Developing Empathy Through Encounters With Visual Art: Pedagogical Approaches in Art Museum Gallery Teaching

• In Event: 63.064 - Measuring the Impact of Emotions in Informal Learning Environments

Abstract

Objectives. This research investigates how visual art can promote empathetic thinking, particularly in museum-based settings. Empathy has both affective (feeling what another person is feeling) and cognitive (understanding others emotions and mental states) aspects; in this research initiative we seek to understand primarily cognitive empathy. In particular, we seek to understand how empathy can support learning objectives such as global understanding, group collaboration, and curiosity. We will report on the prototyping of pedagogical interpretive approaches and the design of empathy-based assessments (developed by research partners at the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab).
Research context. This research is being conducted with three audiences within the Minneapolis Institute of Art: middle school classrooms visiting on field trips, general museum visitors, and the staff of the museum. The primary research questions are:

1. How and in what ways do art museum experiences facilitate and enhance empathy and global understanding?
a. What are effective strategies that foster empathy and lead to global understanding?
2. What evaluation methodologies collect reliable and valid evidence of empathy-building in museum experiences?

Theoretical framework. While there has been much theory and discussion of how the visual arts promote empathy, little research has been completed to date. One study found that children who were randomized to take a guided museum tour of works of art with a strong emotional content scored higher in historical empathy and tolerance for others compared to children in the wait-list control group (Greene et al, 2014). Moreover, some qualitative studies have suggested that guided engagement with visual arts can be used to facilitate empathy in both children (Bradshaw, 2016) and adults (Gaufberg & Williams, 2011; Wikström, 2001; 2003).

Data sources and analysis. The research team developed a framework detailing how pedagogical moves and interpretive strategies might induce feelings of empathy, drawing from psychology research identifying how prosocial behavior (e.g. altruistic acts) and environmental influences (e.g. collective experiences, vast spaces) contribute to empathic emotions (Keltner, Oatley, Jenkins, 2013; Konrath & Gynberg, 2013). Using a conjecture mapping approach (Sandoval, 2014), the project team will identify the design elements and the theoretical bases (mostly gathered from laboratory research settings) that will be tested in a prototyping phase. Participants (2 middle school classrooms and 40 general museum visitors) will be filmed as they visit the museum and their voice and faces will be analyzed using tools developed by the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab. We will also survey participants using affective scales and open-ended interviews.

Results. Preliminary results from prototyping will inform the development of interventions for schools and general museum visitors, of which we plan to conduct experimental research studies.

Significance. This work contributes to the field of how emotions influence engagement, learning and sense-making in the museum setting by investigating one emotional state, empathy, and exploring the ways in which this emotion interplays with feelings of wonder, awe, and curiosity. These emotions and cognitive states are often cited in museums in mission or vision statements, yet we know little about the emotional psychology of visitors to achieve those states.

Authors

• Alice C. Anderson, Minneapolis Institute of Art

• Jeanine Pollard, Minneapolis Institute of Art