Developing empathy through authentic assessment

This chapter examines a case study aimed at planning and implementing authentic assessment by using both an empathy model and experiential learning principles in classroom learning and field-based experiential learning. The learning unit is in the context of Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The case study intends to shed light on how authentic assessment can be incorporated into a PSHE learning unit of junior secondary Life & Society subject that combines both classroom learning and experiential learning, and suggest how effective assessment tasks can contribute to the development of students’ empathy in terms of understanding other people and seeing things from their perspective. The intervention is conducted in two junior secondary one classes in a Hong Kong secondary school, with about 24 students in each class. The age group in both classes is between 12 and 13 years old. English is the medium of instruction for this learning unit, and students belong to the medium and high academic capability range. However, during experiential learning activities, when students interact with the local population, the spoken dialect of Cantonese is used in verbal communications. Copyright © 2018 Tay Hui Yong; selected chapters, the contributors.