An educational intervention focused on teaching Qualified Empathy to social work students in Finland

Abstract

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.

Application of Emotional Education in College Physical Education Based on Mobile Internet of Things Model

“…Among them, Zamora described the systematization of emotional education curriculum to emphasize the value of emotional education in training future educators [2]. To improve students' abilities, Raatikainen et al introduced the concept of qualified empathy to describe professional empathy work skills and conducted a semester of affective intervention for students [3]. In order to have a better platform to implement social-emotional education, Ljubetic and Maglica analyzed emotional education platforms according to the criteria of key social-emotional competencies and related socialemotional skills [4].…”

Culinary inheritance: a new paradigm of innovating knowledge teaching

“…Professional technicians only need to consider learning styles and teach accordingly without adapting to students' preferences or differences in learning styles. Perceived teaching competence is determined by educators' personal and vocational attributes (Raatikainen et al. , 2022; Shi et al.…”

“…Professional technicians only need to consider learning styles and teach accordingly without adapting to students' preferences or differences in learning styles. Perceived teaching competence is determined by educators' personal and vocational attributes (Raatikainen et al, 2022;Shi et al, 2021). From the situated cognition perspective, professional technicians can use their practical experience to improve their teaching ability for students learning.…”

Strategic Plan for Enhancing the Quality of Educators in Deli Insani Integrated Islamic Primary School

“…Educators, as qualified professionals, have specific responsibilities for the growth and development of students (Fakhruddin Siswopranoto, 2022;Li, 2022;Raatikainen et al, 2022). They are crucial in providing education in line with quality standards, emphasizing both physical and spiritual aspects.…”