Toward a Theory of Sympathetic Leadership: Asian American School Administrators' Expectations for Justice and Excellence

• In Event: Research and the Politics of Re/building Coalitions for Racial Justice Leadership and Advocacy in Education

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to illuminate the perspectives and leadership practices of four Asian American school administrators in urban schools. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) How do Asian American school administrators define their social justice beliefs and expectations for their school community? and (2) How do Asian American school administrators communicate their expectations through sympathetic leadership to resist inequitable education? This qualitative case study included four Asian American school administrators from two states. Data collection included two rounds of in-depth interviews, field observations, reflective memos, and collection of archival sources. Inductive approaches to data analysis were conducted. Drawing on W. E. B. Du Bois’s (1935) concept of sympathetic touch, this study demonstrates how Asian American school administrators define social justice through four key practices to build coalitions with Black, Latinx, and other communities of color: (1) develop intimate knowledge of students and their race, class, gender, and immigration history, (2) enact sympathy as a condition of political solidarity to facilitate caring relationships, (3) make contact based on equity and political empowerment to counteract the legacies and realities of racism, and (4) prepare students for a more equitable future through intellectual rigor. This study contends that leadership preparation must begin with an epistemic shift from racial indifference and deficit thinking to the practice of sympathetic touch. Social justice revolution in schools and society starts when the minds and expectations of the leaders and those they serve become one of the same.

Authors

• Daniel D. Liou, Arizona State University

• Jia Grace Liang, Kansas State University