Compassion and Dignity for Educators - Scholarship

As part of the development of the certificate program, we have been conducting a program evaluation to learn about the experiences of educators who participated in our most recent cohort. We collected survey and interview data along with coursework assignments to understand educators’ overall satisfaction with the program and the extent to which it supports their goals and needs. We are using insights gained from the program evaluation to make refinements to the program content and structure and to design widely accessible condensed programs for educator leaders. Initial data from our evaluation of the certificate indicates several strengths of the program:

• Educators reported satisfaction with the curriculum, including that the courses met their needs and that the content was relevant to them. In addition, educators felt their ideas and perspectives were valued.  

• Educators shared how the program helped them to approach their interactions, especially school-based interactions, with compassion. One elementary teacher explained, “I know that I am applying compassion in my classroom in a more intentional way. I know that my students are experiencing a more compassionate learning environment when I intention-set and check in with my emotions before reacting. I am also more intentional in team planning meetings to show compassion or model a practice.”  

• Educators grew in their capacity to respond skillfully to suffering in schools. One elementary teacher reflected, “I was just more aware when I was teaching. And instead of just reacting to certain situations, I found myself just being able to slow down and pause and ground myself first before I reacted. And better at taking their perspective, the kids' perspective on. And I think I just gained a lot more patience in the classroom.”  

• Educators’ participation in the certificate was associated with a statistically significant increase in compassion for others and compassion for self across the four courses. Participation was also associated with a decrease in reported burnout and stress. Educators often reported that self-compassion was critical to their wellness and development as leaders. One high school teacher shared, “the whole self-compassion thing I think was a life changer for everyone just because most of us in these fields … have justified our own neglect of ourselves because we're so busy helping other people. And I think that was really shocking and surprising to say that, well, you can't really take care of others if you're not taking care of yourself and looking out for yourself.”

“I felt like the courses definitely helped me grow as a leader. It helped me realize that leading is not just the principal or vice principal or those big roles, but you can lead through your actions. You can lead through showing compassion. You can lead through standing up for something that you see by identifying that suffering.” –Elementary Teacher 

"I didn't imagine that this course would affect me so much. It has greatly altered how I see the world, how I see myself, how I treat my family, and what I expect from others. I feel empowered to know that I have inherent worth and am allowed to make mistakes like everyone else. I have given myself a lot more grace because of what I learned through this course. This course filled a need that I wasn't aware of lacking." - Middle School Teacher 

“I feel like these topics are not just a hobby anymore but part of my identity. I am seeing compassion as my primary objective rather than standards or content.” -- High School Teacher 

“I hope that when an educator feels that frustration, fatigue, or disempowerment they feel they have the tools to attend to themselves and their needs and then the support beyond themselves should they need that. Teaching can be so isolating…And if you make a mistake and it's just you as the only adult in the room, it can be really hard to recognize your humanity in that moment. So, I hope that our work gives teachers the tools to recognize the humanity of each moment, our common humanity, and to then support each other.” - High School Teacher