Editor's Note: In recent years, educators are increasingly devoting attention to "soft skills". The stories below unleash their colorful journeys of nurturing empathy in preschool, learning the power of perseverance, and online-to-offline experiments in personalized learning. --Daniela

"Studies show that the more empathy a child displays, the less likely they are to engage in bullying, online and in real life." Researchers ask: "Should we teach empathy to even our youngest students? Can we?"

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Leaving a high-flying consulting career to teach 7th grade math, Angela Lee Duckworth realized that IQ alone doesn't lead to success. From spelling bees to militaries to sales, she traces "grit": the power of passion + perseverance.

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10K online tutorials and 10 years later, Sal Khan incubates a small K-8 school in Silicon Valley-- where students are organized by independence level with no grades or homework.

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Be The Change Idea

As the first article inspires, cultivate empathy this week. Nurture a plant, give extra attention to a pet, or simply listen with an intent to understand rather than solve, fix, or prove.