Insegnare con empatia | Anna Spertini | TEDxSiena

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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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