During this ELITE Podcast, Rockville English Faculty Stephen Bess recounts his experiences growing up in…
During this ELITE Personal is Pedagogical Podcast, Takoma Park Education Faculty and Coordinator Brandon Wallace showcases his empathic educational style and how it informs his teaching. He discusses the special challenges that educators face during this period and ways that faculty can assist students during this unprecedented time.
Please enjoy this elite podcast.
As an educator, you lead your students to be the best they can be for themselves. Hence, we need to cheer our students on to be the best they can be. For some students, it may be a small step and for some other students, it may be a bigger step. Every student is different. This is especially true in a diverse classroom with possibly ESOL students and IEP students. Learning and getting to know each student and build a relationship with each student as well as understand their needs and their goals is the first step we as teachers need to achieve in order to be successful in teaching our students.
Empathy should show up in my work as an educator by listing and having more classroom engagements. Let the class understand that you do care about them and they should do the same with each other. When a child has a disability they feels as if they are invisible at times. Having everyone understand we are all one in this class we all can evolve in to better people and learners. As educators we can help students overcome and take action to better themselves as well.
The video that Professor Wallace was in talked about how teachers need empathy instruction tools and strategies for empathy. Professor Brandon Wallace spoke about the role of the teacher, and how it is their job to take the instructions of others and understand policies. Professor Wallace also stated that in order for teachers to have easy wins in the classrooms, they must use practical tools, and take on the perspective of the children. And for teachers to really bring the success level up in their classroom is to know the children, and how to improve the learning statics to develop successful goals.
I think that as a teacher, every action you make or take influences your students for the rest of their life. We can use that power and embrace changes in the future of our society by teaching empathy to our students. At the school I work for, we use the Second Step Program which focuses on social and emotional skills and centers on empathy, emotion management, friendship skills, and problem-solving. I find the Second Step very useful because I get my students engaged in an age-appropriate program that allows them to understand and learn about their own and other people’s emotions and needs. I dress up puppets when using the Second Step program and introduce my students to other cultures and people with disabilities. I think that teachers should find a way to involve and create a friendly classroom environment where each student no matter their background feels comfortable and respected. Finally, teachers should spend time learning and getting to know each of their student’s needs, families, and backgrounds to be able to provide and help them with their requirements. If I were to work with older students, I would probably try my best to engage the whole classroom in activities that increase the chances of all of my students interacting with each other.
Yes I agree empathy should be shown as an educator and from this interview their are a lot of example and tips to have that in your classroom. Educators need to know and understand their students problem and instead of judging they should take what they see and figure out strategies to help them become better and smarter students. I’ve seen a lot of teacher in my school years were a lot of teachers just give the assignments and assume that everyone knows what they are doing and what is expected. Their are many students that learn different or have different speeds of grasping information. So educators have to take in consideration that not all students are in the same level. Educators should listen to their students and have connections with them and always remember that every student is different when it comes to students with disabilities or not. I remember I was doing my SSL hours at a program were it was a meeting for parents that have kids that had disabilities whether it was down syndrome, autism etc. and I remember I took care of my cousin in a room filled with people that took care of other parents kids while they were in meetings. And their would be games and other things it was great. And it made me think and made me feel that this is what I want to do, I want to become a teacher. I want to become a big role model for students and I want to be the base of their learning. Educators classroom should always make students feel safe in their environment and empathy can build positive classroom culture too. Educators should makes every student with disabilities or not or students that are diverse feel confident and should always remind them that they can succeed.
Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of being a teacher and I remember I would force my cousins to play with me where I would be the teacher and they will be my students. As a teacher every one of your students looks up to you and will copy everything you do, being a teacher has a big impact on students. Teachers are role models, so try and create opportunities to talk the students and socialize with them. Empower your students to become better.
As an educator, empathy should show up as love for our students. I had a student 2 years ago who was a student with autism as his primary disability. And though he was not the first student that I have taught with Autism, he reminded me much of my own son who also is a student with Autism, not due to their diagnosis, but because of how sweet, loving, energetic and loveable he is as a person, much like my own son. I feel that he was drawn to me because I was so loving with him. I had a conversation with my co-teacher who said that he cared for me as much as he did because I never lowered my expectations of him but I showed him a lot of grace. I, like my co-teacher and the math teacher on our team, am generally a loud speaking person but when I spoke to him, I always approached him with a softer tone. This was because in our first interaction I was loud and probably harsh and I realized that he didn’t respond to me well, the way I had viewed my son responding to me. I realized I had to approach him differently. Once I started doing that, he blossomed and became so attached to me. He volunteered to do jobs around the classroom, he started leading his peers in group work and he would come to my lunch bunches when I let students come eat with me, my class was the room he could go to for a cool down if he was having difficulty in the math or history teacher’s classes. His guardian actually spoke about this in his IEP meeting, how much SHE loved me because of the relationship that he and I had and how it seems to have helped him in much of his other classes. For me, it was connecting with the idea that my students are different like my own children are and I have to approach them differently.
Great interview! I agree that as educators it is important that we show empathy by always thinking of our student’s perspectives; remember what it was like to be a student. In addition, some of your students may have hardships going on at home that will affect their schoolwork. For our students, we need to: be empathic listeners, build relationships with them, set high expectations, create opportunities, provide supports, and chunk our assignments so that they will be successful. We also show empathy by being flexible and ready to alter our teaching style to reach every student. This is something that I learned early on as the parent of a child with special needs from the therapists and teachers that worked with my child. Tasks that seemed impossible were broken down into very simple steps which made them much more attainable. Things that I thought my child would never be able to do were patiently and repeatedly chunked into simpler tasks. Keeping these things in mind will help bring empathy into our classroom.
Lisa V.
As a educator I think that the way empathy should show up in my work is by respect and kindness. The approach that I have found worked very well when building a connection or relationships with students. An educator who is able to understand a student individually, and put in the time and attention to know their needs, weaknesses and strength is what every student needs. In my experience I have always made sure that showing respect and kindness during the journey of building student relationships was something my students/class knew about me. On a daily basis I would remind my students individually or as a class that we all deserve respect and kindness no matter the situation. Teaching them to understand the reason/s why respect and kindness goes a long way was an important part of each day. Through this I have built great relationships with students, and the results were being able to tell how they feel at times just by looking at their faces, knowing how to assist them with their needs, understanding how to approach them in different situations and having the students form good relationships with their peers and families.
I really enjoyed listening to this interview and I’m pleased to know how much dedication Prof. Wallace advocates and continues to stand for students , especially students with disabilities.
Thank you Professor Wallace for your informational interview! I know that you are applying all that you preach in your classes! This is why I keep coming signing up for your classes LOL !
Empathy should show up in educators ways of teaching because we do have so many races, disabilities and genders that we need to consider in the classroom. Empathy starts with respect and understanding. This could also be added to the “practical tools” that you mentioned. We also need to place emphasis on finding ways for our students to relate to us. Empathy should be imbedded in teaching because it helps our students feel comfortable with us leading them. A way that this can be shown is showing interest in the students lives, and their success. I know that as a student (of professor Wallaces’) I love to feel that interest in my success, he goes above and beyond to make sure I remain successful in school and offer his assistance if I needed anything. This stuck out to me about Professor Wallace and it will show up in my classrooms because I want to obtain this same attitude towards to my students.
I really enjoyed listening to professor Wallace’s interview with Ms.Knight. I believe that as an educator from early childhood to all the way to college level, the most important thing that an educator needs to do is to really listen to the student, engage in conversations, and gain a deep understanding of the student’s background and his or her family dynamics, especially in this difficult time of COVID 19. A teacher who is a good listener will be able to build a good relationship with each student and will be able to communicate well with that student and work some strategies to help the student in whatever his or her difficulties might be. An empathetic educator will be able to create and adapt opportunities for learning for the students to achieve his or her goals and be successful in life. A good teacher can be a mentor in the life of a student, someone to look up to and be a role model and guide.
Awesome Professor Wallace, what great professional experience you have in the field of education. The way you are speaking about empathy in education highlights facts that I was never aware of. Indeed, you said that you can not get to the level of empathy “until you as instructor understands what empathic listening means, empathic understanding”. You also mentioned that sometimes we used to use wrongly empathy by identifying it as sympathy or apathy. What a great point
As an educator in a preschool in the Montgomery County, I do believe that I
should show up empathy in my work by:
– Being a role model of empathy for my students by showing for example a concern as soon as one of the children is frustrated or shows a sign of distress in the classroom. Moreover, show any form of appreciation for children’s empathic questions.
– Teaching the students to make a card for classmates whenever they were absent because of sickness or if they lose a pet or someone.
– Reading and telling stories related to empathy.
Thinking about diverse cultures and populations, including students with disabilities, I do believe that as educators we should support our students’ well-being. Given the fact that all our students are equal no matter their history, backgrounds, culture, or physical aspects, they deserve the same respect, treatment. And positive supports from their educators. Afterward, we as educators do have to respect diversity among our students and create an inclusive environment where no feeling could be hurt. In other words, we educators should all have the ability and capacity to easily deal with the feelings of our students in a healthy emotional climate.