Development of Preservice Elementary Teachers' Epistemic Empathy: Learning to Consider Learners as Sensemakers in Science

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Empathy, Relationality, and Justice in Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the forms of empathy employed by elementary preservice teachers’(PSTs’) as they were asked to orient to young science learners in video analysis tasks, and how expressions of empathy shift during a science methods course. We analyzed 10 PSTs’ video reflections from the beginning and the end of the semester. We found that PSTs’ where more inclined to orient towards excitement for and willing to engage in scientific sensemaking (i.e., humanistic empathy). However, some PSTs were able to develop an appreciation for students’ intellectual engagement as scientific sense makers in epistemic activity (i.e., epistemic empathy) by the end of the semester, offer insights into the growing body of literature related to responsive teaching.

Authors

• Ruveyde Asli Kaya, Florida State University

• Jennifer Schellinger, The Florida State University

• Kirby Whittington, University of Utah

• Sam Skrob-Martin, Florida State University

• Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University