After much consideration it occurred to me that amongst my many years working in both clinical and academic environments that there are several key aspects missing.
In a world where socio-economic class determines not only the services available to us but just as importantly our understanding of the difficulties fraught within education alike I realized that very few people that I have worked with, be it on an individual basis or a general consensus within an institution had any clear sense of what exactly the youth that we are working with are going through.
A sense of empathy is missing and as a result ineffective teaching and care is achieved by professionals. Empathy is not an easy task to be undertaken for it requires that one places themselves in the position that their client is in whilst maintaining objectivity to the situation at hand.
As teachers I believe that it is our responsibility to not only introduce this concept to our students but just as importantly instill this within them by actively complimenting our course materials with relevant information that our students can relate to.
Information based on qualitative data as well as quantitative for I strongly believe that by placing faces to the statistical accounts of clients and their stories it imparts within our students a greater sense of responsibility towards their future peers.
Examples in which this can be undertaken are by:
• Role Playing- Drama has a wonderful way of imparting to your students a greater sense of understanding in the classroom.
• Q & A- Asking key questions to help your students engage how they would feel in a particular situation allows them to engage in their peer's state of mind.
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative- Instead of using cutesy stories for every lesson, although helpful, try using non-fiction to help students interact with the character of the story further.
• BE EMPATHETIC! - Engage your students' strengths and weaknesses in a compassionate way.
By being empathetic yourself towards your students you are most likely to teach them the value of this lesson than by simply preaching it.
After all, whether you realize it or not, all of your students are looking to you for guidance and assessing your own principles... even the ones that tend to drive you mad and seemingly have no respect for you. It's what you do that speaks volumes of who you are at the end of the day.
Copyright © 2006, Mario R. J. Corbin and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
