What's empathy?
In the bellow there's a great video that explain the meaning of empathy. It's an important concept in our whole life. Empathy is responsible to relation the people. It is a motivation to act.
What's the relation between Empathy and Learning?
My project here has as subject an learning enviroment call Leds (Laboratory of Extension in Software Development). I'll speak later more about Leds. In Leds we try to stimulate the continuos interaction between whole involved, i.e. students, teachers and community customer. We believe that the communication can be a excellent learning tool.
We use as methodologies in the projects the Scrum (agile project management), XP (Extreme Programming) and Canvas Models (Business Model Canvas and Project Model Canvas). In this methodologies, the team need to communicates more than in the tradicional methodologies. On the other hand, in the tradicional ones, there are a lot of formalisms and documents that sometimes prejudice the communication. The students in Leds work always together. The task of programming occurs always in pairs. Daily the students and the teachers made short meetings of the Scrum. In this meeting everyone says what is doing, the difficulties and the next tasks. Fortnightly, the students and the customer of project (of community) have a meet the delivery partial results. So, the communication in Leds is so intense. But it can be better.
The communication never is a easy task. There are a lot of the problems in our case that affects the well done interaction between everyone. Sometimes, the communication don't happen, or it isn't spontaneous. The students sometimes are afraid to talk what really think to the another students or mainly to the teachers. Listen the another is always a challenge too. Occasionally, we don't pay careful attention to listening to the others perspectives. We speak without thinking in what the another people told seconds ago.
The communication between students and teachers need to improve a lot. We have sometimes different expectations and concerns about the tasks. Generally is very hard the another point of view. The communication with the clientes is not so easy too. We speak different dialects. Here and there, our dialect is more technical and the customer dialect is very domain specific.
One thing that I am learning here with the Finnish people is to listen more the another people. Listen more than speak. It's so hard to a Brazilian to do this... but to me, is not so difficult. In my natural way, I think that I have a tendency to listen more than speak. For me is more easy but a challenge yet.
Today we had activities about Dynamic Pedagogical Approach and one of the premisses is to listen more e better... Listen carefully the another... Don't interrupt... Give a feedback.
Then, participating in the activity, I remembered a music that I really like. It's a composition of an old Brazilian band called "Secos e Molhados". The name of the music is "Fala" (Speak). I always felt an identification with this music. It say:
"I don't know to say nothing just to say, then I just listen
If you say me everything that you want to say, then I'll just listen..."
In a dynamic today the goal was to give a "gift" to another people (just a fake gift). Then, desiring the better of all, I gave the Sun to everyone. I've never tought that I miss the Sun one day. We have not only a physical relation with the Sun, I think that is a more deely relation.
Today we did an interesting activity called Information Gap. the name is this because there is a information gap between the people. The that have more information need to explain to the another without show anything, just speaking. this is the chalenge. This technique Can help to improve the learning and the communication between the students in any Subject, like In programming, math, etc.
In the Exercise today, on people have to describe the path on the map to the another without showing the figure.
The competencies developed in students are related not only the theoretical knowledge, but also with de practical learning and the learning of conducts, learning of Beeing. In Finland the focus is on the learning for the life, using competence-based curriculum. In Brazil, on another hand, we expect that students develop academically in many ways, but we don't give much support. In Hamk, specifically, every students receive the material below, the "Transferable Academic Skills Kit". I though this ver interesting, this simple thing catch my eye. In this kit, there is a book for each of the bellow subjects:
Team working;
Academic culture;
Critical Thinking;
Examination Technique;
Key Foundation Skills;
Problem-solving;
Presentations;
Research and Reference;
Essay Writing;
Introdution to IT Skills;
Scientific Writing;
Unfortunately in Brazil we give almost no one support in these subjects. We focus mainly in the technical and theoretical knowledge and we forget the most important. These subjects are the base of all. In Hamk, the students need to improve this aspects in every subjects as part of their formation. The teachers, in all subjects, have the responsibility to help the students improve in this aspects, as part of the curriculum. The curriculum here envolves these competences besides the technical one. I think that this kit is very interesting give to the students this formation. These material are a very simple thing but that can help a lot the students.
