Which of the Three Kinds of Empathy Helps Us Take ACTION?

What does it really mean to be empathetic, and are we teaching kids the right kind?

In this reel, Dr. Chris Hass breaks down the 3 Forms of Empathy every educator, parent, and school leader needs to understand and why most people stop at the first one. Whether you're focused on classroom belonging, student engagement, or building a stronger school culture, this short snip from our conversation will reshape how you think about connection in your classroom and community.

We explore:
- Emotional Empathy: recognizing how someone feels
- Cognitive Empathy: understanding *why* they feel that way
- Compassionate Empathy: the form that actually moves us to act

The difference between feeling sorry for a student and doing something meaningful for them is everything. This is the shift that separates reactive teaching from inspiring students and creating thriving students who feel seen, heard, and supported. 

For more information, get Chris's book, From Empathy to Action (co-authored with Katie Kelly and Lester Laminack)

👇 Watch, reflect, and share with your team. 🚀📚 Part 1 & Part Two of our ⁨ @schoolutionspodcast S5E27 interview.

🕐 CHAPTERS
0:00 - Introduction: Why Empathy Matters in Education
0:45 - What Most People Get Wrong About Empathy
1:30 - Form #1: Emotional Empathy: Feeling What Others Feel
2:15 - Form #2: Cognitive Empathy: Understanding the Root Cause
3:00 - Form #3: Compassionate Empathy: Empathy That Moves You to Act
4:10 - What Compassionate Empathy Looks Like in the Classroom
5:00 - The Difference Between Solving Problems and Being Present
5:45 - How Empathy Drives Student Success and School Culture

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Having an emotional response isn't the same thing as being useful, and our goal should always be to be useful, right? Three Forms of empathy I think it's really important for everyone to understand, you know what is it that you're shooting for. Please. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So the first is emotional empathy. Emotional empathy is what allows me to look at you and say Olivia’s feeling bad right now. She's feeling sad. She was feeling left out. Whatever it might be. Cognitive empathy is for me to look at you and say, Olivia's feeling this way because...and I know what the root cause is. This thing is going on that's causing her to feel this way. Both of those are important. But I think what we want to happen in our classrooms is we want our kids to grow into compassionate empathy, which sees that Olivia's feeling bad. This is why she's feeling bad. But I have a responsibility to her. I need to do something. And it's not to sit here and try to solve all your problems for you, or tell you how you're supposed to feel. Because those are the opposite. Yeah, but it's to say, maybe I just need to be a listening ear. Or maybe I need to make sure I check in with her from time to time. Like, there's always things that we can do. But that's where empathy moves us into action versus just feeling sorry for someone.