Building Empathy

Empathy begins with the capacity to take another perspective, to walk in another’s shoes. An important part of our social-emotional development is not only identifying how we are feeling but how it might feel if we considered other people's perspectives and circumstances. We are all born with the capacity for empathy, but it needs to be nurtured throughout their lives. Learning empathy is in certain respects like learning a language or a sport. It requires practice and guidance.

-Harvard Graduate School of Education