Ethical and emotional commitment as a pillar of teaching: A study on the empathic training of future teachers

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of empathy as a key competence in initial teacher training. It is assumed that empathy must be a priority in teacher training programs, not only as a relational skill, but also as an essential component for building truly inclusive educational contexts. The teaching profession certainly requires the ethical and emotional commitment of teachers’ staff. Based on this, we aim to know the impact that the university training period exerts on the level of empathy of students who are pursuing Early Childhood Education and Primary Education Degrees. A quantitative approach is adopted by carrying out a descriptive and exploratory study whose sample comprises 58 student teachers from both programs. A purposive, non-probability sampling was used to select the sample subjects. In fact, the Cognitive and Affective Empathy Test (CAET) is used because it is standardized and assesses the main dimensions of empathy: perspective taking, emotional understanding, empathic joy, and empathic stress. While the results show a striking level of empathic stress in all the future teachers surveyed, there is evidence of an unequal impact on their global empathy level and by dimensions, depending on the training program to which they belong. In Primary Education Degree, for example, university training appears to fulfil its purpose of stimulating students’ emotional growth. However, the content and methodologies of Early Childhood Education Degree need to be reconsidered to integrate effectively the socioemotional dimension of professional learning and, above all, strengthen students’ cognitive empathic competencies. The study highlights that the lack of systematic work on this competence compromises the professional development of future teachers and limits their ability to draw attention to diversity, among other training challenges of the 21st century.