Online seminar delivers various emotional well-being strategies to work with students in the classroom

Strategies Seminar

Nearly a thousand people participated in the virtual space at the national and international level, who were able to learn about the guidelines focused on the pandemic scenario.

Four months have passed since the arrival of COVID-19 in the country, a situation that has had an impact on the physical and mental health of a large part of the Chilean and global population. Within this framework, the Comprehensive Support Plan, together with the collaboration of the Integrated Management Unit of Pedagogies (UGIP) and the Graduate Monitoring Office (OSE), have organized various activities, with the purpose of sharing knowledge and generating opportunities. of containment and reflection in times of contingency.

On this occasion, the psychologist Viviana Herrera, an academic from the University of La Frontera, was in charge of directing the Seminar “Strategies for Emotional Well-being for our students in the classroom”, in which she delved into the context prior to the pandemic, the current effects arising from the health crisis, and the challenges that remain to be faced.

“Figures have been verified that are not only a product of the contiStrategies Seminar 2gency that we live, but are the result of the various inequalities that we experience in our country. One of the things that this crisis situation has revealed is that we were in it a long time ago, we just hadn't realized it. The pandemic situation has shown us and made us reflect much more about what we were experiencing and how we were experiencing it prior to this situation,” said the professional.

In this sense, since the arrival of COVID-19, various measures have been implemented, such as teleworking and virtual classes, instances that have generated various emotional imbalances in people, due to stress, anxiety, overextension, among others, and which have also highlighted the existing inequalities of access in the different groups in Chilean territory.

"We know that in Chile there are 3 establishments that serve the rural population, it is not a small number, in situations where there is not even the possibility of accessing the Internet (...) this has led us to think that educating is not the same as school, and that education is not the same as schooling; We now see mothers, fathers or caregivers who have taken a much more predominant role in the educational process in situ, in the physical absence of teachers, who have also been completely challenged to see a modality of work to which none of us who dedicate our time "At the time of teaching we were prepared," said the psychologist.

In this regard, the professional referred to the fact that the School does not only have the role of transmitting encyclopedic content, but rather constitutes a space where children, adolescents and adults develop skills that allow them to share and interact with the environment. Therefore, teachers also have an important role, being in charge of modulating cognitive processes and also regulating the affective response to the different types of situations presented.

Addressing emotional well-being

Being in a condition of fear or uncertainty regarding what is currently happening causes an imbalance of emotions, which ultimately affects the body. All these factors must be considered when thinking about remote teaching.

“We must listen with empathy, with our hearts, making use of all our possibilities of accompanying another, in a relationship that fundamentally at this moment has to be one of affection; Here we also break this relationship that we traditionally have between teacher and student where there is a hierarchy, since what has to measure our interaction has to be affection, in the professional sense of the term, and putting our vocation and affection in those people with those of us who are working, because this will allow us to have an experience of greater well-being,” he advised.

On the other hand, he mentioned the importance of finding a balance between school and home, mediating moments of study with moments of rest, and making use of external spaces, such as patios and balconies, to manage the stress caused by confinement. Likewise, organize among the members of the house, generating shifts and responsibilities, in order to divide the workload.

“This critical situation also gives us some opportunities, such as rethinking the School, what it is for; We can visualize it much more for the development of people's values, attitudes and skills that allow us a more tolerant society. Let's broaden our perspective of what School is (...) We cannot always do everything, there will be difficult moments, we must keep in mind that we are people and that brings us emotion, which has a meaning and a function and we have "We have to listen to it, and to the extent that we manage to identify them, we will be able to achieve well-being," concluded the professional.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, Comprehensive Support Plan