Response to Empathy

I completely agree with Cathy about empathy. Empathy is our pathway to understanding different cultures and diversity. I found it interesting that on college campuses there are classes that are teaching "Interpersonal Dynamics". My degree is in social work and so many of my classes both from undergrad and grad. school focused on how to show empathy to others. It was stressed that in order to be able to help others in their life, they have to see you as accepting of them where they are. As I watch students in my school, some children have a enormous amount of empathy for others and it is demonstrated in their relationships, the way they handle conflicts, the way they respond to teachers. I do think we can teach empathy and we can learn to have empathy even as an adult. It's as simple as helping children at a very young age recognize how someone is feeling by their expressions. The book spoke about this on page 165-166. When children are able to identify how someone is feeling, then they are able to respond accordingly. I feel it is important as teachers that we stop when there are conflicts between students and use those conflicts as teachable moments. Ask the children, how they are feelings, what they should do next to make it better, etc. I know that we are all so busy at school during the day but I'm afraid we miss many times that we could teach empathy in our day.