Loss and grief in change processes at school

Integrating loss and grief provides the opportunity for impactful change in transformation projects.
In a rapidly changing world, a school moves from one transition to another. Professional changes such as a failed project, a new evaluation system, a new building, a departing school leader, name change, reorganization, merger, etc. require an exploration of losses suffered and their possible impact.

Denying loss and avoiding goodbyes lead to stagnation. In this way, change never becomes transition, but rather results in resistance or apathy.

Why should you take this course now?

• What transitions are you facing with your school?
• The Commission of Wise Men made some sensational proposals for the necessary transition in education. However, she does not preach revolution but a sustainable and courageous reform strategy.
• Social challenges such as inclusivity and diversity, structural increases in scale, lifelong professionalization, globalization and interconnectivity, digital transformation are necessary in the 21st century. The call for transition is therefore inescapable, but it is also accompanied by a process of loss of old methods, structures and beliefs.

To give these transitions a chance to have an impact, we must develop strategies within our organization to consciously say goodbye and open the way to grief and integration.

Such a strategy takes its own context into account, according to Peggy De Prins, PhD sustainable HRM. She states in her book The Dark Side that it is especially important to learn to read and calibrate contexts such as a workplace. To achieve this, you and the employee must stand in the dark side, in the shadow of loss and grief.

So we make time to enter into a dialogue with the employee about saying goodbye to old habits.

The recent impact research DRIVE from KUL confirms that the impact of such a transition process depends on the context. What's more, the researchers for the Department of Work and Social Economy argue that this is a slow and sustainable process. Inviting people to step into a grieving and integration process requires time and good guidance. But only in this way will there be room for impactful innovation.

Who is this process designed for?
This creation training is intended for school leaders, policy supporters, coordinators and school administrators of primary, secondary, special education, Centers for Adult Education and Centers for Basic Education.

Why choose this creation course?
You choose a creation course with a fascinating mix of learning activities that provide you with new insights, but which also lead to an initial plan of action for your loss and grief policy.

Throughout the course we offer you a strong combination of inspiration, keynote, co-creation and interaction. You can expect a balanced interplay between evidence-informed insights and immediately applicable tools.

Starting from a concrete example of a transition in your school, you can draw up an action plan on how to discuss concrete loss, grief and saying goodbye to existing structures and beliefs.

Themes that are discussed include the following:

• school in transition;
• transformative school leadership;
• loss policy;
• grief models and rituals;
• grieving as a non-linear process;
• human potential or the teacher as a person and professional;
• holding space and liminal space;
• link with the school's strategic policy.

After this education:

• you have a thorough basic knowledge of important dimensions of a contemporary transition policy for a school/school group;
• are you able to discuss loss and grief during change processes in your school;
• you have tools to co-creatively shape dimensions of change processes such as loss, grief and integration in your own school and to enter into dialogue about them;
• are you aware of how you can shape transformative leadership in your school;
• you have an initial plan of action for a renewed transition policy0

Who will guide you in this process?

As a Germanic English-Germanist, Anja Deferm initially taught in a secondary school. After several years as a coordinator, she took on the role of pedagogical director at the school from 2010 to 2022. Connecting with teachers so that they can stand in their strength, looking together with them for fascinating learning environments for young people, setting up partnerships within and outside the school walls, all of this became a passion for her, a mission in itself.

She is also active as a ritual supervisor during auditorium services. Under the motto 'everyone has a little goodness in them', she now works as a connection coach and process supervisor at domo de refontiro. Her strength: connecting together, working on an awareness process, initiating change processes with powerful players such as nature, your own vulnerability, your own growth opportunities.