Compassionate Systems Leadership in Education

Mental Health in Schools Strategy

The Mental Health in Schools Strategy

The Mental Health in Schools Strategy is the Ministry of Education’s commitment to moving forward with a coherent system-wide approach to mental health promotion in schools. The Mental Health in Schools Strategy focuses on three main elements – Compassionate Systems Leadership, Capacity Building, and Mental Health in the Classroom – which build upon a foundation of social emotional learning that has developed in BC over the past decade. The MHiS Strategy is layering mental health promotion as our next step in system transformation. Building on these three elements, there are key principles that guide how we work collaboratively to achieve our goals. The Ministry is committed to taking an equitable, culturally safe and strengths-based approach that is informed by evidence and built through a collaborative and co-constructed practice

Compassionate Systems Leadership:

a pillar in the Mental Health in Schools Strategy

Excerpt from the Ministry of Education MHiS

“To support student well-being and resiliency, adults must have the tools and practices to support their own well-being. Compassionate systems leadership has three core elements to support systems change.

Internal work - includes self-reflection and practice

Relationship work - authentic connections where space is created to be truly present

System work - connections between self, others and the broader system.

Compassionate systems leadership in education is an approach that inspires transformation and instructional best practices that lead to student success. It is anchored in self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, self management and relationship skills. Building on the strong foundation of leadership development that already exists, we need to engage new system awareness tools and embed compassion into the work.”