Indiana State Literacy Association 2020 Conference

The education model for the twenty-first century requires students to be globally-conscious and equip themselves with cognitive, behavioral, and relational skills to problem solve from multiple perspectives and collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds. One such skill educators seek to help students develop is empathy. Empathy is used to realize, question, and disrupt power relations in language and literacy and to help students understand and prepare for the increasingly-connected world in which they live.

In this presentation, I will share how I taught empathy in three settings: teaching refugees in Budapest, teaching migrant students in rural Indiana, and co-teaching humanities in a PBL classroom. I will reflect on the efficacy of empathy in each experience and uncover common threads using critical literacy and Whiteness studies frameworks. I will share how empathy is currently assessed and conceptualized among researchers and education stakeholders and discuss the implications of these practices.

This presentation will also invite participants to reflect on their own experiences fostering empathy in their classrooms; engage in critical discussions on recent empathy assessment practices among education stakeholders; and collaboratively discuss ways to become more intentional and reflexive while using empathy to foster equity.