Megavarnen (Vimen) Varaden
The word empathy originates from the Greek em (or en), meaning in or at, and pathos, meaning passion, feeling, or suffering.
To feel empathy for someone is to step into that person’s shoes, understanding and sharing their feelings and perspectives. This differentiates it from feeling sympathy for a person, when one does not go that far towards them.
The Neuroscientific Basis of Empathy
Empathy is supported by mirror neurons. Discovered in a research study in 1991, these are activated both when we carry out an action e.g. when we run, and when we see another person run. The same applies to sensations – e.g. that of touch – and emotions, as well as the feeling of pain. Since there are motor neurons in the brain regions associated with speech and intentions, we are capable of detecting the very subtle nuances in another person’s speech communication and the intricacies in their intentions. Empathy is also underpinned by body language which very often conveys the faintest of cues.
The prefrontal cortex (that region at the front of the brain responsible for high-level cognitive processes ) also plays a key role in our capacity for empathy by supporting inhibition and cognitive flexibility. This enables people to, among other things, suspend egocentric viewpoints, decentre themselves, and imagine how others feel.
From an evolutionary standpoint, the species has better survived as empathy has greatly helped humans care for their young and their vulnerable fellow humans; and build strong social networks.
Why Are We Not All Sufficiently Empathetic?
Although empathy provides an evolutionary advantage and we all possess mirror neurons, levels of empathy vary among individuals.
These differences arise from genetic and biological variations as well as different life experiences. Levels of empathy depend to a certain extent upon genetics. However, different life experiences in different environments carry still more weight.
Indeed, stress, cognitive overload as well as other overpowering personal, family and job challenges for instance render many of us incapable of feeling even that deep instinct of empathy.
Moreover, humans are subject to emotional biases: we tend to feel more empathy for people within our ‘in-groups’, ie our own social or cultural groups. In the absence of awareness of this fact and relevant education to overcome to the maximum this innate feature, there would be great and grave risks of our suffering from this bias. Such empathy gaps may then affect not only our emotional responses but also our actions. Hence, we may be unwilling to help those who are fundamentally like us but just happen to be in our ‘out-groups’.
This bias can even extend to those who are in a lower socio-economic status. Thus, sadly, many economically-fortunate individuals may feel less empathy towards those in poverty, leading to at best, indifference on their part and at worst blaming poor people for their poverty. Here also, increased awareness and relevant education may help. Danish researcher Keetie Roelen has laid out in her book ‘The Empathy Fix’ how increased empathy on the part of each one of us can help us fight this rampant problem of poverty, making a powerful case for effective actions and inclusiveness on the part of each of us with a view to treating this fundamental scourge.
Empathy in Education
Increased empathy since childhood has been shown to significantly reduce bullying, including cyberbullying and violence among adolescents. This early impact may have a ripple effect, viz. reducing aggression in adolescence may contribute, over time, to less violence among adults.
Encouragingly, empathy can be taught and learned.
Since 1993, Denmark has made empathy classes a mandatory weekly component of the school curriculum, starting with 6-year-old primary school pupils and comprising the whole cohort of secondary school students. In this remarkable Danish initiative, children as from a very young age are made to engage in teamwork and collaborative learning. They are made to learn various subjects among themselves and help one another in that collective learning exercise. In the process, the communication skills of all the students are appreciably enhanced.
Moreover, prizes and trophies are not given to students in both academic subjects and sports; the focus is on self-improvement instead of competition. The benefits of this deeply humane practice are multiple. Bullying, indiscipline and violence among students have been substantially reduced. Also, the country has been placed among the top 3 countries in the UN’s World Happiness Report for many years.
Additionally and complementarily, a majority of Danish pre-primary schools have been running the ‘Free of Bullying’ (Fri for Mobberi) programme for some 18 years now. That most worthy initiative centering around the values and practices of tolerance, respect, care and courage also includes a sizeable minority of nurseries and primary schools (lower classes).
A toolkit is used within the programme to render palpable the abstract notion of empathy among others, and contains as main physical materials: a purple teddy bear (The Buddy Bear) having the triple role of mascot, child comforter and focus for discussions; and illustrated boards showing painful situations e.g. the exclusion of a person from a game so that the teacher may spark off class conversations thereupon.
Apart from those two physical materials, there are two non-physical ones pivotal in the generation of empathy and the like at those early ages, viz. (1) Massage Stories, where the children sit in pairs with one massaging the back of the other while telling a story. Research has indicated that such positive physical contact with agreed limitations goes a long way towards curtailing eventual bullying among the children. (2) Rhythm and Music, since correct practice of this combined activity presupposes close cooperation and synchronicity which evidently promote empathy.
France, inspired by Denmark, instituted compulsory empathy classes too in September 2024, after a successful pilot phase involving over 1000 schools. The French authorities put up a comprehensive and well-structured pedagogical kit giving examples of graded activities designed to increase empathy and associated psychosocial skills. The following 9 general psychosocial skills were chosen: Self-awareness; Self-control; Constructive decision-making; Awareness of emotions and stress; Emotional regulation; Stress management; Constructive communication; Constructive relationships; and Problem-solving.
In Canada, the internationally-recognized Roots of Empathy programme – established in 1996 – has also achieved remarkable results. Created with a view to promoting empathy in children from 5 to 13 and developing their social skills, the programme consists essentially in the children being visited by a family and their baby for a year, the baby being 2-4 months old at the beginning. The children are made to observe the baby under the guidance of a certified instructor who also provides them with preparatory and follow-up lessons. Longitudinal studies have shown that the aggressiveness of the pupils have decreased significantly. Conversely, there has been a significant increase in their pro-social behaviour. Moreover, there has been a boost in their general well-being and the school climate has grown positive.
In those 3 countries, the relevant research has indicated that empathy education has improved classroom climates, strengthened student relationships, and appreciably reduced bullying wherever implemented for a sufficiently long time.
Returning to our country, I would like to say that to my mind, the Minister of Education put his finger upon the ways to foster the development of that foundational area in education which is the pre-primary sector, in a meeting with stakeholders of the sector a month after taking office, in preparation for the ‘Assises de l’Éducation’. He said, among other key things, that a “holistic approach to education” should be adopted vis-à-vis what are perhaps the most important stakeholders, viz. the pupils themselves. At the very end of his speech, he talked of “fostering collaboration” among those other very important stakeholders which are the teachers. Both of these pronouncements immediately evoke the notion of empathy.
However, the above-mentioned account of how three countries have gone about that most worthy task of fostering empathy shows that it has been through rigorous, systematic and scientific activities. It is therefore suggested that the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the MIE, Private Secondary Education Authority, Early Childhood Care and Education Authority and other organizations, should also embark upon such a systematic and well-structured framework of activities as those three countries.
Evidence indicates that empathy – an ability we are all hardwired for – can help address many of the fundamental problems facing our societies. By nurturing empathy from childhood, we may not only improve interpersonal understanding but also bring about more compassionate, inclusive, and peaceful communities.
REFERENCES
BOOKS
• The Brain – The Story of You, by David Eagleman
• Cognitive Neuroscience, by Richard Passingham
• The Empathy Fix – Why Poverty Persists and How to Change It, by Keetie Roelen
• The Brain Book – AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO ITS STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND DISORDERS, by Rita Carter and Colleagues
RESEARCH STUDIES
• An Overview of Empathy (Hardee, 2003)
• THE EFFECT OF EMPATHY ON INVOLVING IN BULLYING BEHAVIOUR (Dodaj et al, 2013)
ARTICLES AND DOCUMENTS
• Babaoo.com – How to teach empathy at school.
• Article by Cat Cunningham on 14 July 2020, on tru.org.uk: “Empathy is Being Taught in Danish Schools.”
• Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Jeunesse – Kit pédagogique pour les séances d’empathie à l’école. Sept. 2024. https://eduscol.education.fr/document/60960/download
• Ministère de l’Education Nationale – PLAN INTERMINISTÉRIEL DE LUTTE CONTRE LE HARCÈLEMENT À L’ÉCOLE. Sept. 2023. https://www.education.gouv.fr/plan-interministeriel-de-lutte-contre-le-harcelement-l-ecole-379551 .
• rapport de Santé Publique France
• Roots of empathy
