Radical Empathy in Teaching

Abstract

Whether teaching online or in a campus classroom, a significant part of the teaching life includes interacting with and responding to students. We respond to student comments and questions; their written work, exams, and presentations; their enthusiasm or lack thereof; and sometimes the personal joys and tragedies they share with us. We structure the course, the conversations, and the assignments and within this learning environment, we engage with a range of students who have various levels of motivation, preparation, insight, ability, positivity, negativity, and commitment.As we seek to understand and educate our students, and assess their work, we experience empathy, "a complex cognitive-affective skill that allows us to 'know' (resonate, feel, sense, cognitively grasp) another person' s experience" (Jordan 2010, 103). Empathy is part of the experience of teaching and is often present in our interactions and relationships with students as we (and they) seek to teach and learn the material, understand each other, and move through the course. Teaching and learning involve "a dance of responsiveness" (Jordan 2010, 4) and understanding this phenomenon helps us balance support and standards, role boundaries, and the power of connection in teaching and learning.In this chapter, we challenge tacit ideas about empathy that pervade both our larger culture and the teaching domain, and we suggest a more nuanced consideration of empathy in teaching and learning. We begin with an overview of Relational Cultural Theory (RCT), the theoretical foundation for this chapter and then review relevant teaching literature. Next, we explore the complexities of empathy in the context of teaching and learning. We consider why empathy is important in teaching, why it is sometimes difficult to feel empathy with certain students or in particular situations, and the pull we sometimes feel with students who are in crisis or even those who influence us more than we expect. Finally, we describe relevant stances and strategies for faculty including reflective approaches for use before and after specific interactions and in the midst of engagements with students. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, no. 153, Spring 2018

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“…As such, forming the foundation for a relational, participatory community in 60 minutes presented a lofty goal. Jordan and Schwartz (2018) describe being transparent and vulnerable as difficult if there is no underlying relationship, and yet GLAs depend on the participants' willingness to be transparent and participate in discussing hidden issues or power imbalances (Vaughn, 2014). Three participants affirmed my concerns regarding trust and community-building as they refused to enable their video screen at any point during the session.…”

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“…Instructors demonstrate how to gather information, consider options, and make informed choices. Through their interaction with students, they model positive communication that is respectful, clear, concise, purposeful, and open, which facilitates trust (Jordan & Schwartz, 2018; Smith & Buchannan, 2012). When instructors model effective communication, they not only offer examples for all students to emulate, but they also become more successful instructors as their students understand their expectations and how to meet them.…”

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“…Likewise, they need to feel that the instructor is invested in them as human beings, not solely as machines tasked with producing academic content. As Judith V. Jordan and Harriet L. Schwartz (2018) noted, "connection is so essential to our wellbeing and to our very survival that the brain is wired to respond in the same way and in the same place to social exclusion as it does to life-threatening physical pain" (p. 26). Empathy is especially crucial in more "active" learning environments such as college composition classrooms, where the emphasis is on collaboration and discussion (praxis) rather than passive absorption of course content.…”

“…We may not ever be able to fully put ourselves in each other's shoes, but it is through that delicate negotiation between self and other that classroom communities are built. A more useful term might be what Judith V. Jordan and Harriet L. Schwartz (2018) called "radical empathy, " a concept that emerged out of the study of relational cultural theory. In that educational model, the learning experience moves away from one-way transmission of knowledge towards two-way "relatedness and responsiveness to one another and the desire to engage in growthful relationships" (p. 26).…”