"Honoring Their Experiences": Transformative Empathy in Middle School Settings

• In Event: Creating Good Human Beings: New Perspectives on Cultivating Ethical Character in EL Education Middle Schools

Abstract

This study uses a grounded-theory approach to explore transformative empathy in school settings (Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019). Transformative social-emotional learning (TSEL) supports students’ understanding of power, privilege and discrimination and conveys skills needed to transform inequitable systems and settings (Jagers et al, 2019). Transformative empathy is an aspect of social awareness. When students perceive peers’ needs and take action, empathy can engender equity in schools.

This study uses a purposive sample of two middle schools (one EL Education, one control) located in a small city in the Northeastern U.S. The schools were selected for a study of empathy based on three criteria: 1) they serve a similar student population; 2) they are diverse given the recent influx of immigrant families, and 3) they display commitment to the development of students’ character.

We asked three questions to understand transformative empathy: 1) What empathy teaching practices do these schools use? 2) What are the school definitions of empathy? 3) What are examples of empathy in these schools?

Student interviews (n = 18) and focus groups (n = 5) were conducted in January 2020. Teacher interviews (n = 8) were conducted in spring 2020. All students were asked the following questions: “What is empathy?” “What do you think it means to show others empathy?” “Tell me about a time someone showed you empathy.” Teachers were asked similar questions.

Following transcription, the coding team used a consensual coding approach (Hill et al., 2012). Grounded-theory analysis (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was conducted, and rigor was ensured with an audit trail (e.g., internal and external audits).

For research question one, results showed some commonalities. One teacher in each school spoke about integrating an equity lens with empathy into lessons. Teachers in both schools spoke about their teaching practices that engender empathy, compassion, and kindness. Some differences emerged: the control school relied on curriculum to teach empathy and equity explicitly while the EL Education school taught empathy as an applied skill through modeling and coaching.

For research question two, participants at both EL Education and comparison schools defined empathy in two parts: feeling or understanding someone’s feelings and a responsive behavior. One EL Education student spoke about empathizing with people different from them and an EL Education teacher argued that celebrating someone’s win is as important as feeling someone’s pain. The EL Education examples show shared humanity, not status differences (e.g. pity) in empathy indicating transformative empathy at the EL Education school.

For research question three, students in the control school gave examples of empathy toward friends and family only. In contrast, students in the EL Education school also mentioned empathy for staff and adult strangers suggesting greater capacity to show empathy to people more distant from them.

The findings speak to the challenges and opportunities for developing transformative empathy in early adolescence. The work adds to growing literature on the importance of empathy in adolescence (Malin et al., 2014) and supports the teaching of empathy as a tool for social justice (Jagers, et al., 2019).

Authors

• Theresa Pfister, University of Virginia

• Celine I Thompson, University of Virginia

• Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman, University of Virginia

• Lia E. Sandilos, Lehigh University