Building Empathy
Overview
Developing empathy in educators and in learners is an iterative process that requires taking the time to understand and honor others' perspectives. Educators can cultivate empathy for all students through active listening, empathy interviews, or shadowing a student to understand their day-to-day experiences. These methods help educators reflect on their own implicit bias, and build trusting relationships with their students, especially when students are from historically and systematically excluded groups and/or whose backgrounds are different from that of their teacher. Modeling methods of perspective taking and valuing student feedback supports the development of empathy between students and teachers, which can foster a Sense of Belonging and help mitigate Stereotype Threat. This is of particular importance for students with learning disabilities or ADHD who may have had a number of non-empathetic interactions at school.
Educators building students' empathetic skills is also important, as it helps students to increase the socioemotional skills they need to develop and maintain peer relationships. It also supports students' Motivation to engage in prosocial behavior in times of unfairness. Many bullying prevention initiatives in schools focus on building empathy in students because empathy is associated with bystander intervention (e.g., getting help for a victim or confronting the bully, etc.). Educators can help students build their own empathy through emotional socialization activities like read-alouds and raising awareness of nonverbal cues that help them to become aware of the emotional experiences of others.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Learn how to create empathy maps that educators can use to reflect the interests, strengths, and academic and social-emotional needs of the whole child. Educators can gather this information in different ways and use it to inform their instructional approaches.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Culturally Responsive Strategies
Checking in with learners, or taking the time to talk with individual learners about their experiences or goals, is important for fostering a positive classroom environment.
Developing cultural awareness as an educator is an ongoing process that includes a recognition and appreciation for the full diversity of students and an understanding of how one's own Identity intersects with students' Identities.
Discussing race with students can range from conversations on cultural celebration (e.g., celebrating the importance of diversity) to developing critical consciousness (e.g., understanding the impact of social inequities like racism and how to dismantle it).
A first step to supporting learners is truly understanding who they are.
Equitable grading systems and practices reimagine how to communicate student progress and mastery through various methods that reduce subjectivity and increase opportunities to learn.
Family engagement happens when educators and schools collaborate with families to collectively support their child's learning in meaningful ways, both at school and at home.
Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps foster a Sense of Belonging, increase positive student Identity development, and mitigate Stereotype Threat.
Culturally responsive texts include those that reflect different facets of students' identities, including race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic, and disability status, as well as the intersections of those identities.
Shadowing a student involves an educator, administrator, or designated adult observing a learner across different parts of their day to deepen their understanding of that learner's experience beyond their classroom.
Translanguaging is a flexible classroom practice enabling students to listen, speak, read, and write across their multiple languages or dialects, even if the teacher does not have formal knowledge of these additional languages.
