(Pieratt 2016)

By Jennifer Pieratt

"Explicitly Teach Empathy

Through my work with National Equity Project, I learned that empathy is a skill or “set of muscles” that must be built. You must dedicate time explicitly to enhancing this skillset. And so we must do that for our students. Here are a number of ways to go about doing that:...

In The Classroom:

  • Teach the skill of listening...

  • Teach students the craft of asking beautiful questions — of themselves and of others...

  • Teach students how to analyze assumptions....

  • Teach students the power of a lens..."

Experience Empathy

In the field:

  • Teach students ethnographic research methods for collecting data in the field..

  • THEN get students out into the field… and as much as possible...

  • Go virtual..

How have you taught your students to be empathetic? Let me know in the comments below.."