Developing Empathetic Skills among Teachers and Learners in High Schools in Tshwane: An Inter-Generational Approach Involving People with Dementia

Autor/inn/en	Alant, Erna; Geyer, Stephan; Verde, Michael
Titel	Developing Empathetic Skills among Teachers and Learners in High Schools in Tshwane: An Inter-Generational Approach Involving People with Dementia
Quelle	In: Perspectives in Education, 33 (2015) 3, S.141-158 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0258-2236
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Empathy; Experiential Learning; Skill Development; High School Students; Secondary School Teachers; Intergenerational Programs; Dementia; Older Adults; Interaction; Training; Focus Groups; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Program Effectiveness; Interpersonal Competence; Attitude Change; Memory; Maps; Peer Relationship; Communication Strategies; Qualitative Research; Case Studies; Consciousness Raising; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Empathie; Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Demenz; Älterer Erwachsener; Interaktion; Ausbildung; Schülerverhalten; Lehrerverhalten; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Attitudinal change; Einstellungsänderung; Gedächtnis; Map; Karte; Peer-Beziehungen; Kommunikationsstrategie; Qualitative Forschung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Bewusstseinsbildung; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	This article describes the implementation and outcomes of an experiential learning approach to facilitate the development of empathetic skills among teachers and learners at two high schools in Tshwane, South Africa. An inter-generational training programme, the Memory Bridge Initiative (MBI), aimed at exposing participants to interactions with older persons with irreversible dementia, was used as a means to develop empathetic skills. Programmes such as MBI have the potential to develop empathetic skills and to cultivate interpersonal and personal skills among the learners and the teachers. Seven learners and six teachers, recruited through non-probability sampling, from two high schools in Tshwane participated in the three-and-a-half-day training programme which serves as the basic training to equip teachers and learners for the implementation of the programme in their respective schools. Focus-group discussions were conducted with the teachers and the learners separately before and after exposure to the MBI programme. Both learners and teachers agreed that the programme contributed to their interpersonal and personal development. Learners also adopted a more positive way of perceiving older persons and people with Alzheimer's disease. It is recommended that inter-generational programmes should be implemented in more high school settings to determine best practices to develop empathetic skills among learners. Inter-generational programmes could minimise the isolation of older persons with dementia and equip the youth with transferrable skills to educational and work settings. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of the Free State Faculty of Education. P.O. Box 339, Bioemfontein 9300, South Africa. Tel: +27-51-401-2368; e-mail: PiE@ufs.ac.za; Web site: http://www.perspectives-in-education.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01