CAN WE HELP OUR STUDENTS TO DEVELOP EMPATHY? -- PART III

In our last post we discussed how cultural and individual/personal conditioning can conspire to derail a student's normal development of empathy toward other humans who suffer in pain and misery. Now we will focus on how we as teachers can help to re-awaken our students' potential for empathy.

Following are some approaches -- not the only approaches -- that we can employ in the classroom. I invite readers to share (in the "Comments" section following this post) their opinions about these suggested approaches and all other ways in which our students can be helped in this often difficult process.

The possibilities suggested below have been intentionally stated in a very general manner. Global teachers wishing to pursue any of these suggestions should select the specific avenues most suitable to their students' situation.

(1) The first step should normally be to provide solid information to the students about the human condition around the planet. What is the extent of human suffering in the world? How many men, women and children suffer from destructive poverty, chronic hunger and malnutrition, lack of the most basic health services, elementary education, or other elements that we consider essential to a meaningful life as a human being? What human rights are not respected around the world? What is the condition of women around the planet?

How do the students feel about the answers to these questions? Are they comfortable with the status quo? Rarely will the answer be "yes." Students need to know what the state of the world is; often, they will be astonished at the extent of suffering among their fellow humans.

(2) A follow-up line of questioning: Do all humans start life from the same starting point, in the same level playing field? Do some of us have a head start over others? Why? What did we do to deserve that head start? What did the disadvantaged do to deserve their handicapped beginning and their very limited potential?

Let's bring the issue to a very personal level of reflection. If your parents had lived in a Mumbai slum, or a favela in Rio de Janeiro, would you be in this school today? Would you have the same potential that you now have? What would your life be like? What would your parents' and your siblings' life be like? How would you feel about your lot in life?

Would your disempowered and disenfranchised condition be your own fault? Do you think that you would want a better chance at life? How would you view those who enjoy all the material benefits that in fact you actually do enjoy today?

(3) Let's engage the power of the informed imagination. Ask your students to sit comfortably, close their eyes and allow themselves to be transported to an alternate reality that you will construct and narrate to them -- a reality that in fact reflects the real world of millions upon millions of humans around the planet.

Building on solid data known to you, ask students to imagine themselves living for 24 hours in the world of the downtrodden. Slowly narrate this verbal fantasy to your students. Describe the world that they would face as they wake-up in the morning. Take them with your narration through a day in the life of their new selves, somewhere in the world. Describe the details of the life they encounter. Slowly, let them face their new reality as you describe it.

At the end of the imaginary experience, ask them to explore their thoughts and feelings as they "lived" that imaginary life. Ask them to write them down, without discussion. Then, ask volunteers to share what they have written; allow discussion from other students.

This can be an enlightening experience for those students who allow themselves entry into their vicarious life.

(4) The power of good literature can be extraordinary. A good writer can make an unknown world come alive to his/her reader. Select, from the multitude of relevant options available, which books should be read by your students. Part of your assessment should be a written personal reaction to the existential plight of the disempowered characters in the book. After this has been written, a class discussion could expand the potential for empathetic understanding.

(5) Within the world of literature, poetry offers the most potential for affective growth. Choose the poems that would be most relevant for your objectives and situation. Have students familiarize themselves with the poems and then read them aloud in class. Explore, in class discussion, the relevant affective elements brought up by the poems. There is no need to overdo it. Let the truth of each poem speak for itself.

(6) We should not underestimate the power of music. From the "Ode to Joy" of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, to some of today's socially committed rap artists, great composers and performers have already communicated affective truths to our students with greater success than a brilliant scientist could.

Ask your students to identify music of any genre that communicates the plight of the dispossessed and the disempowered. They could bring a CD to play in class, provide copies of lyrics for reading and discussion, or -- in the case of the more musically gifted -- perform the piece for the benefit of the whole class.

(7) Many countries (like the USA) wisely forbid religious instruction in the public classroom. However, we can inquire into the social morality directives promulgated by the religious faiths of our students. All the major religious faiths clearly and powerfully enjoin their followers to care for their fellow human beings. Justice and charity are at the core of all major faiths, even if followers often ignore the teachings. (Unfortunately, the social doctrine of any religious faith is often the least emphasized message in sermons, writings, etc.)

We can ask our students to reflect on the directives of their faiths. What is the social doctrine of your church? What does your religion say about caring for others unknown to you? What is the place of justice? What does your religion say about charity? What does your religious faith say about the suffering of others? What does your religion ask of you when it comes to helping your human brothers and sisters?

We should be careful not to assume that all our students have a religious commitment (in the USA, 30% of the population -- and growing -- claims "no religious affiliation.") In the case of these students, ask them to reflect on what the application of social ethics might require. (You may need to explain the difference between "morality" and "ethics.")

(8) Ask students to share stories of individuals personally known to them who, through no fault of their own, lived lives of misery or despair. Discuss in class: Are people normally responsible for their own misery? What is the normal, human response to the misery of others?

(9) Discuss in class, "What kinds of things can interfere with our normal human capacity to develop Basic Human Empathy?" "What can we do to help develop our human potential for empathy?"

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We can only help. Our students must do the hard thinking and the "hard feeling" for themselves. They have to be ready, willing and able to challenge any remaining insensitivity that remains like a hardened shell around their sense of empathy. Are our students capable of this? In the case of the great majority, yes!