presentation, Cultivating Empathy: The Best antidote to bullying; Borba

recommends to display the data of both pre and post assessments to promote awareness,

inclusivity, and empathy in each fourth grade classroom. Students would anonymously answer

“yes or no” questions for the empathy intervention assessment with show of hands and with their

eyes sheltered from viewing other students’ votes. This pre-assessment allows students to

individually reflect on human variation without pressure from their peers.

After the assessment, counselors will show students the video of Sherry La Fira reading

It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr (2001). Following the video, the school counselor will lead

the class in a discussion. Group discussions can allow students to reflect on their personal

morality, moral issues, and advances ideas of human variation, which will “stimulate a process

of individual reflection that triggers developmental advances” (Berger, 2015). The school

counselor will also talk about visible and invisible differences, disability, and empathy.

After the discussion, students will participate in an empathy art project. Students will

draw how they are the same and different from their peers. They will be encouraged to frame the

similarities and differences positively. Students will also be encouraged to work individually so

peer pressure doesn’t affect their self-reflection and art.

For this empathy intervention, we chose art as the medium because “drawing creates an

opportunity for the child to communicate feelings, thoughts, ideas, and perceptions…students are
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able to get in touch with feelings that have been buried and unacknowledged, and this often has a

calming effect, particularly when a student feels pressured to talk about uncomfortable emotions

or experiences” (Quigney & Studer, 2016). Art as a means of expression is also accessible to all

abilities, and “has been used with students who are learning disabled or for those with speech

impairments” (Quigney & Studer, 2016). We believe that by using an accessible, calming, and

creative outlet for students to self-reflect, students will be able to express personal feelings that

they may not be comfortable expressing otherwise. We chose to focus on similarities and

differences so students can gain a connection to their peers while also showcasing each student's’

individuality.

After the students create their art projects, counselors will set up student art in a gallery

format. The gallery will only be available for the fourth grade cohort, teachers, and

administrators to ensure students feel their expression is safe and anonymous. In viewing peers’

art, students will recognize the visible and invisible variations amongst them, fostering self-

reflection and empathy for their peers.

Counselors will facilitate a reflection discussion guided with questions after the gallery

walk regarding what students saw. Counselors will emphasize that all students have differences,

and those differences are varied but none are better or worse than others. Counselors will also

discuss similarities across the cohort to remind students of common morality. Finally, the

counselor will distribute a final survey to gauge changes in attitude, effectiveness of curriculum,

and potential for further interventions.

Product

Empathy Intervention for Disability as Diversity Curriculum Outline

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Overview:

1. Data Collection
a. Pre-Assessment questions, anonymous, record data
b. Video: It’s OK to be different by Todd Parr
c. KWL Chart, Fill out “K”
2. Discussion of Diversity, Disability, and Empathy
a. Activate knowledge, understand environment, listen to kids
b. KWL Chart- Fill out “W”
3. Art Project
a. “How we are Similar and Different”
4. Art Gallery Walk
a. All fourth grade classes
5. Reflection Discussion
a. What did you notice?
6. Final Assessment
a. Repeat assessment questions, anonymous, record data
b. KWL Chart- Fill out “L”

Assessment Questions

1. Do you sometimes feel different from your classmates?

2. Do you sometimes feel not included?
3. Do you try to include others in your group?
4. Do you have friends who are very different from you?
5. Do you think being different is good?
6. Have you ever called someone a name because they are different?

(To be answered “yes or no”, anonymously)

Diversity Discussion Outline

1. Use the KWL Chart to begin the diversity discussion:

a. “K” = “What we already know”
b. “W” = “What we want to know”
c. “L” = “What we learned”
2. Begin to fill in the “K” of KWL Chart on the topic ‘Diversity’
3. Ask students “What do we know about the word Diversity? What does it mean to
you?”
4. Write answers on chart
5. Play video for students on media screen in class
a. It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr, read by Sherry La Fira
b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYf3prwXJU
6. Discuss Video
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a. Are you like any of the characters? Which ones? More than one?
b. Talk about diversity – all of the characters represent diversity
c. One kind of diversity is called disabilities. What is a disability? A body part or
way of thinking that works differently.
d. Does anyone have family member who uses a cane or a hearing aid?
i. Communicate that people of all ages have disabilities. Introduce the fact
that some disabilities are seen and some are invisible at this point in the
conversation. Give a few examples and ask if students know or know of
old people and young people with disabilities with visible or invisible
disabilities.
7. Are there students with visible and invisible disabilities in our school? How can we
show respect for all with our words/language?
a. Examples from Kathie Snow’s lesson plan, Same and Different: Respect for
All:
 Use People First Language
 Put the person before the disability
 Curiosity is ok but staring can hurt...say Hi and introduce yourself
 A PWD wants to have friends just like you do
 If the person looks like they need help, ask first!
 Avoid goodwill goggles
 Focus on what the PWD can do!

8. Begin to fill in the “W” of KWL chart: What we want to know

9. Conclude Discussion
a. Disabilities are just differences, they make us diverse. Differences make us
unique and special, and interesting. Sometimes people think that differences are
bad, but they are what make us special, unique, and give us different strengths.
Differences are important and we all have them. We are all alike in some ways
and different in others.

Art Project

1. Start with class discussion:

a. How are you like your classmates?
b. How are you different?
c. Maybe there’s something about yourself that your classmates don’t know that
makes you different? (Visible and Invisible)
d. Write answers on the board

2. Art Project Instructions:

a) Draw a line down the center of your paper
b) On the left side at the top write ‘Same’
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c) On the right side at the top write ‘Different’

d) Draw how you are similar and different. Choose one or many things to put in
your drawing. How do you see your similarities and differences?

Art Gallery Walk

Counselor will arrange the art created from students in all the 4th grade

classrooms. Students walk around and look at the art, and will return to their classrooms

for a “similar and different” themed discussion. Counselors will facilitate a reflection

discussion guided with questions after the gallery walk regarding what students saw.

Counselors will emphasize that differences are varied, and discuss similarities across the

cohort to remind students of common morality.

Reflection Discussion

1. Counselor leads discussion based on art created, starts with questions:

a. Which ones stood out to you? Why?

b. Did you notice any similarities? Did anyone have the same differences?
c. Did anything surprise you?
d. How does it feel to see the differences?
e. Were similarities and challenges visible or invisible?
f. Some question about...has their thinking about disability changed? If
so...how?

2. Discussion – Diversity is a good thing

a. Empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person
b. Sometimes, we think we should feel sorry for people like this. But would you
want anyone to feel sorry for you, because of your difference – like your big
ears or small nose or hair color or body size? And isn’t it wonderful that
hearing aids, mobility devices, and other things are available?
c. We’re more alike than different!
d. Encourage every small step of action students can take to use their new tools
of awareness / empathy to build a diverse community in deed as well as
thought

Final Assessment

1. Repeat pre-assessment questions, “yes or no” data, collect by hands raised, eyes
closed. Teacher or counselor counts the number of hands each question.
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2. Fill in the “L” of the KWL chart: What did we Learn?

Conclusion

The product we’ve designed helps the grade school-aged student embrace disability as a

natural part of diversity, thereby enhancing their own capacity for empathy. Schools that don’t

explicitly address bullying, diversity, and disability can unintentionally create a negative and

sometimes aggressive environment for students with disabilities. Our curriculum targets the

underlying issue of bullying, empathy, to foster understanding and acceptance of peers by

including it under the umbrella of diversity. Although diversity often refers to differences such as

ethnicity, gender, age and religion, diversity also includes a broad range of individuals’ unique

attributes and abilities. Intervention at the fourth-grade level is crucial for a school culture that

embraces all students. Creative expression through art allows students to tap into deeper layers of

self-reflection and awareness. By focusing on nurturing the capacity of each child in the

classroom to appreciate and value individual differences, we attempt to foster a culture of

embracing diversity in the school.

References

Berger, K. (2015). The developing person: through childhood and adolescence. (Ed.). New
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York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Borba, M. (2017). Cultivating empathy: the best antidote to bullying. [PowerPoint

Slides]. Retrieved from

https://www.anymeeting.com/WebConference/RecordingDefault.aspx?c_psrid=E954D88

6874C3B

The Buckley School. (2017). Diversity week 2017. Retrieved from

https://www.buckley.org/page/engage/multiculturalism-and-inclusion/diversity-week-

2017

Dake, J., Price, J., Telljohann, S., & Funk, J. (2003). Teacher perceptions and practices

regarding school bullying prevention. Journal of School Health, 73, 347-355.

Empathy. (n.d.). In Oxford dictionary online. Retrieved from

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/empathy

Espelage, D. L., Mebane, S., & Adams, R. (2004). Empathy, caring, and bullying:

Toward an understanding of complex associations. In D. L. Espelage & S. M. Swearer

(Eds.), Bullying in American schools: A social ecological perspective on prevention and

intervention (pp. 37–61). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

La Fira, S. (2014). It's Okay to be Different - Read by Sherry. Retrieved from

https://youtu.be/shYf3prwXJU

McCullough, R. (2017). Disability in the educational context [PowerPoint slides].

Parr, T. (2001). It’s okay to be different. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company.

Peters, S.J. (2009). Inequalities in education for people with disabilities. In D.B.
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Holsinger and W.J. Jacob (Eds.) Inequality in Education Comparative and International

Perspectives (Vol. 24, pp. 149-171). Hong Kong, China: Comparative Education

Research Centre.

Quigney, T.A. & Studer, J.R. (2016). Working with students with disabilities: a guide for school

counselors. New York, NY: Routledge.

Raskauskas, J. & Modell, S. (2011). Modifying anti-bullying programs. Teaching

Exceptional Children. 44(1), 60-67.

Snow, K. (2016). Same and different: respect for all. Retrieved from

https://nebula.wsimg.com/07ff3147582a2b7c1dd5404791dc477b?AccessKeyId=9D6F60

82FE5EE52C3DC6&disposition=0&alloworigin=1