The Need for Empathy in the Global Education Curriculum
Seth Leighton Envoys
§ What are we talking about? § My empathy story § My global empathy story § Creating global empathy § Avoiding the ‘arrogance of empathy’
The willingness and capacity of an observer to become part of another’s experience
E.B. Tichneer
Sympathy means that we feel sorry for another’s plight
Empathy means that we enter into another’s emotional and cognitive state
Four Lessons
Empathy does not mean agreement
~Jeremy Rifkin 2010
Empathy seems hard
We are supposed to compete
We are supposed to collaborate
Empathy is powerful
Increases cognitive skills and academic success
Reduces bullying and conflict
Increases communication and understanding
Models matter
We follow the behaviors that we see in the world around us
THE NEED FOR EMPATHY TRAINING
You know, there's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through the eyes of those who are different from us. ~Barack Obama
Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto
I am human; nothing human is foreign to me
IS TRAVEL THE ANSWER?
“Educational travel catalogs resemble soft porn, with pictures of bikini-clad girls going zip-lining in foreign lands.�
H eadmaster US Independent School
Preparation
Exposure
Reflection
Assessment
Learn about history and current events
Set an intentional agenda for research and skill building
Emotional Recognition
Consider “other” views of reality
Situational PerspectiveTaking
A) B) C) D)
Embarrassment Fear Sadness Surprise
A) B) C) D)
Pride Contempt Excitement Anger
A) B) C) D)
All images taken from Greater Good Science Center, University of California at Berkeley
Sadness Shame Disgust Contempt
Fear
Pride
All images taken from Greater Good Science Center, University of California at Berkeley
Contempt
GLOBAL
Preparation
Exposure
Reflection
Assessment
Model appropriate behaviors “Be the change you wish to see�
Set a priority on cooperation and respect, not donations and pity
Focus on similarities, not differences
Provide safe room for exploration to occur and mistakes to happen
GLOBAL
Preparation
Exposure
Reflection
Assessment
CONCRETE EXPERIENCE
ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION
REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION
Managing empathic distress
Daily learning points and overall systems mapping
Sharing the adventure and stories for home
Facilitating plans for action
GLOBAL
Preparation
Exposure
Reflection
Assessment
Situational Empathy • Empathic reactions to specific situations or experiences
Dispositional Empathy • A stable (though mutable) character trait
Situational Empathy •  Empathic reactions to specific situations or experiences
Self-reports
Observations
Interviews
Hogan’s EM Scale Mehrabian and Epstein’s QMEE
Davis’ IRI
Dispositional Empathy • A stable (though mutable) character trait
perspective taking
fantasy
empathic concern
personal distress
Fantasy • I daydream and fantasize, with some regularity, about things that might happen to me • When I watch a good movie, I can very easily put myself in the place of a leading character • When I am reading an interesting story or novel, I imagine how I would feel if the events in the story were happening to me.
Perspective Taking • I sometimes find it difficult to see things from the "other guy's" point of view • If I'm sure I'm right about something, I don't waste much time listening to other people's arguments. • I believe that there are two sides to every question and try to look at them both.
Empathic Concern • I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me • When I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards them • Other people's misfortunes do not usually disturb me a great deal
Personal Distress • Being in a tense emotional situation scares me • When I see someone who badly needs help in an emergency, I go to pieces • I sometimes feel helpless when I am in the middle of a very emotional situation.
CAN
Preparation
Exposure
Reflection
Assessment
BUT WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL…
I AM NOT YOU
Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies— God damn it, you've got to be kind." ~Kurt Vonnegut
Thank You!
seth@envoys.com