Education Commons^™

Social Perspective Taking: Advancing Empathy And Advocating Justice, Francisco Rios, Allen Trent, Lillian Vega Castañeda

Woodring Scholarship on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

In this article, the authors attempt to employ a pedagogical tool, social perspective-taking, as a way to engage their students in the act of critical self-reflection, from a personal and professional point of view. The use of perspective taking devices, especially around issues of diversity (e.g., race, class, gender, ethnicity, and language) is useful in their work as teacher educators who care about social justice. It allows them to engage their students in activity that draws upon their insider knowledge (e.g., what it is to be a member of a given group, whether it is privileged or disadvantaged) and lived …