It has been said that the one of the greatest gifts of being human is that we have the power of empathy.
Roots of Empathy, which been been growing in British Columbia classrooms since 2000, is an evidence-based empathy program that centres around the concept of having a baby become the 'teacher'.
Elementary school-aged children are coached to recognize and connect with the vulnerability and humanity of a baby who visits their classroom throughout the school year with their parent(s), along with a trained Roots of Empathy Instructor using a specialized curriculum.
"What is compelling is that over the year that Roots of Empathy operates in the classroom, there is a noticeable increase in pro-social behaviour, and a notable decrease in anti-social behaviour," said Nancy Buan. "There is a big range of what pro-social behaviour can look like, including simply taking turns."
Buan, who is the key point person for the Cowichan Valley ROE program which has been active since 2005, has been involved with the program since its inception. Canadian Mary Gordon, who was an early childhood educator and counsellor, first founded and developed ROE in Toronto in 2000. The model Gordon envisioned is that it would be retired teachers, and non-teaching staff who would take this on.
"I was with the school board in Vancouver, so I had a job that allowed me to be one of the facilitators there," said Buan. "It was my experience that non-teaching staff including educational assistants, youth and family workers, counsellors and administrators would teach the program because the teacher cannot give it to his or her own classroom, because it is them who get to observe their students relating to the baby and their development.
"It is a very positive, long-reaching program that embraces everyone in the class, and the whole concept is to teach empathy, and emotional literacy."
According to Buan, ROE has been deeply researched by professors from both the University of B.C. and the University of Toronto with a curriculum that goes from kindergarten to Grade 8 that incorporates the following nine themes: Meeting the Baby, Crying, Caring and Planning for the Baby, Emotions, Sleep, Safety, Communicating, Who Am I, and Goodbye, and Good Wishes.
"Each of these themes involve three lessons with very soft topics which circulate around the parent," said Buan. "I really think empathy is essential to our lives as human beings. The whole idea of it is that you attempt to understand another person from their point of view."
ROE runs in the classroom from October to June where the baby is essentially the teacher and even shows up wearing a tiny teacher shirt when visiting the classrooms. Buan said babies participating in the program should ideally be born during the summer months, so that they are around three months old once the program begins.
The initial lesson involves just the facilitator meeting with the children for a brainstorming session about what sort of things they think the baby will be able to do, before it has its first classroom visit the following week where it spends its time on a large blanket that is laid out on the classroom floor.
Each classroom is provided with an enormous bag full of standard program toys which the babies interact with each session.
"The first thing the children learn is respect because they do not go on the green blanket as that is only for the baby, the parent and the facilitator," said Buan. "The parent brings the baby in, and we start off with a welcoming song and while the children are singing the parent is holding the baby in a way so that it is looking back at the children immediately drawing them to it.
"At three months old, the baby will just lay there, but by the time it is 10 or 11 months old it is definitely crawling, maybe walking, and it is communicating with the kids. So, the children witness this incredible neuro-science.
"After the kids have seen this baby lie there for quite some time it is always a very heartwarming moment when it sits up in front of them for the very first time. They cheer and clap, so you can only imagine what they think when the baby finally walks."
It is Buan's dream to see ROE grow even more legs in the Cowichan Valley as it's 2024/25 program was offered at five schools with two Grade 4 classrooms at Lake Cowichan School, Grade 1s at both Bench, and George Bonner School in South Cowichan, as well as with a Grade 2 classroom at Alexander School in Duncan.
Cristin Smith who teaches Grades 2 and 3 at Alexander School said having the opportunity to participate in ROE for the the second year was once again a meaningful and enriching experience for her classroom.
"Having a mother and baby visit us each month creates a unique and powerful learning opportunity that the students genuinely look forward to," said Smith. "The children loved observing the baby’s growth and development over the year, from simple facial expressions to more complex milestones like sitting up, crawling, and beginning to communicate. Witnessing these changes in real time helps students connect emotionally and develop a deeper sense of empathy and understanding."
Smith said each monthly visit is guided by a thoughtful theme such as 'Communication' and 'Who Am I?', which sparks valuable discussions in the classroom. She said these topics not only support social-emotional learning, but they also help students reflect on their own feelings, relationships, and identities.
"We feel privileged to be part of Roots of Empathy," said Smith. "It’s a truly special experience that leaves a lasting impact on both students and educators."
Buan said another one of the most remarkable parts of the Roots of Empathy program is the facilitators who teach it, such as Bonnie Potter who has been a a facilitator at Alexander School a total of five times, including the past two school years.
"What I love about being a facilitator is witnessing the pride the parent experiences in sharing their baby with the students," said Potter. "This in enhanced through highlighting the multitude of milestones the baby reaches throughout the year. Every year a photo book is made for the parent, capturing the wonder and joy expressed in the students, teacher and parent, through all of the special Roots of Empathy moments.
"I also love how the program is designed to invite the students to reflect on their own milestones, accomplishments, strengths, feelings and experiences, enhancing their own sense of self."
Saunia Paneak was taking one of Potter's parenting classes when she was asked if she and her son Ayden wanted to participate in this past school year's ROE program.
"It really meant a lot to both of us to see Ayden's bond with the class grow, and to see how all of the children responded to his different moods and reactions," said Paneak. "My favourite moment was when the class was seeing Ayden crawl for their first time and how excited they all were."
According to Buan, once upon a time the provincial Liberal government were excited about the ROE program and had included it as a line item in the budget under the Department of Education, and were encouraging the program by paying for the training, but much to her surprise that ended when the NDP stepped in, and she said since it has been a financial struggle.
Since retiring to Mill Bay with her husband who she lost in 2009, Buan said she has been successful with getting some financial support for ROE from organizations such as Success By 6, as well as both 100 Women and 100 Men Who Care, which has been extremely helpful as the facilitator training costs $2,500 per person.
The rub is that often it is only offered on the Mainland, so even if the training can be covered the interested party will still have to pay for their way and stay there.
"The Cowichan School District has been very supportive," said Buan. "If all of the facilitators had the leeway in their work to do this job, it could be embedded right into the school system, and we would no longer be dependent on funding, and volunteers."
ROE, which is a registered charity, has trained dozens of facilitators in the Cowichan Valley, but as Buan so eloquently puts it; volunteers' lives change, so one of their biggest short term goals is to recruit more. Those interested in taking the facilitators training can email Nancy at nancybuan@shaw.ca.
"The dream would be to have it in every school and the real dream would be to have it at both a primary and an intermediate grade," said Buan. "Children who are in kindergarten through Grade 3 will look at the baby differently then a student in an intermediate grade would, and therefore the discussions would be different."
One of the biggest aims of ROE is to teach young children emotional literacy, enabling them to name how they are feeling and better understand the behaviour of others, giving them the skills, while teaching the tools in their toolbox to find a gentler, kinder way to let another know that they have hurt feelings, instead of retaliation.
To honour all of these tiny teachers ROE held a celebration at the Clements Centre in Duncan on May 26 where all of the babies from each program were in attendance with their parents.
"The most encouraging thing about ROE is the expression 'not yet'," said Buan. "When the children are first anticipating the baby coming they will brainstorm on the things they think the baby can do, and then of course when it first arrives it just lays there. The facilitator will simply say the 'baby can't do that yet' and what I think the children pick up from this is that maybe I might not be so good at something yet, but I can be.
"To me that's the real powerful part of it, it encourages kids to say I too was once like that baby, but look at me now."
