Commonwealth and the
Mindful Workload BY CATHERINE BREWSTER
How does a Commonwealth education—and the Commonwealth workload— measure up against not just other schools but our internal perceptions and expectations? A recent student survey helped us uncover the answers, as English teacher and twentyyear veteran of the school Catherine Brewster explains.
E
very day at announcements, when Ms. Dale or another teacher reserves 2A for guided meditation the next morning, I wonder briefly how different alumni/ae might respond. Would it be a “Great idea; I could have used that back in my day” from some; a “Ha! When I went to Commonwealth, we prided ourselves on how much we could take” from others? A relatively new practice within our walls, meditation is only a small piece of the outcome of an ongoing process that began in the spring of 2019, when we began studying our culture with the same intensity that we direct toward every other subject: How do our students—both those who speak up about it and those who don’t—feel about their work here? How many hours do they spend on it? How do, and don’t, they handle the stress built into their lives? Is Commonwealth a more stressful place than its peer schools? (Spoiler: no.) 23
