Connecting Compassion: Empathy's Role in STEM and Literacy Integration

Empathy, an unsung, yet critical element of learning, can be strategically interlaced with literacy instruction and engineering design to create a rich and authentic learning experience for students. Integrated STEM education rests on the promise of engaging students and providing deep understandings through the intentional practice of delivering science and math content through the application of technology and engineering skills. Using children's literature to activate empathy and design thinking can help students become better problem‐solvers, critical thinkers, and caring members of society. Empathy facilitates a deeper connection to the human experience, ensuring that solutions not only meet the design requirements, but also address the emotions and concerns of the end user. Building upon story grammar, students can understand the needs of characters in narratives and create empathetic solutions to the challenges that characters in a book may face, ultimately helping students develop confidence and embrace their future possibilities.