Teacher as a caring agent in developing empathy among moral education students / Ilhavenil Narinasamy

Narinasamy, Ilhavenil (2013) Teacher as a caring agent in developing empathy among moral education students / Ilhavenil Narinasamy. PhD thesis, University of Malaya.

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Abstract

This multiple-case study has focused on the teachers’ understanding of their role as caring agents, how they displayed caring and the approaches or strategies that were utilised by the teachers to develop empathy among the students during Form Four Moral Education lessons. The study also explored the students’ perceptions on whether their teachers were caring. This study utilised the qualitative approach design. Four teachers, two Excellent Teachers and two non-Excellent teachers were selected. Five students from each class of the four schools had volunteered for this study. Data were collected over a time frame of seven months. The inquiry into the caring concept through the way caring was displayed in the classroom, as well as the manner empathy was developed during the moral lessons was carried out by non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews, documentation and teachers’ journals. The perceptions of the students on their teachers were sought through semi-structured interviews and students’ journals. Data were analysed using the NVivo 8 software where codes were identified and themes were derived in order to answer the research questions. The findings of this study presented six main themes that are action-based caring, role-modeling, nurturance, engaging students, pedagogical caring and developing empathy. Overall, it demonstrated that the teachers lacked conceptual grasp on caring, however, the uniqueness of the study showed that their care towards their students was better displayed during moral lessons. The study also showed that the Excellent Teachers were inclined towards, listening to the students, encouraging the students to realise their potential, as well as having interactive communication and a sense of humor with the students. However, all teachers were highly focused on academic content knowledge and the understanding of values and definitions in their lessons. As for developing empathy, it was found that only two teachers had adopted various approaches in instilling empathy among the students. Meanwhile, all twenty students perceived their teachers as caring in terms of assisting them well in their studies. In fact, students of the two Excellent Teachers also considered them caring about their personal lives. The overall findings of this study revealed that caring is not reciprocal, as how caring should be, as propagated by Noddings. The study implied that the teachers needed improvement in their techniques and methods in developing empathy in the midst of their students. There should also be a change in the mode of the public examinations as students need to be developed in a holistic manner, and the need for appropriate professional development on caring in the preparation and training for teachers. Lastly, an interactive approach that includes care in developing students holistically is suggested to provide students opportunities in experiential learning to develop relevant skills, besides acquiring knowledge, to better equip them to face their everyday and future lives.

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