Schools and care facilities are microcosms where the future of our children and our planet is created.

Whether these educational places are places of growth, encouragement, discovery, creativity, and community depends strongly on the way in which learning and relating to each other takes place in these microcosms.

A system that is based on kindness and mindfulness helps to promote emotional, social and systemic intelligence. Mindful and compassionate teachers and caretakers can encourage children to relate to themselves, to others and to the planet in a respectful way.

There is substantial scientific evidence of the positive effects of mindfulness and self-compassion practice. Now it’s time that mindfulness and mindful self-compassion receive their long-deserved attention in our educational landscape.

We can’t really predict the challenges that our children will face in the future, but we can try to offer them a developmental field that fosters and embodies openness, kindness, interpersonal skills, team spirit, creativity, and caring commitment.

Mindful schools and care facilities have the potential to contribute to an educational system based on compassionate growth.