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The ability to understand another person's perspective can help with students' social skills and relationships within the classroom and beyond, which can have a profound effect on everything from classroom culture to individual student learning and mental health.

Perspective taking is one of the first steps to relating to another person's life experiences as it enables students to recognize that others can have different thoughts, feelings, and knowledge. It also helps students understand that someone's perspective may be related to their unique experiences, beliefs, and culture. There is often a reason behind someone's actions that we cannot see. Perspective taking is one of four core skills we highlight in all Empatico activities to support meaningful connections between classrooms that meet and collaborate virtually through our online tool.

As an educator you can help your students practice perspective taking through a number of small yet meaningful daily practices, such as:

Help students get into the mindset of another person or character when reading stories, watching movies, or acting out skits to understand their thoughts and feelings. You can also ask students how stories or skits might end differently if told from another character's point of view.

When conflicts arise between peers or between characters in a story, help students understand how and why each side perceives the situation differently and, in the case of peer conflict, guide them toward a solution that acknowledges both perspectives.

Be sure to encourage perspective taking when students are learning about other cultures or ways of life, or meeting people from different backgrounds.

Below are a few 'mini-lessons' you can also try in your classroom to practice perspective taking. These mini-lessons can be adapted to teach perspective taking across all elementary grade levels.

Lesson #1: Same situation, different perspectives (estimated time: 45-60 min)

1. Explain to students that first they will write about their own feelings in response to various situations (outlined below). Next, they will listen to or read a story about a student their age named Tom, and then write about Tom's feelings in response to the same situations.

2. Read each situation aloud with the class. After reading each situation, pause and ask students to imagine how they would feel if that were happening to them, and write down their feeling ("I feel____") and reason ("because...").

3. Read "Tom's Story": Remind students to listen carefully to the story for details about Tom's life that might influence how he feels about the situations described. Then, read the story aloud.

4. Read each situation aloud again. Pause after reading each situation to:

Ask students how Tom might feel about that situation and why. Refer back to the story if needed, and discuss as a class.

Then ask students to look on their handouts to see if they had different feelings than Tom about each situation, and if so, raise their hands.

Call on students to explain why they think Tom feels differently than they do. Guide them toward understanding that people can have different feelings about the same situation because of different past experiences, preferences/interests, immediate circumstances, or cultural influences.

5. Conclude with a discussion on perspective taking: Explain to students that the only part of a situation we can actually see is the person's reaction, but there is usually a lot going on under the surface that influences how this person perceives the situation, as we saw with Tom (see the iceberg image below for a visual understanding - you might want to display this for students or draw it on the board). To better understand another person's perspective, we need to think about all these hidden influences of the iceberg and ask ourselves: "What is life like for that person? What might be influencing how they perceive this situation that we can't see? How can I relate to their experience to understand how they feel?" For example, although a student might feel happy about blueberry cake while Tom feels disappointed, the student can still relate to Tom's experience by recalling how she felt when she was given food she didn't like in the past.

Tom's Story
Tom is 9 years old, and he lives in a small town surrounded by beautiful mountains. He has brown curly hair with dark brown eyes the color of chocolate, and always has a bright warm smile. Tom loves to play football in the field near his house, but sometimes it's too sunny and hot to play there. If he is too overheated and sweaty, Tom becomes frustrated and angry, so it's not fun to play. On those hot days, Tom and his friends decide to play at another field on the far side of town, which is in the shade of the mountain. Tom likes this field because it's near the cow pasture, and he likes to watch the animals graze. Animals are very important to Tom's culture and are never eaten as food. In fact, his family only eats vegetables and fruits that they grow on their farm. Tom loves all the food they grow, except blueberries and blackberries, which taste really bad to him. When Tom grows up, he wants to be a doctor. He still remembers the day he decided this: Two years ago, his sister was coming home from school and a vicious dog attacked her. She was badly hurt and rushed to the hospital. Tom was there too, and remembers everything the doctor did to help his sister. Since then, he has always wanted to become a doctor and appreciates every opportunity he gets to talk to new doctors.

Situation 1: Your family gets a dog as a pet.
I feel ______________________________________
Because ___________________________________
Tom feels __________________________________
Because ___________________________________

Situation 2: You are at your friend's house for dinner, and his mom cooks a delicious beef stew.
I feel ______________________________________
Because ___________________________________
Tom feels __________________________________
Because ___________________________________

Situation 3: You are going to the doctor's office to get your medicine.
I feel ______________________________________
Because ___________________________________
Tom feels __________________________________
Because ___________________________________

Situation 4: You get a blueberry double chocolate cake for your birthday.
I feel ______________________________________
Because ___________________________________
Tom feels __________________________________
Because ___________________________________

Situation 5: You are outside on the playground with your friends, but it's too hot and sunny. There is
no shade, and you are very sweaty and tired. Your friends want you to run around and play with them. (Hint: Do not write "I feel hot and tired." What emotions do you feel?)
I feel ______________________________________
Because ___________________________________
Tom feels __________________________________
Because ___________________________________

Lesson #2: See the world through another's eyes (estimated time: 45-60 min)

For this mini-lesson, you will bring in a few pairs of real eyeglasses/sunglasses or make fake glasses using paper and string so students can put them on and "see the world through another person's eyes." You will explain that each pair of glasses belongs to a different person, which could be anyone your students are familiar with (e.g., a character in a book or film, someone from your partner classroom, etc.). Write the name of each "glasses' owner" on a piece of paper and place it next to the corresponding glasses. Arrange them around the room before beginning the activity.

Decide in advance the specific questions you want students to answer once they put on the glasses. Choose questions that will uncover the internal feelings, thoughts, and motivations of the glasses' owners (e.g., How did you feel when... Why did you decide to... What will you do if... How do you know that...). These questions can be adapted to fit a number of different learning goals, including socioemotional learning, language arts, literature, and writing goals. You may wish to create a handout to guide student responses.

This mini-lesson can be done as a whole class (students rotate through glasses and share responses with the class), in student pairs or groups (share responses only with their partner/group), or independently (write down responses privately).

1. Give instructions: Explain to students that each pair of glasses belongs to a different person who has their own set of feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and preferences. They will soon put on the glasses and try to see the world from that person's perspective. Remind students to consider what they know about the glasses' owner's preferences, immediate circumstances, personal experiences, and/or culture in order to understand how this person thinks and feels.

2. Model: Put on a pair of glasses to model the exercise. Think aloud, demonstrating how you will first look at the name to see who you are, and then close your eyes to truly imagine what life is like for this person and how she/he perceives the world. Use detailed imagery to help you get in the person's mindset (e.g., 'I am a small child who loves to play outside. It's a hot, sunny summer day, and I'm bored.'). Then answer questions based on what you know about this person's perspective.

3. Facilitate the activity: Using the activity structure of your choice, have students take turns putting on the glasses and seeing the world from that person's perspective. Guide students through the steps of perspective taking.

4. Reflect as a class: Use some of these suggested questions to guide student reflection:

How did it feel to see the world through another person's eyes?

Were there things you felt or did that were different from how you would have responded? Why would you have responded differently compared to the glasses' owner?

How can we practice perspective taking skills during an interaction with our partner classmates?

Think of an example where you did not agree with the way someone reacted or behaved in a certain situation. How can 'seeing the world through their eyes' help you better understand their behavior?

For additional ideas on how to promote perspective taking skills, check out the following articles:
How to Teach Perspective-taking
Stand in my shoes - Empathy Lesson
7 Ways to Teach Perspective Taking and Stretch Students' Empathy Muscles
Lesson in Understanding Empathy

To learn more about Empatico Skills like perspective taking, read our recent posts on 21st century skills and teaching empathy. You can also explore the skills and additional mini-lessons by downloading our Empatico Skills Overviews & Mini-Lessons.

"Her kids were shocked to see our 40 story buildings, and my kids were shocked they had cows in their backyard! ...but even so, the similarities of what children do far exceed their differences - that was the biggest takeaway. They'd say, "What do you mean they play rock-paper-scissors, too?!" ...It was so cool for the children to realize that they're ALL children. That's the bottom line."
-Stephen Ritz, primary teacher in Bronx, NY, USA

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Empatico Skills: Spotlight on perspective taking activities

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The ability to understand another person's perspective can help with students' social skills and relationships within the classroom and beyond, which can have a profound effect on everything from classroom culture to individual student learning and mental health.

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Overview

Teaching Global Competence

Founded with a vision to prepare students for a globalized future, Seattle's John Stanford International School (JSIS) is an internationally themed, model public elementary school.

JSIS seeks to teach students to be global citizens while raising academic performance. This is done through language immersion in Spanish or Japanese for half the day -- teachers conduct the other half of the day in English. In addition, the focus of the global curriculum is not just to talk about social issues, like a lack of potable water, but to do something about these problems.

It takes special teachers to work at JSIS. Teachers must be experienced in international education; have language skills; participate in professional-learning-communities (PLCs); and, most important, be lifelong learners.

Resources and Downloads for Global Competence

How It's Done

How to Encourage Global Perspectives in Your Students

Build On What You Care About

"You can take any unit and change it a little so that students really start to see the world globally," explains fourth-grade teacher Nicole Silver. She described one of her units called Festivals of Light (PDF). "A more traditional unit might have been: Learn about three holidays. Instead, I wanted students to think about the need for tolerance in the world," Silver explains. She has students choose a winter festival from anywhere in the world, then raise questions through the inquiry process, conduct research, and think critically about issues of religious tolerance. During the unit, Silver encourages students to consider their own feelings and think about whether they have ever felt like an outsider. She takes the discussion deeper by asking students, "What was it like to not fit in?" And, as an action step, "How do we welcome everyone?"

Hiromi Pingry, who has been at JSIS for ten years and teaches Japanese, math, science, and social studies, constantly challenges herself to connect language lessons to global issues. "How can I expand from teaching about the culture of Japan to a more globalized view?" she wonders. In the past, for instance, a unit about the rainforest might have focused on animals and habitats. "Now, we dig into a global issue like deforestation," she says. To infuse language study into science, she has connected her students with people from Japan who are working on environmental issues in Africa. For teachers new to global education, she advises, "Start with something that you find interesting, something you have a passion for. Build global perspective from that."

Harness Parent Power

At the start of each year, kindergarten and first-grade teacher Julie Colando surveys parents about their careers. If their work takes them outside the United States, she invites them to share their experiences with students. "These bring to mind mini-TED talks," Colando says, but geared for audiences of five- and six-year-olds. Parents have given classroom presentations and hands-on demonstrations about everything from oceanography research to vaccines to sanitation in the developing world. One parent, working on clean-water issues, opened his chat by showing photos of homes around the world. He simply asked students what they noticed. Next, they compared images of food from around the world. Then, toys. Then, toilets. "The way he did it was not guilt-inducing," the teacher observed. "It got students thinking about, 'What if you couldn't wash your hands? What if there were no bathrooms? What might happen to your drinking water?'"

Keep It Fresh

Silver changes her curriculum every year. "That keeps it fresh for me," she says, and also allows her to connect with students' experiences. She starts each school year by taking time to find out, "Where are my students from? What are their prior experiences?" If students are immigrants or English-language learners, what can they teach their American-born classmates about other cultures? Keeping it fresh also allows Silver to respond to global events. During last year's election season, for instance, her students took part in their own mock election. They also investigated voting rights around the world and evaluated information sources for reliability. Regardless of topic, Silver asks thought-provoking prompts such as: "What's the world like outside my experience? How could I find out? How can we listen to and learn from others?"

For more suggestions about teaching students to become citizens of the world, download a free copy of Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World (PDF) by Veronica Boix Mansilla and Anthony Jackson. After JSIS teachers discussed the book as a staff, they were better prepared to plan units that emphasize principles such as teaching students to recognize and express their own perspectives, examine the perspectives of others, and act in ethical and creative ways to improve the world.

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Founded with a vision to prepare students for a globalized future, Seattle's John Stanford International School (JSIS) is an internationally themed, model public elementary school. JSIS seeks to teach students to be global citizens while raising academic performance.

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Education
Matteo Bertero's English Centre is the first non-profit English school to be opened in the Hai Duong area of Northern Vietnam. The school, for ages 14 to 19, is located in Kinh Mon village, and obtained 120 student registrations at its opening on December 23, 2017. Elena Bernini's opening speech thanked Founder and Director Van Luong Mura, and the school's first volunteers, including William Coleman and Mr. Nghia. "Dare and Care" is the motto of the Centre, which encourages students to dare to take risks and do the right thing, and care for the community around them.

Food Security
Oxford Omnia is currently planning food security projects in the Philippines, Zambia, and the United States. High-protein alternatives such as cricket flour require as little as half the animal feed as compared to other low-cost meats (such as broiler chicken) and provide over twice the protein (compared to beef). Artisanal fishing is small in scale and generally uses more sustainable practices than does large commercial fishing. Yet, in places like Asia, Africa, and Latin America, artisanal fishing is being driven out by aggressive and often illegal commercial practices. We support artisanal fishing rights in places like the Philippines, and are currently seeking partner organizations there and in other countries to protect artisanal fishing communities, methods, and historical fishing territories.

Research
The Journal of Civil Society (Civil Society Review) provides independent research and original data on the contribution of civil society to humanitarian assistance, food security, education, and international development.

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Education Matteo Bertero's English Centre is the first non-profit English school to be opened in the Hai Duong area of Northern Vietnam. The school, for ages 14 to 19, is located in Kinh Mon village, and obtained 120 student registrations at its opening on December 23, 2017.

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Resources for Students

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📣Discover the #exhibition area at the #SDGglobalFest 💥 Check out the creative lineup of artistic exhibits & installations that showcase the #SDGs! DON'T MISS the most amazing moment for the #SDG community! Secure your place & BE PART of the Festival! 👉https://t.co/JMzDHy7dXu

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Asia Society Center for Global Competence

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Asia Society Center for Global Competence

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Global competence is a crucial upgrade if our education system is to prepare the next generation for the knowledge economy. But what does it entail?

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Everything is global-trade and economics, media and information. Young people are more likely than ever to interact with people from different cultures while at home and on the road. As we become more connected, more interdependent, how do we prepare young people for the world they will inherit? We see six reasons, seven competencies, eight strategies and nine innovations.

6 Reasons Global Competence Matters

The Asia Society Center for Global Education notes five reasons why global competence matters and we should be engaging young people now in learning experiences that focus on developing these skills, attitudes and dispositions. We added an additional benefit.

1. Global competence is the toolkit that a productive, involved citizenry uses to meet the problems and opportunities of the world.In the curriculum, global competence challenges students to investigate the world, consider a variety of perspectives, communicate ideas and take meaningful action. A globally focused curriculum engages students in their own learning and motivates them to strive for knowledge and understanding. And a curious, inspired student strives to learn more in school and beyond.

2. A new generation of students requires different skills from the generations that came before.The world is changing fast. Boundaries-literal as well as figurative- are shifting and even disappearing altogether. The culture that once lived halfway around the world now lives just down the block. The ability to thrive in this new and rapidly changing environment is grounded in a globally focused curriculum.

3. More than ever before, individual actions reach around the globe. Environmental concerns, economic shifts, global poverty, population growth, human rights and political conflict can seem intractable and overwhelming, yet they absolutely require thoughtful action. In a globally focused curriculum, students learn that the world needs them to act, and that they can make a difference.

4. Global competence integrates knowledge of the world and the skill of application with the disposition to think and behave productively.Global competence is not restricted to knowing about other cultures and other perspectives. In addition to knowledge of the world, a globally competent citizen exhibits habits like critical thinking, rational optimism, innovation, empathy and awareness of the influences of culture on individual behavior and world events.

5.Success in career and life will depend on global competence, because career and life will play out on the global stage . Already, government, business and cultural institutions are called to solve the world's problems cooperatively. Engaging in these challenges requires high-order knowledge and thinking skill, as well as shared language and cultural understanding. In a globally focused curriculum, students prepare to approach problems from multiple perspectives and to thrive in a global future.

6. Working with and building relationships with people who have different backgrounds adds meaning, depth and joy to your life. Varied perspectives and worldviews enhance our own understandings and constructs (both mental and social).

In Education for Global Competence: Preparing our Youth to Engage the World, Asia Society expounds upon these reasons for preparing for global competence and details exactly what they feel the four skills of globally competent students are:

1. Investigate the world beyond their immediate environment: Fframing significant problems and conducting well-crafted and age-appropriate research.

2. Recognize perspectives, others' and their own: Articulating and explaining such perspectives thoughtfully and respectfully.

3. Communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences: Bridging geographic, linguistic, ideological and cultural barriers.

4. Take action to improve conditions: Viewing themselves as players in the world and participating reflectively.

7 Global Competencies

Making your way in a complex world takes a broad range of knowledge, skills and practices. David Young from Participate outlines seven priority competencies:

1. Appreciation of culture. Students see their own cultures as strengths, seek to understand the cultures of others, are aware of similarities and differences among cultures and understand that behaviors and values are often tied to cultures.

2. Evaluation of information. Students regularly question easily accessible information to seek deeper understanding and thoughtfully evaluate materials and perspectives, rather than accepting things at face value.

3. Cross-cultural communication skills. Students effectively exchange ideas with peers and adults from different backgrounds - either virtually or in person - and have the skills to enter new communities and spaces.

4. Perspective taking skills. Students demonstrate curiosity and empathy and may show compassion for the perspectives of others.

5. Intelligent humility. Students understand that their knowledge is not finite and appreciate how much more there is to learn about the world. Students understand the grandiosity of the world and its complexities.

6. Divergent thinking. Students see alternative or original solutions to existing problems and can envision the world differently from how it currently exists.

7. Technological literacy. Students utilize and explore existing technologies to communicate and collaborate with others, and to learn and share new ideas and information. Students create new technologies or discover new uses for technologies that help them and others navigate their worlds

P21 has K-12 Indicators for Global Readiness that focus on the themes of Understanding, Investigating, Connecting and Integrating.

Another great framework is the ASCD Globally Competent Learning Continuum, originally developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education.

The U.S. Department of Education created the Framework for Developing Global and Cultural Competencies to Advance Equity, Excellence and Economic Competitiveness. They believe, "more than ever, our students need to be equipped with the critical thinking, communications, socio-emotional and language skills to work collaboratively with their counterparts in the United States and all over the world."

8 Strategies That Promote Global Competence

1. Support world language fluency: Developing fluency in at at least one other language is valuable and an integral part of developing global competence. (See What's Next in Language Learning and Dual Language Education for Equity & Economic Development.)

2. Take a big view. Incorporate a global view every day in every subject. Take a big view of history. Use resources like Big History Project to spur interdisciplinary studies.

The California Department of Education hosted a last year that resulted in comprehensive recommendations for integrating global experiences into the curriculum and culture of California schools.

3. Demonstrate intercultural competence. Intercultural competence, "the ability to develop targeted knowledge, skills and attitudes that lead to visible behavior and communication that are both effective and appropriate in intercultural interactions" ( from Deardorff), is especially important as students increasingly in schools and in the world interact with multiple cultures at any one given time.

4. Diversity. Schools that serve diverse populations have a gift that can be used and explored to build global competence. More homogeneous schools can create pen pal connections and school partnerships to promote intercultural connections and unpack their own cultural backgrounds, beliefs and norms.

5. Support travel. Travel introduces students to other cultures and builds wayfinding (adaptive problem solving) skills. Global Citizen Year is one example of a provider that facilitates global place-based ed experiences for students. (Listen to Tony Klein at University Academy and Seth Andrew founder of Democracy Prep describe why travel is so important for youth from low resource communities)

6. Make room for projects. "PBL is the how for addressing global readiness," said Andrew Miller, Buck Institute for Education faculty and Instructional Coach at Shanghai American School.

7. Global to Local. We see 32 important issues that students need to be investigating throughout their academic careers. They include ending hunger and poverty, clean water and sanitation, taking climate action, building smart cities and exploring space. They are global issue but nearly all can be explored locally. What does poverty look like in my town? How can I reduce hunger where I live? Does my solution have merit for impoverished communities around the world?

Let students lead: How local investigations drive democratic and global learning explains how local investigations provide students connections to bigger issues and drive community engagement and engaging real-world projects.

8. City as classroom. "Make the city the text," says Larry Rosenstock, founder of High Tech High in San Diego. We call it place-based education -immersive learning experience that place students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences.

9 Innovations Transforming Global Education

Advances in EdTech tools and learning models is making it easier for everyone to embrace global learning and there is overall improvement in access to educational opportunities around the world (whether they are focused on global issues or not).

1. E lectricity: Let's start with the basics-about a billion people still lack power, so reliable sustainable sources of power especially for remote regions is an important area of development.

2. Ubiquitous wifi: Most urban areas have access to wifi and it's getting better in rural areas worldwide.

3. Inexpensive devices: Smart phones and cheap access devices have extended access to digital learning in the U.S. and worldwide.

4. Communication tools. Email, text, video conferencing make it easier to connect globally. Apps like ePals, Empatico and PenPal Schools are devoted to connecting classrooms. Facebook, WeChat and Edmodo facilitate groups and individual connections.

5. Literacy and numeracy tools: Adaptive learning tools that support literacy, numeracy and computational thinking development

6. Online learning: It's getting easier to learn world languages online with rich curriculum and online tutoring.

7. Translation: Machine learning is rapidly improving online translation tools.

8. AR/VR. New virtual reality content like Google Expeditions makes it easier to visit the world. Augmented reality field trips will expand the value of local and global field trips.

9. School networks: Low cost private school networks (like Bridge International Academies) are extending access in the poorest neighborhoods in the world. U.S. schools networks (including Asia Society) are extending global education.

Where ever you start, keep the overarching reason you are preparing students for global competence in mind-they ALL deserve a world class education, one that invites them to grow their own global understandings, connections and abilities.

For more, see:
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page

Tom Vander Ark is author of Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, The Power of Place, Better Together, Smart Parents, Smart Cities and Getting Smart. He is co-founder of Getting Smart and Learn Capital and serves on the boards of Education Board Partners, 4.0 Schools, Digital Learning Institute, Latinx Education Collaborative, Mastery Transcript Consortium and eduInnovation. Follow Tom on Twitter, @tvanderark.

Emily is the CEO of Boundless. Follow Emily on Twitter at @EmilyLiebtag.

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Educating for Global Competence: 6 Reasons, 7 Competencies, 8 Strategies, 9 Innovations

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Everything is global-trade and economics, media and information. Young people are more likely than ever to interact with people from different cultures while at home and on the road. As we become more connected, more interdependent, how do we prepare young people for the world they will inherit?