With Claire Underwood of the University of Cincinnati’s Artlitt Center for Education, Research, & Sustainability and Children, Youth, Environments (CYE) Journal
What does empathy look like in young children? How can we nurture it? When do we just need to step back and let children sort through the complexities of the natural world? Claire Underwood recently participated in a Community of Practice centred on using a Two-Worlds Approach to develop an empathy model for young children. This work was rooted in Natural Curiosity’s four-branch framework of children’s environmental inquiry informed by Indigenous perspectives. In this fascinating discussion, Claire shares the findings from the CoP as well as stories from educators who have implemented the empathy model in their teaching.
Guest:
Claire Underwood is a Doctoral Student at the University of Cincinnati, where she is the Editorial Assistant for the Children, Youth, Environments (CYE) Journal and conducts research with the Artlitt Center for Education, Research, & Sustainability.
After more than a decade working in non-profit leadership and community organizing focusing on environmental and social justice, Claire returned to academia to earn her Master's in Environmental Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth. There, her work focused on the impact of nature-based learning on children’s empathy development. Claire co-designed and co-facilitated a seven-month professional learning experience that supported 15 early childhood educators in deepening their empathy practices through intentional & respectful engagement with Indigenous peoples and perspectives.
Through her work, Claire seeks to support teachers, children, and their families in creating experiences that affirm children’s agency, support their connection to the Earth, and work meaningfully together toward a just and sustainable present and future.
Learn more at https://www.clairecunderwood.com/.
Read the All Relatives Share Empathy article here.
*Episode edited by M. Angel Goñi Avila
Episode 42: Food forest gardening
Episode 41: Farm to school
Episode 40: Placed-based education and life cycles
Episode 39: Managing eco-anxiety and ecological grief
Episode 38: Gamification for EE
Episode 37: Student-powered learning and mentorship
Episode 36: Nature-based healing
Episode 35: Watershed education
Episode 34: Inside New Jersey’s climate change ed. breakthrough
Episode 33: Unpacking environmental racism with Green Ummah
Episode 32: Teaching music and drama outside in all seasons (in Winnipeg)
Episode 31: Equity in environmental education
Episode 30: Gen Zs talk climate change, sustainability, and reciprocity in education
Episode 29: Biomimicry: Taking design lessons from nature
Episode 28: Bringing rocks and geology to life in land-based learning
Episode 27: Bananas in the classroom (and other fair-trade matters)
Episode 26: Bringing science to special ed. classrooms with PBELL
Episode 25: The future of energy, transportation, food, materials, and information
Episode 24: Green jobs for youths roundtable, Part 2
Episode 23: Green jobs for youths roundtable, Part 1
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Regenerative Skills
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast