Exploring Empathy to Promote Social Justice Leadership in Schools

Boske, Christa; Osanloo, Azadeh F.; Newcomb, Whitney Sherman

doi:10.1177/105268461702700303

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Branson said, "It is through the bringing of naturally existing unconscious inner phenomena into their consciousness that initiates educational leaders' progress toward becoming ethical leaders" (p. 199). Other researchers agree with Branson that a school leader's inner experiences and personal values are significant influences on their problem-solving and ethical leadership behaviors and are worthy of intensive selfreflection and identification (Bebeau, 2008;Berkovich & Eyal, 2018;Boske et al, 2017;Branson & Gross, 2014;Daniels, 2003;Drago-Severson et al, 2018;Langlois & LaPointe, 2010;Mullen, 2017;Pauken, 2012;Rintoul & Goulais, 2010;Tuana, 2014).…”

Section: Leaders' Internal Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Pulling Back the Curtain on Moral Reasoning and Ethical Leadership Development for K–12 School Leaders

Gurley

Dagley

2020

Journal of Research on Leadership Education

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Using the Defining Issues Test of moral reasoning, researchers gathered pre- and posttest data from educational leadership students ( N = 52) and confidence levels in enacting ethical school leadership, before and after completing a master’s degree program in educational leadership. On a 95-point scale, pretest, postconventional moral reasoning abilities were calculated at M = 33.57. Significantly higher posttest, postconventional moral reasoning ( M = 38.80) was determined. Respondent confidence levels in enacting ethical leadership also increased dramatically. Moral reasoning abilities measured far lower than would be expected compared with national norms of adults who had achieved similar levels of education in other professional areas.

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Section: Leaders' Internal Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Pulling Back the Curtain on Moral Reasoning and Ethical Leadership Development for K–12 School Leaders

Gurley

Dagley

2020

Journal of Research on Leadership Education

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“…, 2006; Hytten and Bettez, 2011). Social justice leadership interrupts oppressive school practices to empower student groups historically disenfranchised (Boske et al. , 2017).…”

Section: Equity and Social Justice Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leading for equity: how principals experience professional learning

Clayton

Nganga

2022

JEA

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PurposeThis study examined how principals experienced professional learning that asked them to reflect on their own biases and beliefs, as well as to determine where there are systemic issues of inequity in their schools, and what they planned to do to address those challenges.Design/methodology/approachThrough interviews, observations, and documents, the authors explored the building and sustaining of equity mindsets in education.FindingsThe authors analysis led to four overarching themes that collectively answered the research questions about how the principals learned individually and in concert with each other. The themes included the power of the personal journey and commitment, the importance of building a network of support, the benefit of practice-oriented activities that disrupt power structures and inequitable practices in schools, and sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focused on a single institute and as such, findings are not generalizable, but may be transferable.Practical implicationsSchools and school districts may use the findings when designing professional learning, especially as it relates to leading with and for equity and in cross-district collaborations.Originality/valueThis contributes to the literature around concrete ways principals learn and reflect on enacting equity in schools.

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“…That is, leadership programs should provide their candidates with opportunities to make both sympathetic touch and "repertoires of diversity" a programmatic and analytic framework within which to develop new tools and practices of leadership for educational justice. In doing so, school leaders' thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs can be self-interrogated and predisposed to support social justice teaching in and across various forms of diversity and racialized contexts (Boske, Osanloo, & Newcomb, 2017).…”

Section: Conclusion: Implication For Teaching and Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

W. E. B. Du Bois's Concept of Sympathetic Touch as a Mediator of Teachers’ Expectations in an Urban School District

Liou¹,

Rojas

2019

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context Research has shown teachers’ expectations of students to be a powerful predictor of the racial opportunity gap. Yet, many teachers continue to profile White students and Students of Color very differently in schools when it comes to intellectual capacity and motivation to learn. One of the major ethical challenges of teachers’ expectations is how sympathy is constructed in the classroom. Too often, teachers exhibit sympathy through feeling pity for the life challenges facing low-income Students of Color, a dynamic that can result in the lowering of expectations via anticipation of school failure. Purpose/Objective Inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois's (1935) concept of sympathetic touch, the purpose of this article is to introduce asset-based instructional practices rooted in sympathy as a method for confronting systemic problems of pity and deficit thinking which perpetuate low teachers’ expectations. There is a pressing need for an antiracist framework within which teachers can communicate sympathy in an appropriate manner that still hold students to high expectations for learning. This study intends to fill the gaps in the literatures of teachers’ expectations of students, social context of education, urban education, and teacher education by reenvisioning a way to effectively meet the needs of America's diverse school populations. Participants The study was conducted with a sample of nine teachers from low-income, racially segregated neighborhoods in a large urban school district. These teachers were selected for the study based on the following criteria: (1) minimum of three years of teaching experience; (2) working with a majority of Students of Color; and (3) perceived by either their principals and/or counselors to have a positive impact in the classroom and positive relationships with their students. The participants were screened based on these criteria before their participation in the study. We then drew on the literature to inform the final selection of the teachers. Research Design This case study was conducted over the span of one year and included semistructured interviews, three rounds of teacher reflection prompts, informal observations, and a collection of archival data such as course syllabi, lesson plans, lists of ongoing activities related to content instruction, flyers or other materials related to these activities, examples of students’ assignments, and photographs of classroom activities. Data Collection and Analysis All the data from the interviews, journal responses, and documents were prepared, analyzed, and categorized into codes that were in alignment with the research questions. The coding process was done through both hand-coding techniques and the use of the NVivo qualitative data analysis software program. The codes were then analyzed for patterns and themes across the data to document the ways in which the teachers defined and fostered sympathy with students. In addition to using multiple sources of data for triangulation, we validated our findings by engaging teachers in continuous member-checking during the academic year and a debriefing session to enable them to provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the themes found in the data, as well as additional comments regarding their ethics of classroom expectations. Findings/Results Teachers reported that their expectations and awareness of Students of Color's racialized contexts, as well as their position and responsibilities within those contexts, were important factors in their perceived effectiveness. The study discovered that the ethics and practices of sympathetic touch manifested in the forms of equitable student-teacher relationships, empowering curriculum, and the centrality of students’ voices in the construction of knowledge. Specifically, teachers’ sympathetic touch was found to be an important mediating factor in how their expectations were communicated to students in the classroom. In the context of this school district, these teachers reportedly fostered sympathetic practices through high expectations focused on equity, community, and students’ cultural wealth as the basis to generate knowledge in the classroom. Conclusions The results of the present study underscore the importance of asset-based conceptions of sympathy as a mediator of teachers’ expectations in the classroom. Teachers and school administrators’ ability to reframe and redefine sympathetic practices with students is a key factor in improving the educational experiences of diverse populations.

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Exploring Empathy to Promote Social Justice Leadership in Schools

Cited by 17 publications

References 40 publications

Pulling Back the Curtain on Moral Reasoning and Ethical Leadership Development for K–12 School Leaders

Pulling Back the Curtain on Moral Reasoning and Ethical Leadership Development for K–12 School Leaders

Leading for equity: how principals experience professional learning

W. E. B. Du Bois's Concept of Sympathetic Touch as a Mediator of Teachers’ Expectations in an Urban School District

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