Empathic Emotional Maturation to Didactical Cards Working with CES Students

Neaga Susanu¹

Abstract: In this paper we tried to highlight the importance of empathic emotional maturation of teachers, who work with students with special educational requirements. In this regard, we have used a tool to measure this skill, respective the Q.M.E.E. scale, which describes an affective vision of empathy. Following the application of the questionnaire we concluded that a large number of teachers (more than five years old in the activity with students with CES) have a lower level of empathy, which confirmed the hypothesis from which we left this study. Given the nature of the research that is both constitutive and prevention, and the category of investigation being of a psycho-clinical and psycho-educational nature, we have proposed for teachers working with students with CES, to participate in personal development group trainings.

Keywords: empathic level; teachers; students with CES; education

“Learning begins when the teacher also learns from the student, when in his place, knows what he understood and how he understood” (S. Kierkegard)

Introduction

Empathy (the word comes from ancient Greek and translates to: inside, suffering, what suffering), is the ability to recognize in and into a certain measure to share the feelings that are experienced by another being. Everyone needs a certain degree of empathy to be able to feel compassion. Empathy is a capacity that develops over time, that can be learned, trained, practiced through special programs. Adults have been shown to experience higher levels of empathic feelings, understanding and responsiveness than children.

Empathy is of great parsimony importance because understanding the negative experiences of the other can lead to the need or intention to help him, and then granting the help can lead to increased feelings of well-being. In addition to motivating helpful behavior can lead from the point of view of psychology, empathy is an identification, through living with other people, such as the heroes of books, through an interpretation of the self of others according to one's own self, while from a philosopher's point of view, empathy is a form of knowledge of another.

An empathetic person can easily identify the emotions of others, especially latent emotions, which are not yet expressed. Empathetic people easily see, beyond the “masks” we wear. Empathic people are affectionate and easily recognize that they too have strong and difficult feelings to control and share them with other people. Empathetic people trust those they talk to and help them overcome the difficult situations they go through by reminding them of the hard times they have.

Empathic behavior is a characteristic of the interpersonal relationship dependent on both the level of induction of this personality trait and the social situations (either formal or informal group) that the individual faces. The main objective of the paper was to measure empathic emotional maturation in teachers working with students with CES in order to implement personal development programs. The study was carried out at the level of a sample of 54 teachers with a minimum of five years of working with students with CES. Subjects who have had emotional problems in the last year have been eliminated. The main objective of the paper is to measure the emotional maturation of teachers working with students with CES. The aim of the research is to implement personal development programs for teachers working with students with CES.

The type of research - The research we have initiated has both an observational character and a prevention character. The paper falls into the category of psycho-clinical and psycho-educational investigations.

Research sample - 55 subjects, teachers working with students with CES

• The lot chosen shall be presented as follows:

• They have a minimum of five years of experience working with students with CES.

• Subjects who had emotional problems (death, chronic diseases, etc.) in the last year were eliminated.

• Subjects who are parents of children with CES have been eliminated.

Research hypothesis

We assume that teachers who are more than five years old working with students with CES have a lower level of empathic emotional maturation.

Research methods

To measure empathic emotional maturation, we used the Q.M.E.E. questionnaire, which belongs to A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein (1972) and describes an affective vision of empathy.

The questionnaire contains 33 statements with which the subject may or may disagree. These statements are interrelated subscales that measure the relational aspects of emotional empathy.

Subscales refer to:

• susceptibility to emotional contagion;

• appreciation of the emotions of unknown or distant persons;

• extreme emotional reactivity;

• the tendency to be impressed by the negative experiences of others;

• the tendency to sympathize;

• desire to be in touch with those who have problems.

Responses to each statement are given on a scale of + 4 (very strong agreement) to - 4 (very strong disagreement). After the subject notes each statement with one of the scale scores ( +4, +3, +2, +1 -1, -2, -3, -4), the signs will be changed to the scores that regard the statements that initially show the minus sign, and then the algebraic sum of the 33 statements contained in the questionnaire will be calculated.

The five levels of emotional empathy are among the following scores:

Table 1. Percentage Distribution of Teachers in the Emotional Empathy Test

Graphic Presence

From the teacher distribution table and the graphic representation on the levels of empathic capacity it follows, in large part, that our choice of this sample resulted in a dominant proportion of 65.46 in the presence of poorly empathetic subjects, which illustrates that a significant number of subjects have a lower empathic level.

Class number three, average empathic subjects, is represented in a percentage of 21, 82%, which represents a small percentage, class number four, good empathetic subjects is represented in a percentage of 10.9% and classes number five 1.82% and class number one 0%.

We can conclude that teachers working with students with CES place themselves in the plan of a poorly empathetic level, which leads to the idea that our mortgage has been confirmed, without reaching (with one exception), the empathic level of the lower or higher. In the teacher-student relationship, empathy acquires an aptitude function, without which the educational activity itself cannot be effectively exercised. The teacher's behavior cannot be reduced to a process of affective identification with the student, without the intervention of a process of detachment, so important in the student's educational act with CES.

The empathic phenomenon becomes an aptitude of the teacher in relation to his pupil, necessary aptitude, but not sufficient in effective communication between the two partners of the relationship.

Conclusions and Proposals

Given the large number of subjects who have a low empathic level, we can say that the quality of the educational act is also directly related to this aptitude. Creating an environmental and affective environment is necessary in working with students who present special educational requirements. The quality of the educational act should not mean emptying the informational content of human heat, cancelling the affective communication from man to man. All the more so in students with disabilities, who need more affectivity, it is well known that one of the methods of working with these children is the playful-affective method.

As a focus is said on both performance and quality education, as well as the individualization of children's education with CES, it is necessary to train teachers to be flexible, stress-resistant, to have an average level of empathy and to use moderate teaching-learning methods.

For teachers working with students with CES, group personal development trainings are recommended, which facilitate:

• flexible, adaptive interpersonal dynamics,

• diminishing and self-control of aggression, intolerance to frustration, hostility, mental rigidity and discrimination of various types;

• optimizing self-image and assertiveness by increasing self-confidence and self-acceptance;

• psycho-emotional maturation;

• The expected positive effects of this methodology with educational and restructuring valences are:

• development of emotional intelligence and empathy;

• development of social and relational intelligence;

• development of cultural intelligence and integrative community, interethnic strategies;

• spiritual maturation, development of interfaith and religious tolerance;

• developing positive awareness, responsibility, attitudes and behaviors.

References

Gîrlaşu-Dumitriu, Odette (2004). Empathy in Psychotherapy. Bucharest: Victor Publishing House.

Marcus, S. (1997). Empathy and personality. Bucharest: Atos Publishing House.

Marcus, S.; Neacşu, Gh.; Gherghinescu, R. & Săucan, D. (1994). The relationship between empathy and guidance - in the structure of didactic competence. Revista de Psihologie/ Journal of Psychology no. 2.

Mitrofan, L.; Badea, M.; Cosmovici, I.; Mecu M. C.; Mitrofan, N.; Nuţă, A.; Stoica, D. C.; Tomşa, R. & Vladislav, E. O. (2007). Personal Development Transversal. Bucharest: University Competence, University of Bucharest Publishing House.