How to remain resilient in a demanding school environment

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession, but it comes with its unique set of challenges that can often lead to chronic stress or burnout. This course is carefully crafted to address the holistic well-being of educators, focusing on three key pillars: teacher well-being, burnout prevention, and work-life balance.

06.05.2024 – 12.06.2024

Enroll to course

Description

We believe that by focusing on these three key pillars, educators can not only thrive in their professional roles but also lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. The primary aim of the course is to equip participants with the knowledge, skills and strategies necessary to proactively manage and prevent stress, in order to prevent burnout, and cultivate a balanced and sustainable teaching career. The course tries to create a supportive learning environment where educators feel empowered to prioritise their well-being without compromising their commitment to students. The course emphasises the connection between teacher well-being and a positive classroom environment, offering insights and practices to create a supportive and thriving learning space.

Learning objectives

As participants, you will:

  • Learn to recognise common stressors in the teaching profession and develop personalised strategies to manage and mitigate them effectively by engaging in discussions and sharing ideas with fellow educators.
  • Raise awareness on your personal well-being and discover practical tools and techniques to enhance personal resilience, empowering you to bounce back from challenges and setbacks, by analysing good practices.
  • Explore strategies for preventing stress, like setting healthy boundaries in both professional and personal spheres, fostering a more sustainable work-life balance, by joining self-reflection activities.
  • Develop well-being habits based on a 21-day challenge and a personalised self-care plan, ensuring you prioritise your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

The content and activities of this online course are designed to boost the resilience of educational professionals by encouraging them to reflect on their well-being and stimulate action, as a means to strengthen their individual and collective well-being at school. 

Methodology & assessment

The course is offered as an asynchronous course with flexibility in regard to when and where participants follow the course content and join the course activities. However, there is a final deadline in place for the submission of a course product. Participants are required to actively contribute to the course activities by sharing their work and submitting a course product. This product is submitted and assessed by peers or the course instructor in the final module of the course. 

Certification details

Upon successful completion of the course, a digital course certificate is awarded. The certificate shows the name of the learner and key course details such as the estimated learning hours, the learning objectives, and a link to the course homepage. 

Fighting racism, intolerance and prejudice starts with education

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, celebrated on 21 March, reminds us of the importance of actively defending pluralism, tolerance and non-discrimination.
Hands holding multicoloured paper cutouts of human figures

Berit Kessler / Adobe Stock

Due to increased hate speech and hate crime, particularly against Jewish and Muslim communities, the European Commission published a communication called ‘No place for hate: a Europe united against hatred’ in December 2023. It will strengthen efforts to fight hatred in all its forms; for example, it includes a commitment to upgrade the Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. 

The communication emphasises the important role education has to play in raising awareness and people’s readiness to react against prejudices, extremist narratives, conspiracy thinking and ideologies that drive discrimination and hatred. The European Education Area contributes to this, since building more resilient and inclusive national education and training systems, which can offer equal opportunities to all regardless of their background or status, is one of its main objectives.

Teaching resources for educators

The Anne Frank House offers versatile teaching materials related to history, prejudice, discrimination and democracy. Its ‘Stories that Move’ is a free online tool for teaching about diversity and discrimination.

Guidelines developed by the OSCE help educators counter intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, while UNESCO has created teacher training materials and online learning materials to address antisemitism.

A recent Erasmus+ project created tools to prevent racism and enhance multiculturalism in vocational colleges in four countries.

The EU’s Learning Corner has published Kalopsia, a story book about discovering why diversity is good for us, to be used with primary school children.

On this International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, it should be remembered that the commitment to end discrimination goes beyond legislation. Embracing diversity and ending discrimination are an overarching, shared responsibility for the whole of society.

Further reading

EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025 – European Commission

Combating anti-Muslim hatred – European Commission

Press release: Commission calls for a Europe united against hatred

Combating hate speech and hate crime – European Commission

Civic Participation and EU Values. Make Europe shine! 3rd-5th April 2024

Partecipazione civica nei giovani, INDIRE protagonista in Spagna con l’iniziativa “PEACE” e l’Orchestra Erasmus

L’Orchestra Erasmus in concerto a Siviglia per celebrare la partecipazione civica dei giovani

Un evento con quasi 2mila giovani dell’Erasmus Generation Meeting 2024, sulle note dell’Orchestra Erasmus. Oltre a una nuova tappa della iniziativa PEACE con il seminario organizzato dall’Agenzia spagnola SEPIE, un importante momento di confronto sull’impegno civico e la partecipazione alla vita democratica, tema prioritario per Erasmus+ 2021-2027. 

L’Agenzia nazionale Erasmus+ INDIRE sarà protagonista a Siviglia, dal 3 al 6 aprile 2024, con una serie di appuntamenti strategici. In primis, la partecipazione all’Erasmus Generation Meeting 2024, la più grande conferenza studentesca in Europa organizzata da Erasmus Student Network, anche con lo scopo di raccoglierne il testimone in vista dell’appuntamento del prossimo anno che si svolgerà in Italia. L’evento, dove annualmente la Generazione Erasmus si incontra per imparare e discutere del futuro della mobilità, sarà infatti ospitato nel 2025 ad Ancona, dal 3 al 7 aprile.

Il prossimo 4 aprile, all’interno dello spazio eventi e conferenze Fibes della città spagnola, durante la cerimonia di apertura del Meeting, si esibirà l’Orchestra Erasmus, progetto nato nel 2017 in occasione dei 30 anni di Erasmus, su iniziativa dell’Agenzia nazionale Erasmus+ INDIRE. Tra gli interventi istituzionali in programma durante lo stesso evento anche quello del vicepresidente della Commissione europea Margaritis Schinas, che introdurrà la giornata dopo il video saluto della Presidente della Commissione Ursula von der Leyen. 

European Commission’s webinar series on Artificial intelligence for teacher professional development | ESEP

We will discover effective strategies for prompting AI models in order to augment creativity and innovation in the classroom. We will explore practical applications of Generative AI, ranging from transforming text into speech to creating captivating videos and images. We will showcase real-world examples that illustrate the potential of this technology. Additionally, we will cover the creation of interactive chatbots that enhance student engagement and facilitate learning.
— Leggi su school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/professional-development/webinars/european-commissions-webinar-series-artificial-intelligence-teacher-professional-development

Towards a European Degree

Commission presents a blueprint for a European degree

The European Commission has adopted a package of ambitious proposals for Europe’s higher education sector, with the aim of working towards a European degree. The package contains a blueprint for this new and universally recognised qualification, as a result of deeper and wider transnational cooperation between higher education institutions – a key component of the European Education Area.

Young female student, next to text bubble "Towards a European Degree"

The blueprint proposes a concrete cooperation path and outlines support measures for European Union (EU) countries and their higher education systems towards the creation of a European degree.

As part of the package, the Commission has also adopted 2 proposals for Council recommendations on

  • a European quality assurance and recognition system in higher education
  • attractive and sustainable careers in higher education

Both proposals go beyond the pure ambition of developing a European degree and are advantageous for the wide and diverse higher education sector.

On this pageThe blueprint for a European degreeThe path towards a European quality assurance and recognition systemAttractive and sustainable careers in higher education

Blueprint for a European degree

This blueprint builds on the results of 6 Erasmus+ pilot projects that have involved more than 140 higher education institutions from all EU countries.

What is a European degree?
  • A new type of degree awarded after transnational Bachelor, Master, or Doctoral programmes delivered at national, regional, or institutional level
  • Automatically recognised everywhere in the EU
  • Awarded jointly and on a voluntary basis by a group of universities across Europe
  • Based on a common set of criteria agreed at European level
Objectives
  • Contribute to Europe’s competitiveness by equipping graduates with future-proof skills to master the green and digital transitions
  • Provide a strong symbol of our common European identity and strong sense of European belonging, reinforcing our common academic values and bringing people and universities together
What is the added value of a European degree?

For students, it will offer more opportunities to study at various universities in different EU countries and to graduate with one universally recognised diploma. It will give access to innovative and transdisciplinary learning opportunities across campuses to acquire the future-proof skills that Europe needs. 

For higher education institutions, it will make it simpler to set up a joint degree programme with several universities across Europe, by removing unnecessary barriers. It will also help those universities to increase their competitiveness and attractiveness.

For employers, it will ease the recruitment of highly skilled qualified graduates who are ready to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Next steps

In view of the diversity of the European higher education systems across Europe, the Commission proposes a gradual approach for EU countries towards a European degree, with 2 possible entry points:

  • A preparatory European label – given to joint degree programmes that meet the European criteria; this means students receive a European degree label certificate together with their joint degree
  • A European degree – a new type of qualification awarded either jointly by several universities from different countries or possibly by a European legal entity established by such universities; this means students receive a ‘European degree’

How the Commission will support EU countries and the higher education sector

  • A European degree policy lab to develop detailed guidelines and action plans for the implementation of a European degree with national experts, higher education institutions, quality assurance/accreditation agencies, students, and economic and social partners
  • A new annual European degree forum that monitors progress and provides guidance, gathering high-level representatives from EU countries, key organisations in quality assurance and recognition, and representatives from economic and social partners
  • New Erasmus+ support for European degree Pathway Projects enabling EU countries, together with their accreditation and quality assurance agencies, universities, students, economic and social partners, to navigate the pathway towards a European degree; and for European degree Design Measures to enable higher education institutions to adapt existing joint programmes or to create new ones leading to a European degree
Why do we need joint degree programmes?

Transnational education is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ option but a necessity, as

  • the key challenges of our time are becoming increasingly global, and Europe’s open strategic autonomy increasingly urgent
  • future generations must be equipped with the competences and skills that European societies will need to thrive in an ever more interconnected world

For this, we need to facilitate and accelerate the development of future-proof joint degree programmes, especially a universally recognised, European degree.