Educating for Empathy: Literacy Learning and Civic Engagement

Language and Literacy

by Nicole Mirra

Recipient of the 2019 NCTE David H. Russell Award! Educating for Empathy presents a compelling framework for thinking about the purpose and practice of literacy education in a politically polarized world. Mirra proposes a model of critical civic empathy that encourages secondary ELA teachers to consider how issues of power and inequity play out in the literacy classroom and how to envision literacy practices as a means of civic engagement. The book reviews core elements of ELA instruction―response to literature, classroom discussion, research, and digital literacy―and demonstrates how these activities can be adapted to foster critical thinking and empathetic perspectives among students. Chapters depict teachers and students engaging in this transformative learning, offer concrete strategies for the classroom, and pose questions to guide school communities in collaborative reflection. Book

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2018

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I was a little put off by the tone of chapter one, after that this book was pure joy. Do you remember WHY you wanted to be a teacher? Do you know what you are teaching FOR in these troubled times? Do you want EXAMPLES of what purposeful focused teaching for a greater good might look like in the English classroom?
This is an excellent book,and you just might want to read it.

[Meg Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book did not draw me to it because I presumed it would be about what the author later describes as individual empathy, to which I have many of the same objections as those the author raises. I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the book. This would be an ideal book to use in a study group of practicing teachers. Although the book is clearly directed at teachers of English Language Arts, it is applicable across subject areas and grade levels. The concept of "critical civic empathy" is powerful and generative. I found myself wishing I could be in her focus group of teachers who are striving to implement this concept in their classrooms. The book contains some practical suggestions, particularly in the chapter about debate. I very much appreciated the idea of settled issues, such as the humanity and dignity of all human beings, as part of the ground rules for any debate. Some of the exercises were excellent and easily adaptable to a variety of topics and circumstances. The chapters about debate and participatory action research were particularly strong. One caveat I have is that the chapter on connected learning did not sufficiently delineate the differences between neolibral conceptions of 20th century learning and what the author is proposing. I have heard exactly the rhetoric the author describes used to blugeon and demean teachers. This is clearly not the author's intention, but the chapter needed clearer examples for how engaging in some of the practices she mentions, (but does not fully describe) differ from what passes as 21st century learning. Despite this small problem, this is one of the best books I have seen on this subject and I highly recommend it.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mirra coins the term "critical civic empathy" (which I love) to get at the idea that teaching "social-emotional learning" is more than teaching about kindness and courtesy. In her view, SEL should be about teaching students how to be engaged citizens. She gives a great hypothetical example that illustrates the problem with conceiving of SEL as merely individual attitudes and behaviors when she points out that a dictator would love a populace of really nice, polite people! As teachers, she argues, we should focus on helping students understand empathy in civic terms. I found her graphic on the differences between empathy oriented toward social/political action and empathy that is more individualized in nature (and, therefore, not oriented toward social/political action) to be particularly helpful. In her view, helping students cultivate individual empathy through literature isn't enough because the end result of that empathy doesn't seek to enable students to use their literacy skills to change the socio-political realities that bring about the oppressions we often read about (racism, misogyny, poverty, etc.). I'm definitely applying these ideas to the unit I'm designing on the rhetoric of climate change. Questions I'm asking myself include: How might students use their knowledge and literacy skills to engage with the work of finding policy solutions to address climate change? How might they use their knowledge and literacy skills to support and advocate for the specific policy solutions they identify as best? How might they use their knowledge and literacy skills to educate, inspire, and engage others in this issue?

[Sydney K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not necessarily bad, but I think this could’ve been summed up in a research paper rather than a whole book

[ruoxi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“...to write or draw or imagine oneself or one’s community into new modes of living and interacting is simultaneously an act of literacy and civic engagement.”