Cultivating Compassion and Dignity

Cultivating Compassion and Dignity in Ourselves and Our Schools

Graduate Certificate

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Support wellness for educators, students and their communities.

This certificate explores the ways in which practices of compassion and a focus on the essential dignity of educators and students can contribute to the wellness of educators and schools. 

The program provides educators with support and resources for caring for themselves and for cultivating and sustaining compassion for students, families, their school community and colleagues. The courses in the program prioritize ways in which educators can see and feel their own daily teaching practices, struggles, constraints and joys reflected in the curriculum as well as the ways in which educators might become more compassionate teacher leaders.

The compassion practices and skills embedded in the courses support district-level equity goals of creating safe and inclusive schools that challenge racism and promote justice. The certificate draws upon rigorous research, contemplative wisdom and deeply embedded lived experience of educators. The certificate was co-designed by the Crown Institute and the Compassion Institute working in collaboration with teachers, counselors and administrators.

At the end of this certificate, you should:

  • learn the ways in which practices of compassion and a focus on the essential dignity of educators and students can support educator wellness and retention, student learning and school and community wellness;
  • develop the concepts of dignity and self-compassion; and
  • identify compassionate actions, policies, or routines in your school and imagine new possibilities for leading your school toward becoming a more compassionate organization.

We strongly encourage students to take the core courses in sequence.

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Paula Battistelli

Paula Battistelli

Course Descriptions

Asynchronous Subject Courses (2 Credits Each)

Awareness & Intention is the first course in a certificate focused on compassion and dignity for educator leaders. The certificate as a whole explores the ways in which practices of compassion and a focus on the essential dignity of educators and students can support educator wellness and retention, student learning and school and community wellness.

You will be introduced to the foundations of compassion, including the idea that compassion involves an intention to act to relieve pain, and you will develop an awareness of noticing pain. Throughout the course, you will be invited to notice and reflect on your own experiences that either facilitate or challenge cultivating compassion as an educator and leader. You will explore the importance of social connection to educating and leading in schools, and the notion that you can develop skills to cultivate better relationships with members of your school community.

Through this course, you will recognize that compassion arises naturally in everyday life across all ages and settings and can be intentionally strengthened and expanded as a skill. You will set intentions to bring awareness to when actions are in alignment with compassion and when they are not. You will identify facilitators, barriers and threats to compassion. You will explore the connections, specifically between compassion and leadership, and specific practices designed to cultivate compassion in the context of being an educator leader. Finally, you will apply the ideas of setting intentions and bringing compassion and joy to school leadership.

Self-Compassion and Dignity is the second course of the certificate focusing on compassion and dignity for educator leaders. Grounded in the robust understanding of compassion provided by the first course in the certificate, this second course focuses on developing the concepts of dignity and self-compassion. This course teaches you to practice self-compassion as an antidote for burnout and as a resource for wellness and positive relationships with others. You will identify aspects of yourself and your work that are worthy of honor and respect. You will construct affirmations that facilitate the experience of self-compassion in difficult situations. You will notice and reflect on how developing your own self-compassion enhances your capacity to give, and you will notice thoughts, emotions and sensations linked to situations that elicit feelings of overwhelm, guilt, shame and blame. In addition, you will identify situations where you can bring more kindness to yourself and develop daily practices to support self-care. Finally, you will imagine ways of developing self-compassion that can help you practice leadership in everyday situations.

Compassion in its Fullness is the third course in a certificate focused on compassion and dignity for educator leaders. Grounded in the robust understanding of compassion provided by courses one and two, the focus of course three broadens to include compassion for others, as educator leaders are introduced to the concept of common humanity and consider this concept as it relates to diversity, equity and justice.

You will explore the ways in which your understanding and perspectives can lead to blindspots in your work related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or age. You will identify systems and structures in which conditions can make it hard to practice common humanity.

This course will address the ways structural inequality creates suffering and the importance of attending to everyday suffering, especially of students from particular groups who are affected by systemic racism and injustices. Educators will apply the concept of common humanity through strengthening skills of perspective taking and attuning one’s hearts to others’ experiences. The course encourages educators to reflect on what it feels like to embody compassionate action and leadership in their schools, and recognize the ways that compassionate leadership can help to build community. Educators will examine the scholarly evidence that supports the cultivation of compassion within schools, including research on developing compassionate organizations. They will identify compassionate actions, policies, or routines in their schools and imagine new possibilities for leading their schools towards becoming more compassionate organizations.

Synchronous Capstone Course (4 Credits)

In the final and synchronous capstone course in the sequence, our focus turns to compassion in action as you develop action plans for creating more compassionate school environments. You will build upon the foundations from the first three courses, including principles of dignity, equity and justice, to explore the ways in which practices of compassion and a focus on the essential dignity of educators and students can contribute to the wellness of educators and schools and support educator retention, student learning and community wellness.

You will apply your compassion practices to investigate assumptions you make about students, relationships and schools and you will work toward cultivating and offering compassion to others, knowing that it may be met by gratitude, indifference, anger, or anguish. You will identify ways to use and adapt existing policies, procedures and routines as you develop your action plans for your capstone project, bringing compassionate leadership to schools and community settings and sustaining your work in today’s increasingly challenging and precarious climate. Practices from the first three courses will be revisited and deepened in this course.

Visit the University Catalog for a complete summary of the program as well as its requirements, course descriptions and learning outcomes.