The SEL for Schools project is co-financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme and involves the collaboration of INAK (Slovak partner leader) with BirdLife Malta, SOS/BirdLife Slovakia and University of Presov from Slovakia, Sociedad Española de Ornitología (BirdLife Spain) and Milanta from Spain, and Learning through Landscapes from UK.
It’s good for them, it’s good for you – Social & Emotional Learning through bringing nature back to schools
The project aims to seek for parallel between the life and needs of birds and all the living creatures around us, their well-being, the well-being of children and us all, through support of empathy, knowledge and the realization of our connectedness, as humans, to nature. A new programme for the early years will be created for the development support and overall well-being of children as well as of other living creatures, including birds. With the use of the outdoors, we will promote knowledge of nature, positive attitudes and connectedness to nature, and support social and emotional skills, leading to well-being.
The project consists of an initial research study on children in schools focusing on:
- Knowledge (eg. recognition of birds, local bird species, biodiversity and nature);
- Emotional competences needed for life and well-being in relation to both humans and nature (e.g. awareness, empathy, regulation, autonomy);
- Attitudes (towards birds and nature and its protection, other children, and toward learning).
Teachers will be supported in several ways. We will provide a guide to them focused on social and emotional education for early years and lower primary level, supporting emotional intelligence and emotional competences of children, and highlighting benefits, methods and techniques that can be used to implement the program. We will also offer a teacher training to enhance teachers’ competences of using SEL and 3-in-1 concept in practical work with children aged 5–10 at kindergartens and lower grades of primary schools.
Finally, a compendium of good practice including video guides and concrete activities will be created in the form of case studies from at least three schools in each country.
If you are a teacher, and would like to find new ways to carry out outdoor activities with your students, please have a look at these resources or contact us by sending an email to [email protected].