Getting Schooled in Caring

With all the negative disruption going on in numerous countries around the world, it was likely inevitable that some commentators would begin surmising that Canada isn’t the tolerant and kind nation that it once was.  Using immigration as an example, Andrey Domise wrote about EKOS polling in Canada this past April revealing that 40% of Canadians believe there are “too many visiting minorities coming to Canada.”  Others discuss the intolerance shown to the poor and marginalized in our country and the emergence of alt-right groups on the Canadian scene.

Observations like these are occurring throughout Europe and the United States as the world seems to be casting off the historically won humanitarian and policy gains that emerged with such prominence following World War Two.

But Denmark isn’t playing that game.  The country, like Canada, repeatedly comes across in various reports as one of the happiest countries in the world and has remained in the top three in this classification for the last seven years.  The United Nations gives some of the credit for that achievement to the practice of teaching “empathy” in public schools since 1993.  That’s over 25 years of experience.  

School research has revealed that bullying and more positive relationships have been the direct result of this addition to school curriculums.  But it’s more than that, as educational leaders confirm that heightened growth and understanding in youth leaders has led to a more effective business and cultural climate.  According to one report:  “The students discuss their problems, either related to school or not, and the whole class, together with the teacher, tries to find a solution based on real listening and understanding.

It’s intriguing that, counter to the present corporate mindset about excelling over others, students are taught to spend time and help those who are struggling with lessons and concepts.  Over the years, it all becomes a mindset and has a direct result in the Danish business community, where the country is noted for being one of the best places in the world to work.

One fascinating aspect of this practice has been the challenge to compete with oneself instead of with others.  Students are taught to motivate themselves to gain higher levels of understanding, to improve on their own performance as opposed to besting their classmates.

An entire system of collaborative learning has been developed that informs students on how to bring their various strengths together to develop more collective decision-making powers.  They are also encouraged to put their weaknesses as individuals on the table and learn to how develop them through working with others.

Some critical commentators claim that this is all too maudlin and idealistic as a pattern to emulate. The problem is that there has been over a quarter of a century of research that demonstrates how such teaching methods better Danish businesses and communities.  Like Canada, there’s a reason why the country scores high on both happiness and productivity ratings.

Empathy is largely accepted as the attempt to better understand other people by getting to know them and their perspective.  And it’s multi-dimensional.   Psychologists Daniel Goleman and Paul Ekman break down the concept of empathy into the following three categories.   There is cognitiveempathy (understanding how a person feels and thinks), emotionalempathy (the ability to share and accept feelings with and of others), and, finally, compassionateempathy (going past just feeling and understand to take action and help others).

There are a lot of smart people in this world, taught in excellent educational systems and the challenge of the workplace.  But if emotional intelligence doesn’t keep pace with those advances, you end up with smart societies that actually don’t mix well because of a lack of vulnerability and understanding.

Vaclav Havel used to note in his speeches that the highest form of knowledge is empathy.  Should a society begin sliding downwards on such a scale, it will be inevitable that its cohesiveness and bond as a people will slide down with it.  It’s true to say that choosing to be empathetic is a choice, but Denmark is proving that it’s also a human resource that can enhance an entire nation.  Right now, it is in too short a supply and humanity is feeling its decline.