Citation

Undung Y, De Guzman AB. J. Leadersh. Stud. 2009; 3(1): 19-28.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, University of Phoenix, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jls.20092

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Empathy plays a pivotal role in educational leadership practice. It creates and maintains a sound and dynamic interpersonal milieu in dynamic social enterprises such as schools, colleges, and universities. A phenomenological study was conducted to probe deeper the meaning of empathy as it is lived and constituted in the awareness of a select group of 13 Filipino academic administrators representing colleges in the Philippines. Anchored on the central question, “how do Filipino academic administrators collectively typify in their school leadership practices the elements of empathic concern, perspective taking, and empathic matching,” semistructured (Patton, 1990) and in-depth interviews were conducted. Field texts were analyzed via a repertory grid. Through constant comparative analyses, an interesting set of conceptual categories notably describes the human and humane side of a caring leader, typified in the ability to effect listening, confluencing, and scaffolding in the journey with the faculty.