Beyond Understanding: Intercultural Teacher Empathy in the Teaching of English as an Additional Language

Abstract

First I give my gratitude, thanks and appreciation to the participants in the study who gave up their valuable time to talk to me about their work as English language teachers. It was a pleasure and a privilege to listen to their experiences of teaching. Without their contribution to this study, there would be no thesis.I gratefully acknowledge and sincerely thank my supervisors Professor Marnie O'Neill and Winthrop Professor Anne Chapman for sharing their expertise and experience as researchers and teachers with me. Their gentle encouragement, unwavering support and helpful feedback and suggestions kept me, and the study, going. As a student, I was motivated and inspired by their kindness, support, gentle guidance and belief in me. As a teacher, I learnt much from them about how to motivate and support my students.My gratitude and love go to my partner, Ilan, for his constant support and unwavering belief in me.Finally, my thanks to the rest of my family Ryan, Mel, and Pauline for love, laughter and support.

Catering for EAL/D Students’ Language Needs in Mainstream Classes: Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices in One Australian Setting

“…Pre-service education needs to cover all bases as a result. Practical language teaching strategies, language awareness and curriculum content need to be addressed (Premier & Miller, 2010) but not to the exclusion of teacher attitudes, cross-cultural understanding (Giambo & Szecsi, 2005;Youngs & Youngs, 2001), reflection on Self/ Other, meta-cultural awareness and teacher empathy (McAlinden, 2012;Youngs & Youngs, 2001). Above all, mainstream teacher confidence can be enhanced by improved language awareness.…”

Empathy, Teacher Dispositions, and Preparation for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

“…teacher education for its advantages to improving how teachers flexibly respond to and communicate with youth across racial and cultural difference. This gap in the literature persists despite increased admonition that teachers working with youth in multicultural schooling contexts develop empathy (Carter, 2009;Dolby, 2012;Ladson-Billings, 2006;Marx & Pray, 2011;McAlinden, 2012;Tettegah, 2007;Tettegah & Anderson, 2007), and empirical evidence of empathy's utility for improving the quality of teachers' crosscultural or cross-racial classroom interactions (Arghode, Yalvac, & Liew, 2013;Cooper, 2010;Feshbach & Feshbach, 2011;Goroshit & Hen, 2016;McAllister & Irvine, 2002;Peck, Maude, & Brotherson, 2015;Stevens, 1967;Warren, 2013Warren, , 2014bWarren, , 2015bWarren & Lessner, 2014). Much of this article is then spent articulating the relationship between teachers' classroom (inter)actions, dispositions, and the application of empathy delivered through the act and process of perspective taking.…”

“…These shifts may begin in teacher education, but professional development will be necessary over the course of their professional careers. This argument is rooted in empirical research recognizing empathy as beneficial to improving how teachers communicate and respond across racial and cultural difference (Barr, 2011;Black & Phillips, 1982;Cooper, 2010;Eisenberg & Miller, 1987;Marx & Pray, 2011;McAlinden, 2012;Peck et al, 2015;Warren, 2013Warren, , 2014b. Figure 1 is a conceptual framework of the application of empathy through perspective taking as the mechanism that mediates a teacher's acquisition of new knowledge about students' values, lived realities, and the sociocultural context where she or he is teaching.…”

Empathic Communication in the Process of Teaching English

“…The first condition includes getting to know students, being in control and shared experience. The second condition includes caring and communicating [2]. An English teacher can not be distracted and indifferent, not interested in students' life and problems.…”

“…McAlinden [2], being an effective teacher means 3 things: 1) caring about students (helping them, encouraging and motivating), 2) reflecting on practice (planning lessons, knowing methods, learning by experience) and 3) attending to students' needs (listening to students, talking to students and responding to students' needs).…”