Empathy as Enlightenment Christian Moriarty Twitter: @MoriartyCR I teach ethics, class as empathy training. And that’s what I’d like this session to be.

A Tale of Four Students 17 years old Collegiate High High GPA Consistently shy, withdrawn, no friends in class 38 years old Second Career High B, low A, often late or absent Engaged with material and lecture 24 years old Late starter Low B Usually good, hasn’t been to class in a few days 22 years old Traditional student, part time C average Suddenly withdrawn from class Transgender. Three kids, single mother. No car, takes the bus from Tampa every day. Best friend recently committed suicide. Victim of domestic abuse, not coming to hide bruise. Father recently murdered.

What is Empathy? “[T]he intrapersonal realization of another's plight that illuminates the potential consequences of one's own actions on the lives of others.” (Hollingsworth, 2003) Personal experience of empathy. Empathy vs Pity.

SPC Community, as of Fall 2017 Average age of students - 27 AA - 24 AS - 29 BA - 33 Female - 60.2% Male - 37.8% Not disclosed - 2% Part time - 74.1% Full-time - 25.9% African-American - 13.2% American-Indian - 0.3% Asian - 4.0% Hispanic - 14.2% Pacific Islander - 0.3% White - 62.4% Multiple races - 3.1% Not reported - 2.3% COMMUNITY college. Should not be denigrating or belittling, but empowering. Diversity is strength. Students ARE NOT kids. Headcount - 49,006

College readiness (MDRC, 2011; Achieving the Dream, 2018) However much we wish it wasn’t the case, our students aren’t college ready. 59%, 50%, 42%. 11.3%, 10.7% (MDRC, 2011; Achieving the Dream, 2018)

Students’ Lives “[Work no more] than ten to fifteen hours, on campus.” (AAUP, 2010) 1970: 35% of full-time undergrads work 2015: 43% of full-time undergrads work 2015 Part-time: 76% Small difference between 2-year and 4-year And this is just work! Consider family obligations, health, some semblance of a social life. Remember, 74% of our students are part time, so 76% of them are working American Association for University Professors, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2017)

Empathy is Understanding Create the opportunity for conversation Don’t pry, but ask questions Pick up on things they discuss in class Students open up more than you’d think given the opportunity Have resources ready Be emotionally available and open Students WANT to like their teachers. AUTHENTICITY

Things you can DO Right Now Opening assignment Check-ins (SParC, calls, etc.) Help-seeking behavior (Calarco, 2014) Model empathy (Crowley, 2016) Be reciprocal Acknowledge, and combat, “Hidden Curriculum” (Vallance, 1973; Martin, 1983) Let them know how long grading an assignment is, how something makes you feel. Social Media as modeling, too!

Challenges Online education Rigor and standards Not licensed counselors Limited resources for some issues Empathy overload / burnout (Milatz et al., 2015) Time Empathy REDUCES burnout!

Why are you here, right now? Empathy can be shared and taught (Swan & Riley, 2015) “Empathy is positively related to job performance” (Gentry, et al., 2017) “In the world of design-led product innovation, pursuit of empathy is the key to success.” (Kolko, 2014) “[E]ncouraging an empathic mindset about discipline halved student suspension rates over an academic year.” (Okonofua, 2016) Constructive teacher student relationships have a large and positive impact on students’ academic results (Hattie, 2009) Missionary work. – Ian Maclaren

College can, and should, be AN empathy learning experience Christian Moriarty, JD MA Professor of Ethics and Law (and Life) Academic Chair, Applied Ethics Institute Moriarty.Christian@Spcollege.edu Twitter: @MoriartyCR 727-614-7265