PurposeThe main goal of the one semester long intervention for first-year Bachelor of Social Services students was to enable them to increase their awareness of a variety of cultures and practices encountered in social pedagogical work and to support the development of their ability to interact empathically with clients.Design/methodology/approachThe aim of this article is to describe an educational intervention focused on teaching Qualified Empathic skills to social work students in higher education at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. We introduce the concept of Qualified Empathy to describe professional empathic working skills and define it as: Qualified Empathy requires compassion for empathic action and it includes the ability for professional self-reflection, emotional skills and a healthy set of boundaries. Qualified Empathy encompasses the ability to tell the difference between sympathy and empathy, as it includes the capacity to use compassion to act in an empathic way in professional contexts (Raatikainen et al., 2017). The study was a case study, designed to explore the students' experiences of their one semester long educational intervention (n = 20). Our research question was: How do students construct Qualified Empathy as a dimension of their own professional expertise?FindingsThe results of the study demonstrate the progress areas of the students' Qualified Empathy skills. The development stages in the three progress areas are: (1) from emotional reaction to emotional response, (2) from understanding to empathic acting and (3) from client perspective to a more systemic approach. Implications of the results for Social Services students are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, as in all studies, some limitations need to be taken into account. One limitation of this study is the size and “nature of data”. Secondly, challenges with the concept of Qualified Empathy need to be addressed and more research is needed to define it more concretely. Even so, as it is a new concept, we need more discussion on the differences in the definition of empathy and Qualified Empathy. However, this study offers one new perspective for discussion which is the need for empathy training, in social work education practices and in the field. An important ethical aspect of research emphasizes that its implementation must not be to the detriment of the people being researched (Juuti and Puusa, 2020, pp. 168).Practical implicationsOur findings demonstrate that educational interventions can improve students' empathy skills to more qualified skills. We emphasized that maintaining the skill demands continuous reflection as a lifelong process. This article provides an overview of an educational intervention to improve students' Qualified Empathy skills and suggests a definition for educators to frame the teaching of professional empathy or empathy in a professional context – especially in the social work context. Furthermore, with this educational intervention in social work, we offer a way to support the students to – not only – have a more professional approach to empathy but also to find a way to establish a more emotionally sustainable environment for professionals in social services. It is essential for social work education to focus on the growth of Qualified Empathy in students through supervision and guidance which supports their professional competence. By doing so, we contribute to the development of more sustainable working environments in the social work context.Social implicationsProfessional empathy is seen as an important factor in building a socially sustainable society from the perspectives of employees, clients and patients. We noticed that it is important to allow time and space for the learners to internalize the concept of Qualified Empathy. When we allow for this, students begin to recognize and assign more value to it and, as we suggest, they become more adept in their interactions and work with clients.Originality/valueThe study was a case study, designed to explore the students' experiences of their one semester long educational intervention (n = 20). Our research question was: How do students construct Qualified Empathy as a dimension of their own professional expertise? The results of the study demonstrate the progress areas of the students' Qualified Empathy skills. The development stages in the three progress areas are: (1) from emotional reaction to emotional response, (2) from understanding to empathic acting and (3) from client perspective to a more systemic approach. Implications of the results for Social Services students are discussed.

The objective of the study was to examine current pedagogical practices in Finnish early childhood education. Our purpose was to cast light on how kindergarten teachers implement visual arts education in day-care environments. Finnish kindergarten teachers become qualified through two routes: bachelor studies in educational sciences at university or bachelor studies in social services at universities of applied sciences. We gathered qualitative data by interviewing five kindergarten teachers in five day-care centres in the Helsinki metropolitan area during the spring of 2014. The data were analysed qualitatively on the basis of themes, and the results were reduced to reveal the variation underlying the data. Through these findings we constructed two approaches to visual arts education, naming them the "instrumentally focused approach" and "art-focused approach". We hope that the study will help in designing better curricula for BA studies for future kindergarten teachers at both types of universities. We also hope we have provided new insights into the question of what high-quality visual arts education in early childhood is.

Studies have shown that when clients experience empathy during their interactions with empowerment professionals, the results of the work are better (Gerdes & Segal 2011). Empathy has also been shown to reduce burnout and protect against secondary traumatic stress in professionals (Wagman, Geiger, Shockley & Segal 2014). This analysis examines and asks what an empowering professional is and what ”qualified” empathy is all about? How can it be learned and taught effectively in higher education contexts? In this paper, we will describe how teaching and learning to use empathy has been a part of studies for Social Services students. We argue that professional empathy can be approached in multisensory ways when studying empathy (e.g. Austring & Sørensen 2006). In our case, we have used traditional learning and teaching methods alongside creative methods such as visual arts and drama as ways to learn and teach empathy. Social pedagogically speaking, professional empathy is not just seen as a ’tool’ or ’thinking framework’ in encountering clients, increasing empowerment, or supporting the process of inclusion, but it can also be seen as one of the core competencies for students (as future professionals). It also has an important role in their professional growth and activities. This paper presents results of the project called ”Qualified Empathy” (2015–2017, NORDPLUS). The project took place in the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, as well as in Norway and Denmark as a way to develop diverse and creative teaching and learning methods to help Social Services students (N=47) to learn and develop more professional empathy skills as part of the course. As a part of this review, we have paid attention to individual descriptions as well as to pedagogical perspectives on how empathy can be learned and taught in higher education. We will also consider what needs to be addressed in the teaching and learning contexts in the future. The text combines a social pedagogical approach to the learning and teaching of empathy. *** Tutkimuksin on osoitettu, että työn tulokset ovat parempia, jos asiakkaat saavat kokea empatiaa vuorovaikutuksessaan ammattilaisten kanssa (Gerdes & Segal 2011). Toisaalta empatian on todettu vähentävän myös työntekijöiden loppuun palamista (Wagman, Geiger, Shockley & Segal 2014). Tässä katsauksessa tarkastellaan ammatillista empatiaa ja sen oppimista ja opettamista korkeakoulukontekstissa. Kysymme tässä tekstissä, mitä ammatillinen empatia on ja miten sitä voidaan oppia ja opettaa korkeakoulukontekstissa. Ammatillisella empatialla tarkoitetaan tässä yhteydessä moniaistillista tapaa oppia ja opiskella empatiaa (esim. Austring & Sørensen 2006). Tällöin perinteisten oppimis- ja opetusmenetelmien rinnalla myös luovat menetelmät kuten kuvataide ja draama ovat keskeisiä tapoja oppia ja opettaa empatiaa. Sosiaalipedagogisesti ajateltuna ammatillinen empatia ei ole vain ”työväline” tai ”ajattelukehikko” asiakkaan kohtaamiseen, voimaannuttamiseen tai osallistamiseen, vaan se voidaan nähdä myös keskeisenä opiskelijan (tulevan ammattilaisen) ammatillisen kasvun ja ammatillisen toiminnan ytimenä, sosiaalipedagogisena sydämenä. Tässä katsauksessa esitellään NORPLUS-hankkeen ”Qualified Empathy” (2015–2017) aikana Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulussa ja sen kumppanikorkeakouluissa kehitettyjä monimuotoisia ja luovia opetus- ja oppimismenetelmiä, joiden avulla sosionomiopiskelijoille (n=47) opetettiin empatiaa osana opintojaksoa. Huomio kiinnittyy yksilöllisten kokemusten lisäksi pedagogiseen näkökulmaan, kuinka empatiaa voidaan oppia ja opettaa ja millaisia asioita siinä yhteydessä tulisi huomioida. Teksti yhdistää sosiaalipedagogisen lähestymistavan empatian oppimiseen ja opettamiseen.

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan suomalaista varhaiskasvatuksen ja esiopetuksen arkea keskusteluttamalla kolmea osa-aineistoa keskenään ja suhteessa teoriaan. Tarkastelua suuntasi kysymys, millainen liikkumavara lapselle jää varhaiskasvatuksessa. Aineistot olivat yksittäisen lapsen kasvunkansioihin liittyvät haastattelut, pienten lasten ryhmässä koottu dokumentointiaineisto ja kymmenessä päiväkodissa toteutetun kehittämishankkeen dokumentointiaineisto. Aineisto analysoitiin laadullisilla menetelmillä aineistolähtöisesti. Keskeiseksi vaiheeksi nousi aineiston tarkastelu yhteisöllisen, normittavan ja yksilöllisen eetoksen valossa. Johtopäätöksenä esitetään, että kolmen eetoksen tasapainoinen esiintyminen varhaiskasvatuksessa tukee lapsen liikkumavaraksi luonnehdittua aluetta varhaiskasvatuksen arjessa. Aineiston kriittinen tarkastelu avaa näkökulmia varhaiskasvatuksen uudistamiseen ja alan koulutuksen kehittämiseen.