Abstract
The term ‘compassion’ has found expression within various educational texts and curricular initiatives for civic and moral education across a number of jurisdictions over the last two decades – though it is not always explicit and prevalent. In Australia, for example, the Values Education Program, for example, developed as part of the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools, cited ‘care and compassion’ – defined as ‘care for oneself and others’ – as one of nine values to be promoted and taught in schools. In the current Australian Curriculum, compassion represents a value to be explored through both the subject Civics and Citizenship and through the General Capability of Ethical Understanding.
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Notes
- 1.
A range of studies provides empirical data to ‘support the view that the capacity for empathy or sympathy…continues to increase with age from the early years into adolescence’ (Eisenberg et al. 2006, p. 521; see also Hoffman 2000). Emerging findings in the field of psychology and neuroscience with young adults also supports the notion that compassion can be learned. See, for example, Weng et al. (2013).
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These are ‘moral indifference’, ‘lack of self-control’, ‘self-control’ and ‘proper virtue’.
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On this point Sanderse (2015, p. 393) indicates his ‘doubt whether Aristotle’s ideal [proper virtue]…can ever be exemplified by anyone…Instead, we can think of the “last” stage of moral development as an intermediate and open-ended level: even for the virtuous person there is room for improvement’.
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In its learner profile, the International Baccalaureate includes empathy within ‘caring’ which is defined as ‘we show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us’ (IB 2013, p. 5).
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According to Nussbaum (2001, p. 433) ‘the fact that Sophoclean tragedy inspires compassion for human suffering and the fact that it is great and powerful poetry are not independent facts: it is the poetic excellence that convey compassion to the spectator, cutting through the habits of the everyday’, while Bohlin (2005, p. 15) identifies the challenges educators face from ‘the range of negative narrative images and stimuli that feed the imaginations and aspirations of young people’, including ‘widely popularized books that idealize the fast track to fame and fortune’.
- 8.
Noakes (2014) cites a range of possible texts for exploring compassion in English literature classrooms, including Shakespeare’s Othello, Susan Hill’s I’m the King of the Castle and Stephen King’s The Body.
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Peterson, A. (2017). Teaching about and for Compassion: Pedagogical Connections. In: Compassion and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54838-2_6
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