Making care matter through co-inquiry: the HeART of well-becoming

This manuscript dissertation responds to a global challenge in education: chronic stress contagion in school communities is fueling rising teacher burnout and contributing to persistent difficulties in teacher retention and recruitment. Teachers play a vital role in shaping the emotional and relational climate of schools, yet their wellbeing is often under-supported. While educators are expected to act as frontline caregivers, they are rarely given adequate support to process the emotional labour their work demands. This qualitative, arts-based co-inquiry study contributes to research on educational leadership and teacher wellness by offering a holistic, relational alternative to the individualistic self-care models often promoted in neoliberal systems. Through a series of collaborative art-making gatherings, nine in-service teachers across British Columbia explored what it means to teach care-fully amid systemic pressures. Their experiences demonstrate how artful co-inquiry can awaken trust and collective efficacy—capacities essential for sustaining educators and fostering responsive, healthy school communities. Rather than prescribing solutions, this study offers pedagogical invitations to reimagine care not as compliance, but as a creative, co-constructed, and ethical force that is central to teacher well-becoming, student flourishing, and the future of education.