During the return to school and the beginning of the new school year it is important to pay attention to the emotional aspect and the interpersonal relationships in our educational communities. Teachers must take care of both the pedagogical aspect and the emotional well-being of students in the school. However, are they prepared to do so? Do they know practices that help them cultivate their own emotional skills?
In this context, it is convenient that teachers have venues for meetings and collective dialog to promote these skills, nurture interpersonal relationships and establish a culture of well-being and mutual care in the educational community. Only a teacher aware of the importance of ensuring their well-being, in connection with themselves and capable of managing their emotions and cultivating healthy ties, can provide support and accompaniment, while inspiring their students in the development of key socioemotional skills, such as: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relational skills and responsible decision-making.
Hence, in this note we tell you how to incorporate periodic venues for meetings and collective listening that allow the teaching community to cultivate socioemotional skills, as well as nurture their ties.
Venues for collective meetings and listening
The dynamics of these meetings are simple: it consists in each teacher sharing a personal situation related to a previously defined topic, and then an appropriate dialogue is opened so that the colleagues may ask questions, share reflections, contribute ideas and provide support. It is important to establish prior agreements to make these venues a safe environment free of judgements. Furthermore, we recommend scheduling the meetings fortnightly, with a minimum duration of one hour.
The focus of these meetings goes beyond providing practical ideas for the classroom. It consists in taking the opportunity to connect with the educational community and promote socioemotional skills that allow teachers to feel cared for and supported, and, at the same time, to be an experiential example for students of how to live together, collaborate and care for the rest.
Some prior recommendations
In these venues for dialogue, the inclusion of topics related to coexistence, emotions, care and co-responsibility in school dynamics is proposed. The specific topics for each meeting can be defined together by the teaching team, but they can also be discovered as shared personal situations arise.
Empathy is key in these encounters. Teachers must have the ability to put themselves in each other’s shoes and listen without judging. Indeed, to be able to provide support to students, first it is necessary to have an environment of care and respect within the teaching team. It is also important that these meetings be a venue for building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. Aside from sharing experiences, one can propose simple exercises that encourage creativity, imagination and teamwork.
But not everything is dialogue, sometimes it is also necessary to have moments of play and fun. Laughter is an excellent antidote to stress and tension. For example, you can make guessing games, charades, team drawings, among others.
In conclusion, the implementation of venues for collective dialogue and mutual care within the educational community can bring many benefits, both for teachers and for students and the school environment. In this way, socioemotional skills, coexistence and mutual care can be promoted in the educational community. Make the proposal and give it a try! If you want to know more about how to establish venues for collective listening and the care of the teaching community during the school year, you can watch the second chapter of the 4th season of our series “Strengthening Socioemotional Skills” :
