The compassion as a socioemotional skill in pedagogical practice

Abstract

The nature of classroom relationships can profoundly impact how students approach, understand, interpret, and inhabit the world around them. Therefore, the type of bond between teacher and student is a crucial element in guiding pedagogical praxis. In light of this, the objective of this essay is to explore the concept of social-emotional skills with an emphasis on compassion and its influence in fostering a classroom environment conducive to the well-being of all its members. The text emerges as an appreciation of compassion as a tool with which each teacher can practice self-care while simultaneously benefiting their students. Thus, educational environments can become safe spaces that respond to the socio-affective needs of current pedagogical practices. Given the foregoing, the conceptual approach addresses different perspectives on the concept of social- emotional skills, and within them, it emphasizes compassion. To this end, a review of various Western and Eastern perspectives was conducted, which facilitates understanding its scope and values its theoretical and epistemological positioning, allowing compassion to be embraced as a path that validates other ways of being and existing. A compassionate attitude conceives of teachers and students embracing vulnerability, impermanence, and constant movement, being sensitive to their own emotions, so that their intentions, desires, and actions are for their own and collective benefit.