Empathy Training 5-6 Year-old Children Prosocial Behavior

Since1970s, study about pro-social behavior of children has been given more concern by developmental psychologists abroad. In our country, there are many angles and ways to study pro-social behavior of children. So it is difficult to find a valid way suitable for Preschool institutions and parent education. In these methods about cultivating pro-social behavior of children, empathy training is considered to be a good way, which includes listening to music, guiding to understand, the continuation of stories and playing roles. As the fact proved, empathy is an important kind of social emotion, which is helpful for perfecting personality and the forming of pro-social behavior. With the development of economy and harmonious society, it becomes more and more necessary to cultivate pro-social behavior of children. Due to the single child policy, child becomes precious. Moral education of young children is also put on the agenda. And good social behavior of children is good for the moral development. Therefore, both Preschool institutions and parents of children urgently need a proper training program about pro-social behavior of children.Considering this problem, based on the present empathy training materials at home and abroad, the author compiles an empathy training program about cultivating pro-social behavior of children and does an experiment with a large class in a kindergarten. The training program contains four kinds of training ways:playing role, the continuation of stories, listening to music and watching videos. The experiment class is divided into four groups, with each group of ten people. They are trained in four different ways in turn for two months. The purpose of the study is to make children learn the thinking way of experiencing emotions of others and to find out which way is easier to be accepted by children so as to form a training program which is excepted to be accepted by Preschool institutions and parents. Apart from experimental study, the researcher interviewed teachers and parents of children to know further the situation of cultivating pro-social behavior of children from teachers and parents in and out of the kindergarten. In addition, the researcher gives questionnaires to seventy parents to catch the degree of relevance between the rearing style and pro-social behavior of children. By analyzing and summarizing, these conclusions are drawn.1. Of all the four ways, the most effective way is playing roles. When playing roles, children can put themselves in others'shoes and experience affective state of others so as to achieve the effect of empathy. The next is the continuation of stories. By doing this, children can think the solution to the problems, which is also the effect of empathy. Listening to music and watching video are final. Although these two ways have some effects, the effects are not obvious and some children are apt to forget what they listened to and watched.2. Preschool institutions and parents seldom put the emphasis on the cultivation of pro-social behavior. Many parents do not know more about the pro-social behavior of children. And the education accepted in the kindergarten never stresses specially the importance of cultivating pro-social behavior of children and advocates empathy training.3. Of all the parenting styles, children understood and respected by parents tend to produce empathy and have good pro-social behavior. However, if children always are cursed and beat, controlled or ignored by parents, it is turning against producing empathy and forming of pro-social behavior.4. Different empathy training method of child gender effects are different. Cosplay and tell stories about girls effect is more obvious, and the continuation of the story and see the video on the boy's effect is more obvious. In the treatment of different gender children should adopt different empathy training method.Finally, by summing up the empathy training program, the researcher concludes the empathy training way which is convenient for Preschool institutions and parents to carry out and comes up with suggestions about parenting style. The researcher encourages parents and preschool teachers to pay more attention to the cultivation of pro-social behavior of children, making children experience others' emotion from an early age and learn to get on with others so as to integrate into society better and contribute to society.