Heart on a Sleeve: An Examination of Emotions on Race Subjects in Anti-Oppressive Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Attention to leadership matters because leaders often set the tone and agenda for how academic learning occurs, is viewed, and gets valued. These agendas are influenced by social matters that turn political in conflict involving anger and sadness. Yet, emotions are not analyzed in educational leadership scholarship concerning anti-oppression and specifically race and racism subjects. As such, concerns about racial justice leadership in the current political and policy milieu warrants closely examining the role of emotion in leadership. Inspired by critical theoretical methodologies, this essay brings narrative and emotion theories in education to bear on political and policy subjects in leadership and policy, particularly those on race. The objective is to address emotion as it happens in a narrative about political and policy subjects generally, and particularly that of race and racism. This theoretical analysis demonstrates that emotions related to race matters in leadership and policy are a key. Based on this reality, advancing anti-oppressive educational leadership and policy necessitates bringing attention to a grossly neglected subject-emotion. This documentation and theoretical emotion analysis is a novel shift in how to mitigate the occupational burnout that happens during anti-oppressive education in educational leadership and policy on race subjects.