Empathy in Education: Engagement, Values and Achievement

Empathy in Education discusses the role of empathy in learning throughout all levels of education and its crucial relationship to motivation, values development and achievement, impacting from the micro to the macro levels of society. Using initial research involving interviews with teachers and student teachers in many different contexts, from nursery to sixth form lessons along side neuroscience, psychology and educational research, the author considers the intrinsic nature of affect and empathic human relationships in learning.

At a time when politicians are calling for personalized learning and the promotion of good citizenship but are still advocating an intensive, rigid curriculum, in large, one size fits all, classes, this study highlights the inherent contradictions in rhetoric and practice. Cooper offers a detailed study in empathy in teaching and learning which sheds light on the learning process in intricate detail and gives balance to the strong emphasis on mechanistic learning, curriculum and cognition which has dominated the last twenty years of learning theory and sets a foundation for future research into affective and moral issues in learning.

Empathy in Education discusses the role of empathy in learning throughout all levels of education and its crucial relationship to motivation, values development and achievement, impacting from the micro to the macro levels of society. Using initial research involving interviews with teachers and student teachers in many different contexts, from nursery to sixth form lessons along side neuroscience, psychology and educational research, the author considers the intrinsic nature of affect and empathic human relationships in learning.

At a time when politicians are calling for personalized learning and the promotion of good citizenship but are still advocating an intensive, rigid curriculum, in large, one size fits all, classes, this study highlights the inherent contradictions in rhetoric and practice. Cooper offers a detailed study in empathy in teaching and learning which sheds light on the learning process in intricate detail and gives balance to the strong emphasis on mechanistic learning, curriculum and cognition which has dominated the last twenty years of learning theory and sets a foundation for future research into affective and moral issues in learning.

Empathy in Education discusses the role of empathy in learning throughout all levels of education and its crucial relationship to motivation, values development and achievement, impacting from the micro to the macro levels of society. Using initial research involving interviews with teachers and student teachers in many different contexts, from nursery to sixth form lessons along side neuroscience, psychology and educational research, the author considers the intrinsic nature of affect and empathic human relationships in learning.At a time when politicians are calling for personalized learning and the promotion of good citizenship but are still advocating an intensive, rigid curriculum, in large, one size fits all, classes, this study highlights the inherent contradictions in rhetoric and practice. Cooper offers a detailed study in empathy in teaching and learning which sheds light on the learning process in intricate detail and gives balance to the strong emphasis on mechanistic learning, curriculum and cognition which has dominated the last twenty years of learning theory and sets a foundation for future research into affective and moral issues in learning.

Bridget Cooper is Professor of Education at Sunderland University, UK.

Introduction \ Part I: Empathy, Morality and Learning: A Historical Background \ 1. Empathy: An Historical Perspective \ 2. Empathy and Morality: The Relationship \ 3. The Nature and Significance of Empathy in Education \ Part II: New Understandings of Empathy in Learning Relationships and the Significance of Context \ 4. A New Classification of Empathy in Learning Relationships \ 5. The Benefits of Empathy in Teaching and Learning Relationships \ 6. Constraints on Empathy in Learning Relationships \ 7. Modeling Empathy and Values in the Classroom \ 8. Empathy and Students with Particular Needs: Transformative learning \ Part III: Wider Implications: Empathy Beyond the School \ 9. The Life-long Learner: Emotional Engagement as the Essence of Learning through the Life Course \ 10. Affect, Technology and Learning \ 11. Empathy in Management, Systems and Organizations \ 12. Wider Values and Creativity \ 13. Issues in the Education and Training of Professionals \ 14. Wider Implications and Future Work \ Bibliography \ Appendix \ Index