“It gave me happiness”: in Montpellier, the first empathy courses at school won over students and teachers

At the Marie-Curie school in Montpellier, certain teachers set up the famous sessions desired by Gabriel Attal. And in just a few sessions, the result is convincing.

Courses that should concern everyone, adults included, even as a priority. The famous empathy courses advocated by Gabriel Attal when he was Minister of Education have been implemented in certain schools.

Some teachers did not hesitate to take advantage of the kit offered in order to teach this discipline which is ultimately not so easy to qualify.

And among them, Sandrine Maggiani, the dynamic and sunny director of the Marie-Curie school in Montpellier who adapted to her taste the document provided by National Education for her&nbsp ;24 CE1 students.

Sessions that arouse emotion

When class begins, the children are as excited as fleas. Time to console some and resolve some disagreements, the session can begin.

Everyone can express what they feel Free Midi – Laure Ducos

And to do this, the teacher reminds them of the terms already covered and asks them what they learned from the previous time. She returns to the definition of empathy. "These are the strengths and feelings", reminds little Mayumi. Miran declares : "It’is putting yourself in your boyfriend's place to understand what he feels." Everything is said.

But precisely did they assimilate the extent of the meaning? It doesn't matter in the end because when they had to work on their qualities, they were rather pleasantly surprised. By their own choice, but by the group's perception of themselves. Little Salma still confides with emotion that she was touched when one of her classmates told her that she was a "joyful"  : "It made me happy."  Another explains that she "felt softness". The others are unanimous, it provoked them "joy".

And the teacher sums up : "We enjoyed talking about our qualities. And now we will approach our forces".

Terms not always easy to explain

She then distributes small cards on each table, each stamped with a word: courage, perseverance, humility, humor, creativity…hellip; or a capacity such as helping others, creating friendships, controlling one's emotions.

It's up to everyone to take the cards they think correspond to them. And here again, enthusiasm is required. Even though most don't understand all the concepts – especially since two students do not speak French in this class –, each day plays the game, accompanied or not and then delivers their choices.

And the answers pour out: there is a lot of courage and kindness in this class and quite a bit of creativity. Rémy will stand out with his ability to control his emotions (his own perception apparently). As for Marius, he advances timidly, but validated by the assistance, his ability to help others.

"And all these forces we are going to put them in common so that they all together become the forces of the class", explains the teacher. To do this, through a large tree drawn on a poster, each concept is represented by a branch and the names of the corresponding children are placed on the leaves which they can then color.

Sandrine Maggiani is already seeing results on children. Free Midi – Laure Ducos

“In just a few sessions, I have already seen behaviors evolve”

For Sandrine Maggiani, this discipline is interesting for everyone. all levels. "In just a few sessions, I’ seen behaviors “evolving", she explains.

And to deepen by trusting that some have gained confidence, others have discovered unsuspected and yet very real qualities.

"What is striking is that there is a real gap between their perception and the response. bedridden. Children tend to underestimate ourselves and we have to work on it." And to complete: "Self-esteem is fundamental to being able to understand others and value them  then."

"These sessions provide a lot of emotion and not just for the children", she emphasizes with a smile.

What also emerges from these sessions is that gendered attributes are less significant than one might have thought.  Kindness is not reserved for girls and courage for boys in view of the responses expressed.

Once everyone has assimilated well; terms and emotions, the teacher plans to set aside a little time each day to set up debates between the children. À each class to find its own way of learning empathy in order to be able to apply it in the broad sense.

A system to combat harassment

Since January 2024, some 1,000 establishments have agreed to test empathy courses. This system, desired by Gabriel Attal, when he was Minister of Education, aims to fight against school bullying.

It should be generalized to all primary schools in France at the start of the next school year.

"These are times when we learn to respect each other’s differences", explained the minister at the time.

Inspired by the Danish model

Even if it is a novelty in France, this type of course is legion in Denmark. Called the "Fri for Mobberi", understand "Free from intimidation" , the device has existed since 2005 and is provided to children aged 3 to 6 years.

Through workshops or discussions, children learn to interact with others.

An educational and fun kit

An educational and fun kit of 62 pages with definitions, cards to print with qualities, emotions, scenarios to acquire  cognitive skills – be self-aware and make constructive decisions – emotional skills – understand your stress and regulate it – and social skills like communicating constructively and resolving difficulties.

Addressing concepts that are not necessarily easy to grasp is ultimately the difficulty of the exercise, but the objective of understanding oneself in order to understand others and to live together in society worth the detour. And what better start than school to train future adults in benevolence and the ability to understand otherness?

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