♪ (intro music) ♪
On Empathic Teaching
Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation.
My name is Anna Spertini, I'm a teacher
I teach children and teenagers
and I have spent the last 5 months of my life
studying facial micro-expressions and the emotions related to them
Here is for example an expression of sincere joy
This, however, is the expression made by my friends
when I tell them how I spent my summer ...
I can see some discomfort, a certain embarrassment
because actually facial micro-expressions
are often related and associated to the unmasking of lies
This is also thanks to a TV show from a few years ago.
But the people don’t know, that by applying these techniques
to another sector such as education,
We can obtain a greater communication with students
and even greater awareness of themselves.
I am also a mom.
My son's name is Alessandro, he is 9
and he studies violin with the Suzuki method.
The Suzuki method is an innovative method in the teaching of music
universally recognized and also called “the mother-tongue method”.
It was created in the last century by Shinichi Suzuki
who is a Japanese violinist and teacher
and the main foundation of this method is
that everyone can learn from their environment.
Therefore, when you create the right stimulating environment,
you also foster the same feelings in the student
and so you foster learning.
Essential condition of the Suzuki method
is the participation of
at least one parent
in the study path.
And in fact the success of each Suzuki program
lies exactly in the good quality of this so-called
"Suzuki triangle" which is formed by the collaborative
relationship between teacher, parent and child.
This is a class of violin
of the Suzuki School in Siena.
My son’s violin teacher is Alessio Nacuzi
and he usually sends several e-mails to parents
to support them in their role of Suzuki parents
and to help their children precisely
in practicing the violin at home.
Last spring, Alessio, sent an e-mail to all parents
containing, among other things, a Web link
to Paul Ekman's website.
Paul Ekman is a researcher who has devoted
his entire life researching facial micro-expressions
and emotions related to them
I went to visit the website and I noticed that
there was a huge amount of interesting material
not only for my teaching job, but also for me as a mom
helping my son with violin practice at home.
The material was immense and also pretty expensive
so I asked Alessio to please share the expense.
Alessio accepted and so we shared our study committment.
We spent the entire summer studying and we were able in late Summer
to obtain the FACS Coders Certificate.
This is a certificate that is usually achieved
by people who then collaborate as experts
with the police or with the court.
But we want to apply it to teaching
because we believe that it will give us surprising results.
And, on this occasion, I also get to know Alessio a bit better.
I get to know some details of his life and how he arrived in Siena
and I find out that as Paul Ekman has dedicated
his whole life to studying facial micro-expressions,
Alessio has devoted his entire life not only to music and violin,
but also looking for a teaching method one of a kind.
Imagine indeed to use various communication
tools and techniques
usually used in niche areas
and to apply them to teaching.
The effect is immediate, between teacher and students
a deep communication and a deep empathy are created,
the results are achieved much faster
and with a stable well being condition.
Mr Nacuzi is convinced that it is possible
through various methods such as the Suzuki method
Mental Training, NLP Coaching, Feldenkrais method, LAB Profile
we can manage to get a situation for which
at the time of the performance that is at the concert,
the child is in a zero-stress condition
and thus in a stable well being condition.
Many Italian and foreign universities
are interested in Alessio’s research.
Including the Royal College of London
and of course the Paul Ekman Group
which has given us part of the study material.
And then the passage is:
How do we define the stress levels in children?
There is a simple and reliable test
called salivary cortisol test
It consists in collecting a small sample of saliva
from the subject at the time of the performance
and so in this case, of the concert
to measure the precise amount of cortisol.
When this hormone
that is produced by adrenal glands
is present in high amount,
it indicates a stress condition.
Alessio Nacuzi in its years of experience
applied exactly this teaching method on many children, his students
and he saw that actually you can apply it
it can be done and the results are there.
I am an enthusiastic witness about this learning process
because I saw that my son
only after two years of violin practice
is now able to play by heart
more than 50 pieces, including highly complex pieces.
And so, just think about it
how we could
apply a method of this kind even to other subjects
such as Maths, History, Foreign Languages.
We would finally give the opportunity
to our children to take full advantage
from this aspect of learning
which will accompany them throughout their lives.
And this brings us
to the expression of sincere joy I showed you at the beginning
Imagine your children happy to learn
and highly motivated to do so
and imagine your happiness
when you realize what you have done for them.
Thank you.
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