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Empathy and Pedagogy in the Time of the Pandemic

graphic of a heart

By Donna Hunter and Sangeeta Mediratta

Pandemic times seem to have generated more empathy (among some folks) than our “normal” days, where we live more segmented lives. We used to go elsewhere to actively instruct our students, while we stayed home to parent, cook our meals, shower and maintain our most intimate relationships. But pandemic living has flattened those contours, making it impossible to pretend we are beings without partners, bathrooms, children, cats and what used to be unmade beds (and sometimes still are...shh!). The same is, of course, true for our students. We no longer have to imagine their dorm rooms, we can see their beds, jammies, parents, siblings and pets, unless they have reason to hide a bad hair or head day or living situation with a black frame. But we can probably feel those stresses more now, too, since our fuller selves have to be on view when even bathing may seem like too much work. And “hard pants” are so passe now,  not sure we’re ever going back to those. 

So we wanted to see how teachers and students alike were finding the silver lining in these stressful circumstances and practicing greater empathy in the classroom and beyond. becoming more conscious, empathic people, teachers, researchers and writers. Some questions that guided us were: How do we foster community, teach, and grow together so we come out on the other side of this pandemic wall with greater resilience, gratitude, and appreciation for each other’s whole selves? A tall order, perhaps, but a necessary one for us to collectively pick up the broken pieces of the world around us with an aim toward social justice.

Becky Richardson explicitly connects empathy and social justice: “between the pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the surge in hate crimes against Asian -Americans, empathy feels so key. Not only to better understand, but to better implement in my approach to teaching writing and my teaching persona.” More broadly, she found herself “leaning into building more empathy into my syllabus, into trusting my students, into moving away from a sort of ‘policing’ persona around teaching. I never wanted to police my students—but now I can better point to why. Not only that it makes me uncomfortable, but that collecting documentation for learning challenges or medical visits or family emergencies is part of a larger culture of surveillance and policing. I've voiced my trust and care for my students more this year, and I want to carry that forward.”

Another instructor explained how this moment really concretized the concept of “student centered pedagogy,” and the need to build classroom community: “This year teaching has shown me what student-centered really is. Caring for and about the whole student was necessary in this pandemic-time, when the psychological wellness of each student was tested and their mental strain was more apparent than before. I found myself letting go of any of my own agendas in favor of reading the room and offering them opportunities to connect with one another, with me, and to laugh.”

Empathy-building Activities

We also asked instructors to share a range of favorite activities that helped them cultivate empathy in their classrooms. 

Long, long ago, before Covid (BCII) Selby Schwartz developed her Sweetheart and Skeptic exercise to help students both support and challenge their peers’ arguments. Donna Hunter says “I have added an Empath to the mix, but the concept is the same. In three-student groups, each person takes turns making their argument and playing the Empath, the Sweetheart and the Skeptic.” 

Jennifer Johnson’s Researcher Positionality activity also builds self-awareness, a cornerstone of empathy, by asking students to consider their habitus and cultural capital and the affordances and limitations their positionality offers them as researchers. Donna Hunter includes an oral component, while  Jennifer has added a Cultural Artifact activity.

Harriett Jernigan has adapted Spent for her students, as a group, to build a sense of the challenges facing people living in poverty.

Becky Richardson shared a few ways of building class community that also cultivate empathy, understanding, and solidarity.

  1. Sharing a Pandemic Hobby: "Last quarter I asked students to share a "pandemic hobby" they've cultivated, the results were highly relatable! From neighborhood walks, to arts and crafts, to favorite tv/film, to cooking or baking. Those moments of remembering that many of us are going through similar things -- but from a distance."
  2. Chat Box Check-Ins: "I appreciate how zoom chat lets us all answer a question simultaneously -- like 'what are we struggling with right now with our drafts?' That solidarity feels key."
  3. Show and Tell: "I've also enjoyed asking students to bring in 'show and tell' moments -- pets, favorite objects, etc."

Another instructor shared some cool ideas for building time for fun and care: "One day I got them to come in with a video by asking for their T-Rex impersonations. At the end of most classes, I remind them to hydrate, to get enough sleep, to care for themselves."

Empathy Related Texts (Instructor Recommended)

  1. Chimamanda Adichie’s Ted Talk, Dangers of a Single Story: "One of my favorite exercises is watching the opening of Adichie's 'The Danger of a Single Story' and then asking students to free write about why they uniquely empathize with their research material —and how they might translate that into an empathetic connection with their reader.

  2. Jeremy Rifkin’s short video The Empathic Civilisation:  "Rifkin's argument is that the scope of human history is characterized by widening circles of empathy. It's based on new advances in neuroscience that show how the brain is 'soft-wired' for empathy and cooperation, not just competition. We talk about the video's argument with reference to the pandemic, climate change, the refugee crisis, etc."

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