Emotional well-being in the classroom

Schools and institutes in Catalonia are increasingly recognizing that emotional education is as essential as academic learning. Mental and emotional well-being is the foundation for meaningful learning and the personal and social development of students. For this reason, the Department of Education is promoting various programs and resources that place emotional well-being at the heart of educational life, for both students and teachers.

Taking care of yourself so you can take care of others

The Wellbeing for Being Well (BxB) program was created with a clear objective: to promote mental and emotional health within schools, from a holistic perspective that combines prevention, early detection, and support in situations of emotional distress or risk. Through this program, schools have access to specialized support teams that collaborate with teachers, management teams, and regional services to improve coexistence and foster safe and healthy spaces for everyone. BxB provides tools for managing emotions, resolving conflicts, and building a positive school climate, based on the idea that a school that cares is also a school that educates better. One of its most recent contributions is the Guide for addressing suicidal behavior and non-suicidal self-harm in the educational centerA practical resource that helps teaching teams know how to act sensitively and judiciously in these types of situations. An infographic on attitudes toward non-suicidal self-harm has also been created to accompany the guide, facilitating the dissemination of a culture of care and prevention within classrooms.

All these materials are part of the same strategy: to equip teachers with resources to identify, understand, and support students experiencing emotional distress, breaking the silence and strengthening the bonds of trust between school and family.

USAV: Listen, Help, and Protect

Another pillar of this commitment to emotional well-being is the work of the Student Support Unit for Violence (USAV). This unit's mission is to prevent, detect, and intervene in any situation of violence within the educational setting: from bullying and racism to gender-based violence and ableism. With the "We Listen, We Help, We Protect" campaign, the USAV works to create safer and more inclusive school environments, where no child or young person feels alone in the face of abuse or discrimination. The unit provides schools with materials and teaching guides to address these issues in the classroom. These include guides for identifying gender-based violence, adapted for both primary and secondary school teachers and students, as well as a teaching proposal for reflecting with students on the videos from the "Racism and Ableism" campaign. These materials, available on the Department of Education's website, offer practical resources for teaching equality, diversity, and mutual respect.

A caring school is a transforming school

The BxB and USAV programs share a common vision: putting people at the heart of education. At a time when data shows an increase in self-harm and mental health problems among children and adolescents, this perspective is more necessary than ever. According to research coordinated by the UOC (Open University of Catalonia), almost 30% of adolescents with mental health problems have engaged in self-harm in the last year, and nearly 20% have considered it. The research indicates that this data confirms the importance of promoting projects that address emotional well-being within the educational sphere with a preventative and supportive approach. With these initiatives, the Catalan education system is moving towards a model that understands emotional education as a vital skill, one that needs to be cultivated from early childhood through adolescence, and that teachers and students also need to feel cared for in order to care for others.