The Horizons of Empathic Experience

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingPublished Conference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

School-based empathy training programs have exploded across North America in the past decade. They emerge amidst the popularization of the view that empathy is an invaluable human asset that can be both taught and learned. They also appear amidst a spate of studies tracking a dramatic decline in empathy amongst North American youth, such as a recent study, which found that 75% of US college students are less empathetic than 30 years ago. In this context, empathy training has come to be viewed as an antidote to a range of societal ills, including violence and bullying. While growing in number, however, the effectiveness of the programs is largely unknown. Evaluations have been sparse and uneven, symptomatic of a vagueness within the education sector about what empathy is, and hence how to measure it. Where assessments have occurred, they have not been comparative in nature, and have failed to provide insights into the strengths, limitations and outcomes of distinct pedagogical approaches. This chapter critically explores two different stories about empathy in the classroom. The divergent outcomes of these tales suggest that not all empathy training – or empathy – is equal. In particular, the chapter examines how certain worldviews, when taken for granted in pedagogical frameworks, may serve to decontextualize moral issues, and lead to ‘passive empathy’ or empathy based on fear for the ‘Self’ rather than care for the ‘Other’. Integrating sociological and phenomenological lenses of analyses, this chapter explores whether the contexts and pedagogical approaches within which empathy is taught can establish epistemic boundaries that can frame both students’ affective experiences and cognitive understanding of empathy. The chapter then argues that popular, critical reflection and debate about empathy is not only essential to the design of effective empathy programs, it could be vital to the future of humanity and the planet.
Original languageCanadian English
Title of host publicationEncountering Empathy
Subtitle of host publicationInterrogating the Past, Envisioning the Future
EditorsVeronica Wain, Paulus Pimomo
Number of pages11
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Empathy
  • Empathy education

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