Empathy – Potential and Practice

We are intrigued by empathy because we recognize its potential and the profound difficulty of practicing it. Empathy is the ability to appreciate another's problems and feelings without actually experiencing them. This ability can be productive on multiple levels: in the classroom, in international politics, and in our personal lives. A lack of empathy among our past leaders has contributed to unnecessary and unimaginable death and destruction. A more peaceful world in the 21 st century requires teachers to cultivate empathy in our future leaders.

Our habit of perceiving the world as best suits our interests often blinds us to others' perceptions and impairs our ability to work with them to resolve conflicts peacefully. Empathy between enemies can help all parties discover a mutual interest in peace and a path towards it. The struggle to see as our enemy does may even permit us to avoid violent conflict before it begins. Unfortunately, numerous factors inhibit our ability to truly empathize. Fear and distrust make it difficult for old enemies to look back on the past with clarity and empathy. These conditions are only worsened by a contemporary conflict, making empathy in "real time" a Herculean task. This is further complicated by the fact that all sides need to be willing and able to engage in the difficult practice of empathy. Even when all sides will come to the table, it is still possible that irreconcilable differences of interest exist that cannot be overcome.   Given that, the effort to understand, as hard as it may be, is surely one worth undertaking again and again, even when the cards appear to be stacked against the process. The alternative, as seen in the Vietnam war, is too horrific for all involved and the possible rewards are too great to ignore.  

Between 1995 and 1998, American and Vietnamese military leaders and government officials met to discuss the issues surrounding the conflict that ended twenty years prior. The irony is not lost in that these leaders, who once waged war against each other, were now sitting together trying to figure out why the war ever began in the first place. One cannot help but wonder why this meeting could not have taken place before the war ever began.

A recurring theme that comes up when researching the events that led to the war in Vietnam is that a lack of communication from both sides and the unwillingness on the part of the United States to understand the history, culture, and will of the Vietnamese people led to the beginning of the end. This egocentrism of the United States can be seen as a general lack of empathy on the part of those in charge. The point can be made that if the United States had been empathic towards the Vietnamese situation, then perhaps the war never would have begun. Looking back, it is easy to see that the war was viewed very differently depending on which side one was on. The Vietnamese fought a civil war and a war for independence while the United States was attempting to halt the spread of communism. Many Americans involved now admit that they were allied with the South Vietnamese government, which was ruled by harsh dictators, when perhaps they should have been allied with people of South Vietnam.   Analysis of the time period illustrates the notion that there was a lot of evidence in place before the war began that alluded to what would happen during and after the war. It may be possible to train our future leaders to see such evidence more clearly through effective classroom instruction.

Designing a course that listens to "other voices" of history and the present day and employs empathy allows students to come to a better understanding of history and current events. This approach will develop an appreciation for the complexities of history and social affairs. Upon learning these complexities students will be more engaged in analyzing the perceptions, stances, and experiences of the many related peoples of history and the present world.

Students who develop a strong sense of empathy become more complex learners and people. An empathetic approach to education develops active, lifelong learners who seek to understand and thereby develop an appreciation for their global neighbors. Students who use empathy when thinking about history and current events will be better equipped and more apt to be empathetic in their every-day-lives. Teachers who employ an empathetic approach to study in their classroom enjoy a more engaged, evaluative, and analytical class who's students display an eagerness to learn. Teachers in these classrooms also make better connections to their students to whom they have taught valuable, lifelong lessons. A generation of empathetic thinkers will provide for a more connected and understanding global community.  

While empathy is a capacity uniquely human, it is also a skill that needs to be nurtured and taught.   When teachers take up this important mission, they face several challenges. "Teaching the skill of empathy" involves both fostering the inherent capacities within our students and teaching a habit of mind. The human mind often defaults to looking for the easy answers to complex problems, to view the world as "us" versus "them" and to blame the other. As with all skills, students enter our classrooms having developed the habit of empathy to varying degrees. They've been trained by parents, peers, pop culture, and other teachers. We want students to set their default mode, when faced with a conflict, to imagine what it's like being in another's situation. Doing this – teaching empathy - takes some expertise. Teachers must teach empathy, not sermonize. Students must engage in experiential learning activities, which may take quite a bit of preparation and classroom time. Teachers must develop activities that require integrating imagination, reasoning, and feeling. These can be difficult lessons to create and implement, especially given the lack of time available, so often, to lessons that don't emphasize learning facts.  Teaching this skill opens us to view events and dispositions from all perspectives (and for teachers to put aside their own agendas, too), and is, paradoxically, anti-authoritarian, and therefore controversial. Students are required to suspend certainty, posturing, and bravado, as we ask them to question their own assumptions. This questioning may yield profound lessons, as demonstrated by Robert McNamara's reflections on his decisions during the Vietnam war.   

McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, draws at least two critical lessons that extend beyond the realm of international conflict. The first is that we must work to understand our opponent. The second is that we must communicate in order to strengthen our understanding of those around us. These two lessons proposed by McNamara are the foundation for practicing empathy in times of international conflict in the hope to prevent misunderstandings among world powers. Empathy, however, cannot be reserved solely for situations of intense conflict. Practicing empathy in everyday life, although difficult, creates opportunities for one to reach a greater understanding of oneself and the world.  

The potential of empathy in everyday life depends on the understanding that we have of those around us. Practicing empathy requires exposing oneself to knowledge that without inquisition would never be known. Quyen Truong, daughter of a military intelligence specialist in the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam war, was a young adult before she uncovered the experiences that her father faced in a re-education camp after the Vietnam War. It is through five black and white paintings that Truong attempts to express the unspeakable conditions in which her father was immersed. Truong challenged herself to understand her father's experience on a deeper level and uncovered information that would contribute to her mission. Her ability to empathize with her father contributed to a more complete understanding of her own life.

When Porter Halyburton, a professor at the US Naval War College, left Hanoi after being held as a prisoner of war for seven and a half years, he had one parting message. He turned around one last time, faced the Hanoi Hilton and said, "I forgive you."  Empathy enabled Halyburton to free himself from the burden of hatred. He lives by the idea that "hatred is a prisoner unto itself."  Halyburton's actions when leaving the Hanoi Hilton epitomizes the profound impact that empathy can have on one's overall outlook on life.  

Porter Halyburton stated that the lessons of one war usually last for about one generation. In times of peace it is difficult to remember the harsh realities learned in previous wars. The history of the 20 th century is a history of conflict. Humans need to do a better job of being empathetic towards each other so that the same mistakes are not made over and over again in international politics and in everyday life. Just as it is necessary for school children to learn to be empathetic towards one another, nations too have the responsibility to do the same. Of course, learning to practice empathy in international diplomacy does not ensure that every situation will not end in conflict but it does allow the lines of communication and understanding to be opened up in hopes that peace can be made among all peoples of the world.  

Reflective writing prepared by:
Doug Craig—Windham high School, Willimantic, CT
Todd Wallingford—Hudson High School, Hudson, MA
Amber Rogers—Normal Community High School, Normal, IL
David Lopes—North Kingstown High School, North Kingstown, RI
Josh Otlin—Hudson High School, Hudson, MA