Nurturing Empathy Lauren Christine Phillips Art Education Vol. 56, No. 4 (Jul., 2003), pp. 45-50 Published by: National Art Education Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194063 Page Count: 6

Maxine Greene f 20011.. sees a link between imagination and empathy, the ability of art to unlock imagination to bring a connection between expression and emotion.

Greene is seeking a new imaginative awareness of the world around as. Art makes that breakthrough possible. Greene cites the following passage from .Joseph Conrad:

[The artist] appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition... .(the artist) speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain; to the latent feeling of fellowship with all creation—to the subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity that knits together the loneliness of innumerable hearts (p. "\S).( using art to appeal to everyones heart)

 Art gives us a means to create community, to connect to each other. It allows as freedom to imagine things as they could be otherwise. To Greene, 

 (Goldstein, 1998), the creation of community is another important aspect of teaching empathy. This goes beyond the golden rule and politeness. Noddings (2002) believes that learning to care and extending that care to others creates a greater sense of justice.

 Emotional growth is just as important as intellectual expansion.

Teaching empathy takes years, a lifetime, of learning. The rewards for all of us are too great to ignore, despite the work and uncertainty of teaching something with no measurable results. We need to decide if we are ready for the challenge to provide our children with the tools they need to change the world

hannah Arendt (1968) :

Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token save it from that ruin which, except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and young, would be inevitable. And education, too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their chance of understanding something new (p. 196).