School Management and Eco-systemic Support for Bereaved Children and their Teachers

This paper is about how bereaved children are supported in school. After narrating parts of a case study of one bereaved family and their interaction with schools over a prolonged period, it explores some educational management implications of bereavement, grief and loss. It argues that the effectiveness of interactions by the individual teacher will have a correlation with the support systems created by the educational management team. The structures and ethos of care created by management are a vital part of recovery in bereavement. Evidence from the case study proved typical of wider study in the field of the educational management of bereavement. Indications were that educators responsible for whole-school response had training and support issues needing urgent address. In particular, the process of establishing, in school, a climate of successful, meaningful and open communications about death relies on the provision of personal support systems for the teachers. Such support is dependent upon an educational management team that is able and willing to prioritize these issues and to challenge aspects of its own management thinking.