How a Structural Lens Can Help Schools Cultivate Well-Being and Belonging for Students 

June 23, 2026

When a student struggles, it is tempting to focus on the individual, but what if the real work lies in examining the systems surrounding them? WestEd’s recent Leading Together webinar, Cultivating the Conditions for Learning and Well-Being, invites education leaders to take a structural view, rather than an individual view, of the challenges they face every day. 

Led by Rebeca Cerna, Senior Director of Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities at WestEd; Krystal Wu, a program manager on the same team; and Theresa Pfister, a program associate with expertise in social and emotional learning and educational equity, this webinar session offered practical frameworks and real-world examples for leaders ready to build thriving school communities. 

Four Conditions That Make Learning Possible

The session was grounded in four key conditions that school leaders and educators can use to build their school system and classroom culture.

• A Sense of Belonging and Connection. Students learn best when they feel they belong and when their cultures, voices, and strengths are reflected in the life of the school. Belonging is about identity and participation, not just relationships. When these conditions are in place, they create the foundation for engagement, motivation, and academic success.
• Support for Well-Being. Emotional, social, and mental health are prerequisites for sustained learning and cognitive growth. Research from the Learning Policy Institute underscores that well-being and learning are deeply intertwined and students cannot engage in rigorous thinking if they do not first feel centered, safe, and supported.
• Prevention and Repair of Harm. Physical, emotional, and relational safety constitute a necessary baseline for learning. When students feel unsafe or threatened, their brains are in survival mode, not learning mode. Preventing and repairing harm is not only about discipline; it is also about cultivating trust and care across the whole community.
• Evaluation of Practice. To know whether efforts around belonging, well-being, and harm prevention are working, leaders must look closely at how their systems are functioning. That means gathering meaningful data, listening to the experiences of students and staff, and being willing to adapt.

From Individual to Structural Change

One of the session’s central ideas, drawn from the book Fix Injustice, Not Kids by Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell, is the shift from an individual to a structural lens. Rather than asking what’s wrong with a student, family, or staff member, a structural lens asks: what is happening around this person that is getting in the way of their success?

When leaders focus only on individuals without zooming out to a wider view, they risk reinforcing deficit narratives or seeing students and families as the problem rather than examining the inequitable systems that constrain them. A structural lens helps uncover the root causes that shape who gets access to opportunity, belonging, and support.

The presenters offered reflective questions regarding this shift in perspective that leaders can use individually or bring to a team meeting:

• What are the root causes? How might inequity be operating here?
• What conditions are shaping this outcome?
• How might we rethink those conditions to facilitate different results?
• What barriers exist, and what can we do differently to remove them?

What Does Cultivating the Conditions for Learning and Well-Being Look Like in Practice?

The session further brought each of the four conditions to life with concrete examples from schools, districts, and organizations across the country.

For example, the speakers expanded on evaluating practice by sharing how a community school district used data analysis to identify profound racial disproportionality in discipline practices and responded by seeking training in cultural proficiency and restorative practices. WestEd also convened a Youth Advisory Group of young people across California to share their experiences with youth mental health services funded under the Behavioral Health Student Services Act, ensuring that student voices directly shape future policies, practices, and funding.

As Krystal Wu reminded participants during the webinar session, “People aren’t broken. Systems are. Our role as leaders is to notice the patterns and name the conditions and then work together to change them so that learning and well-being can actually take root.”

Learn More About Supporting the Well-Being of Young People and Their Communities

Watch the full webinar and view other webinars in the Leading Together series.  

Explore WestEd’s work of supporting the well-being of young people and their communities in Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities.