Empathy is the ability to understand on an intuitive level how another is feeling, the attitude that person has toward his or her experiences, or the intellectual framework that shapes what the other is thinking. Empathy of a form of communication that does not rely on words, and often serves as the medium for information that cannot be effectively reduced to words. It is different from sympathy, which is simply a harmony of feelings, or more specifically the feeling of compassion for another who is in distress. Empathy is a type of bonding between people that engenders trust and enables further and deeper communication.
In the art of teaching and learning, empathy is essential and is at the same time vexing. In traditional education, we pass information through words – carefully constructed expressions of abstract concepts, time-honored formulations of big ideas, lessons for life rendered on the canvas of our common language. We teach history through written records. We teach science and math through problem-solving experiences, but in the end this quest for answers is described in very concrete terminology. When we teach literature, we explore the artistry of words – the power of these everyday fixtures of our lives to move us beyond the everyday to a different plane. But empathy exists on a different plane, and it does not rely on the power of words to take us there. Empathy is not subject to grading rubrics and cannot be measured on standardized tests. Yet its presence in human interactions may make the difference between real learning and forced compliance.
Learning is an interactive experience, and it can occur strictly between the learner and a body of information. But humans are social creatures, and schools are public forums. Furthermore, even in the case of solitary, self-directed learning, our motivations are often shaped by our relationships with others, and by our anticipation of future interactions with others.
The two most recent posts on this site (Learning from trust, A safe place to learn) have been about the importance of empathy in the school setting. In the stories conveyed in those posts, the message is that a teacher who establishes a level of trust and common purpose with his students is far better able to reach these learners on an intellectual level. But it is not enough to recognize empathy as a kind of gateway into more effective instruction. Empathy not only facilitates communication, it is communication.
We understand each other not just through words, but also through the rhythm and pauses between those words, through actions, through facial expressions. We form first impressions. Sometimes cultural context or social programming causes us to react to superficial appearances more quickly, but very soon other signals come into focus. There is a vast unspoken vocabulary of gesture. A person may lie and get away with it in writing, but doing so face-to-face is not nearly as easy. In appeals of the verdict in criminal trials, lawyers may argue that a judge’s rulings were incorrect as a matter of law, but may not argue that the jury was wrong in forming its opinion about the witnesses’ testimony. It is a well-established principle that the only people qualified to judge whether or not a witness was telling the truth are the people who were in the room who could hear the tone of the voice and see the look in the eye.
Understanding others leads to greater understanding of ourselves. It enables us to see the world through eyes and ears that have a different vantage point, and yet we can grasp the meaning of what another perceives. Empathizing with success allows us to enjoy the thrill of another’s victory. Empathizing with fear allows us to share in the emotion, but also enables us to offer ways to cope with it. Empathy allows us a broader experience with life, and ties us more closely to the fabric of human society.
Teaching and learning is a shared human experience. The quality of that shared experience can determine the quality of the learning.
J. Marcus Patton 
I read recently a commentary titled, “How To Talk To A Southerner.” Being a southerner, of course I bit into that one. But I took away from that editorial a morsel of good information. The author posits that to communicate, to inspire feelings of empathy among others, is to tell them a story. Southerners in particular, the author says, tend to respond to stories more easily than they will to raw data, litanies of facts and numbers.
But then I believe that teaching technique extends beyond reaching an audience steeped in Southern ethos. This is what Howard Zinn understood: it was far better to change another’s mind through thoughtful, careful persuasion rather than confronting them with an avalanche of hard facts. Aesop’s Fables are based on the same premise. Empathy is easier to comprehend, even among adults, when they are made real with stories.
The rub remains, as always, that teaching a lesson through parables, even more – empathy, takes work on the part of the teacher.