What if, instead of focusing on the verbal, oral or written reflection of learning, holistic experiences would be emphasized when teaching critically important empathy skills? In this blog text, we introduce a way of teaching empathy through aesthetic learning by using creative, multisensory methods. Austring and S\u00f8rensen (2012) have shown that aesthetic methods are particularly efficient for expressing and interpreting emotions.\u00a0 When working with our first year Bachelor\u2019s students, we gave them a series of versatile and inspiring visualization and visual art tasks through which they could develop an experiential understanding of empathy.<\/p>\n
How did we practically implement the Teaching and Learning of Empathy in the Social Services Degree Programme at Metropolia UAS<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe idea behind our project on qualified empathy was to facilitate students in taking their learning from a cognitive and discursive level to an experiential understanding, <\/em>as if they were the client, in order to develop a better understanding of the client\u2019s \u201dexperiential\u201d <\/em>world. \u2018Qualified Empathy\u2019 is defined as the ability to reflectively and emotionally separate oneself from the other and to understand the context; then in an intentional<\/em> process<\/em>, focus on understanding<\/em> the other person\u2019s viewpoint both cognitively and emotionally (Raatikainen, Rauhala & M\u00e4enp\u00e4\u00e4, 2017).\u00a0 The following are key phrases used to express our movement through the process of developing our qualified empathy skill:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/hiilta-ja-timanttia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/empathy.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The qualified empathy learning process took place in a sixteen-calendar week timeframe during the first-year studies.\u00a0 The participants were students (n=47) from the Social Services degree programme (2015- 2017*). Two study modules were included: 1) Individual and Community Counselling (5 cu) and 2) Supporting Daily Lives through Social Pedagogical Work and the first internship (15 cu) (Metropolia Degree Programme Curriculum, 2016).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/hiilta-ja-timanttia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/three_ways_of_learning_metropolia_UAS.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure: Three ways of Learning<\/em><\/p>\nDuring the Individual and Community Counselling course, the students were guided through the three ways of learning and introduced to the theoretical underpinnings of empathy as well sensory activation exercises such as visualization and reflection (discursive and aesthetic learning).\u00a0 Students took part in a storytelling\/visualization exercise focusing on refugees fleeing to Europe.\u00a0 As this topic has been very prominent in the media and public discussion, we wanted to help the students get in touch with the emotional dimension that the refugees themselves might be experiencing.<\/p>\n
Images and sounds were used in the background as students were instructed to close their eyes and listen to the story while visualizing in their heads the thoughts and emotions a young refugee boy travelling with his younger siblings might be experiencing while crossing a storm-tossed sea in an overloaded boat.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, students were asked to ponder on their experience and then share and reflect with the group what emotions and thoughts they had.\u00a0 We then discussed the different understandings they had from reading and learning the factual information about the refugee crisis (discursive learning) and the more experiential understanding after the visualization and reflection exercise (aesthetic learning).\u00a0 This was then reflected back onto the previously explored theoretical framework of empathy as discussed by Gerdes and Segal (2009) regarding the components of empathy (cognitive processing, affective response and conscious decision-making).<\/p>\n
\u2018How do I feel, when I feel empathy?\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\nDuring the Supporting Daily Lives and Internship module, students used visual arts as the method of exploration. They used gouache paints as a medium to express their understanding of how they \u2018feel\u2019 when they feel empathy, and then expressed it through color choices and use of paint. Some groups decided not to communicate verbally while they were working. Giving meanings to different colors, brush movements and simultaneously mirroring other group members\u2019 body gestures and reactions helped them when trying to describe and express their own understanding of their feelings of empathy towards others and other\u2019s perspectives on the matter. The core questions in teaching empathy by using aesthetic methods were: \u2018How do I feel, when I feel empathy?\u2019<\/em>, \u2018How do I understand another person\u2019s experience\u2019<\/em> and later \u2018How do I refine the feeling of empathy to qualified empathy towards the client and what does it mean?\u2019. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nSo\u2026how did the students experience the process?<\/strong><\/h4>\nDuring the one-semester long process, starting from the counselling course and ending with the internship, the students moved from defining the concept as \u201cthe skill of stepping into another\u2019s shoes\u201d <\/em>and were verbalizing it in more \u201cqualified\u201d terminology such as \u201cQualified Empathy means supportive rather than reactive actions to client situations\u201d. <\/em>By this, they meant to say that the social services provider is not solely reacting according to their own feelings but is rather reflecting on and transforming their own feelings into actions that support the clients. The quotes and pictures below show how students reflected verbally and through art on their own learning.\u00a0 This process helped them to concretize their learning because they had to explain it to someone else. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/hiilta-ja-timanttia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/empathy_2.png\")
\u201dUsing the concept of \u201dqualified empathy\u201d, it was way easier to understand the kids and \u00a0deal with the problems they were facing\u2026I stopped judging misbehaving kids and came to understand the reasons behind their behavior.\u201d (DR)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/hiilta-ja-timanttia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/empathy_1.jpg\")
<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The \u201dqualified empathy\u201d part was the most difficult for me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t quite grasp the difference between \u201dnormal\u201d empathy and \u201dqualified\u201d empathy during the lectures and I had to re-read some of the material. Now I think I understand the concept better, but it is still hard to connect it to practice.\u201d <\/em>(HP) <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/hiilta-ja-timanttia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/empathy_4.png\")
\u201dQualified empathy\u201d helped me to get into his shoes and to feel his concerns and worries in order to prevent situation(s) where he would feel insecure.\u201d (AP)<\/em><\/p>\nWhere do we go from here?<\/strong><\/h4>\nAlthough the process of teaching empathy skills has traditionally focused on the verbal, oral or written reflection of learning, research has not systematically reviewed holistic<\/em> ways of learning empathy in the literature.\u00a0 We feel that it is vital to raise awareness about how important aesthetic methods can be in helping students to understand and experience the development of their empathy skills in a safe and creative environment. \u00a0If we expect the people we serve to engage with us in an authentic manner, is it not important that we teach our students to engage authentically in the learning process themselves?\u00a0 Aesthetic methods give us an efficient method to access the often-unexplored territory of the individual\u2019s perceived experience. For social and healthcare providers, we think it is also essential to raise the student\u2019s awareness of their own emotional capacity and ability to use their empathy skills so that they can protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout.<\/p>\nWe would like to leave the reader with the following thought: while the social and healthcare fields have a great need for practitioners to be able to access and ethically use their empathy skills when working with vulnerable populations there is the larger question of the importance of people working humanely and empathically in other fields which have human interaction as part of their process. Those readers living their adventure in other contexts such as business, engineering, IT, and education we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. How could your field benefit from learning empathy skills?<\/p>\n
*NORDPLUS PROJECT QUALIFIED EMPATHY (2015-2017)<\/strong><\/em><\/sub><\/p>\nWriters<\/h4>\n
Writers are lecturers in the Social Services Degree Programme at Metropolia UAS.<\/p>\n
\nLeigh Anne Rauhala<\/strong><\/em> (MSW, LCSW) teaches social work\/pedagogy courses in the English Language Degree Programme in Social Services (Sosionomi AMK) and works internationally in the Social Work in Urban Areas joint programme.<\/p>\nEija Raatikainen<\/strong><\/em>, PhD, is Senior lecturer in University of Applied Sciences of Metropolia in Social Service programme. Her academic focus in \u201cTrust\u201d as a phenomena in different field, as like in social work and educational practice. She also worked as the Vocational teacher educator in University of Applied of Sciences of HAAGA-HELIA in the teacher education programme. In addition, she has a five years\u2019 experience as an academic coordinator in\u00a0 multicultural and multiprofessional Erasmus Intensive Programme(Poverty and Social Exclusion (2011-2013) and Combating Risk behavior Among Youngster (2014-2015). She has also worked in other projects (Matti, MOTIIVI, Tutu, SOCRE).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The qualified empathy learning process took place in a sixteen-calendar week timeframe during the first-year studies.\u00a0 The participants were students (n=47) from the Social Services degree programme (2015- 2017*). Two study modules were included: 1) Individual and Community Counselling (5 cu) and 2) Supporting Daily Lives through Social Pedagogical Work and the first internship (15 cu) (Metropolia Degree Programme Curriculum, 2016).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure: Three ways of Learning<\/em><\/p>\n During the Individual and Community Counselling course, the students were guided through the three ways of learning and introduced to the theoretical underpinnings of empathy as well sensory activation exercises such as visualization and reflection (discursive and aesthetic learning).\u00a0 Students took part in a storytelling\/visualization exercise focusing on refugees fleeing to Europe.\u00a0 As this topic has been very prominent in the media and public discussion, we wanted to help the students get in touch with the emotional dimension that the refugees themselves might be experiencing.<\/p>\n Images and sounds were used in the background as students were instructed to close their eyes and listen to the story while visualizing in their heads the thoughts and emotions a young refugee boy travelling with his younger siblings might be experiencing while crossing a storm-tossed sea in an overloaded boat.<\/p>\n Afterwards, students were asked to ponder on their experience and then share and reflect with the group what emotions and thoughts they had.\u00a0 We then discussed the different understandings they had from reading and learning the factual information about the refugee crisis (discursive learning) and the more experiential understanding after the visualization and reflection exercise (aesthetic learning).\u00a0 This was then reflected back onto the previously explored theoretical framework of empathy as discussed by Gerdes and Segal (2009) regarding the components of empathy (cognitive processing, affective response and conscious decision-making).<\/p>\n During the Supporting Daily Lives and Internship module, students used visual arts as the method of exploration. They used gouache paints as a medium to express their understanding of how they \u2018feel\u2019 when they feel empathy, and then expressed it through color choices and use of paint. Some groups decided not to communicate verbally while they were working. Giving meanings to different colors, brush movements and simultaneously mirroring other group members\u2019 body gestures and reactions helped them when trying to describe and express their own understanding of their feelings of empathy towards others and other\u2019s perspectives on the matter. The core questions in teaching empathy by using aesthetic methods were: \u2018How do I feel, when I feel empathy?\u2019<\/em>, \u2018How do I understand another person\u2019s experience\u2019<\/em> and later \u2018How do I refine the feeling of empathy to qualified empathy towards the client and what does it mean?\u2019. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n During the one-semester long process, starting from the counselling course and ending with the internship, the students moved from defining the concept as \u201cthe skill of stepping into another\u2019s shoes\u201d <\/em>and were verbalizing it in more \u201cqualified\u201d terminology such as \u201cQualified Empathy means supportive rather than reactive actions to client situations\u201d. <\/em>By this, they meant to say that the social services provider is not solely reacting according to their own feelings but is rather reflecting on and transforming their own feelings into actions that support the clients. The quotes and pictures below show how students reflected verbally and through art on their own learning.\u00a0 This process helped them to concretize their learning because they had to explain it to someone else. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \u201dqualified empathy\u201d part was the most difficult for me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t quite grasp the difference between \u201dnormal\u201d empathy and \u201dqualified\u201d empathy during the lectures and I had to re-read some of the material. Now I think I understand the concept better, but it is still hard to connect it to practice.\u201d <\/em>(HP) <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Although the process of teaching empathy skills has traditionally focused on the verbal, oral or written reflection of learning, research has not systematically reviewed holistic<\/em> ways of learning empathy in the literature.\u00a0 We feel that it is vital to raise awareness about how important aesthetic methods can be in helping students to understand and experience the development of their empathy skills in a safe and creative environment. \u00a0If we expect the people we serve to engage with us in an authentic manner, is it not important that we teach our students to engage authentically in the learning process themselves?\u00a0 Aesthetic methods give us an efficient method to access the often-unexplored territory of the individual\u2019s perceived experience. For social and healthcare providers, we think it is also essential to raise the student\u2019s awareness of their own emotional capacity and ability to use their empathy skills so that they can protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout.<\/p>\n We would like to leave the reader with the following thought: while the social and healthcare fields have a great need for practitioners to be able to access and ethically use their empathy skills when working with vulnerable populations there is the larger question of the importance of people working humanely and empathically in other fields which have human interaction as part of their process. Those readers living their adventure in other contexts such as business, engineering, IT, and education we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. How could your field benefit from learning empathy skills?<\/p>\n *NORDPLUS PROJECT QUALIFIED EMPATHY (2015-2017)<\/strong><\/em><\/sub><\/p>\n Writers are lecturers in the Social Services Degree Programme at Metropolia UAS.<\/p>\n Leigh Anne Rauhala<\/strong><\/em> (MSW, LCSW) teaches social work\/pedagogy courses in the English Language Degree Programme in Social Services (Sosionomi AMK) and works internationally in the Social Work in Urban Areas joint programme.<\/p>\n Eija Raatikainen<\/strong><\/em>, PhD, is Senior lecturer in University of Applied Sciences of Metropolia in Social Service programme. Her academic focus in \u201cTrust\u201d as a phenomena in different field, as like in social work and educational practice. She also worked as the Vocational teacher educator in University of Applied of Sciences of HAAGA-HELIA in the teacher education programme. In addition, she has a five years\u2019 experience as an academic coordinator in\u00a0 multicultural and multiprofessional Erasmus Intensive Programme(Poverty and Social Exclusion (2011-2013) and Combating Risk behavior Among Youngster (2014-2015). She has also worked in other projects (Matti, MOTIIVI, Tutu, SOCRE).<\/p>\n\u2018How do I feel, when I feel empathy?\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n
So\u2026how did the students experience the process?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\u201dUsing the concept of \u201dqualified empathy\u201d, it was way easier to understand the kids and \u00a0deal with the problems they were facing\u2026I stopped judging misbehaving kids and came to understand the reasons behind their behavior.\u201d (DR)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/em><\/p>\n\u201dQualified empathy\u201d helped me to get into his shoes and to feel his concerns and worries in order to prevent situation(s) where he would feel insecure.\u201d (AP)<\/em><\/p>\nWhere do we go from here?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Writers<\/h4>\n