Empathy: A Top Skill of the Effective (and Loving) Educator

Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/empathy.html#CUYLH1KUTGGdCWdk.99

Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/empathy.html#CUYLH1KUTGGdCWdk.99

Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.   Alice Miller

I have a fitness teacher.  She knows fitness, she knows how the body works.  She knows how to break down the exercises and how to teach them.  What she doesn’t know is each participant’s body.  She assumes she knows what is best for all of the students.  In other words, she lacks empathy for those in her class.  Some tolerate her, others do not go to her class because of her lack of empathy for her students.  But these are adults, children in public school education do not have such a choice. So this post is a call to action to highlight and become intentional in bringing teacher empathy into the classroom.

What is Empathy?

Daniel Pink in a Whole New Mind describes empathy:

Empathy isn’t sympathy- that is, feeling bad for someone else. It is feeling with someone else, sensing what it would be like to be that person  Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling—to stand in their shoes, to see with their eyes, to feel with their hearts—it is a stunning act of imaginative derring-do, the ultimate virtual reality, climbing into another’s mind to experience the world from that person’s perspective.

A Rationale for Empathy

Given all the pressures placed upon teachers in today’s schools, I think, not necessarily due to all of fault of their own, some educators overlook the reverence they should take in relating to and interacting with their learners.  Jonathan Kozol in Ordinary Resurrections so beautifully stated:

Good teachers don’t approach a child with overzealousness or with destructive conscientiousness. They’re not drill-masters in the military or floor managers in a production system. They are specialists in opening small packages. They give the string a tug but do it carefully. They don’t yet know what’s in the box. They don’t know if it’s breakable.

. . . and . . .

Human beings are precious. Their values, thoughts and independence are very important to them. When dealing with another person one has to know that one is “walking on holy ground.” Defining empathy skills in practice – Carl Rogers and unconditional regard

Empathy for one’s students should be a top concern of educators and intentionally used as a primary instructional strategy.

Empathy and the Educator as a Design Thinker

Given the recent popularity of design thinker, some educators are looking at and proposing that educators using design thinking to design the learning experiences in this classrooms.  As Grant Wiggins notes in Beyond teacher egocentrism: design thinking:

The learning is the center of our world, not the teaching. And until we see that we are in the business of designing and causing learning instead of merely in the business of teaching, we will fail to cause optimal learning. Great care has been given to thinking through the goal of the learning and the conditions that have to be in place if optimal engagement and active learning, in a group of diverse students, is to occur.

Many describe empathy as the first step of effective design thinking.  “One of the core principles of design thinking is its focus on human values at every stage of the process. And empathy for the people for whom you’re designing is fundamental to this process” What is Design Thinking?

I would go as far as saying that empathy is necessary for designing all facets of teaching: setting up the classroom, selecting curriculum, choosing and implementing classroom management strategies, and teaching each individual learner as unique individuals.

Benefits of Empathy in Teaching and Learning

Finally in terms of benefits to teaching, learning and the classroom environment, empathy is a necessary precursor in order for the following to develop:

• Foundation of the teacher-student relationship:  With educator empathy, the learner feels as though the educator has a genuine interest in and really understands him-her.
• Individualized, differentiated, and personalized education:  There is absolutely no way an educator can tailor instruction to the meet their learners’ needs, interests, desires without empathy.
• Meeting the social emotional needs of the students:  “Addressing the host of unmet social and emotional needs that students carry into the classroom demands that teachers be able to look below the surface and understand what’s driving a particular set of behaviors” (Unleashing Empathy: How Teachers Transform Classrooms With Emotional Learning).
• Modeling empathy to increase empathy by the learners: When educators walk the talk of empathy, students can see empathy in action and develop those skills for themselves. ‘Ultimately, creating empathy comes down to leading children by example. “We have to model what we want them to do”‘  (Creating Empathy in the Classroom).

Educators inherently know that empathy is important to the operation of their classrooms and the success of their students. Educators must meet the needs of each of their students, no matter their background. At the core of this educational mission is the teacher’s ability to empathize with these students, moving beyond the teacher’s perspective to those of the children he or she encounters. Beyond this there is also the argument that empathy itself should be a goal of education; students should leave the classroom or school environment equipped with skills to build meaningful relationships with their peers  (Empathy in the Classroom)

Related Posts:

• Empathy and Global Stewardship: The Other 21st Century Skills – http://wp.me/pKlio-1nn
• Teaching as a Human – Humane Process http://wp.me/pKlio-1ho

 

Finally in terms of benefits to teaching, learning and the classroom environment, empathy is a necessary precursor in order for the following to develop:

• Foundation of the teacher-student relationship:  With educator empathy, the learner feels as though the educator has a genuine interest in and really understands him-her.
• Individualized, differentiated, and personalized education:  There is absolutely no way an educator can tailor instruction to the meet their learners’ needs, interests, desires without empathy.
• Meeting the social emotional needs of the students:  “Addressing the host of unmet social and emotional needs that students carry into the classroom demands that teachers be able to look below the surface and understand what’s driving a particular set of behaviors” (Unleashing Empathy: How Teachers Transform Classrooms With Emotional Learning).
• Modeling empathy to increase empathy by the learners: When educators walk the talk of empathy, students can see empathy in action and develop those skills for themselves. ‘Ultimately, creating empathy comes down to leading children by example. “We have to model what we want them to do”‘  (Creating Empathy in the Classroom).

Educators inherently know that empathy is important to the operation of their classrooms and the success of their students. Educators must meet the needs of each of their students, no matter their background. At the core of this educational mission is the teacher’s ability to empathize with these students, moving beyond the teacher’s perspective to those of the children he or she encounters. Beyond this there is also the argument that empathy itself should be a goal of education; students should leave the classroom or school environment equipped with skills to build meaningful relationships with their peers  (Empathy in the Classroom)

 

Related Posts:

• Empathy and Global Stewardship: The Other 21st Century Skills
• Teaching as a Human – Humane Process

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69392086@N06