I think it is necessary in the Romanian education to look at the world with other eyes, to change our perspective on life, to see things differently from a few years ago, because the world has changed, and education must change. We know very well how happy children become happy adults, who in turn raise happy children. Why should we care about children's well-being? How could we create this well-being? What does it mean? Probably this concept is not easily definable, but it brings together elements related to the psychological and emotional development of children (identity and trust, self-management, initiative, resistance), social behavior (empathy, care and respect for oneself and towards oneself. others, civic involvement), relationships (friendship, equity, prosocial attitudes, respect) or the ability of the learning environment to be friendly, collaborative, supportive and available for development. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart. (Helen Keller) Developing social-empathic behavior for me is one of the ways in which I manage to create that state of well-being for my students, which is why I will talk more about what this behavior is and how I manage to develop it. “Empathy is not a luxury of human beings, it is a necessity. We don't survive because we have claws and because we have big corners. We survive because we can communicate and collaborate. (Daniel Siegel) We are born biologically predisposed to connect with each other. The self is not an individual entity, but a relational construct. It is precisely empathy that facilitates a connection with others, and it develops from a very young age (through facial expression, eye contact, tone of voice), through relationships with the people we attach to. Empathy (from the ancient Greek ἐν, in, in, and πάθoς, suffering, what you suffer) is the ability to recognize and, to some extent, to share the feelings (such as sadness or happiness) that are experienced by another being, even if it does not express them explicitly. A person needs to have some degree of empathy before he or she is able to feel compassion. The spiritual father of the theory of empathy is considered Theodor Lipps, who has the merit of introducing the term empathy (Einfühlung) in psychology. Carl Rogers is the one who paid the most attention to empathy and popularized the concept among clinical psychologists, developing his method of nondirective therapy. Daniel Goleman, psychologist, a successful researcher introduces empathy into the basic structure of emotional intelligence, a concept that has conquered the world of modern psychology. Empathy is the key element of Emotional Intelligence, it is the connection between self and others, it is how we understand ourselves, what those around us live, how we can integrate the differences between us and the uniqueness of the person in our emotional system so we can feel the experience to others as if it were ours. Being empathetic means actively listening, getting into the skin of others, being sensitive, understanding the group emotion and creating valuable relationships. In developing empathy for children, we started from the idea that home experiences (empathic) are essential in its development. Encouraging empathy as early as possible has helped them build better and closer relationships in the future. And we know that it is precisely these close relationships that are the foundation of true happiness and well-being. For the little ones, I initially showed them pictures with children expressing different emotions: sadness, fear, anger, frustration, happiness. The children spoke about these cards and they expressed in words what the child feels in the image, thus learning to conceptualize their own feelings and feelings for others. They learned in this way what empathy is, how to solve problems, how to develop self-control and to decipher facial expressions. Emotions were not judged, but only acknowledged and respected. Learning empathy means helping the child to understand how he can use empathy in relationships with others. He needs guidance in order to find a balance between his own needs and limits and then to make a decision for which he can guarantee and assume responsibility. Sometimes it is good for a child to say NO, but it is important to learn to share and enjoy. Emphasizing the emotions of others, “I see you're angry. Are you trying to tell me why? "is another way to understand empathy. Try to push the wall! Take a deep breath and count to 100! Activities for learning empathy The game, "Put yourself in someone else's slippers" This is a simple game where children exercise their ability to put themselves in the place of others. All children are placed in a circle and on the slippers of the one on their right. In this way, we symbolize the expression "put yourself in the other's slippers. Then, each child will have to answer a few questions, but provided he answers as a child of his right (for example, the partner who borrowed his slippers) For example: When I asked a child what their favorite color was, he had to respond based on what he thought his colleague would say. If there are children in the group who have certain deficiencies (sight, hearing, etc.), we simulated one of the following situations. I put some cotton plugs in my ears, I covered one of the eyes with a black patch (like a pirate). I asked him how he felt when he did not hear well, saw almost nothing (or at all) or could not use his hands as usual. In this way, the child had the opportunity to be for a few moments in the situation of those with various problems and, gradually, he will come to understand them and even want to help them. For the development of empathy to take place properly, the child must be helped to grow with these values and ideas. SOURCES: 1. https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empatie 2. Parentaj sensibil si inteligent. Sa ne intelegem pe noi insine, pentru a creste copii fericiti. Daniel J. Siegel, Mary Hartzell 3. Eu si sentimentele mele – H. Kreul 4. Cartea emotiilor mele – S. Couturier 5. Prima mea carte despre sentimente si emotii – 6. Povestirile din colectia Emotiile lui Noni – A. C. C. Chine