Education Must Teach Empathy as a Core Virtue – Here’s Why

posted on Jul 31, 2021

When we talk about 21st-century skills in education, not many include empathy in the list. Most schools are focusing on communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork and they are important to help students shape both their education and career.

When we talk about 21^st-century skills in education, not many include empathy in the list. Most schools are focusing on communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork and they are important to help students shape both their education and career. But the best schools in Greater Noida West include empathy as one of the most important skills to be incorporated into a student. Often, the entire skill development coursework is designed around empathy and modern research is showing that children who learn empathy in schools surely become successful adults in the long run. Empathy needs to be taught as a core virtue. Without it, there is no better tomorrow.

What is empathy?

Before elaborating on the need for empathy in education, we must understand the proper definition of the term. When a student has empathy, he/she is capable of recognising another person’s plight without actually having to experience the cause. Empathy is all about interpersonal realisation where a student can simulate the consequences of his/her or someone else’s actions and the feelings that the other person might feel if the actions are indeed carried out.

This skill where students can see the broader picture without ever having to be a part of the situation is powerful. Empathy not only helps students to hold back their own actions but also enables them to question the steps taken by others. Empathy ignites the sense of humility. It makes students think before they do anything. And the benefits the skill brings to the classroom and the community are limitless.

Why teach empathy as a core virtue?

1. Empathy creates leaders

One who can lead with empathy is a true leader. Take that out of the equation and we will end up with an autocratic rule. When students learn to understand the feelings of each other, they become more accepting of different ideas and perspectives. The mind opens up, teamwork flows naturally. And one who rises as the leader leads with feelings and emotions. A student with empathy will feel for a cause. He/she will automatically take charge because the cause matters. Empathy inculcates leadership – a vital 21^st-century skill.

2. Profound effect on the classroom culture

The top 10 schools in Greater Noida accept students of different cultural backgrounds. Each come with their own values, learned from their family and society, and must work together to learn together in the classroom. With empathy, a student will be willing to recognise the difference in cultural teachings. He/she will be more tolerant, curious to learn from the dissimilarity and share his/her teachings to create a productive ambiance. It is through empathy that schools can maintain a positive classroom culture. And in this age of globalisation where people from the opposite end of the world communicate, empathy can create effective communicators and team workers.

3. The society becomes a better place

Students with empathy are more willing to participate in volunteering work as compared to children among whom the skill is lacking. The former group is also in better touch with their privileges and often comes forward on their own to share the luck with the underprivileged. Empathetic students work outside the school to make their community strong and such a sense of pro-action cannot only be achieved through education. In theory, a student may know that poverty affects the lives of thousands daily but it requires empathy to actually get down in the field and help even one person.

Empathy completes education

What do we mean by being well-education? We picture someone who helps people, is successful in life, shares that success and leads from the front. Empathy has a role to play in every aspect. Education just remains a series of words stitched together without the key ingredient called empathy. And unsurprisingly, it is easier to teach children empathy than adults. Schools can infuse the skill among every student easily, the younger, the better.

BGS Vijnatham School has Empathy included in its list of core virtues around which the school’s curriculum is designed. Along with other values like loyalty, ethics, tolerance and endurance, BGSVS believes that students need empathy to apply their education, make their communities stronger and be leaders at micro spaces to bring gradual change. In the list of Greater Noida schools, BGSVS is one of the few schools that recognises empathy as an essential 21^st-century skill. Our students learn it from the very beginning and work through the same both in their academic and personal lives. Currently, when the world is more polarised than ever and hate crimes have flown off the roof, we need more empathetic human beings and here again, the transformation has to begin in the classrooms.