Professional Learning
Shifting mindsets, systems and cultures to support workplace wellbeing
Canadian education systems are facing a collective challenge: the rampant spread of stress, anxiety, and burnout is affecting our colleagues, our leaders, and our own relationship to the work we do each day.
Well at Work has led professional learning for senior leaders, principals, educators, and all school staff in school districts and professional associations from coast to coast. Our thoughtful, impactful professional learning experiences are about more than individual wellbeing: they focus on shifting cultures, systems, and structures to support workplace wellbeing.
Workshops
Bring your team together to build shared language and understanding around workplace wellbeing.
Pan-Canadian K-12 Wellbeing Leadership Cohort
Foster a collaborative, systemic approach to workplace wellbeing and connect with leaders across the country with this 5-week program.
Co-designed Professional Learning
Engage your district in a sustained learning process to shift mindsets, relationships, and workplace culture.
Workshops
Wherever you are in your workplace wellbeing journey, creating shared language and understanding around workplace wellbeing promotes understanding, alignment, and clear communication among those involved in supporting wellbeing.
Our workshop content is designed specifically for education contexts and can be customized to address key themes, issues, and priority areas in your context. Some of our more commonly requested topics include:
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A psychologically safe workplace is one where employees feel they belong, and are free to speak up, express their opinions, and respectfully disagree with others. In this workshop we will explore the factors that support psychological health and safety in the context of Canadian K-12 education.
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This workshop is a great fit for any school district or organization looking for a shared language in a well-researched, evidenced-based framework. This is also an excellent workshop to pair with Guarding Minds services.
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This workshop challenges senior leaders to consider wellbeing not as an initiative, but rather as a lens through which we approach our work and the work of our school divisions. Throughout the workshop we draw on the experiences of participants, applying their insights as we consider systemic actions to support wellbeing and address the root causes of ill-being.
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This workshop is best fit for senior school district leadership teams and/or district leadership professional associations who are ready to work together to make significant systemic shifts.
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As leaders, we invest significant time and energy supporting the wellbeing of staff, students and others in our school community. But who takes care of our wellbeing? This workshop provides education leaders the opportunity to focus on the importance of their own wellbeing and how it interrelates with workplace wellbeing.
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This workshop is a great fit for districts looking to develop a culture that supports wellbeing of educational leaders at all levels.
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School leaders play an important role in shaping the culture and environment at their school and supporting the wellbeing of their staff. In this workshop, school leaders will consider key elements of a healthy school environment and how, from within their scope of influence, they can foster a culture of wellbeing.
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This workshop is best fit for principals, vice principals, and head teachers, or for associations of school leaders who are looking to foster a culture of wellbeing.
Workshops can be delivered in French or English!
EdCan Organizational Members are invited to participate in the French pilot of the Psychological Health and Safety workshop on October 21.
Half-day sessions and shorter modules can be delivered either in-person or virtually and start at $4000*.
Full-day and multi-day sessions are delivered in-person in Canada (contact us for international options).
Contact us today to learn more about how we can customize a workshop that meets your needs. We work with school districts, professional associations, and other education-affiliated groups.
*Taxes not included. EdCan members get a 10% discount on all Well at Work Services.
“[What I liked the most was the] interactions with colleagues - lots of good discussion and sharing with others who have both similar and different experiences.”
“[This workshop] broke the components of organizational wellbeing down into relevant parts...provided a very good explanation of what constitutes health/a mentally healthy work environment.”
Pan-Canadian K-12 Wellbeing Leadership Cohort
School districts across Canada are as varied as the nation itself. However, many are facing similar challenges when it comes to their workforce. Burnout and stress levels have never seemed so high, and challenges with recruiting and retaining staff have never seemed so universal.
If you and/or your team are looking to address those challenges through:
Building workplace wellbeing leadership skills as you work towards a collaborative, systemic approach to workplace wellbeing
Connecting with a defined group of like-minded colleagues across the country
Exploring an established set of practical tools and approaches to fostering a culture of workplace wellbeing across the district.
Then the K-12 Wellbeing Leadership Cohort could be precisely what you are looking for.
Our next cohort will take place in Winter 2025.
Cohort-based professional learning bridges the theory-to-practice gap by offering opportunities for ongoing practice and reflection. Cohort-based workplace wellbeing programs build community and connection, enhance personal wellbeing, and expand professional effectiveness of participants.
“What at first felt overwhelming and impossible now feels reasonable and attainable -
with small steps for a bigger long-term goal.”
- Spring 2023 K-12 Wellbeing Leadership Cohort Participant
Co-designed Professional Learning Programs
Are you looking for a collective intervention that has systemic results? In a co-designed professional learning cohort, you will foster connection, strengthen relationships, and deepen your learning together as you test out new ideas, tools and approaches.
Co-design is about working with the people who are closest to the solutions, prioritizing relationships, being honest, making sure people feel welcome, using creative tools and building capability. Co-designed learning has been shown to foster the development of shared responsibility, respect, and trust; create the conditions for collaborative learning; and enhance individuals’ satisfaction and professional development.
Cohort-based professional learning bridges the theory-to-practice gap by offering opportunities for ongoing practice and reflection. Cohort-based workplace wellbeing programs build community and connection, enhance personal wellbeing, and expand professional effectiveness of participants.
Co-design your best professional learning
Every school district, every leadership team, and every staff team is unique. Co-designing a professional learning program with a small team of wellbeing champions ensures that the resulting program is relevant to the local context while building momentum and excitement for the program you develop collectively.
Well at Work provides:
Expertise in creating systems and cultures that support wellbeing
Support to recruit and set up your co-design team
Facilitation for co-design sessions
Ongoing coaching and support
Ideas, excitement, and a national lens on your work
The diagram below provides one example of how the co-design process could work:
“We keep saying “this is different from regular PD”. THIS is so true!! Things stick. I’m forced to wrestle, and I’m building supportive relationships. Finally, I want to assure you that the work you have been doing with our leaders is making a tangible difference in our school district. The conversations we are having, some really hard, are forcing system changes. It’s incredible, encouraging and life-giving.”
Do you have what it takes to get started?
5+ wellbeing champions from across your school district
Support and participation of your district leadership team
5+ days to get together throughout the school year
A budget for coaching and facilitation to get you started
Hope, imagination and love
We are currently accepting applications from school districts interested in co-designing a professional learning experience for the 2024-2025 school year. To learn more or to apply, please email Kathleen Lane, Well at Work Program Director (klane@edcan.ca) with the following information or apply below:
Your school district context
Your excitement/motivation for pursuing a co-designed Cohort
Whether you have support from your district leadership team
Any specific questions you have about the Co-Design process.