Empathy is present when we understand how another person feels. It is the capacity to put ourselves in the shoes of other persons. It is like celebrating too if your friend receives good news. It is stretching a hand when somebody needs help. It is feeling another’s pain. At this very stressful time, a lot of questions about this character arise. Is empathy still present in the hearts of the young ones? Do they always understand their classmates? If not present anymore, How do we cultivate empathy to be part of our learner’s being? What is the effect of empathy on the learnings of the students?

Empathy can be taught to our learners. We, educators, can cultivate and plant empathy in the hearts of our students. Learning will become more successful if students have compassion for one another. Compassion and empathy co-exist. Learning won’t be productive if there is no empathy among students. They should understand each other’s feelings. They should put themselves in the shoes of their classmates. And as educators, how will we do it? Be the model. Understand your student too. We don’t experience the same things every day. We don’t know what is in their minds. We have to be extra careful with our thoughts and our words. We have to have empathy towards our students. In that way, students will learn to have empathy too, for everybody. To their teachers, and most especially to their classmates. With that, we will be able to develop a compassionate society and we will be living in a more compassionate world. Also, take care of yourself. We cannot give what we don’t have. We have to be complete to help somebody be complete too. The key is to look after oneself. Be physically fit, take breaks whenever you feel overwhelmed. Have fun and enjoy. Do not be harsh to yourself. As being well reciprocated to one’s behavior.

By: Jennie Blanca B. Miranda|Teacher I|Bataan National High School| Balanga, Bataan