A team of educators in the United Kingdom has demonstrated that children can learn empathy—the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. The approach, developed by staff at Cambridge University, invites students to broaden their perspectives and think more creatively about people, situations, and communities. The recent findings, published in an international context, suggest that empathy can be cultivated through structured schooling and thoughtful instructional design, providing a useful reference for educators seeking evidence of social-emotional growth within the classroom.
Researchers from the United Kingdom and France evaluated how emotional intelligence develops in young learners and found that genetics accounts for only a small portion of its progression. This work motivated UK scholars to examine school-based programs that actively nurture emotional understanding, with the aim of enhancing classroom interactions and student resilience through deliberate pedagogy.
The study followed a cohort of students aged 11 to 14 from two different schools over the course of a school year. At the outset, the researchers assessed each student’s creative thinking using the Torrens Creative Thinking Test, which evaluates how learners respond to prompts through drawings and written explanations. This baseline measurement provided a way to observe whether an empathy-focused curriculum would influence divergent thinking and problem-solving processes alongside social awareness.
During the intervention, one group of students continued with the standard design and technology curriculum while the other group participated in a sequence of lessons titled Designing Our Future. This program was designed to cultivate empathy by guiding students to consider the needs and experiences of others as they explored design challenges, product safety, and user-centered solutions. The curriculum emphasized collaboration, perspective-taking, and responsible design choices, encouraging learners to imagine how everyday tools and environments can better support diverse communities.
As part of the classroom activities, students engaged in a practical project that involved creating first aid kits for children with asthma. The kits included essential information for caregivers and children to manage the condition and contained devices and guidance to prevent and respond to asthma symptoms. This hands-on activity linked emotional understanding with real-world health literacy, reinforcing the value of clear communication, empathy in care, and mindful design of health-related resources.
At the end of the Designing Our Future program, both groups completed the Torrens assessment again. The results showed that students who had participated in the empathy development curriculum demonstrated improved creative performance compared with their initial scores, while the control group maintained or showed less pronounced gains. The researchers interpreted these outcomes as evidence that integrating empathy-focused activities with standard subjects can enhance creative thinking and social reasoning in early adolescence.
Experts highlighted that teaching empathy within schools holds potential benefits beyond personal growth. Stronger social skills support healthier classroom dynamics, reduce conflicts, and prepare students for cooperative work in future studies and careers. The findings align with a broader movement toward social-emotional learning, where schools intentionally cultivate skills such as communication, perspective-taking, collaboration, and self-regulation as part of a well-rounded education. Educators are encouraged to consider how empathy-centered design projects might be woven into existing curricula, helping learners connect theoretical lessons with lived experiences and community needs.
In sum, the study suggests that well-structured school programs can nurture emotional intelligence in young learners, complementing traditional academic goals. By blending creative thinking exercises with empathy-building activities and practical health-related design challenges, schools can foster a more inclusive, thoughtful, and capable generation ready to navigate adulthood with stronger social competencies and a clearer sense of responsibility toward others.