This qualitative research study examines the perspectives of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the US and South Africa as they learned about the "pedagogy of compassion" as a generative approach for supporting students in navigating issues of social justice in the context of English teaching and learning. We examine PSTs' work generated in a secondary English methods course in the US and interviews with 14 PSTs: 10 in the US and 4 in South Africa. Findings highlight PSTs' considerations of the opportunities and challenges involved in enacting the pedagogy of compassion in their future work with students. For example, PSTs sought to demonstrate compassion through expressions of care as they envisioned teaching and learning in their future classrooms. Implications of this work are provided for English teachers, English teacher educators, and educational researchers.