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Teachers are confronted with complex and unexpected classroom situations that not only demand knowledge but also social–emotional competencies. Consequently, researchers have tried to identify conditions that support the development of relevant abilities in this domain. This study examined the frequently stated, but not yet empirically investigated, idea of immersion in the arts as a facilitator of aspects of empathy and tolerance of ambiguity (ToA). The paper compares Waldorf student-teachers who are strongly immersed in arts activities in their training with non-Waldorf student-teachers who do not participate in the arts on the constructs of empathy and ToA. Results indicated higher scores in the Waldorf group on both emotional and cognitive dimensions of the empathy construct and marginally higher scores on ToA. The results of this study and subsequent discussion suggest a new perspective on the relation between arts engagement and the specific domain of social–emotional competencies.
Martzog et al. (Fri,) studied this question.