Cultural understanding and sensitivity to other human groups, crucial to education, relies on our theory of mind ability, our ability to understand the minds of others and, ultimately, to empathize with them. I would like to propose here that we look into the possibilities that theory of mind offers for the development of pedagogies aimed at the understanding of other human groups and cultures.

Two main views have been proposed to account for the human cognitive, social, and evolutionary ability to understand and empathize with others:

1. Theory: We possess and employ a body of conceptual knowledge concerning the mental states of others; we theorize about their minds.

2. Simulation Theory: Knowledge about others’ mental states is achieved through pretense-play. We pretend to be in someone else’s mental shoes; we understand their minds by simulating to be them. In the last few years, there has been an investigation of the neurological underpinnings of simulations in relation to the recently discovered Mirror Neurons System, which seems to be at the core of our ability for imitation and empathy.

We know that primates and humans react to perception of others’ facial gestures, body postures, and voices, and there seems to be a direct connection between these perceptions and our own behavior. Indeed, the basis of empathy may be in humans’ innate ability for imitation. A number of studies by Rizolatti, Gallese, and other neuroscientists working with the Mirror Neuron System support this idea. The introduction of pedagogical activities designed to reflect on others’ intentions and behavior and “place students in the others’ shoes” may be a powerful tool for educators to foster empathic responses that may lead to a deeper understanding of other human groups.

Exposing our students to class content and tasks that consciously emphasize conceptual knowledge, simulation, and interaction narrative frames as means of understanding others, may optimize their contact and familiarity with other minds and human contexts. By actively involving them in those frames, asking them to reflect on them and to interiorize some of their features, we may, ultimately, foster an empathic response that will enable them to be sensitive to other human groups and cultures. This will have practical applications for the foreign language, literature, and culture classrooms as well as for cultural studies, history, anthropology, and other disciplines.