Rethinking failure as a site for epistemic empathy for educators

While failure is often framed as a learner-centered experience, less is known about how educators emotionally and cognitively experience failure in the context of teaching—particularly in non-formal environments like museums. In this study, we examine how museum educators make sense of failure during STEM-focused activities and how these reflections contribute to the development of epistemic empathy , the capacity to understand and value others' intellectual and emotional experiences in knowledge construction. Drawing on video-based recordings of reflective professional development sessions across 13 U.S. museums, we employed a naturalistic inquiry approach to analyze how 76 educators discussed moments of failure involving both themselves and learners. Findings highlight how educators engaged in perspective-taking, surfaced shared vulnerabilities, and reframed failure through emotional and relational lenses. We suggest that moments of failure provide fertile ground for epistemic empathy, creating conditions for reflection and perspective-taking. In doing so, we reconceptualize epistemic empathy as a professional disposition that encompasses not only learners but also peers, caregivers, and oneself.