We train and inspire teachers to have the courage and strength to bring innovation and creativity to education.

National program Teacher’s Well-Being

Through this year’s event, we want to emphasize the importance of belonging in educational environments. We aim to expose the premises that shape and favor belonging in all schools in Romania. Together we create and deliver concrete, adaptable and easy-to-implement solutions for sustainable membership in these environments.

It is a national program that, through a series of practices and examples provided, helps participants discover a conscious journey to wellness in the classroom. Based on the book, The Teacher in You, the program was created to reduce stress, build emotional resilience and discover ways educators can teach with enthusiasm and motivation.

Through this year’s event, we want to emphasize the importance of belonging in educational environments. We aim to expose the premises that shape and favor belonging in all schools in Romania.

With Harvard Flourishing Center, Tapestry Intergenerational Education Foundation, Stanford University | School of Medicine, American University in Washington DC and Babeș-Bolyai University, we create and offer concrete, adaptable and easy-to-implement solutions for the sustainability of belonging in educational environments.

The conference will bring together school principals, teachers, teaching staff, school counselors, auxiliary staff, students and parents, with the aim of creating an exchange of experiences and providing concrete and complete solutions for particular situations. All this will be done under the watchful eye of education experts, who will come from all over the world to share with us the resulting insights through the lens of their professional expertise.

The need for belonging in educational environments was identified following the completion of the National Study, “Teacher’s Well-Being”, carried out by Transylvania College Foundation and Positive Ed, in partnership with Merito, SuperTeach, Romanian Business Leaders and the C-EDU Education Cluster. The instrument used was the Teacher Flourishing Evaluation, which belongs to The Human Flourishing Program, from Harvard University. This tool for measuring human well-being targets five areas: 1. happiness and life satisfaction; 2. physical and mental health; 3. purpose and meaning; 4. character and virtue; 5. close social relations.

The results of the study showed that 80% of respondents claimed that their work has no positive effect on their mental health or well-being. In the interviews, the teachers emphasized the need to create communities that foster solidarity, empathy, compassion, appreciation and open discussions about the problems they have to face.

Following these results, Transylvania College Foundation, in partnership with Tapestry Intergenerational Education Foundation and Stanford University, developed The Student Within project, based on the 8 blocks of belonging that can be built in schools and professional environments, with the aim of creating a culture of belonging.

Belonging is one of the needs of human nature that is manifested by the desire to be part of a group or a community, in which the individual identifies with the common values ​​shared by the members of the reference group. The feeling of belonging is based on 8 blocks, among which: safety, empathy, compassion, solidarity, reciprocity, respect, shared values ​​and validation.

Transposed into the educational environment, the concept of belonging underpins the theme of the event by creating and sustaining, in the long term, a prosperous culture in the school. Therefore, within the organized event, the participants will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to put proactive techniques into practice, both for achieving academic success and for their emotional and mental health, all of which have a direct impact on the students’ training.

Event description:

Current context

The 21st century has brought new challenges in everyday life and, implicitly, in education. The stress level of teachers has increased significantly and adapting to new environments and communities is a real necessity of today’s society. According to the latest international studies, teachers, along with doctors and medical staff, are part of the professional category with the highest level of stress at work. In addition, the changes brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic have had major effects on each of us, adding pressure to an already strained system.

Beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries of this project are teachers, school counselors, school principals, students, administrative staff of educational institutions and parents. The event is aimed at teachers who want to join the InIm Institute community, a program belonging to Transylvania College Foundation.

The indirect beneficiaries are the students, who we want to develop in a safe environment where they can find themselves and feel that they belong. This environment is conducive to achieving desired academic results and creating healthy lifestyle habits.

Why Cluj-Napoca?

Cluj-Napoca, this university city and education hub, promoter of socio-emotional development at national and international level, can be a starting point for the training of well-trained teachers who are aware of the importance of the inexhaustible resources at their disposal: the sense of belonging and the state emotional and mental well-being. In this framework, the Transylvania College Foundation and the InIm Institute aim to mobilize for the organization of the conference, a team of education professionals, eager to share and promote the benefits of belonging and well-being to all participants.

Organizer

The current dynamics make the reform of the educational system a real necessity, a fact that is also reflected in our priority, which is reflected in the decisions and actions taken at the InIm Institute level. Through this event we want to lay the foundations of a community in a multidimensional space, where the Good Teachers and their students feel that they belong.

This event would not be possible without the involvement and permanent support of our partners and collaborators: the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, the Cluj County School Inspectorate, the County Center for Educational Resources and Assistance and the C-EDU Education Cluster.

Purpose of the conference

Our goal is to build a community, in a multidimensional space, where Good Teachers and their students feel they belong. Together, we expand the qualities of mind, soul, and heart that enable us to advance personal and interpersonal development in educational settings and beyond.

Objectives of the conference

We firmly believe that the socio-emotional health of the teacher has a positive impact on the behavior and school success of the students, and for this reason, we proposed to organize a series of events and activities dedicated to teachers within the We Learn Together conference.

Through this event, we aim to:

– Emphasize the importance of prioritizing belonging in educational environments;

– Exemplify good practices and offer a guide summing up solutions for the particular situations the participants encounter;

– Create an environment conducive to the exchange of experience between participants;

– Creation of an action plan for the professional activity of each participant.