Good Moral & right conduct

Good Moral & right conduct

Developing
concerns for
others
MARK LESTER B. LIQUIGAN, PhD
Subject Teacher
The world needs people who are willing to
help their fellow men and heal the world
especially in this time of the pandemic.
Imagine a world without Mother Teresa, St.
Francis of Assisi, Nelson Mandela,
Mahatma Gandhi, Efren Peñaflorida, Jr.,
Randy Halasan, and so many others.

Imagine a world without the frontliners,

during pandemic. Imagine a world without
the countless individuals who risked their
own lives to save others during wartime.
Imagine a world without those who've run
into burning buildings or executed other
heroic feats of rescue during times of
trauma. It's unthinkable.
Empathy and
Compassion
Empathy and Compassion are very "in" concepts as the world becomes
more and more technologically advanced. People may have the tendency to
engage in solitary activities and be highly individualistic. These are not
things of the past, instead they are relevant in modern everyday life. After
all, they have the power to inspire courageous deeds and can also
encourage all sorts of positive behaviors that have both individual and
societal benefits.
Activity : Photo Collage

Make a collage of pictures showing people who are greatly affected

by the COVID 19 pandemic. You may opt to have this in soft copy
or print the pictures and paste on a short size bond paper. Your
course handler will give you specific instructions pertinent to this.

Pictures convey a lot of stories especially in this time of world crisis.

Please look for pictures to show the sufferings of those affected by
COVID19. You may have a theme in mind while looking for the
pictures. It could be those of frontliners who are tired and
discriminated, sick people, of people without food, etc. The pictures
will be your bases for reflection.
Analysis
Based on the photo collage you prepared, please
honestly answer the following questions:
1. What emotions do they convey which you as a viewer
can feel?
2. If you were in their position, how would you feel?
3. What is the strongest message that the collage
conveys to you and is of value to you as a preservice
teacher and future teacher?
 abstraction
Evolutionary biologists have shown that human beings are social animals
who have naturally evolved to care for each other. Psychology, as well,
points out that we are primed for empathy by strong attachment
relationships in the first two years of life. As we grow older we learn to
be sensitive to the presence and needs of other people. We nurture
relationships but there are times that we only look within our immediate
sphere like our families but not easily beyond such.
The discussion will focus on empathy and compassion which are important
to be responsive to the needs of other people and become concerned of
other people's plights
 empathy
Empathy lies at the core of human nature, encompassing various
psychological capacities crucial for social interaction. It enables
individuals to understand, share, and care for the thoughts and feelings
of others, fostering compassion and aiding in the formation of
meaningful relationships. Empathy involves both cognitive and
emotional responses to the experiences of others, allowing individuals
to step into their shoes and comprehend their perspectives. In the
Philippine context, empathy can be equated with "pakikiramdam." This
ability to empathize facilitates cooperation, friendship, moral decision-
making, and intervention in situations like bullying. While empathy
fosters connection and assistance, it may have evolved partly out of
self-interest, serving as a mechanism to detect potential threats through
social cues.
 Good Moral & right conduct
Good Moral & right conduct
There are three kinds of
empathy according to the
Daniel Goleman's article
entitled

"Three Kinds of
Empathy":
● Cognitive Empathy
● Emotional Empathy
● Compassionate Empathy
 Cognitive empathy
1. This is simply knowing how the other person feels and what they
might be thinking. Sometimes called perspective-taking, this kind of
empathy can help in, say, a negotiation or in motivating people.
Cognitive empathy, also known as empathic accuracy, involves
having more complete and accurate knowledge about the contents of
another person's mind, including how the person feels. Cognitive
empathy is more like a skill. Humans learn to recognize and
understand others' emotional state as a way to process emotions and
behavior.
 Emotional empathy
2. This happens when the person feels physically along with the other
person, as though their emotions were contagious.
This emotional contagion, social neuroscience tells us, depends in large
part on the mirror neuron system. Emotional empathy makes someone
well-attuned to another person's inner emotional world, a plus in any of
a wide range of callings, from sales to nursing, for any parent or lover.
Emotional empathy includes three components:
A. The first is feeling the same emotion as another person;
B. The second is personal distress which refers to one's own feelings
of distress in response to perceiving another's plight;
C. The third emotional component is feeling compassion for another
person.
 Compassionate empathy

3. With this kind of empathy we not only understand a

person's predicament and feel with them, but are
spontaneously moved to help, if needed.
Parents Raising
Children with
Empathy

How do we develop
empathy?
How do we develop empathy?
Neuroscientists explore two theories to explain empathy: Simulation
Theory and Theory of Mind. Simulation Theory suggests that
empathy occurs because we simulate others' emotions within
ourselves, facilitated by mirror neurons and brain activation in the
medial prefrontal cortex. Theory of Mind proposes that humans
understand others' thoughts and feelings based on cognitive
processes, enabling prediction and explanation of behavior.
Empathy encompasses automatic emotional responses and learned
conceptual reasoning, with its roots nurtured at home and reinforced
by schools, as per the research and insights from the Making Caring
Common Project at Harvard University Graduate School of
Education.
 5 guide post
1. Empathize with your child and model empathy for others. Children learn
empathy through our example and by experiencing our empathy towards
them, fostering trusting relationships and modeling behavior.
2. Make caring for others a priority and set high ethical expectations.
Children need to understand that valuing others' perspectives and showing
compassion is as important as their own happiness.
3. Provide opportunities for children to practice empathy. Like learning a
language or sport, empathy requires practice and guidance. Regularly
considering others' perspectives helps empathy become a natural reflex.
4. Expand your child's circle of concern. Encourage empathy beyond family
and friends by guiding children to understand and care for people different
from themselves, facing diverse challenges.
5. Help children develop self-control and manage feelings effectively.
Negative emotions and stereotypes can hinder empathy. Teaching children to
manage these feelings enables them to express empathy more effectively.
Teachers Raising Children with
Empathy
The Making Caring Common Project of
Harvard University Graduate School of
Education likewise came up with research-
based strategies to help educators promote
a culture of empathy within their schools.
It has been found out that when young
people are high in empathy they have
more classroom engagement, higher
academic achievement, better
communication skills, lower likelihood of
bullying, less aggressive behaviors and
emotional disorders and have more
positive relationships.
Five Essential Steps to use in Schools

● Model Empathy.
● Teach what empathy is
and why it matters.
● Practice.
● Set clear expectations.
● Makes school culture
and climate a priority.
 1. Model Empathy: Teachers should pause, empathize, and reflect learners' feelings
before responding. They should be attuned to non-verbal cues and seek learners'
Five Essential Steps to use in Schools
input, incorporating their feedback into classroom dynamics.
2. Teach Empathy: Clearly define empathy and its importance, stressing the need
to notice and care for others beyond immediate circles. Provide examples and
encourage actions like helping, kindness, and listening.
3. Practice Empathy: Create opportunities for perspective-taking through activities
like role-playing, story-telling, and problem-solving. Address barriers to empathy,
such as stereotypes, stress, and fear, and teach strategies to overcome them.
4. Set Clear Expectations: Establish expectations for caring within the school
community, involving students in the process of defining guidelines and holding
each other accountable for respectful behavior.
5. Prioritize School Culture: Regularly assess the school climate through surveys,
addressing areas of concern and fostering empathy skills that extend beyond the
classroom to the wider community. Strengthening empathy builds deeper
relationships and fosters compassion among students.
"If you want to know
what compassion is,
look into the eyes of
a mother and father
as they cradle their
sick and fevered
child." - Dalai Lama
Empathy leads to Compassion, which involves understanding
and feeling another person's pain and taking action to alleviate
it. Compassion is a relational process triggered by witnessing
another's suffering and feeling motivated to help. It
encompasses both intention and action, known as "pakikiramay"
among Filipinos, where intention involves opening one's heart
to others and action involves tangible efforts to help.
Compassion is considered an affective state that can be
cultivated through practice.
Compassion is from the Latin word passio which means
to suffer with the prefix com, meaning together and thus to
suffer together or to suffer with. Cassell (2009) reported
the following three requirements for compassion:
1. "That the troubles that evoke our feelings are
serious;"
2. "that the sufferers' troubles not be self-inflicted —that
they be the result of an unjust fate;" and
3. "we must be able to picture ourselves in the same
predicament”
Compassion, as defined by Kanov et al. (2004), consists of three interconnected
elements:
1. Noticing: The initial step involves recognizing another person's suffering
and being attuned to their emotional state. Noticing requires openness,
receptivity, and attention to subtle cues in daily interactions.
2. Feeling: Compassion entails experiencing empathy and suffering alongside
the person in distress. The intensity and duration of these feelings may vary,
ranging from simple concern to a more complex mix of emotions.
3. Responding: This element involves taking action or offering support in
response to another's suffering. Compassionate responses can include
gestures of comfort, listening attentively, or providing practical assistance,
even if the immediate cause of the distress cannot be resolved.
Compassion is not an automatic reaction but occurs when a situation is perceived
as serious, unjust, and relatable, prompting individuals to offer assistance and
support to alleviate the suffering of others.
Benefits of Compassion

Compassion offers a multitude of benefits, as noted by advocate Heather Lonczak and

supported by empirical research. Increased compassion correlates with elevated levels of
happiness and reduced depression. Compassion interventions foster social connection
and mitigate physiological reactivity to stress when combined with social support.

Enhanced parent-child relationships and organizational commitment, job satisfaction,

and emotional vigor among teachers are associated with compassion. In educational
settings, compassion promotes cooperation, better learning outcomes, and reduced
incidents of bullying and antisocial behavior.

Furthermore, classrooms characterized by compassion tend to foster kinder, happier, and

healthier student dynamics through contagion effects. Overall, compassion plays a
pivotal role in enhancing well-being and fostering positive social environments.
What is compassion
deficit disorder?
Compassion Deficit Disorder
It is the child's tendency to act without empathy or regard for others. Diane
Levin, a Boston professor of early childhood education, introduced the concept
of compassion deficit disorder which seems to be displayed by children
especially of the young generation. How does Diane Levin explain compassion
deficit disorder? What are its causes?
According to her, the compassion deficit disorder can be attributed to:
1. Children are spending increasing amounts of time with more and more
technology and screen exposure at a young and younger age. This
results in their lack of opportunity to develop social skills.
2. Children's exposure to violent and antisocial models can teach them
anti-social lessons that they bring to their relationships.
3. Children play with toys that are realistic replicas of what they see on
screen. These toys can trigger children to imitate what they saw on
television rather than encouraging them to engage in the rich, creative
play of childhood.
4. Many families are experiencing stress that they resort to the screen
or technology to occupy their children and would need not spend a
lot of time watching over them. They become occupied with what
they watch; behave and pose no bother at all.

5. There are also instances that parents structure too much what they
want their children to engage in. This prevents the child to organize
or learn to organize activities that can enhance interactions with
other children.
Empathy develops in stages throughout a child's life, and its development is
crucial for the emergence of compassionate behavior:

1. In the first year, children exhibit global empathy by mirroring the

emotions they witness in caregivers, such as calming down in response to
a soothing parent. These foundational interactions lay the groundwork for
learning compassion.

2. During the second year, children actively offer help, which should be
encouraged and reinforced by parents. Praising compassionate behavior
and highlighting its positive effects on others further reinforces their
understanding.
 3. By the third year, children become aware that others may have different
feelings from their own, signaling a deeper understanding of empathy.
Encouraging children to express empathy through language and asking
them to consider others' feelings can deepen their understanding of
compassion.

4. Empathy for another's living conditions typically develops in late

childhood or early adolescence, as children grasp that feelings may be
influenced by broader life situations rather than just immediate
circumstances.

Overall, teaching compassion begins at birth and progresses through various

developmental stages, with language, positive reinforcement, and opportunities
for empathy-building playing key roles in nurturing empathetic and
compassionate behavior in children.
Since the home is the seedbed of learning good manners and right
conduct, empathy and compassion can be developed through
compassionate parenting. The major key is always the quality of
parenting.

Compassionate parenting is an
essential component of positive
parenting. Positive parents show
compassion by:
● Guiding and teaching your child by role modeling kind and
compassionate behavior.
● Avoiding labeling children (i.e.,"the brainy one," "the leader,"
"the failure, "etc.), as doing so is hurtful and promotes both
sibling rivalry and self-fulfilling prophecies. Time and time
again this reminder is made for parents to avoid labeling their
children,not to play favorites,and respect each child's nature.
● Being sensitive to your child's developmental stage. Different
developmental stages have different needs which parents
must be aware of.
● Practicing regular, open communication. Many parents are
too busy or stressed that they no longer have time for their
children or they, too, are as focused on their gadgets and
everybody is into one's own solitary activity. It is not the
quantity of time that matters but the quality.
● Providing affection and emotional warmth. Provide
unconditional love. Parents should love without strings
attached. Practice positive discipline, which is warm and
democratic, and never violent.
● Empathizing with your child's feelings.
● Empowering autonomy in order to support creativity, empowerment and
self-determination.
● Teaching respect for other living creatures by teaching him/her how to
care for and show kindness to animals. A child who respects plants and
animals has a great capacity for respecting and showing compassion to
fellow human beings.
● Showing optimism and help your child to believe in him/herself and the
future.
Teachers play a crucial role in reinforcing efforts initiated at home to cultivate
empathy and compassion in children. Kelly Miller, a proponent of positive
psychology, suggests various activities for teachers to promote empathy and
compassion among students.

By instilling these values, educators aim to counteract bullying and aggressive

behaviors, fostering cooperation and kindness in everyday interactions. The
collaboration between parents and teachers is essential in educating the next
generation about the importance of compassion.

Focusing on cultivating compassion from an early age is pivotal for the future
success of individuals. Additionally, it's important for individuals to show self-
compassion, as self-criticism can lead to negative effects on self-esteem and
happiness.
 SELF-COMPASSION
Entails being warm and
understanding toward
ourselves when we suffer, fail,
or feel inadequate, rather than
ignoring our pain or
flagellating ourselves with
self-criticism.