Compassionate Leadership
Nurturing Teacher and Student Voice in Urban Schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2026.513Keywords:
care ethics, Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED), doctoral education, EdD, educational leadership, improvement science, networked improvement communities, student voice, teacher voiceAbstract
This investigation explored the use of Improvement Science (IS) and Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) with doctoral students enrolled in a CPED-influenced EdD program in a large urban region of the Western United States. The two NICs highlighted in this paper focus on using IS protocols to support educational leaders in cultivating compassionate leadership by nurturing teacher and student voice in their urban schools. Equitable schools require the dedicated and focused efforts of all in the school constellation. IS and NICs invite school leaders and their communities, as well as higher education faculty and their students, to engage together in meaningful ways with challenges in the real world of schools. Improvement Science projects that directly address anti-racism and equity can move us from caring about to caring authentically for our schools.
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