Loving-Kindness
Stories of friendship and care
Teacher Experience
A contemplative invitation for educators to reflect on before teaching.If loving kindness is understood to be the wish that the other have and experience contentment, then how can we dwell more and more within this natural good-hearted attitude? What situations tend to interrupt this experience of wishing well for others? Often it is when others (including students!) may seem to irritate us with their words and actions. If we are depleted, and forget to include ourselves with the gentle heart of maitri, it is quite tricky to restore our good hearted view. Contemplate receiving loving kindness from others who have shown you unconditional love in the past, whether a grandparent, a mentor, a friend, or a teacher. Practice receiving to consciously include yourself in the circle of well-wishing.
Student Experience
A contemplative invitation for students to connect with this learning goal.Listen to a story about someone being kind to a friend, family member, or animal. Notice how the story makes you feel in your body and heart. Think about a time when someone was kind to you or when you were kind to someone else.
Understanding
Students will understand...All people want to feel happy and safe. When we practice being kind and friendly, we help create good feelings for ourselves and others. Kindness makes our hearts feel warm and helps us make friends.
Action
Students are able to...Listen to stories about characters who feel safe and happy when showing and receiving kindness, act out scenes where friendship and care create joy and trust, and share personal stories about times when kindness made them feel warm and secure.
Content Knowledge
Students will know...Loving-kindness means having a warm, friendly heart toward yourself and others. Just like how it feels good when someone gives you a hug or says something nice, we can learn to have those same warm feelings toward all people and animals. When we practice loving-kindness, we wish for everyone to be happy and feel safe, just like we want to feel happy and safe. This makes our hearts feel good and helps us be better friends.
In Buddhism, this practice is called metta, which means being like a good friend to everyone. We can start by being kind to ourselves, then to our family and friends, and then to everyone we meet. Even when someone is not nice to us, we can still wish for them to feel happy and not hurt anymore.
Guiding Questions
Implementation Possibilities
Create a classroom library of kindness stories from different cultures. Practice story acting where children take turns being kind characters, focusing on gentle movements. Facilitate daily story circles where children share experiences of giving and receiving kindness. Use picture books to explore how animal families show care. Establish storytelling rituals where children create stories about friendship and helping others feel safe.
Assessment Ideas
Observe children’s engagement during kindness stories and their ability to identify caring actions. Notice their body language and facial expressions when sharing personal kindness experiences. Listen for their understanding of how kindness creates good feelings in both giver and receiver.
