Student welfare has been designated as one of the priorities within higher education for past decade. We have many students with seen and unseen difficulties that pose an extra challenge to their learning. There is a vast realm of research that emphasises the role of the educator in terms of student wellbeing. Factors such as social skills, psychological safety, lecturer availability and competence are critical to consider for developing a healthy student-educator relationship. However, academic staff can at times be unaware of these struggles. Allowing them time to reflect on their unconscious bias and how their own frame of reference influences the way within which they interact with our students is imperative. Creating an empathic environment can promote personal growth and professional development, as well as it leading to higher quality interactions and positive student development. Especially in today’s world, solving wicked 21st century problems means understanding others’ – stepping into the shoes of someone else and seeing the world through their eyes.

One factor that can have a major impact on the student-lecturer relationship (and subsequently student achievement and wellbeing) is ‘empathy’ - there is a need to emphasise its importance. Empathy-enhancing interventions is an effective tool at cultivating and sustaining empathy within education. One way of tackling this is through the design and offering of an ‘Immersive VR Empathy Training for Educators’.

During this oral presentation, we will touch upon the notion of empathy within education, elaborate on the design, roll out and effects of the of the VR experience thus far, as well as plans moving forward.

Keywords: Technology, empathy, professionalisation of educators, human-centered education.