School leaders make an average of 500 decisions that affect thousands of people daily. These decisions are coupled with developing partnerships and a host of other undertakings that include:

* interactions with internal and external stakeholders

* conducting leadership observations

* Individualized Education Plans (IEP) meetings

* disciplinary referrals

* vertical teaming meetings

* scheduling decisions

* attendance at athletic activities

* data meetings

* parent meetings

Given the magnitude of these daily responsibilities, our decisions are grounded in the technical aspects of our work to operationalize the results. These technical aspects are often narrowly focused on the strategic planning outcomes. Frequently, those same technical aspects, even while being detailed in the strategic plans, are misaligned to the daily actions of the professionals asked to implement them. This myopic focus on technical work has been the practice of school and district leaders for decades, yet the plight of growing inequities in the education systems in the U.S. remains present. Although not a panacea, one approach to resolving this issue is the need to anchor our work in an empathy-based approach. To be clear, I do not mean to simply pivot towards empathy. I am advocating for radical empathy in leadership to transform our daily practices. Making this pivot is critical to dismantling the racial inequalities that have persistently plagued us.

I will not attempt to make the shift to become radically empathetic seem like an easy undertaking. It is not. It is not easy because the work environment in K-12 education often discourages leading and teaching from the heart. Too often the people who have committed to serve students and families face the high stakes accountability nature of the U.S. K-12 education system. Our system is one that over indexes on decision making that is anchored and driven by data. This overt focus on data-driven decisions (rather than people-centric decisions) further perpetuates the racialized outcomes that oppress marginalized groups. It forces its participants to become preoccupied with protecting their status and privilege, their own beliefs, professional trajectory, and essentially, self-preservation at all cost. Working in a culture that elevates meritocracy and bureaucratic pressure for participants, who has time to exercise empathy and compassion?

Compassion is the verb-alignment of empathy. As described in Mindful of Race, Ruth King describes compassion as “literally meaning to suffer with others, to feel what they feel.” King shares that the Hebrew word for compassion is derived from the word “womb.” Thus, compassion for someone is tantamount to the feeling that a mother would have for her child. As educators, we are the teachers and parents outside the home. We make personal connections and build trusting, authentic relationships with students when we are compassionate towards them. These displays will in turn activate the empathy gene in our students who are recipients of our compassion. It is often said that children do not care what you know until they really know that you care. Our children may not do what the adults around them say, but they are certainly inclined to repeat all the actions of the adults. Radical empathy is a verb that considers and requires authentic action. Children, especially during their formative years are likely to grow into empathetic adolescents and eventually, radically empathetic adults. Unfortunately, they are not capable of activating their own empathy muscles, we have to help them to do so.

I am often described in many education circles as a relentless qualitative researcher who shares my practical experiences in stories and vignettes. I am confident that the appetite educators have for quantitative data and statistical validity can be found in the stories in this book. I have taken great care to share quantitative data references that will likely resonate with theoreticians. But I have also combined specific, real-life case studies that will satisfy the pragmatists and day-to-day practitioners serving in leadership roles. I will consistently use stories to connect empathy, in the radical sense, to racial, cultural, and academic equity progress in education. This catalog of “quick-reads” or brief essays is designed to refresh and stretch the empathetic and equity-focused leadership muscles and mental models you might have.

I am not sharing from an academic or theoretician lens. I have been blessed to offer life-changing pedagogical direction and leadership in many spaces. It has truly been a privilege and blessing to have served in roles ranging from a special education teacher to a district administrator in almost every region in the United States espousing bold and radical leadership in each situation. My time of teaching and leading in eleven school districts, many of them serving marginalized students, resulted in radically changing the focus of districts. This change in focus positively changed the lives of thousands of students and the amazing adults who served them. Teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals can use the techniques I share to enhance empathy in their professional and personal lives.

I passionately believe in the trickle down effect. Consequently, I am convinced that as the adults in our school building get better the children will experience dramatically different and much improved outcomes. I am passionate about changing the lives of teachers and students as we look to the next phase of radical change in the K-12 educational arena in this country.

— Dr. Ian Roberts