TEACHER TRAINING SLOVAKIA: EMOTIONAL EDUCATION

Nowadays, when the children come to school influenced by various values that are given from their families and society, where many people are interested in what they have (possess) and not in who they are, the school should be viewed not only as the institution that imparts certain knowledge and skills to students, but also as the environment in which they learn how to solve conflicts, how to interact with each other. We assume that teachers should be the ones who will help their students to know the world through their feelings and emotions.

Feelings or emotions are a part of daily life. In fact, they play important role in the educational process (e.g. teacher – student interaction), too. 

In terms of Emotions project – international project ErasmusPlus – our teachers attended further education and training (especially three meetings) through which they tried and learnt different activities connected with development of empathy, self-control, motivation, cooperation and overall development of student (social-emotional).

At the first meeting, our teachers were involved in activities focused on getting to know each other (listening to each other and positive self-evaluation).

Another meeting was dedicated to motivational activities, empathy and self-control, releasing atmosphere in a group, awareness of different feelings, e.g. when we are reliant on someone else (we need to cooperate, work with him/her, trust and help him/her etc.).

The aim of the third meeting was to be able to solve a conflict, but also problematic behaviour of children (students). It was focused on cooperation and interaction between students, too. Another goal was to learn how to express gratitude and joy in words, to communicate about feelings, and to develop empathy and acceptance.