Navigating Difficult Conversations

“Understanding does not equate to agreement. It means listening with the intent to rehumanise.”

— Ed Kirwan

When the world feels fractured, figuring out how to help young people make sense of the noise, conflict, and tension can feel pretty overwhelming. This week, our team took some serious time to sit with these big questions, and figure out how to support educators and caregivers in this tricky space.

This is a heavy topic, and one we didn’t take lightly. After many conversations and careful reflection, we’re sharing some practical and thoughtful ideas that we hope will make those tough conversations a little easier to navigate.

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Right now, many teachers are navigating the hardest kinds of conversations. Those around war, genocide, displacement, injustice, racism and poverty. We’re seeing rising questions from educators who want to help young people make sense of Gaza, Israel, Sudan, Ukraine, and countless other flashpoints of pain in our world. 

These conversations are heavy. They’re emotionally and politically charged. And they’re necessary.

We’re not here to offer answers or pick sides, and we don’t have all the facts. No-one does! But we do believe this: there can be no peace, no justice, no humanity without empathy.

What is the role of empathy in times of conflict?

Approaching issues and discussions with empathy doesn’t excuse violence, doesn’t dilute justice and doesn't pretend all pain is the same.

But it does remind us that every life has value and that there are humans behind every headline. If we teach this generation to dehumanise those they disagree with, we are only fuelling the next wave of conflict and increasing polarisation. 

Empathy is deeply connected to increasing connection and preventing conflict. We need to see nuance, and understand that learning the art of deep conversation can help us to see humanity - something we desperately need to do.

We believe the world is not just facing a crisis of war, but a crisis of communication, and we need to arm ourselves with tools to change this.

Photo of a young girl enthusiastically passing the microphone to a student next to her, as a woman smiles in the background.

Tools for Navigating Difficult Conversations

Teachers have told us they feel unprepared and that they’re scared to say the wrong thing. That students are coming to class with strong opinions shaped by social media, yet little space to safely unpack them.

We want to help.

Here are some questions and practices you can introduce in your classroom to help students build perspective and resilience:

1.) Ask what emotions arise when they feel in conflict with someone, or when they disagree. (A great question to develop empathy for yourself!)

• What is that sensation in their body?

• How does it make them feel?

• Can they map it out and analyse those emotions together?

  
  

2.) Explore how their perception of the other person changes. (A great way of developing empathy for others!)

• What do they think about the other person when they disagree?

• How do they label them?

• Can they separate the point of disagreement- like an idea or opinion -from the person themselves?

  
  

3.) Invite reflection on a personal conflict. (A great way to practise empathy in action!)

• Have they disagreed with a friend or sibling?

• What happened?

• How did they resolve it?

• What were their thoughts and feelings during that time?

• How do they think the other person felt about them in that moment?

  
  

A wonderful painting done by a student from Windhoek International School in Namibia. Painting depicts two figures helping a smaller figure hold up a world. They are surrounded by heart shaped balloons.

And here are a handful of organisations and resources to help guide and support you further:

✨ The Forgiveness Project.

Stories exploring radical empathy and reconciliation. From survivors of terrorism to those grappling with inherited guilt, these accounts don’t shy away from the complexity of forgiveness.Recommended: Angela Findlay’s story- an artist reflecting on her German heritage and the intergenerational weight of WWII.

✨ Solutions Not Sides.

Focused on depolarising the conversation around Israel and Palestine, offering full lesson packs and support to hold space for discussion, not division.

✨ Amnesty International on Sudan.

While some headlines flood our screens, others go ignored. Sudan has seen over 150,000 deaths in two years with barely a mention in global media. This report calls that out.

✨ Jo Berry – Building Bridges for Peace.

After losing her father in the IRA Brighton bombing, Jo met the man responsible. Not to forgive him, but to try and understand. Her story is a powerful example of empathy in action!

A photo of our founder Ed Kirwan and Jo Berry at the Empathy Week 2025 showcase in February.

A Note on Perspective

We must acknowledge that all suffering matters, not just the suffering that trends. That media coverage is not a moral compass. That one side’s pain does not invalidate another’s.

You can feel anger at injustice and still choose to speak with empathy. These are not contradictions - they are the foundations of humanity.

Don’t expect to have all the answers. What we do ask is this:

• Fuel empathy, not division.

• Acknowledge your own feelings, but don’t dismiss others’.

• Rehumanise the world when entire populations are being dehumanised.

• Know that it’s OK to feel anger, to disagree and to not have all the answers.

  
  

Empathy isn’t easy, and it may never bring full peace. But it’s the only path that moves us closer to it. It starts with us. Modelling empathy for our students, for each other, and for a future where we can sit at the same table, not because we all agree, but because we see each other as human.