TEACHING WITH EMPATHY: A CATALYST FOR STUDENT SELF-AWARENESS AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

With the developments in cognitive social neuroscience and due to the increased focus on academic achievement in diverse school classrooms, the issues of teacher student relationships have become essential and more observable. This article is based on premise that empathy can be learned and these skills will enhance teacher - student relationships leading to increased students involvement and improved achievement. Researches have shown that a teacher who is able to understand and maintain his or her own emotions, can directly impact their ability to develop the empathic skills for positive teachers student relationships (Pianta et al., 2012). Peck et al. (2015) purports the need for teachers to empathize with students and families due to the increased diversity of the educational system. Another study suggests that empathy is integral to the communications of students and teachers, and enables teachers to create a warm, accepting and respectful learning environment (Stojiljkovic, et al., 2011). There is an extraordinary amount of research on the importance of positive and caring teacher- student relationship over student's educational journey. However the aim of this paper is to evaluate the role of awareness of empathy on teachers' ability to foster warm, caring relationships with their students.