By Dr. Robert Sawyer
Are you involved in your school’s culture of care? When parents begin searching for a school, the first questions are usually about academics. They want to know about examination results, university placements, curriculum standards, teacher qualifications, class sizes, and extracurricular opportunities. These are all important considerations, and any school worthy of a parent’s trust should be prepared to answer them clearly. Yet after spending much of my professional life in education, I have become convinced that there is another question that deserves to be asked even before all of these:
“What kind of culture exists inside the school?”
It is a deceptively simple question, but one that has profound implications for every aspect of a child’s education. A school’s culture determines how students are treated when they make mistakes, how teachers respond when children struggle, whether curiosity is encouraged or suppressed, and whether learning becomes something students genuinely enjoy or something they merely endure. Curriculum determines what children are expected to learn, but culture profoundly shapes how they experience that learning. In many respects, culture becomes the invisible curriculum that influences students every single day.
This idea has gained increasing attention among educational researchers over the past decade. Harvard University’s Making Caring Common Project, housed within the Harvard Graduate School of Education, argues that schools should intentionally cultivate cultures built on caring, respect, belonging, ethical responsibility, and strong relationships rather than focusing exclusively on academic performance. Their work reflects something that experienced educators have long observed in classrooms: students are far more likely to thrive academically when they feel emotionally safe, respected, and genuinely connected to the adults around them.
One of the strongest human needs is the desire to belong. Children may not always express this need openly, but it quietly shapes much of their educational experience. Every student who walks into a classroom is asking a series of unspoken questions. Will anyone notice if I am struggling? Will my teacher know my name? Will I be embarrassed if I answer incorrectly? Will I make friends? Will I be accepted for who I am? These questions are not distractions from learning; they are part of the conditions that make meaningful learning possible. A child who feels anxious, isolated, or invisible often expends enormous emotional energy simply trying to navigate the school day. By contrast, a child who feels known, valued, and supported is far more willing to participate in discussions, ask thoughtful questions, persevere through challenging work, and take the intellectual risks that genuine learning requires.
This is one reason I have never accepted the false choice between academic excellence and student well-being. Occasionally, when people hear the phrase Culture of Care, they assume it refers to a school where expectations are lowered, discipline is relaxed, or academic standards become secondary. In reality, the opposite is true. The strongest educational environments combine high expectations with high levels of support. Students deserve teachers who believe in them enough to challenge them while also recognizing that every child develops at a different pace and faces different obstacles. Compassion and accountability are not opposing philosophies; they reinforce one another. Children grow through challenge, but they do not need to face those challenges alone.
When I reflect on my own education, I can remember many of my teachers. I cannot remember every lesson they taught or every assignment they gave me, but I remember how they made me feel. I remember the teacher who noticed when I was discouraged. I remember the teacher who believed I was capable of more than I believed myself. I remember the teacher who challenged me without making me fear failure. I suspect most adults would tell similar stories. Long after students forget individual worksheets, quizzes, or classroom activities, they often remember the adults who encouraged them, inspired them, and treated them with dignity. Relationships leave lasting impressions because education has always been, at its heart, a profoundly human endeavor.
Educational research strongly supports this observation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified school connectedness—the belief that adults and peers genuinely care about a student’s learning and well-being—as one of the strongest protective factors associated with improved academic achievement, better attendance, reduced emotional distress, and healthier long-term outcomes. Likewise, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has demonstrated that schools intentionally fostering supportive relationships and social-emotional development not only improve student well-being but frequently see stronger academic performance as well. These findings reinforce an important truth: caring for students is not separate from academic excellence. It is one of the foundations upon which academic excellence is built.
Another defining characteristic of a healthy school culture is how mistakes are viewed. Unfortunately, some educational environments unintentionally teach children that mistakes are something to avoid at all costs. Students quickly learn that being wrong carries consequences beyond the error itself. They become reluctant to volunteer answers, hesitant to attempt difficult work, and increasingly concerned with protecting their image rather than expanding their understanding. Over time, learning becomes less about discovery and more about avoiding embarrassment.
Healthy schools approach mistakes differently. They recognize that errors are not interruptions to learning but essential parts of it. Every scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, artist, and researcher understands that progress almost always involves experimentation, revision, and occasional failure. If we want students to become resilient problem-solvers rather than passive recipients of information, we must create classrooms where thoughtful mistakes are treated as opportunities for growth rather than evidence of inadequacy. Children who are not afraid to make mistakes generally become children who are not afraid to learn.
A genuine Culture of Care also recognizes that every child deserves to be known as an individual. One of my greatest concerns about very large educational systems is that students can sometimes become little more than names on attendance lists or numbers within data reports. Yet every child arrives at school with unique strengths, interests, concerns, experiences, and aspirations. Some students require greater encouragement. Others need more structure. Some need help building confidence. Others simply need an adult who notices when they have become unusually quiet or withdrawn. Caring schools intentionally create systems that allow teachers to know their students beyond academic performance alone because meaningful education begins with meaningful relationships.
Parents sometimes ask me whether schools should primarily prepare students for examinations or for life. My answer has always been that good schools should certainly prepare students for examinations—but exceptional schools prepare students for both. Academic knowledge remains essential. Students need strong foundations in mathematics, science, language, history, and the arts. However, they also need to develop integrity, empathy, resilience, communication skills, leadership, curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to work respectfully with people from different backgrounds. These qualities are rarely developed through textbooks alone. They emerge through daily interactions within the culture of a school. Every conversation between teacher and student, every classroom discussion, every conflict resolved respectfully, and every opportunity to demonstrate kindness contributes to the education of the whole child.
This is also why I believe schools and families should never see themselves as separate institutions pursuing separate goals. Parents entrust schools with something infinitely more valuable than academic progress alone. They entrust us with their children. That trust carries tremendous responsibility. The strongest educational outcomes occur when schools and families work together in genuine partnership, maintaining open communication, shared expectations, and a common commitment to helping children become not only knowledgeable but also compassionate, confident, and responsible young adults.
At Sawyer STREAM Academy, our Culture of Care is not a program that exists alongside our academic model; it is the foundation upon which our academic model has been built. Every aspect of our educational philosophy reflects the belief that students learn best when they feel known, respected, emotionally safe, intellectually challenged, and genuinely supported. We intentionally cultivate strong mentoring relationships, encourage thoughtful questioning without fear of embarrassment, and design learning experiences that emphasize curiosity, collaboration, creativity, and resilience alongside academic excellence. We expect our students to work hard because we believe they are capable of great things, but we also believe that children reach their greatest potential when surrounded by adults who genuinely care about their growth as both learners and human beings.
Long after students have forgotten individual lessons, formulas, or examination questions, they will remember how their school made them feel. They will remember whether they felt respected, encouraged, challenged, supported, and inspired to become the very best version of themselves. In the end, that may be one of the greatest measures of an excellent school. Academic achievement opens doors, but a Culture of Care helps shape the kind of person who walks confidently through them.
Research and Further Reading
Harvard Graduate School of Education – Making Caring Common
https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/
Harvard Graduate School of Education – What Makes a Good School Culture?
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/18/07/what-makes-good-school-culture
Harvard Graduate School of Education – Leading Culture Change for School Improvement
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/professional-education/program/leading-culture-change-strategies-school-improvement
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – School Connectedness
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/school_connectedness.htm
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
https://casel.org/