We asked our students about the value and importance of learning and practicing the core principles of compassion in the academic setting. Here are some common themes from their perspectives…
Value of Compassion: Students' Perspectives
Theme 1
Teachers' compassion reduces stress of students and enhances learning outcome
“If we’re given a little more time, maybe an hour, or even half an hour to take a rest and calm down, maybe our well-being and learning outcome would be much better.”
Theme 2
Safeguard mental wellbeing
2.1 Prevent diminished self-worth from self-criticism
“I think we can learn some protective strategies as to how we treat ourselves, such as self-compassion, in a sense that we would not ruminate on our negative thoughts, such as thinking ourselves as a failure, because of a minor mistake.”
2.2 Facilitate cooperation and thus reduce stress
“I think self-compassion is very important in this aspect. If you don’t have compassion, you might not be able to understand others well in teamwork when you work in the future. Not only might you not cooperate well with others, but you might also always feel annoyed. ”
Theme 3
Enhance learning motivation and bonding among students
“I feel like once we were able to achieve the outcome of extending compassion and be understanding to our classmates, our learning motivation and bonding improved greatly. ”
Theme 4
Help students regulate their emotions and facilitate collaboration and teamwork
“In teamwork, you might not know how to understand others well. First, you might not cooperate well, and second, you might always feel annoyed, like you constantly don't understand why others do certain things, which makes it hard for you too.”
Theme 5
Facilitate personal growth in relating with people
“If you can't even give understanding to the people around you, what's the point of life? Relationships between people should come first.”
