Effects of Empathy Curriculum on Students' Attitudes in an After School Program

The researcher sought to determine if teaching an empathy curriculum would affect students??? attitudes about bullying in an after school program. The attention focused on the effect of empathy curriculum and the impact learning about empathy had on students in fourth, fifth and sixth grade. Current literature reviewed related to bullying prevention programs, the relationship between empathy and bullying, and school culture and climate. This qualitative, action research study adds to the research related to the relationship between empathy and bullying. Data was collected with pre and post online student surveys, written responses from students and researcher observations. The initial student surveys were compared to post curriculum student surveys to establish the impact empathy curriculum had on students??? responses. Information collected from written responses, surveys and observations were categorized by trends and used to describe the effects of empathy curriculum taught over three weeks. Students??? awareness about bullying increased, there were more positive interactions among students and there was an impact on the actions students took to intervene in bullying situations. A recommended action for furthering this research is to teach an empathy curriculum for a longer duration to truly determine the effects on students??? attitudes. This may show more significant differences in some survey data that did not show a significant difference after three weeks of anti-bullying intervention. This study contributed to the field of education by informing readers of the value in teaching empathy to students and making the best possible use of after school time for students to benefit the school, the students and the community.Educatio