Well-Be project combines the efforts of 4 partners from UK, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy reflecting current challenges in the field of school education arising as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Our project mission is to support secondary education students in building resilience skills and overcoming the negative effects of social exclusion after the end of the epidemic. This goal will be achieved by analysing the psychological (psycho-social) effects of social exclusion in students and, on this basis, updating educational priorities and focusing pedagogical measures on the needs of students in the post-epidemic situation. We have envisaged 2 main intellectual outputs: IO1 - Survey Research Handbook. This output will serve as a comprehensive approach to research the impact of crisis stress on the current mental state of secondary school students. By exploring the psycho-emotional status, attitudes, needs, motivations and types of their stress response we will equip teachers, parents and those interested in supporting young people in the post-epidemic situation and new realities with appropriate, reliable and effective measuring tools and coping skills. IO2 - Teacher's Guide for working with secondary school students who have experienced the COVID-19 crisis: an online repository of How-TOs to support youth’s psychological wellbeing and to keep positive climate at school. This output will provide systematic information on adequate interaction approaches, training methods and specific thematic developments to overcome the effects of the crisis, restore mental well-being and develop personal resilience of students between the ages of 14 to 19. The project addresses two main target groups as follows: - directly - students from secondary education level (14-19 years) who need skills to build resilience and overcome the negative consequences of stress and support to boost their motivation for learning and development; - indirectly - teachers and other educators who need to be prepared and equipped with adequate tools and practical guidelines for interacting and supporting adolescents. In terms of qualitative outcomes we aim to achieve: - students who are better adapted to the post-epidemic situation and who are more effective in dealing with stress; - teachers who are better prepared to participate actively and confidently in this process, by being provided with adequate information and useful resources; - a positive school climate and a more conducive environment for the development of key competences; - a more resilient young generation actively involved in managing the long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis; - training institutions in Europe which will have practical tools for monitoring the dynamics of students' psycho-emotional status and resourceful guidelines for crisis intervention. The long-term impact will involve the creating conditions for faster adaptation of students to new realities and for the better preparation of school staff on the topic, respectively for better interactions and a positive climate in the school. The in-depth and systematic information on the status of students will provide a starting point for the changes that need to be made in the education system and the resources that are needed so that it responds to the needs of the students and the teachers for coping with critical situations.
The objectives of the proposal were to: 1. Identify students' status with regard to their: - emotional state/effects of stress - motivation for learning and development and - support and training needs 2. Develop guidelines for working with students to build resilience and overcome the negative consequences of stress and boost their motivation for learning and development The direct target group of the project were students from secondary education level (14-19 years). The indirect target group were their teachers, who took on the role of a buffer in this process, coping alongside with their own experiences and adaptations. 3. To produce practical guidelines for teachers working with young to help them to manage this process more effectively. We focused on secondary education level students for three reasons: - the experience of the consortium in working with this age group and knowing its specificities. - the complexity at this stage of human development and its importance to the future of society and - the leading role today's adolescents will play in overcoming tomorrow's long-term effects of the crisis, as well as their readiness to face possible future crises.
This proposal was inspired directly by the COVID-19 crisis, which began to gradually cover Europe and the world from February 2020. In a short time, countries took a series of measures to limit the spread of the virus including closing schools and cultural institutions. On March 11, WHO declared a worldwide pandemic. People were urged to stay in their homes indefinitely. At the same time, an increasing number of infected and deceased in different countries are reported daily. This proposal was inspired directly by the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, which began to gradually cover Europe and the world from February 2020. As a result of this social exclusion and isolation, the pandemic on young people’s lives contributed significantly to widespread issues in young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The pandemic has generated new worries, fears, and unhappiness on the lives of children and adolescents, and has consequently emphasised the importance of the mental health problems suffered by children in Europe. The needs we have addressed were to support upper-level secondary education students to build resilience resources and overcome the negative effects of social exclusion after the end of the epidemic.