Thursday, May 4, 2017
Nationally renowned for her excellence in teaching, a
recent book named Professor Franzese one of the "best law teachers in
the United States." The book, What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard
University Press), profiles the pedagogical approach that renders her a
"dazzlingly effective model of rigor, hard work, creativity and
humility."
In "The Power of Empathy in the Classroom," Paula Franzese goes
further, and shares with her readers the philosophical, cognitive and
behavioral science underpinnings to her approach as well as specific
tools she uses in her "dazzlingly effective" teaching method.
Named an "Exemplary Teacher" by the American Association of Higher
Education, Franzese makes clear that the key to effective teaching is
empathy:
"Without empathy, we are teaching content instead of students. With empathy, we are better able to discern when a student is lost and when another has just made a connection. We see when a class member is engaged or disengaged. We see where our students are and where they could be. Empathic teaching helps us to reach the whole class, including those at the margins and those who appear to be either left out or left behind. It requires that we call our students by name and ask that they put down their laptops and cell phones so that the power of human connectivity can do its work."
Franzese works to tailor her approach to individual
students and their learning styles, whether visual, auditory or
kinesthetic. The use of mixed modalities in this manner has been shown
to enhance learning throughout the classroom.
To engage students in empathic teaching Professor Franzese enlists a number of strategies and pedagogic tools, including story-telling, actual or simulated client interaction, role-playing to reenact situations, the inclusion of multi-disciplinary referents, play, and exercises designed to help students sharpen a range of cognitive and emotional perceptions essential to effective communication strategies and fully integrated material proficiency.
In addition, Franzese prepares herself through a series of
exercises designed to better enable her to cultivate the awareness and
affirmation necessary to connect with her students through empathy.
Having demonstrated and deconstructed her pedagogical expertise on
teaching as both art and science at workshops and colloquia across the
country, Franzese remarked of the opportunity to present at the
Petersheim Exposition, "It's good to be home. It's good to share again
with my fellow faculty what I have learned and what has worked so well
to fulfill the promise that is our students. Seton Hall has always been a
home for the mind, heart and spirit. Empathic teaching is just one more
way we make that happen."
"The Power of Empathy in the Classroom" appears in the latest edition of Seton Hall Law Review.
Categories: Law