Empathy interviews and student shadowing to build youth-adult understanding¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Long Beach Unified adopted empathy-building practices as a core area of RCS work to cultivate stronger relationships and foreground youth experiences. The report defines these as including "empathy interviews (conversations that help participants develop empathy through open-ended questions and active listening) and shadowing (when a district leader follows a student for a school day to get a better sense of their experiences)." These practices surface insights into students' schooling experiences and help adults build connections that span age, identity, and traditional lines of authority, serving as a foundation for equity-oriented transformation work.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• District leaders and educators willing to participate in structured empathy-building conversations and full-day student shadowing

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• District and school leaders
• High school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• Adult empathy for student experiences
• Improved youth-practitioner relationships
• Insight into students' schooling experiences to inform equity-oriented change

Related Strategies¶

• Student Shadowing (Teacher/Coach Observation)
• Student Shadowing (For Educator Insights)
• Shadow a Student
• Student Shadowing

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Hernández, L. H., & Rivero, E. (2023). Striving for relationship-centered schools: Insights from a community-based transformation campaign. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/621.856