Whoa! Another great class on Friday! I feel so fortunate to be a member of this class and all of the innovations we expose one another to through experiences and conversations. Empathy is a subject that I have never struggled with. Growing up I was the sappy cryer in the movies, easily guilted into doing things because I didn't want to disappoint anyone, and am still very intuitive about ones character. Looking at my close friends there is a pattern among them and myself. We all exhibit empathy for others. Perhaps that is why most of us are in the fields of education or medicine.
Thinking further about the topic of empathy after reading Pink's description and experiencing empathy in class on Friday, I have come to realize that empathy is evident in most every facet of my life. This is because I find my interactions with others, connections with people, to be the priority. I enjoy building meaningful, honest, deep relationships with others through experiences and swapping of stories. It is when I am able to empathize with someone that I begin to gain a greater understanding of them as a person.
Had my students never shared happy, sad, funny, and scary stories with me from their own lens... than I don't believe I would have such a transparent understanding of their multiple layers that create whom they are.
Moments of empathy...These seem to be from observation, through story, and the effects of past personal experiences. When I saw a mother bend over and gently kiss the forehead of her 4 year old boy, it moved me to tears. Not because I was happy for the mother or child necessarily, but because it reminded me that my dear cousin Ashley will never again be able to kiss and comfort her own children. She was killed last October, leaving her two children orphans. So when I saw this beautiful, natural gesture of love, it triggered a deep gouge of sadness, anger, jealousy, and helplessness that Ashley (spiritually) must feel. Or...I think she must feel. It was as if her emotions were momentarily pulsing through my veins.
Now this story lingers closely to sympathy, which discussed both in the book and in class is different from empathy. Sympathy is feeling bad for someone whereas empathy is putting yourself into the others persons shoes and feeling as they feel. The can be feeling happy, sad, angered, etc. whereas sympathy is simply feeling bad or pitying someone else for one reason or another.
As an educator, it is crucial to flex your muscles of empathy. For how else will you grow to truly understand your diverse population of students?
Thinking further about the topic of empathy after reading Pink's description and experiencing empathy in class on Friday, I have come to realize that empathy is evident in most every facet of my life. This is because I find my interactions with others, connections with people, to be the priority. I enjoy building meaningful, honest, deep relationships with others through experiences and swapping of stories. It is when I am able to empathize with someone that I begin to gain a greater understanding of them as a person.
Had my students never shared happy, sad, funny, and scary stories with me from their own lens... than I don't believe I would have such a transparent understanding of their multiple layers that create whom they are.
Moments of empathy...These seem to be from observation, through story, and the effects of past personal experiences. When I saw a mother bend over and gently kiss the forehead of her 4 year old boy, it moved me to tears. Not because I was happy for the mother or child necessarily, but because it reminded me that my dear cousin Ashley will never again be able to kiss and comfort her own children. She was killed last October, leaving her two children orphans. So when I saw this beautiful, natural gesture of love, it triggered a deep gouge of sadness, anger, jealousy, and helplessness that Ashley (spiritually) must feel. Or...I think she must feel. It was as if her emotions were momentarily pulsing through my veins.
Now this story lingers closely to sympathy, which discussed both in the book and in class is different from empathy. Sympathy is feeling bad for someone whereas empathy is putting yourself into the others persons shoes and feeling as they feel. The can be feeling happy, sad, angered, etc. whereas sympathy is simply feeling bad or pitying someone else for one reason or another.
As an educator, it is crucial to flex your muscles of empathy. For how else will you grow to truly understand your diverse population of students?
Ali, thanks for a great post! While reading this chapter I felt that I didn't really understand empathy that well, I thought that I wasn't the greatest at understanding others, except for maybe feeling a bit of sympathy for them in specific situations. I felt that through the art making activity that we were able to participate in class helped me understand how to express empathy and understand instances that I had experienced within the classroom. I think that through creating a very open classroom environment and getting to know our students more, empathy will begin to come more easy for us and expressing it, even easier. Great post Ali!
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