“The most important part of empathy is…being able to help”: Empathy definitions and teaching practices in middle school

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the relationship between EL Education and Comparison school students’ definitions of empathy and educators’ teaching practices. We interviewed 23 5th and 6th grade students and 18 educators from nine middle schools across the United States. Students were asked to define empathy and educators described empathy teaching practices. Three themes appeared in student definitions: empathy, prosocial behavior, and empathy-motivated prosocial responding. Empathy-motivated prosocial responding was a stronger theme amongst EL Education students. Their responses indicated belief that empathy is tied to prosocial action. Six themes appeared in educator’s practices: modeling, coaching, restorative practices, opportunities to practice, curriculum integration, and community spaces. EL Education educators described practices that promoted both empathy and empathy-motivated prosocial responding. Together, these findings highlight EL Education as a promising model and add to a toolkit of prosocial teaching practices. Recommendations for using the myriad of empathy teaching practices described by educators are discussed.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank everyone on the team, especially our school partners, educators, and students.

Ethical approval

IRB approval was obtained from the University of Virginia (protocol number 2318).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the CONTACT, T. P., upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 Social engagement is a subtheme also found under community spaces, differentiated solely by location (class time versus advisory/Crew). For the purposes of brevity, the theme is explored here and mentioned briefly in the upcoming section on community spaces.

2 Following the example of Annamma et al. (2013), we use the term “dis/abilities” (as opposed to “disabilities”) to draw attention to the ways in which the latter term often signals a lack or inability. Annamma and colleagues argue, “We believe the ‘/’ in disability disrupts misleading understandings of disability, as it simultaneously conveys the mixture of ability and disability” (p. 24).

3 Positive reinforcement is a subtheme also found under community spaces, differentiated solely by location (class time versus advisory/Crew). For the purposes of brevity, the theme is explored here and mentioned briefly in the upcoming section on community spaces.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation under Grant #61136 and received additional funding from the Einhorn Collaborative. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation or the Einhorn Collaborative.