Education Leaders | Strategic School Leadership

An Ecological Approach to Wellbeing | A Conversation with Lori Cohen

Jun 16, 2025

In this enlightening conversation, Lori Cohen, an education consultant with over 20 years of experience, redefines educator wellbeing through a terrarium metaphor. She discusses how healthy soil supports school culture and emphasizes that breaking down outdated practices paves the way for evolution. Lori introduces the fractal approach, advocating for small, focused changes that promote organic growth. Highlights include the importance of collective wellbeing and the role of curiosity and nonjudgmental experimentation in effective leadership.

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INSIGHT

Terrarium Reframes School Culture

The terrarium metaphor reframes school culture as a curated, interdependent ecosystem.
It highlights human stewardship and external forces while focusing on contained interactions.

INSIGHT

Wellbeing Is The Soil

Wellbeing is the soil of a school's culture and underpins all other improvements.
Without tended adult wellbeing, equity, growth and evaluation cannot sustainably flourish.

INSIGHT

Eight Dimensions Shape Collective Wellbeing

Collective wellbeing depends on multiple interlocking dimensions like wages, workload and relationships.
Strong supportive relationships and emotional intelligence are foundational for repair and resilience.

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What if the secret to transforming your school culture wasn't another initiative, but learning to tend to it like a terrarium? In this episode, Shane talks to Lori Cohen about her revolutionary ecological approach to wellbeing in schools. Rather than treating wellbeing as just another programme, Lori introduces a powerful terrarium metaphor that shows how all elements of school culture work together as an interconnected ecosystem.

Lori Cohen is an experienced school leader, instructional coach, and education consultant with over two decades in education. She's co-author of "Integrating Educator Well-Being, Growth, and Evaluation: Four Foundations for Leaders."

Key Takeaways

Wellbeing as Soil, Not Another Plant

Educator wellbeing is the foundational soil from which all other school improvements grow
Without healthy soil, nothing else can truly thrive

Ruptures Are Necessary for Evolution

Change requires some things to break down before they can be rebuilt stronger
What needs to "die" so something better can emerge?

The Fractal Approach to Change

Start small and deep rather than broad and shallow
Focus on one dimension rather than trying to fix everything at once
Allow successful patterns to naturally replicate and scale

The Eight Dimensions of Collective Wellbeing

Wage satisfaction and transparent compensation
Job stability and role clarity
Workload management and equitable distribution
Autonomy and self-efficacy
Inclusion in policymaking and decision-making
Community care and leadership modelling
Emotional intelligence (individual and collective)
Strong, supportive relationships that can be built, sustained, and repaired

Resources and Links

Connect with Lori:

Lori Cohen on LinkedIn
Integrating Educator Well-Being, Growth, and Evaluation: Four Foundations for Leaders by Lori Cohen and Elizabeth Denevi (Routledge)

Additional Resources Mentioned:

Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Episode Partner

The International Curriculum Association: Learn more

Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensive

Shane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com

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