Relative to most European contexts, diversity is seen to be a recent phenomenon in Irish society. Traditionally, Ireland had higher outward than inward migration rates and the Catholic Church was culturally and socially dominant. Both these factors meant that Irish society was perceived (somewhat erroneously) to be culturally and ethnically homogeneous (Bryan, 2009). However, since migration rates and religious attitudes began to shift in the mid-1990s, the growth in both visible and less visible forms of diversity has been rapid (Ní Dhuinn & Keane, 2021; McGinnity et al., 2020). This swift growth in diversity means that, like its European neighbours, the Irish education system must ensure that young people are supported in developing the skills and dispositions necessary for living in diverse societies. These are often referred to under the umbrella term of intercultural competence, a longstanding priority of the Council of Europe (Barrett, 2020; Barrett et al., 2014).
One element of intercultural competence that has been attracting attention in recent years is empathy (as seen, for example, in the EU Digital Citizenship Education programme). Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share others’ thoughts and emotions (Weisz & Cikara, 2021). However, it is not limited to intercultural competence alone. Regarded more broadly as a powerful predictor of adaptive intra- and inter-personal outcomes (Konrath & Grynberg, 2013), empathy can be positioned as a key element of social and individual wellbeing. Higher empathy has consistently been linked to enhanced social relationships (e.g., Dekovic & Gerris, 1994), increased prosocial behavour (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 2010), reduced prejudice (e.g., Miklikowska, 2018), and increased civic responsibility (e.g., Hope & Jagers, 2014). These outcomes align well with the WHO’s Health Promoting Schools Framework (1991), which emphasises how healthy relationships are important for individual wellbeing and can, in turn, lead to healthier communities.
Research indicates that empathy is malleable and dynamic (e.g., Main et al., 2017). One of the putative pathways towards enhanced empathy is empathy education, often conducted as part of school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes (Davis & Begovich, 2014). This paper introduces an empathy education programme called Activating Social Empathy (ASE), which was designed to be facilitated by second-level teachers, with the aims of increasing empathy, improving interpersonal skills, promoting prosocial behaviour, and increasing social responsibility among students aged between 12-15 years. The ASE programme previously underwent feasibility testing followed by more rigorous randomised control trial (RCT) testing. Findings from the RCT study were promising in that increases in empathy, social responsibility values, emotional self-confidence, and helping and defending behaviour were found among students who had engaged in the programme, compared to students on a wait-list.
However, it has been recognised that after RCT evaluation, monitoring of programme implementation in the real world is needed due to the effects of a variety of factors at the individual, school, and macro-educational system levels (Domotrovich et al., 2008). Thus, a study was developed with the aim of exploring how the ASE programme was being implemented in schools, to identify factors that may be influencing quality implementation and enactment, and to better understand teacher and student interpretations of and perspectives on the programme. The objectives of this study were to explore: 1) how the programme was being implemented; 2) how acceptable it was to teachers and students; and 3) teachers’ and students’ perceptions of how effective it is in terms of influencing both empathic motivations and skills, and prosocial intentions and behaviours.
This paper will present a brief overview of the study’s overall results before focusing in particular on the findings related to the participants’ perceptions of the programme’s effectiveness.
