Exploring the inconvenience of empathy

In the second of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of empathy.

Empathy is a muscle, something that we can strengthen the more we practice. Yet the spaces and places where empathy is developed, practised and actively encouraged in our dominant societies are dwindling, whilst at the same time it is a skill being championed as foundational for our changing world.

From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had empathy as one of the three pillars of our work to encourage a deeply felt experience of the world (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) by feeling with others, feeling with the wider world, and feeling deeply within ourselves. All of our programmes to support the practice, and yet this is another skill that is subtly being removed from our education systems, whilst our dominant media and globalised culture is actively encouraging it out of us.

This week we discuss questions such as: ‘What is the difference between empathy, sympathy and compassion? Where and how can we practise empathy? 'Do we all practise empathy in the same way? How can we be empathic with some of the people currently 'leading' our world?'

In this episode we reference the following:

• Brené Brown on Empathy (RSA animation)
• Empathy as a core skill (article)
• Empathy Studios (website /organisation)
• The Future of Jobs Report (World Economic Forum)
• The Heart of Trauma - Bonnie Badenoch (Book)
• Wild Goose Coaching (organisation)
• The Guesthouse - Rumi (poem)
• Diary of a teacher: Week 49 Entropy and Empathy - Melody Bird (blog)

Plus we reference research from some of the recent leading reports into a future-fit education:

• Future of Education (UNESCO)
• Times Education Commission (UK)
• Human Flourishing Report (PISA)
• Rebooting Education Report 2023 (UK)
• The Future of Education & Skills (OEDC)
• School Report – Pearson (UK)

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