Teaching the comicYummyto engage adolescent empathy, critical reflection, and community awareness

‘Teacher, Am I Empathetic?’ Instilling Empathy in Adolescents

“…Therefore, where empathy is concerned, focusing on cognitive empathy, where students are urged to state their own and others' feelings or to imagine being in someone's situation and to voice their feelings, were inadequate. It is imperative that students display appropriate gestures that indicate their compassion, sadness or pity for the misfortune and misery felt by others through affective empathy that comprises cognitive and affective processing which facilitates prosocial behaviour (Dallacqua et al, 2022;Hoffman, 2003).…”

“…Thus, perspective-taking strengthens one's actions and better regulates emotions, which are strongly needed in adolescents (Carlo et al, 2015). Moreover, empathy promotes prosocial behaviour, thus minimalises aggressive behaviour (Dallacqua et al, 2022), for the betterment of society. In the Malaysian context, the multicultural society needs to be nurtured to function in tandem with the goals of our National Education Philosophy, which starts in schools.…”

“…Empathy is defined as a multidimensional construct comprising cognitive and affective components (Chopik et al, 2017;Hoffman, 2003;Whitford & Emerson, 2019). Many studies have shown that those with empathetic behaviour are positively inclined towards prosocial behaviour (Dallacqua et al, 2022;Fry & Runyan, 2018), and subsequent studies have shown that empathy reduces aggression, especially in older children (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006;Taylor et al, 2019); similarly, empathy acts to mitigate disruptive behavioural disorders in children resulting from a lack of regulatory skills (Baker et al, 2015;Wied et al, 2010). Overall, empathy brings positive psychological characteristics and altruistic behaviour.…”

“…In carrying out this responsibility, ME educators, if trained appropriately, could play a critical role in instilling empathy (moral affective) according to topics from the themes mentioned, as they are considered ethical models who strive to contribute to the development of care and empathy in students (Noddings, 2013). Studies from the West have demonstrated methods for imparting empathy through various pedagogical approaches (Briones et al, 2022;Engelen et al, 2018) as well as promoting empathy in adolescents (Dallacqua et al, 2022).…”

Kapow! Bam! Wham!

“…Moreover, comics promote understanding and empathy in readers because the unique textual and visual discourse can lead to reflective possibilities and increased engagement and motivation (Botzakis, 2010;Dallacqua et al, 2021;Lewkowich, 2019a;Lewkowich 2019b). Comics encourage critical self-reflection from the reader and critical reflection of society because they give readers opportunities to learn using "multiple access points…about literature, history, and culture" (Jiménez et al, 2017, p. 363).…”