Confucian Empathy as an Epistemological Foundation of Care and Cultural Responsiveness for Educational Leadership in Hong Kong and Other Confucian Heritage Cultures

Positionality and Reflexivity

We approach this scholarship with a commitment to regularly reflecting on our positionality and reflexivity. Reflecting on our positionality helps us understand our assumptions and perspectives regarding the research topic, context, and process. Awareness of positionality is combined with thoughtful practice of reflexivity (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015), which is crucial for continuously questioning our own viewpoints. We stay alert to how we form opinions about what we do not yet understand and recognize our assumptions, biases, and blind spots (Jacobson & Mustafa, 2019) – and how these influence our perceptions of empathy, care, and culture.

We approach this research as racially and ethnically diverse, multilingual, expatriate educator-scholars of color in Hong Kong, with experience in both the P-12 and professoriate sectors in the Global North and South. Our positionalities have prompted us to challenge, confront, and question our conceptualizations and use of the fuzzy concepts of empathy, care, and culture. Challenging and confronting our conceptions of empathy, care, and culture requires us to stay aware of our complex outsider-insider status as academics in Hong Kong. For example, as expatriate scholars with academic training from the Global North, we possess significant unearned privilege. Although we may be perceived as outsiders in Hong Kong schools and scholarship, our commitments to criticality and equity-mindedness in educational policy, practice, and research – along with linguistic, cultural, and familial ties to Hong Kong – have created insider spaces that enable us to learn with and alongside Hong Kong educators and scholars. Considering the complexities, privileges, and opportunities tied to our identities, we collectively aim for our voices and scholarship to advance policies and practices that support underserved students in Hong Kong and around the world, focusing on the mindsets and actions necessary for leadership rooted in care and an asset-based approach to culture.

Educational Opportunity Gaps Among Privileged and Nondominant Students in the (Post) Pandemic Hong Kong Educational Context

From 2020 to 2023, children and families in Hong Kong faced unprecedented school closures and social isolation due to the government's COVID-19 pandemic restrictions (hereinafter, the pandemic). These restrictions followed six months of school closures and social unrest in the second half of 2019. During these three years of pandemic measures, Hong Kong's approximately 830,000 students (Education Bureau, 2022a) had limited access to in-person education and were generally confined to their homes. From 2020 to 2022, students attended in-person classes about 25 days (16%) per year (Chan, 2022). When not in face-to-face classes, students participated in fully remote or hybrid schooling (i.e., a mix of face-to-face and virtual classes) (Tan et al., 2022). Beyond school closures, the Hong Kong government restricted movement and interactions during the multiple COVID-19 outbreaks (Hakim et al., 2021). These measures included limiting dining groups to 2 people, closing restaurants at 6:00 p.m., limiting travel, requiring hotel-based quarantine at the individual's expense, requiring compulsory mask-wearing during physical activities (e.g., walking in public), and limiting small-group sizes for public gatherings (Hakim et al., 2021; Ho et al., 2022). These educational and societal measures created a three-year period during which students’ learning, socialization, well-being, and sense of belonging were significantly disrupted (Lee et al., 2021; Zhu et al., 2021).

Hong Kong's disadvantaged primary and secondary school students experienced these significant disruptions to schools and society in different ways. Cross-border students, new arrivals, and Ethnic Minorities (these students will be discussed in the next section) navigated three years of pandemic restrictions and school closures with lower-quality education and fewer resources. Low-income students with special needs and from minoritized groups lacked resources at home for their education (Chan, 2021). Many students from these underserved communities lacked access to financial and educational resources in their schools and communities (Bhowmik et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2022; Zhou et al., 2016). Wong et al. (2021) shed light on how families from lower SES experienced more financial constraints and tense family environments than those from higher SES families. In 2024, Chan and colleagues found, based on their study of twelve secondary schools in Hong Kong, that during the pandemic, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds faced more challenges with their online learning and psychosocial well-being.

Inequality Across Class, Race, Ethnicity, Language, and Citizenship Lines

Since its handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997, Hong Kong has maintained a highly segregated school system divided by race, ethnicity, and class. Social and educational inequality across class, racial, ethnic, language, and citizenship lines has been visible in Hong Kong since British colonization (Jackson, 2014a; 2014b; 2014c; Jackson, 2021). Hong Kong's postcolonial and neocolonial experiences are characterized by a complex interaction of sociohistorical and sociopolitical factors, including culture, identity, language, and race (Tsui, 2007). The British colonial formal and informal segregation of Hong Kong's inhabitants has often centered on British and Chinese identities, influencing social mobility and survival (Chan, 2022).

Ishimaru's (2019) framing of nondominant children, families, and communities offers a useful perspective for understanding this stratification: “Nondominant families refers to those impacted by systemic oppression, such as marginalization based on race, class, language, or immigration status, and is a term that explicitly references relationships to dominant power” (p. 8). Dominant Hong Kongers are Cantonese-speaking ethnic Chinese. Nondominant students, families, and communities include Mandarin-speaking cross-border and new arrivals and low-income South and Southeast Asians (i.e., “Ethnic Minorities”). There is no official or systematic data on the demographics or representation of P-12 educational leaders in Hong Kong. However, research shows that Cantonese-speaking ethnic Chinese men are typically school leaders, and Chinese patriarchy shapes Hong Kong schools and society (Chan et al., 2014).

Ethnic Chinese, Cantonese-Speaking Students

In Hong Kong, privileged students are mostly ethnic Chinese and Cantonese-speaking individuals from wealthy families. These students typically attend private international schools alongside expatriates or high-performing public schools that charge tuition and require exceptional performance on entrance exams (Forse, 2010; Zhou et al., 2015, 2016). They navigated COVID-19 restrictions on education and social engagement with relatively more resources and capital. Many well-resourced schools serving affluent Hong Kong Chinese students and their families utilized advancements in e-learning pedagogy, offering enriched and personalized curricula, promoting greater parent involvement in education, and encouraging one-on-one student-teacher interaction (Kot, 2023). Leaders in international schools reported establishing opportunities for students and staff to access mental health and wellness support, including counselor-led sessions for teachers to prepare for in-person learning (Kot, 2023).

The advantages that privileged students and families gained were especially evident among upper secondary students preparing for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination, Hong Kong's primary test-based accountability tool, and the admission requirement for Hong Kong's public universities (Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, 2020). Besides strong virtual learning, these students and schools had access to traditional materials and exam preparation classes that ensured their readiness for this high-stakes test. Additionally, privileged children in Hong Kong tend to have more access to support from parents who can work from home, domestic help, and tutors (Chiu & Ho, 2006; Yang et al., 2021; Yung & Bray, 2016).

Cross-Border and New Arrival Students

The rise in students from Chinese Mainland has added complexity in schools and society. Cross-border and new-arrival students refer to those from the Chinese Mainland who have migrated to or crossed the border to attend schools in Hong Kong and speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language. The familial and social networks of these students are narrower than those of Cantonese-speaking Chinese Hong Kongers (Rao & Yuen, 2001; Yuen, 2010). Hong Kong's cross-border students live in Guangdong province in Chinese Mainland and travel daily to Hong Kong to attend schools, which are usually located in the northern of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2021; Leung, 2012). As of 2021, at least 27,000 students commute to daily Hong Kong, more than double the 9,899 in 2010-2011 (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2021). Usually, cross-border students are born in Hong Kong and/or have family roots there (Leung, 2012).

Cross-border students face lengthy commutes across the Mainland-Hong Kong border. Sometimes, they encounter backlash from Hong Kong residents for attending schools in Hong Kong and using the city's resources. They face difficulties in adjusting to the local learning environment (Leung, 2012). January 2023 marked the first time in approximately three years that most cross-border students returned to face-to-face schooling in Hong Kong (Sun, 2023). Parents and teachers of these students identified learning loss, cultural gaps, and social isolation as their primary concerns during and after school closures (Wang, 2023).

“Newly Arrivals” are another disadvantaged group in Hong Kong. These children and families are of Chinese Mainland descent and have lived in Hong Kong for less than seven years (Census and Statistics Department, 2018). As of 2016, 2.4% (165,956) of Hong Kong's population consisted of Chinese Mainland new arrivals, and approximately 16% of this group is under 15 (Census and Statistics Department, 2018). About 66% of new arrival working adults hold jobs that require only low skills (Census and Statistics Department, 2018). No publicly available data shows how many new arrival students are enrolled in the Hong Kong school system.

Cross-border and new arrival students, along with their families, are attracted to the Hong Kong education system because of its prestige, high standards, and the challenges of securing places in similar schools on the Chinese Mainland (Leung, 2012). These students face prejudice from locals in Hong Kong, struggle to adapt to the education system, and tend to perform worse in English compared to their Hong Kong peers (Lee & Chen, 2005; Yuen, 2010). The poor English results of new-arrival students are often linked to arriving in Hong Kong at an older age, being required to take proficiency tests, and having to repeat one or more school years to meet the English language standards set in the Hong Kong curriculum (Wong, 2014). Many of these students also experience significant changes in their family structures due to migration procedures that affect each family member differently (Rao & Yuen, 2001).

Ethnic Minorities (EM)

A term used in government, education, and everyday life, Ethnic Minorities (EM) refer to Hong Kong residents from South and Southeast Asia (Census and Statistics Department, 2022). Due to historically limited access to Cantonese language learning, these students are also called “Non-Chinese Speaking” (NCS) (Gao et al., 2019).

As of 2021, EMs account for 8.4% of the Hong Kong population, representing 37.3% increase from 2011 to 2021 (Census and Statistics Department, 2022). South Asians are the largest EM student groups, including Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalis, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans. Due to the rising demand for domestic help, Filipinos and Indonesians are the fastest-growing EM student populations (Census and Statistics Department, 2022). The continued growth of South Asian communities is attributed to high birth rates and a strong demand for low-cost labor in the service sector (Census and Statistics Department, 2022). While most studies focus on the education of South Asians and cross-border Chinese students, research also highlights the importance of studying and supporting the growing Southeast Asian student populations (Gube & Phillipson, 2021; Yuen, 2022).

As the EM population in Hong Kong increases, disparities in education and employment also widen. South and Southeast Asians are among the most disadvantaged groups in terms of education and employment in Hong Kong (Chan et al., 2017; Leung, 2022). Since the handover in 1997, South Asians (excluding the wealthy Indian merchant class) have faced rising social segregation and difficulties accessing and participating in Hong Kong's expanding service, finance, and professional sectors (Law & Lee, 2012, 2013). Most South and Southeast Asian EM children are concentrated in Hong Kong's lowest-performing schools, have the lowest attendance rates, the lowest levels of compulsory and post-secondary education, and experience the highest school dropout rates (see Kapai, 2015 for a review). Filipino, Indonesian, and South Asian EM children aged 5 to 14 have among the lowest levels of Chinese reading ability. While EMs make up only 20.9% of the labor force, 74.7% hold low-skilled jobs (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2020). Additionally, about 62% of Filipinos, 70% of Indonesians, and 53% of the South Asian male population hold jobs below the categories of “professionals or associate professionals” (Census and Statistics Department, 2022). Filipina, Indonesian, and South Asian women working below the “professional or associate professional” level account for approximately 98%, 99%, and 67%, respectively (Census and Statistics Department, 2022).

Culture of Exclusion and Low Expectations

Research on South and Southeast Asian youth has shown their experiences with stereotypes, discrimination, a low sense of belonging, and misunderstanding from the Chinese majority in Hong Kong (Bhowmik & Kennedy, 2016; Chee, 2013; Gu et al., 2017; Karim & Hue, 2022). Language policies and practices related to Chinese language learning and the medium of instruction in schools have contributed to school and social segregation, as South and Southeast Asian youth, from a young age, miss out on opportunities to develop networks, gain academic knowledge, and acquire early career experiences that require Chinese language proficiency (Bhowmik & Kennedy, 2016; Gao et al., 2019). The “Non-Chinese Speaking” (NCS) label has further institutionalized segregation and discrimination in education and social policy (Kapai, 2015).

Research shows that some schools serving EM students have cultures of punitive, zero-tolerance discipline, and engage in deficit-oriented comparisons with Cantonese-speaking Chinese Hong Kongers (Bhowmik & Kennedy, 2016; Chee, 2013; Shum et al., 2016). Furthermore, scholars have highlighted poor student-teacher and family-school relationships in schools that serve EM students, especially when the educators are Chinese Hong Kongers (Loper, 2004; Tsung & Gao, 2012). These relationships are marked by teachers’ low academic expectations and the exclusion of EM students and families through Chinese-only home-school written communications instead of including languages commonly spoken among diverse EM students’ families (e.g., Bangla, Nepali, Tagalog, Hindi, Urdu) (Bhowmik et al., 2018; Thapa & Adamson, 2018).

One study found that teachers in Hong Kong's top-performing, English-medium public schools are more committed to staying in their positions (McInerney et al., 2015). In contrast, teacher turnover continues in Hong Kong's lower-performing schools, which mainly serve minoritized and low-income students (McInerney et al., 2015). Additionally, low-performing schools with disadvantaged students often have less developed curricula, fewer experienced teachers, and less rigorous instruction (Bhowmik et al., 2018; Chee, 2013; Leung, 2012). During the three years of ongoing school closures, low-performing schools struggled to build a strong virtual learning program. Major barriers included limited access to devices and the Internet, teachers’ underdeveloped e-learning pedagogy, and insufficient capacity at both the teacher and school levels.

A quantitative study by Sharma and Chow (2008) found that school leaders held negative or ambivalent attitudes toward including students with special needs. Sharma and Chow (2008) argued that school leaders’ opposing views on inclusion may reflect the impacts of performance accountability and competitive pressure. Similarly, Walker and Ko (2011) found that Hong Kong school leaders perceive high-stakes exams, rankings, and performance as their top priorities, while student support and inclusion are often sidelined (Walker & Ko, 2011). Kennedy (2012) suggests that policy reform supporting nondominant students, aligned with Hong Kong culture and values, can promote their inclusion. Tan (2018) also argues that Hong Kong's leadership should be conceived and enacted in harmony with core CHC values such as performance (li), excellence (dao), and filial piety (xiao). Reflecting on the potential of CRSL in Hong Kong from a Confucian perspective is crucial for advancing Hong Kong school leaders.

The disruptions caused by the pandemic to education and society have emphasized the importance of leadership in supporting cross-border, new arrival, and EM students. Rebuilding culture and relationships among these students, their families, and school leaders is crucial for reimagining educational opportunities for these underserved students and communities. Embracing and practicing a Confucian perspective of empathy can help school leaders develop an ethic of care in culturally responsive practices. The next section explains how a Confucian view of empathy, with its focus on the moral aspects of empathy, can assist educational leaders in extending their innate goodness to others.

Western Anglo View of Empathy

Coined by Edward Titchener in 1909, the word ‘empathy’ derives from the German term Einfühlung, meaning ‘feeling into another's emotions and perceptions’ (Horsthemke, 2015). Besides affective empathy, cognitive and moral aspects are also essential for a complete understanding of empathy (Tan & Goel La Londe, 2024). Both affective and cognitive empathy highlight perspective-taking. Affective empathy involves feeling another person's emotional state or condition (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1987). In contrast, cognitive empathy focuses on understanding another person's thoughts and feelings by putting oneself in their position (Decety & Yoder, 2016). Imagination plays a vital role in perspective-taking. It helps individuals grasp different viewpoints and understand another person's feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and intentions (Goldie, 2000; Hoffman, 2000).

The moral aspect of empathy is crucial in addressing a major criticism that empathy can cause personal distress. Batson (1991) explained that personal distress is “made up of more self-oriented feelings such as upset, alarm, anxiety, and distress” (p. 117). Personal distress is a self-focused drive linked to affective empathy. Someone experiencing this may be motivated to help others, mainly to reduce their own distress rather than out of concern for others’ well-being. Researchers warn that personal distress could even generate “an egoistic motivation to reduce it by withdrawing from the stressor, for example, thereby decreasing the likelihood of prosocial behaviour” (Decety & Yoder, 2016, p. 9).

Confucius's Analogical Approach: Elevating the Moral Dimension of Empathy and Using Oneself to Understand Others

Confucianism is named after Confucius (Kong Fuzi) (551–479 B.C.E.). The term “Confucianism” emerged in eighteenth-century Europe after Jesuit missionaries in China became familiar with Confucius's teachings. The missionaries coined the name “Confucius,” a Latinized version of Kong Fuzi, meaning “Kong Master.” Confucius played a key role in highlighting and spreading a set of existing maxims, beliefs, values, and practices that originated among the ru (learned persons). Confucius's teachings and conduct are recorded in the Analects (literally “compiled sayings”).

Confucius introduced the idea of empathy, emphasizing the moral aspects of leadership —a perspective that can improve our approaches to CRSL. Confucius highlights the importance of empathy, as demonstrated in the following passage (all passages of the Analects are adapted from Gardner, 2007):

Analects 15:24 Zigong asked, Is there one word that can be practised for the whole of one's life? The Master said, That would be ‘empathy’ [shu] perhaps: what you do not wish yourself do not do unto others.

The expression “what you do not wish yourself do not do unto others” has also been translated as “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire” (Lau, 1997, p. 20). Other translators have explained shu (恕) as “using oneself as a measure to gauge the likes and dislikes of others,” “putting oneself in the other's place,” and “understanding,” among others (Tan & Goel La Londe, 2024, p. 164). Despite the “Do not …” command in the above passage, Confucius's idea of empathy is not passive. The Analects reveal Confucius's view of empathy as fundamentally proactive, in which one demonstrates thoughtful consideration of others out of genuine concern. Underscoring the symbiotic relationship between the self and others, Confucius emphasizes the need to “be true to oneself and empathic towards others” (Analects 4.15).

Confucius states that the “ability to draw analogies from what is near at hand” implies using oneself as a reference to understand others. In his words:

Analects 6:30 Now wishing oneself to be established, the truly good person establishes others, and wishing oneself to achieve prominence, such a person makes others prominent. The ability to draw analogies from what is near at hand can be called the way to true goodness.

The “analogies” in question involve connecting oneself to another person. An empathetic person begins with “what is near,” including their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Such a person uses themselves as a starting point to understand others, extending beyond personal interests to care for others. This analogical approach encourages individuals to see others and make them prominent because that is what one wishes for oneself. Nylan and Wilson (2010) commented that “taking one's own feelings as a guide always suffices when deciding how to act in official and private matters” (p. 23).

It is noteworthy that the Chinese word (li) for “establish” in Analects 6.30 means “take a stand,” which is Confucian terminology for observing li (propriety) (see Analects 8.8, 14.14). That is, Confucius required empathy to manifest through li. Ivanhoe (1990) explained, “Without a firm commitment to li, the ‘kindness’ of shu (恕) can collapse into vague, formless sentimentality” (p. 28). A related passage states that an exemplary person “promotes the good in others, not the bad” (Analects 12.16). In summary, Confucius's concept of shu (恕) is about showing one's goodwill toward others by aligning one's thoughts, emotions, desires, and experiences with those of others. This view of empathy offers a point of departure from a Western Anglo view of empathy as perspective-taking and self-focused motivation.

Mencius on Teaching Leaders to Extend Their Innate Goodness to Others Using the Analogical Approach. After Confucius, Mencius (372–289 B.C.E.), the Latin word for “Meng Master,” is arguably the most well-known Confucian thinker in the West. His educational thought is recorded in the classic book Mencius, which bears his name. Mencius built upon and expanded Confucius's shu (恕). His teachings enhance the integration of empathy's emotional, cognitive, and moral aspects by focusing on the four human seeds: compassion (or benevolence), righteousness, propriety, and wisdom (Mencius 2A:6). Mencius's text demonstrates the analogical approach of “taking the present situation and associating it with other remembered or imagined correlates” (Ames, 2011, p. 196). This concept helps leaders extend their innate goodness to others.

Mencius is one of the few Confucian classics chosen for the imperial China civil service exam (kējŭ, 科举). The civil service exam served as the social glue and the primary means of gaining social status and power in imperial China (Elman, 2000). Passing this tough exam and joining the educated, elite class required leaders to show a strong understanding of empathy and related principles (Elman, 2000). All passages of the Mencius are adapted from Gardner (2007).

Extending empathy, heart-and-mind, and innate goodness. Mencius reinforced Confucius's idea of a close relation between empathy and being true to oneself (see Analects 4:15, cited earlier):

Mencius 7A.4 Nothing brings greater joy than to look within and find that I am true to myself. Try your hardest to treat others empathically – this is the shortest way to true goodness.

Mencius also explained how empathy is driven by and reflects a person's ren (true goodness), which Confucius also mentioned: “The ability to draw analogies from what is near at hand can be called the way to true goodness” (Analects 6:30). Mencius noted, “The mind-and-heart of compassion is the seed of benevolence or true goodness (ren)” (Mencius 2A:6). ‘Heart-and-mind’ (xin), rather than just “heart” or ‘mind,’ represents the Confucian worldview where a person's rational and emotional capacities are harmonized (Van Norden, 2008). Mencius argued that everyone has a “heart-and-mind” of compassion that cannot bear to see others suffer (Mencius 2A:6). To illustrate this point, Mencius gave the example of a person who sees a young child about to fall into a well. According to Mencius, such a person would feel alarmed and be moved with compassion toward the child (Mencius 2A.6).

Mencius argued that human nature's inherent goodness is rooted in four innate seeds: compassion (or benevolence), righteousness, propriety, and wisdom (Mencius 2A:6). These seeds require ongoing nurturing. They influence a person's feelings, attitudes, mental processes, and willpower, combining emotional, cognitive, and motivational aspects that lead to “intentional impulses to action” (Stalnaker, 2010, p. 417). This analogy was illustrated in a conversation between Mencius and a king. The king saw an ox being led to slaughter so its blood could be used to consecrate a new bell, and he commented:

Mencius 1A.7 “Let it go, I cannot bear to see it trembling in dear, like an innocent person being hauled off to the execution ground.” “If so, are we to dispense with the consecration of the new bell?” “How can we dispense with that? Substitute a sheep for it.”

Mencius then pointed out that the king's response reflected a mind and heart capable of making him a true ruler and genuinely caring for the common people (Mencius 1A.7). According to Mencius, this is because the king demonstrated his innate feeling of benevolence toward the ox. The king or anyone else does not need to alter their compassionate feelings about something or someone. This moral feeling, the seed of compassion, can be extended to everyday people (Mencius 7A.45).

Moving away from a Western view of empathy as mainly about perspective-taking and emotional, cognitive actions, the analogical approach emphasizes the moral and ethical aspects of leadership and authority. Confucius's teachings indicate that the focus of emotion, rather than the emotion itself, can and should be extended to others (McRae, 2011). Instead, it is necessary to broaden the same feeling to different objects, people, and situations. By adopting an analogical approach, leaders can recognize that their spontaneous reactions can be easily applied to other circumstances and to the people around them (Shun, 1989). In doing so, leaders will extend their innate affection and kindness to others.

Shu (恕) to Cultivate Critical Care for Cultural Responsiveness

Shu (恕) uniquely lays the groundwork for cultural responsiveness through its strong link to critical care. Confucian shu (恕) blends cognitive, emotional, and moral aspects of empathy, offering school leaders a foundation for adopting an ethic of care. A mindset centered on critical care is essential for leaders to cultivate CRSL behaviors (Khalifa, 2018; Khalifa et al., 2016). Shu (恕) provides a broad perspective on empathy and compassion that underpins critical care.

Nodding'’s (2005) seminal philosophy of care frames care as a reciprocal relationship rooted in openness. Building on Noddings's foundational work on care, Rivera-McCutchen (2020) and Wilson (2016) conceptualize critical care as involving trust and compassion in relationships with students and families, and as requiring confronting and challenging inequality. Furthermore, Watson and colleagues (2016) show that critical care prioritizes strong community, integrated cultures, and affirming and humanizing relations that extend beyond the classroom.

Critical care for students, families, and communities is evident in many ways, both inside and outside schools. Johnson (2014) describes that cultural affirmation and celebration are ways to demonstrate care. Practices like curricular inquiry, festivals and celebrations, and experiential learning (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012) highlight and strengthen strengths-based views and compassion for students who are culturally, linguistically, and racially diverse (Khalifa, 2013). Examples include problem-solving and root cause analysis conversations that address academic and disciplinary issues, as well as adaptability in learning. Working with families to navigate social services and institutional obstacles (Villavicencio, 2021) is another vital act of cultural responsiveness. This work fosters positive relationships with families and empowers the community. Informal meetings, adult learning programs, and natural social interactions support caring connections between schools and families (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012).

Shu's empathetic concern for students and families aligns with ideas of critical care. Cognitive empathy involves perspective-taking, where someone puts themselves in another person's shoes to understand what they think or feel. Affective empathy refers to feeling what another person feels, although not necessarily with the same intensity. Shu's focus on moral empathy, also known as empathic concern, demonstrates a motivation to care about others’ well-being. Specifically, Confucian empathetic concern encourages altruistically motivated actions by creating shared feelings and fostering an innate desire to ease others’ suffering. This desire fuels a critical approach to care that leaders must adopt to challenge inequalities among non-dominant students and families in Hong Kong.

Critical care dispositions and practices require a “heart-and-mind” (xin) approach and an atmosphere of empathetic concern within the school culture and climate. Caring leaders make students, parents, and communities feel genuinely appreciated, valued, and deserving of educational opportunities and excellence (Khalifa, 2013). Furthermore, empathetic caring has mutually reinforced teacher instruction and student-teacher relationships (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012). The compassion and humanity of shu provide a means, rhetoric, and a culturally relevant way for Hong Kong school leaders to hold and demonstrate critical care. In the next section, we illustrate how (shu, 恕) can help school leaders cultivate CRSL behaviors essential for supporting minoritized students and families.

Confucian Empathy to Propel Culturally Responsive School Leadership Behaviors

In Hong Kong's Confucian Heritage Culture, hierarchy, egalitarianism, harmony, benevolence, and meritocracy are deeply embedded in schools and society. Confucian empathy (shu 恕) can serve as a pathway for leaders to develop Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) behaviors (Khalifa, 2018) and foster equity-minded leadership for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. CRSL extends beyond policy and practice, including “mannerisms and discourses that influence school climate, school structure, teacher efficacy, or student outcomes” (Khalifa et al., 2016, p. 1274). Shu (恕) provides a foundation for educational leaders to transform policy, practice, mannerisms, and discourses toward additive, reciprocal, and supportive relationships and school cultures for Hong Kong's cross-border, new arrival, and EM students. Specifically, Mencius's doctrine of the four seeds—compassion, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom—offers a framework for Hong Kong leaders to cultivate empathetic concern (i.e., care for the welfare and well-being of all). While not a solution for complex issues of inequality, the Confucian view of empathy encourages care, which can inspire school leaders to adopt responsive behaviors for disadvantaged students and families.

Shu (恕), the analogical approach, and the four seeds are especially helpful for guiding primary and secondary school leaders in developing the CRSL behaviors of 1) creating culturally responsive, inclusive school environments and 2) engaging students, parents, and Indigenous communities (Khalifa, 2018). We consider school leaders to include both primary and secondary school principals. However, we also encourage readers to think about how empathy can support the CRSL behaviors at the teacher, school, and system levels—those who serve students in primary and secondary schools and need to work together to make urgent educational improvements for minoritized students. The following discussion of these pathways is divided into three sections. First, we describe the principles of these CRSL behaviors. Next, we highlight the goals outlined in the Hong Kong 2022–2023 School Administration Guide (referred to here as the Guide) (Education Bureau, 2022b), which is Hong Kong's primary policy for school leadership and management at the system level. Finally, we explore how a core ethic of shu can assist leaders in implementing the Guide's mandates and strengthening these CRSL pillars.

Empathy for Ensuring Culturally Responsive, Inclusive School Environments

Creating a culturally responsive and inclusive school environment requires leaders to foster spaces where students’ diverse identities and cultures are accepted and recognized. Khalifa (2018) explains that oppression is addressed in environments that promote inclusion and identity. “Direct” and “less” exclusionary practices emerge and are replaced with “nonexclusionary (i.e., anti-oppressive) practices for minoritized students” (Khalifa, 2018, p. 86). This leadership approach is transformative and emancipatory because it shifts power to nondominant students and families by encouraging nonexclusionary practices across all aspects of “physical, social, and historical” spaces (Khalifa, 2018, p. 82). Ezzani and Brooks (2019) state that leaders must challenge exclusionary practices in their schools, as such brave actions help to dismantle structures of oppression. Scholars also highlight the importance of support and nurturing care, especially for minoritized families facing challenges (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012). According to Madhlangobe and Gordon (2012), genuine care involves listening, understanding, and empowering minoritized students and parents. Research further offers insights into how empathy and care are practiced in the Hong Kong context. Undergraduate students in a service-learning course developed empathy by directly learning about the housing conditions of some Hong Kong residents, which fostered a sense of responsibility for their community's issues and a desire to contribute through moral actions (Leung & Yung, 2022). In a Hong Kong secondary school, leaders showed care through sociocultural awareness, which helps identify the struggles faced by disenfranchised families (Sánchez Hernández, 2025).

Hong Kong School Leadership Policy. The Education Bureau (2022b) emphasizes respect, caring for others, and a sense of national identity as core attitudes and values that schools should promote. To improve teaching and learning, the Guide recommends that school environments “should be safe and caring, with positive feedback and encouragement, …without threats, humiliation, and embarrassment, … [and] value diversity in students’ dispositions as well as learning outcomes” (Education Bureau, 2022b, p. 23). Such positive environments are often lacking in schools serving EM students due to educators’ unwelcoming attitudes, deficit thinking, and lack of understanding of EM students’ identities, cultures, and histories (Bhowmik & Kennedy, 2016; Chee, 2013; Shum et al., 2016).

Mindsets and approaches that promote inclusive environments. In school climates that support righteousness and propriety, EM students and families are not marginalized or judged based on the standards of dominant groups (i.e., Hong Kong Chinese). Instead, leaders and teachers see all students and families as inherently moral and rational. An empathy-driven approach would encourage leaders and teachers to celebrate and incorporate students’ cultures into their understanding of righteousness. In policy and practice, this means educators demonstrate respect, genuine interest, flexibility, and actions and language that view diversity as an asset (Johnson, 2014; Khalifa, 2013). A key result of adopting a diversity-focused approach is that it breaks down negative perceptions of EM students as inferior and promotes strengths-based views of EM students as capable and deserving of excellence.

Leaders who address exclusion and oppression while prioritizing respect and caring actively promote shu (恕) within school culture (Finlay & Stephan, 2000). The Confucian analogical approach of shu can help leaders create inclusive school environments. Regarding Analects 15:24, an empathetic person avoids discrimination and prejudice based on Confucius's principle: what you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. Additionally, Confucius's guidance in Analects 6:30 highlights the importance of helping others achieve their goals, even while pursuing personal success. Confucius's idea of “the ability to draw analogies from what is near at hand” is especially relevant for educational leaders and stakeholders in Hong Kong, encouraging empathy in schools through self-reflection and using oneself as a measure to understand others. School leaders can examine their knowledge, engagement, and attitudes toward EMs. They can also reflect on their privilege and position in Hong Kong society compared to EM students and families (Khalifa, 2018). Moreover, leaders can seek opportunities for themselves, teachers, and staff to participate in authentic training and experiences led by community actors, which challenge problematic mindsets and foster understanding of the cultural wealth of diverse communities (Yosso, 2005).

Empathy to Engage Family, Community, and Indigenous Contexts

Engaging family, community, and Indigenous contexts involves building positive relationships with and advocating for community members. Khalifa (2018) warns that these relationships must not be “schoolcentric” and instead should be grounded in “self-determination and community empowerment” (p. 175). Such relationships require leaders to move beyond critiques of environments, primarily related to what happens inside schools, and examine community goals. In this strand of behaviors, leaders refrain from researching communities but are relentless in honoring community-based epistemology. Khalifa (2018) explains that such engagement pushes leaders to support rather than “appropriate or attempt to lead the community's struggle, decenter schoolcentric reforms; and give special reverence to the perspectives of community elders, but deeply honor the youth voices and views as well” (p. 183). Similarly, scholars have highlighted the importance of transformative leadership as centering school communities’ involvement in schools’ knowledge construction through critical understandings of their contexts (Quantz et al., 1991).

Building rapport and trust between school and community stakeholders is essential for family and community engagement (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012). Ishimaru (2019) argues that cultural brokering, canceling and rewriting racialized scripts, and critical data inquiry are crucial practices in establishing equitable collaborations with families and communities. Engaging students’ contexts also requires offering curricula and learning experiences that resonate with their communities and everyday realities (Ezzani & Brooks, 2019; Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012). Therefore, shu (恕) can be practiced by fostering awareness of marginalized students and encouraging a collective sense of relief from their hardships.

Hong Kong Leadership Policy. To enhance home-school engagement, the Guide suggests schools:

communicate with both parents and students, e.g., by means of a school newsletter, open-door parent-teacher conferences, a parent bulletin board and assignment notebooks; …use different strategies to engage all families in the learning of their children, …. Instill a warm atmosphere to encourage parents to visit and attend school functions, … [and] parents should be made to feel that their presence is welcome and their involvement appreciated. (pp. 26–27, 112)

The Guide emphasizes that these strategies are crucial because “children do well in schools when parents have expectations of their studies, encourage the productive use of their time, and provide learning experiences as a regular part of family life” (p. 27). Researchers have shown that such home-school engagement and partnerships are lacking in schools serving EM students (Loper, 2004; Tsung & Gao, 2012). They have also documented teachers’ low academic expectations and parents’ difficulty accessing information from the school, which is often only published in Chinese or English (Bhowmik et al., 2018; Thapa & Adamson, 2018). Recent research suggests that a path to improvement is to consistently engage families through various methods, given the multidimensional needs of diverse families (Sánchez Hernández, 2025).

Shu's mindsets and approaches for family and community engagement provide important guidance. For these guidelines to work for EM students, leaders must create conditions that allow themselves and teachers to show their moral empathy toward the specific struggles EM students and families face, along with the many factors that contribute to their exclusion from schooling. Mencius's four seeds (compassion, wisdom, righteousness, and propriety) and Confucius's emphasis on empathetic concern can help improve communication and build relationships grounded in mutual respect. Mencius highlighted that heart-and-mind (xin) compassion, where rational and emotional aspects meet, is natural in all humans. Moving from a focus on “mind or heart” to “mind-and-heart” can lead to changes in policies and practices that support the development and well-being of the entire child, including their families. Confucian righteousness (yi) involves acting morally and according to rational principles. Likewise, propriety (li) promotes observing normative behaviors. Together, righteousness and propriety help us recognize and value the good in others.

Similarly, CRSL urges education stakeholders to care for children and communities both inside and outside school walls. This requires educators to see children, families, and communities as whole and valuable parts of society. Such care involves empathy, which appears when educators understand students, their dreams, goals, and community and cultural resources (Yosso, 2005). Examples of educators showing empathetic concern to enhance communication and relationships, grounded in mutual respect, have been documented in Hong Kong. At the university level, Hong Kong students have been found to appreciate “sustainable care” from educators through long-term relationships that extend beyond the classroom during their studies. This fosters a reciprocal sense of care among students toward their teachers, expressed through gratitude and a desire to provide similar support as they become more experienced professionals (Tang et al., 2021). At the secondary school level, Hong Kong secondary school leaders have been shown to maintain different communication channels with families via positive relationships and dedicated teams that bridge communication to inform school policy and practice (Sánchez Hernández, 2025).

Empathetic concern through participation. The four seeds can help cultivate an empathetic concern ethic among Hong Kong school leaders. Through empathic concern, leaders can challenge deficit thinking about disadvantaged students, by engaging directly with parents and students (Khalifa, 2018). Leaders can learn from translators, liaisons, and other cultural mediators, rebuilding relationships with students and families based on compassion, righteousness, and propriety. Complementing this, righteousness and propriety support CRSL's positive community relationships. Positive relationships with families and EM community leaders foster relational trust, signaling to students that their elders and community members are models worthy of care and respect. This, in turn, fosters a school climate that builds positive self-efficacy, validation, and improved student learning outcomes (Khalifa, 2013). Positive relationships can also foster community empowerment over time, enabling parents and families to gain agency in defining and developing the capital, well-being, and growth of their children and communities (Johnson, 2014). Authentic, sustained connections with the community enable school leaders to foster greater participation through shared responsibility by nurturing future leaders rather than followers (Quantz et al., 1991).

Empathetic concern through access and communication. Leaders can use methods such as Youth Participatory Action Research (Bertrand, 2018; Irizarry, 2015) and other active, inquiry-based learning and teaching approaches to foster wisdom and compassion among students about themselves, their peers, and the world around them. In this way, students and teachers collaboratively build knowledge and develop relationships that encourage and strengthen empathetic concern.

In schools, family and community engagement and communication can be strengthened by improving Hong Kong's approach to integrated access to social services, including housing, transportation, social work, mental health, and medical and dental care (Oakes et al., 2017; Rice, 2015). The Hong Kong Social Welfare Department's School Social Work division collaborates with 34 non-governmental organizations to provide school-based social services at 462 secondary schools (Social Welfare Department, n.d.). Additionally, the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society (HKFWS) offers Integrated Family Services and School Social Work Service programs across early childhood, primary, and secondary school levels (Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, n.d.). Existing programs can be continually refined and updated to ensure that resources, funding, and organizational systems meet local needs. This may include offering services in neighborhoods and at times convenient for parents crossing the Hong Kong border daily and for parents with demanding work schedules, especially within South and Southeast Asian families, as well as employing methods aligned with their diverse cultural and religious values. By collaborating with community leaders and parents as decision-makers (Khalifa, 2013), government and non-governmental social service organizations can reevaluate how effectively their missions, programs, and practices are rooted in empathy and compassion for students from diverse cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds.