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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Social and Emotional Development

Empathy

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

/ˈempəθi/nounCore term

In child development & early education, empathy means: The ability to understand and share how another person feels, for example noticing that a friend is sad and offering comfort.

In Turkish: empati, eşduyum

How it is used

Used in curricula, reports and research. Young children show early signs of empathy, such as crying when another baby cries or bringing a toy to an upset friend. The adjective is empathetic or empathic.

Example sentences

  1. She showed real empathy when she gave her teddy to a crying friend.

  2. Talking about characters' feelings in stories helps children develop empathy.

Common collocations

  • show empathy
  • develop empathy
  • empathy for others
  • lack empathy
  • theory of mindThe understanding that other people have their own thoughts, feelings, beliefs and knowledge, which may be different from yours.
  • social and emotional developmentA child's growing ability to understand and manage feelings, build relationships, get along with others and develop a sense of self.
  • turn-takingTaking turns with others in play, games and conversation, which involves waiting, sharing and paying attention to the other person.
  • egocentrismIn Piaget's theory, a young child's difficulty in seeing a situation from another person's point of view; it is a normal feature of thinking, not selfishness.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Social and Emotional Development

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