Our SEL in Action project is aiming to join already existing but isolated SEL initiations and building on their experiences and best practices take social emotional learning further ahead towards inclusion in public education. SEL can play a vital role in classroom climate, how teachers build relationships with students and colleagues, how students build relationships with each other, and how conflict and discipline are addressed. Paying special attention to the development of students' emotional intelligence and social skills in public education inevitably cannot be more timely as young people, families, teachers and schools grapple with new challenges and difficulties with bullying, cyber bullying, teen dating abuse, racism, gender bias, food insecurity, aggressive communication, lack of meaningful social interactions and motivation, lack of realistic self- esteem and vision, problem solving dysfunctions, isolation, substance abuse, social and emotional issues. In the frame of our 34- month project (SiA) we work together with our international partners: Barnardo's (UK) and Forme (Italy) in order to take SEL to the next level by adaptable SEL training methodology (built on best practices in Europe), appropriate further training program for teachers, initiating university level SEL teacher specialization and policy, backing the involvement of SEL into the (Hungarian, Italian and UK) school culture. The National KID Association, the project leader umbrella organisation is going to realise the program with the participation of 5 member organisations (Human Innovation Group Nonprofit Ltd, Pécs; Foundation for the Changing World, Szombathely; Centre- point Youth Association, Szolnok; Association for Handicapped People Helping Each Other, Salgótarján; Sociogramm Nonprofit Ltd., Debrecen) together with our international partners (Barnardo's and Forme). There are three big terms within the project with three big but interrelated objectives. In the first term we train participant experts, youth workers and teachers about EQ and SEL, then adapt, develop and test 14- week SEL training program based on UK's Paths and LifeSkills programs. We target 6- 16- year students and integrate SEL into public education. To develop and test SEL we work together with 10 schools (2 in each cities, 1 traditional and 1 alternative or special need school) and 2 in Italy, as associated partners. We bring our 14- week training into the elementary and the secondary classes of these schools so are going to work with altogether 22 teachers. This way we are going socially and emotionally develop 300 students in Hungary and 55 in Italy. As a special strength of the program we also approach the families of these students and equip them with necessary knowledge and information about EQ and SEL. In the second term, we focus on developing SEL related teacher further training curriculum. We elaborate complete theoretical background and methodology based on Barnardo's teacher training and Eumoschool experiences with the support of our national and international experts and EQ practitioners. To ensure long term sustainability we plan to get accredited the teacher training program to make it available in a wide range. We are also going to test this teacher training material on ten Italian teachers who are working on the field of integrating refugee students into the Italian formal education system. The third phase of the project is focusing on the education system as a whole. We target universities whit teacher training program and sensitize department leaders to start SEL teacher training specialization at university level to ensure that newly graduated teachers can be prepared to the challenges that 21. Century students pose to them. Our long- term objective is to include SEL into the National Core Curriculum to ensure long term sustainability of the project results. We plan to bring together key actors in the field, to formulate political recommendations, translate related studies and researches and draft White Paper on the importance of social emotional learning within the school system.
The aim of our 38-month project was to integrate the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into formal education in Hungary and Italy, based on a good practice, which has been well proven, documented and tested in Northern Ireland, UK. Led by the National KID Association, our international partners Barnardo's (Northern Ireland), FORME and CEIPES (Italy) and 5 local Coordinator organizations in Hungary (Szociogramm Nonprofit Kft. - Debrecen, Foundation for a Changing World - Szombathely, KÖZ-Pont Association - Szolnok, Association for People with Disabilities - Salgótarján, Sásd and its Region Nonprofit Ltd. - Pécs) helped to disseminate the project results as widely as possible. We have developed and tested curricula for children between the ages of 6 and 14 which - after a short preparatory training - could be easily adapted to their existing teaching practice. Our aim was to sensitize educators to develop their own and their students' competencies so that schools focus not only on the transfer of lexical, academical knowledge but also on the social and emotional development of students and teachers / school staff, by developing key competencies that are essential for those involved for the creation and maintenance of well-functioning, inclusive school communities. In our lonely, alienated culture, in which more and more children and adults are struggling with mental problems and depression, we need to put special emphasis on emotional intelligence and resilience. Our project responded to the public expectation that schools should have a core mission of developing these key competencies. SEL provides a methodological toolkit that helps children and adults alike to experience, become aware of and understand their own and others’ emotions more fully, to be more accepting of themselves and to feel empathy toward others. During the project period, we acquainted the elements of the decades-long well-functioning Northern Irish SEL practice and the application of these elements in school practice. We learned about the theoretical background of SEL and the extensive international research findings that justify SEL education. Based on the Northern Irish methodology, we developed our 14-week Hungarian and Italian SEL curriculum (grades 1-8). We had collaborations with local educational institutions, 10 educational institutions in Hungary and 4 in Italy, where after testing the teachers we tested the children's emotional intelligence in the training groups (who later participated in the 14-week preparation) and control groups (who did not participate in SEL preparation). . A total of more than 1,200 students participated in EQ pre- and post-test (TEIQue-Traint Emotional Intelligence and SDQ-Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). 20 teachers in Hungary and 4 in Italy took part in Barnardo's teacher training at our Northern Ireland partner. Subsequently, more than 600 students participated in SEL trainings for 14 weeks in the two countries, who were then retested with the control classes at the end of the training (TEIQue and SDQ) to track their progress. In the course of the project, in addition to the curriculum, we developed a teacher training program to be accredited in Hungary. The participating teachers continuously monitored the students' behavior and wrote case studies on the ongoing development of the participating students (available on our website: https://selinaction.hu/esettanulmanyok/). The project website is available in 3 languages, Hungarian, English and Italian. The results of the project and the recommendations for educators were formulated in a White Paper for decision makers and education professionals also in 3 languages, Hungarian, English and Italian. A SEL video of the project process was made and the results of the project were disseminated at an international SEL Conference. The long-term sustainability of the project is ensured by the completed SEL teaching materials, the teachers trained in the project continue to use the acquired SEL practice in their teaching practice, the long-term collaborations established during the professional study trip of higher education actors, the White Paper project and the Accredited Teacher Training Program in Hungary.