Full Description
Addressing everyday suffering in schools through compassion
Compassion and dignity provide an essential framework for building caring and inclusive schools. Many books focus on what teachers can do as individuals; Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities is different. This book focuses both on how educators can cultivate compassion within themselves and lead together to cultivate humanizing school environments. Teachers, librarians, counselors, resource specialists, mental health professionals, and social workers who are working to create conditions for compassion and dignity in schools are all leaders who can impact change. Offering concrete evidence and case studies that showcase the power of compassion to create flourishing school communities and rejuvenate education, the book will help all educators better serve K-12 students with school cultures that promote healing. Compassion can be cultivated, dignity can be affirmed, and leaders need skillful means to do so—tools and practices that can help them develop compassion for themselves and others and see their own dignity and that of others.
Experiment and engage in meditation practices to strengthen personal capacity for mindfulness and compassion and the application to the classroom and school communities
Engage in hands-on writing exercises and self-reflection questions educators can ask themselves and then apply their personal growth to influence school policies and climate
Gain perspective on compassion in schools through a multidisciplinary lens drawing from contemplative practices, psychology, and organizational change theory
Learn from stories and examples of K-12 educators who have exemplified compassion in action
While we cannot fully address all the suffering that is happening in schools today, educators do have the power to work within themselves and together locally to create more compassionate responses to suffering and to affirm the dignity of all members of their school communities. Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities offers a valuable approach to integrating wellness into schools, as much for principals and superintendents as for teacher leaders, librarians, counselors, resource specialists, and others who work to create the conditions for compassion and dignity in their school.
Contents
Introduction 1
Part 1: Cultivating Awareness and Setting Intentions 15
Chapter 1: Pausing to Attune to Our Own Experience 17
Chapter 2: Getting Close to Suffering in Our Schools 31
Chapter 3: Curiosity and Friendliness as Resources 45
Chapter 4: Setting Intentions to Act Compassionately 57
Chapter 5: Empathy and Compassion 69
Part 2: Embracing Self-Compassion and Affirming Dignity 77
Chapter 6: Self-Compassion Teaches Us to Be a Friend to Ourselves 79
Chapter 7: Making Room for Self-Compassion 93
Chapter 8: Self-Compassion as Preparation for Action Toward Justice 105
Part 3: Widening the Circle of Compassion 113
Chapter 9: Recognizing Common Humanity and Interdependence in Our Everyday Interactions 115
Chapter 10: Working with Our Difficulties and Limits 131
Part 4: Creating Compassionate Schools 147
Chapter 11: Humanizing School Environments 149
Chapter 12: Building a Shared Commitment to Compassionate Action 163
Chapter 13: Preparing for Collective Compassionate Action by Seeing the System 179
Chapter 14: Leading for Compassionate Change 191
Conclusion 205
References 211
Index 225
