Empathy in learning environments is defined as “a quality or attribute of individuals that enables them to accept others as they are, to feel and perceive situations from their point of view, and to adopt a constructive and long-term approach to their progress by seeking solutions that address their needs” (Cooper, 2011, p. 48). Empathy plays an important role in social and moral development because it helps prevent aggressive and bullying behavior; regulates the natural tendency toward self-centered perspectives and egocentrism; and enables individuals to adapt their behavior to the expectations and needs of others, thereby making interpersonal relationships possible. Anthropologist Sarah Hrdy views empathy as a social trait that contributed to the survival of the human species during evolution.
Integrating empathy in teaching becomes possible when teachers sharpen their ability to identify students’ emotional and learning states and develop sensitivity to body language that supports attentive listening. Teachers are encouraged to model actions that demonstrate understanding of students’ perspectives and to allow learners a degree of autonomy in decision-making that supports their growth and enables them to experience empathy themselves. This principle may be combined with the principle of “Fostering Norms of Productive Discourse” or “Encouraging Active Citizenship.”
In the citizen science project “Wayfinding for an Accessible Environment,” students investigated issues of accessibility in the urban environment for pedestrians with visual impairments. During the project, students experienced situations from the perspective of individuals with visual impairments as they imagine themselves in their place, and used these experiences as tools for improving and redesigning the urban environment in ways that support the mobility and independence of people with visual impairments.
Deepening and Expansion ▼
Factors that promote and inhibit teachers’ empathy
A study conducted to formulate ideas for fostering an empathetic classroom climate, beginning in teacher education, identified two equally prominent factors that promote empathy: the ability to recognize students’ emotional and learning states, and the ability to interpret body language that supports attentive listening. A continuous and personal relationship with students was also identified as a factor promoting empathy. The most prominent factor found to inhibit empathetic attitudes was negative student behavior, including disruption and rule violations (Bakshi, 2016).
Empathy in learning environments
A pioneer in research on empathy in educational environments is Bridget Cooper (2011). In her work, Cooper emphasizes “deep empathy” in teacher–student relationships as essential for the holistic development of learners. Deep empathy involves building close and meaningful relationships between teachers and students through careful observation and attention to both verbal and nonverbal signals. Cooper identifies four categories of factors that may inhibit empathy: factors related to students (such as personality, special needs, family background, and educational history); factors related to teachers (such as personal concerns, tendencies, and personality traits that influence teachers’ ability to express empathy in different contexts); factors related to the curriculum (including workload, rigidity, uniformity, and the extent of assessment requirements); and contextual factors (such as the learning environment, school leadership, class size, available time, and broader educational system conditions).
Empathy in teaching
Nel Noddings (2003) proposed an educational approach based on developing relationships of mutual caring, in which care is not one-sided but rather embedded in a reciprocal relationship grounded in moral principles of concern and responsibility. At the center of this educational relationship are values such as generosity, helping others, accepting others, and active involvement, rather than focusing solely on measurable academic achievement. This approach seeks to create conditions that allow students to develop virtues themselves while enabling teachers, also through appropriate working conditions, to establish and maintain empathetic relationships with students as part of their moral responsibility toward the holistic development of each learner.
Additional Resources:
Brené Brown is a professor of research in social work at the University of Houston, USA, who has devoted her work to studying concepts such as courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. In a widely shared video published in 2013, Brown explains the difference between empathy and sympathy. Many people assume that empathy and sympathy are synonymous because they are often used in similar contexts and evoke related emotions. Sympathy refers to feelings of pity, compassion, or sorrow for another person’s hardship and does not necessarily imply understanding their experience. Empathy, by contrast, refers to the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings. Empathy evokes emotions such as understanding, acceptance, and care, whereas sympathy evokes emotions such as pity, sorrow, and compassion.
Brown, B. (2017). Braving the wilderness: The quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone. Random House.
References ▼
Bakshi, A. (2016). Factors that promote and inhibit teacher empathy. In Y. Weinberger (Ed.), Education in an Age of Uncertainty (pp. 97–136). Tel Aviv: Resling.
Weinberger-Lovel, Y., & Bakshi-Barosh, A. (2013). The complete empathic act of teachers. Giluy Daat, 4, 97–123.
Cooper, B. (2011). Empathy in education: Engagement, values and achievement. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Davis, M. H. (1994). Empathy: A social psychological approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Decety, J., & Meyer, M. (2008). From emotion resonance to empathic understanding: A social developmental neuroscience account. Development and Psychopathology, 20(4), 1053–1080.
Eisenberg, N., Eggum, N. D., & Di Giunta, L. (2010). Empathy-related responding: Associations with prosocial behavior, aggression, and intergroup relations. Social Issues and Policy Review, 4(1), 143–180.
Kali, Y. (2006). Collaborative knowledge-building using the Design Principles Database. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 1(2), 187–201.
Noddings, N. (2003). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Shapira, N., Kupermintz, H., & Kali, Y. (2016). Design principles for promoting intergroup empathy in online environments. Interdisciplinary Journal of e-Skills and Life Long Learning, 12, 225–246. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3605
