Teaching with empathy amid Covid
Published on: Sunday, March 07, 2021
By: Fung Lan Yong And Melinda Kong
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Empathy is a way of connecting with others, allowing individuals to show that they understand what others are experiencing. Empathetic teachers possess several characteristics that they integrate into their teaching to show students that they understand what they are experiencing as more than just problems to resolve. In their attempt to understand students’ feelings, they often tap into their own experiences to see what they are actually feeling; they also try to recall a time when they felt something similar. Since each student’s experiences are his or her own, empathetic teachers ask themselves what more they need to learn and understand about how others are reacting to, or perceiving, a particular situation.
As Covid-19 uncertainties remain high, teaching online with empathy has become increasingly important to ensure an equitable learning environment. Empathetic teachers strive to connect with students in a more humanistic way by keeping track on students’ well-being. They try to be more accommodating by creating a virtual environment for students where they feel safe and understood; for instance, they provide both synchronous and asynchronous learning, as well as allow greater flexibility in how students intend to structure their learning.
To provide better remote learning experiences to students, empathetic teachers create smaller pre-recorded videos, case studies and mini assignments that encourage students to take an active part in their learning. They also arrange online breakout rooms for small group discussions or mentoring sessions to encourage students to speak up and directly address their issues. Moreover, they provide personalized feedback on students’ assessments via email, WhatsApp, Moodle, Google Meet, MS Teams, Zoom and/or other online platforms.
Empathetic teachers may try a “less is more” approach when it comes to quantity of materials to ensure mastery of essentials. They may communicate openly with students about the inconveniences they are experiencing and are willing to adapt their teaching and learning materials in ways that promote academic engagement and success. They are empathetic toward students who are unable to promptly attend or complete online activities (such as live sessions, examinations or assignments) due to poor Internet connectivity. These teachers choose empathy and equity in the wake of Covid-19 by acknowledging the challenges that students are facing. They read news reports and blog posts to gain insight into these challenges and then discuss them with students, while reassuring them that their health and well-being are more crucial than anything else. Recognising that a lack of motivation or effort (e.g., absence from online meetings or not completing homework on time) might indicate a silent struggle, they offer support and encourage shy students to speak up if they need any help or just want to share what they are experiencing during this pandemic. They motivate students to persevere by making class content accessible in multiple ways, including real-time class meetings, videos and transcripts of class meetings that can be watched or read later, as well as detailed class notes and slides.
Being Reflective and Respecting Differences
Empathetic teachers foster a sense of community in the classroom by showing students how to appropriately interact with classmates and people outside the class. They encourage students to establish positive relationships based on mutual trust and proactive engagement. As “community” leaders, they make students feel valued and validated by demonstrating that they truly care, while simultaneously holding them to high expectations and standards. Striving to get past their own feelings, they show students how to practise self-control and tune into the feelings of others. Additionally, they encourage students to acquire empathy skills by communicating cross-culturally with classmates and subsequently integrate those skills into the real-world community.
Empathetic teachers often use the reflective approach to let students know that they do understand. They often interact with their students without using “fix it” phrases. Instead of saying, for instance, “what you need to do is ….” they may use reflective phrases such as, “it sounds like you …” or “I hear that you ….” They may avoid offering quick solutions which may only be effective in the short term, but may not develop students’ problem-solving skills. They want students to learn how to solve problems themselves so as to eventually become independent problem-solvers and self-advocates. Their reflective approach creates a huge difference in what students hear and feel, as well as how willing the students are to persist on complicated things which will also affect their willingness to learn. Students who know that their teachers understand them and their challenges tend to become more enthusiastic learners.
Besides being reflective, empathetic teachers usually emphasise shared values and common interests rather than differences; hence, they strive to recognise things they may have in common with others, such as a shared desire to perform well. However, when they do discuss differences, they offer a safe environment by giving students ample opportunities to respectfully discuss their differences. They show students that accepting differences will help them develop greater respect for others’ opinions and perspectives. In addition, empathetic teachers may curate different viewpoints by using assessment forms. For example, they may practise peer evaluation that exposes students to different opinions held by peers. No longer being assessed by only the teacher, but by a diverse group of peers, these students are exposed to different perspectives that in turn broadens understanding of concepts.
Acting as models
As students tend to enter the classroom with all kinds of concerns and problems, empathetic teachers counteract these challenges by providing a framework with appropriate guidelines for how students can engage with one another, and acting as models for the framework. The framework ensures every student a safe place to overcome cultural, racial, socioeconomic and personal issues. It assures that all thoughts, opinions, feelings and differences are respected. It allows them to take different perspectives by casting aside their own feelings and reactions to see the situation through others’ eyes. It also requires them to put aside judgment to avoid jumping to conclusions about a situation based solely on what they see, but to step back to consider what more they need to learn and understand about the situation.
Empathetic teachers also tries to instil empathy in students by modelling empathy, knowing that students are watching them all the time. They portray an empathetic attitude by showing compassion, positive regard and understanding in all their interactions. As models of empathy, they enrich the learning environment by being caring, supportive and responsive to students, besides fostering positive attitudes that motivate students to reach their highest potential to learn and excel. They also foster empathy by using real-world content, for example, by bringing experts to their classroom to address current events.
To model empathy further, these teachers may pause and try to see the situation from the perspectives of frustrated students by first reflecting back their feelings or the rationale for their behaviour. Moreover, they are aware of students’ non-verbal cues and follow up on them; they may say, “I noticed that you are quieter than usual today. Is something bothering you?” to a student who seems withdrawn, rather than chiding him or her immediately. As active listeners, they not only ask for students’ input when establishing classroom rules or generating ideas for group projects, but really listen and try to incorporate their feedback.
Another way that empathetic teachers model empathy is by setting specific expectations. They expect students to reflect on who is inside and outside their circle, as well as to discuss why they need to expand the circle and how they can do it. While reinforcing socially and culturally acceptable language and behaviour, they ban slurs or hurtful language and intervene if they hear them, as well as urging students to discuss why certain words are hurtful. Besides enlisting students in establishing rules and holding each other accountable, empathetic teachers may encourage the students to adopt restorative justice practices and peer mediation to resolve conflicts. Empathetic teachers promote empathy by helping students expand their circle of concern, emphasising that a strong classroom community should have empathy for everyone, regardless of demographic factors. They demonstrate that they care about everyone, while expecting students to do the same. They encourage students to keep their eyes and ears open to others, including those with special needs.
Besides advocating universal empathy, empathetic teachers are proactive models who encourage students to show empathy through useful action. Some students may not automatically know what to do when they feel concerned for another person; these teachers help them overcome the gap by modelling and urging them to take relevant steps, whether it is supporting someone in distress, helping someone solve a problem or simply listening to someone who is upset. Empathetic teachers also enhance independent learning by showing understanding for students’ problems and providing them with effective tools for independent problem-solving. They teach students to differentiate between valid reasons and flimsy excuses, besides expecting them to present a solution to their problem to set up a plan together. Empathetic teachers who tune into students’ emotions to show understanding and acceptance tend to increase students’ motivation and self-awareness to become self-advocates who can achieve better outcomes in their professional and personal lives.
Final Thoughts
Integral in most human endeavours, empathy is a common language across environments, contexts and relationships. Although building empathy requires a lot of attention and commitment, it is worthwhile for students, teachers and society. Students with empathy tend to display more classroom engagement, higher intellectual achievement, better communication skills and more favourable relationships. Empathy training for teachers mostly consists of understanding the psychobiological conditions affecting students’ lives, creating a caring environment for students to feel respected and establishing positive student-teacher relationships. Such training enables them to develop an empathetic mindset that enhances the quality of class attendance, learning motivation and student-teacher relationships.
With a vast diversity of students entering their classrooms nowadays, it is critical for teachers to regard empathy as the heart of the learning environment. An increasingly globalised and digitalised world now requires teachers to teach students coming from vastly different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds that necessitate strong empathy. A powerful attribute, empathy enables teachers to determine what is driving students’ behaviour and subsequently identifying problem-solving strategies to address difficult issues together. These teachers educate students through genuine connection and understanding, perceiving it as the most effective pathway to meaningful lifelong learning.
- Fung Lan Yong received her PhD in Special Education (Gifted and Talented) from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL USA. She is Professor at Jesselton College Sabah and can be contacted at [email protected].
- Melinda Kong received her PhD in Education from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak and can be contacted at [email protected].
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