Strengthening institutional and individuals for participating in the European Education Area

Topic(s) addressed

This project focused on mental health and emotional intelligence as key factors in the quality of employees’ work, and investigated the importance of play, outdoor learning, and mindfulness as well as the development of abilities to work with children with learning difficulties.

Target group(s)

The primary focus was 22 employees, with 60 other employees and 600 children as a secondary focus. The project also included parents.

Methodologies

The primary teachers who participated in the activities later held interactive workshops for those who were interested with some of them repeated multiple times. This helped teachers to develop and adapt recognised teaching methods, and improve their professional competencies. The activities were included in the institution's annual plan and programme for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024, and the values of inclusiveness, diversity, environmental sustainability and responsibility were added to the curriculum.

Innovation environment

By emphasising stress management, burnout prevention, and emotional intelligence, teachers learned mental health preservation, making their workplace a safe place. By participating in activities, teachers learned invaluable information on caring for children with learning difficulties and developmental disabilities. This information helped teachers to shape the kindergarten into a space that values and emphasises the importance of inclusiveness and diversity.

Teachers’ role

Teachers had a key role in the project. Keeping their wellbeing in mind, one of the project's goals was to strengthen psychological resistance and improve knowledge of emotional intelligence. To further the project’s impact, every teacher held workshops for all interested employees. This way, each kindergarten teacher was able to learn from their peers and had the opportunity to advance their competencies and use them in their work with children.

Impact and output

The project had a great impact, on both children and teachers. Teachers had tools to manage stress and prevent professional burnout, and knowledge about emotional intelligence and management of emotions, which helped them on personal and professional levels. Consequently, children benefitted from teachers who better understood not only their students but themselves, too. Teachers of all backgrounds were included in the project. All participants were women, mostly mothers of young children, with some having difficulties in speaking and understanding English.

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