Educational professionals are increasingly required to support not only students’ cognitive growth but also their emotional wellbeing. This course offers essential tools to understand, interpret, and manage emotions in educational contexts. By enhancing emotional intelligence, teachers can create more inclusive, empathetic, and effective learning environments. The ability to recognise and respond to emotional cues improves classroom management and student engagement. Emotional competence also supports teachers' own wellbeing, helping them navigate stress and professional challenges. The course promotes reflective practice, collaboration, and emotional awareness at the individual and institutional level.

The course is hosted in the beautiful city of Florence and combines professional development with international networking, offering participants the opportunity to gain practical strategies to integrate emotional learning into everyday teaching and be equipped to foster resilient, emotionally aware school communities.

 The course is designed for a broad range of professionals in the education sector, including:

School teachers Vocational education and training (VET) trainers Adult education professionals University lecturers and researchers School leaders and headmasters School psychologists and education counsellors

 Participants completing the course will be able to:

- Identify the key components and educational relevance of emotional intelligence
Gaining a solid conceptual understanding of emotional intelligence as it applies to teaching, learning, and classroom dynamics, and recognising its importance in student development.

- Recognise and interpret their own emotional states and triggers in professional contexts
Increasing self-awareness by identifying internal emotional responses and understanding how these affect professional behaviour and decision-making in educational settings.

- Accurately perceive and understand emotional signals in students and colleagues
Enhancing the ability to read facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice to identify emotions in others, which supports more empathetic and responsive teaching.

- Apply effective strategies for emotional self-regulation and stress management in school environments
Learning concrete techniques to maintain emotional balance and manage stress in high-pressure or emotionally charged classroom situations.

- Design emotionally informed teaching activities that support student engagement and wellbeing
Creating lesson plans and classroom practices that consider students’ emotional needs, promoting motivation, inclusion, and deeper learning.

- Foster emotionally inclusive classrooms that promote empathy, collaboration, and trust
Cultivating a safe emotional climate by modelling empathy, encouraging peer support, and addressing exclusionary behaviours constructively.

- Integrate emotional awareness into classroom management and conflict resolution strategies
Using knowledge of emotions to manage classroom dynamics more effectively and resolve conflicts through understanding rather than confrontation.

- Encourage students’ emotional development through reflection, dialogue, and critical engagement
Supporting students in exploring and articulating their emotions to build self-awareness, critical thinking, and social competence.

- Collaborate with colleagues to promote a supportive and emotionally aware school climate
Engaging in peer dialogue and shared initiatives to reinforce a collective approach to emotional wellbeing at school.

- Advocate for the inclusion of emotional intelligence in whole-school practices and policies
Contributing to institutional change by proposing or supporting emotionally intelligent frameworks, tools, and approaches within the broader school community.

 Module 1: Understanding Emotional Intelligence in Education
• Defining emotional intelligence and exploring its core components
• Examining key theories and their educational relevance
• Understanding the role of emotions in learning and behaviour
• Comparing emotional intelligence with cognitive and social intelligence
• Identifying benefits of emotional intelligence for teachers and students
• Discussing challenges in integrating emotional intelligence across diverse school contexts
Practical Activity: Co-constructing, in small groups, a visual concept map of emotional intelligence in education, linking to participants’ teaching experiences.

Module 2: Recognising and Interpreting Emotions in Oneself
• Exploring how emotions arise and manifest internally
• Recognising physical and cognitive signs of emotional states
• Identifying personal emotional triggers in educational settings
• Developing emotional literacy and expanding vocabulary for emotions
• Reflecting on the impact of teachers’ emotions on classroom dynamics
• Strengthening emotional attunement for professional self-awareness
Practical Activity: Completing and discussing an emotional self-assessment grid in pairs, followed by sharing insights in a group reflection session.

Module 3: Recognising Emotions in Students and Others
• Decoding emotional expressions in students through facial, postural, and vocal cues
• Interpreting hidden or culturally mediated emotional responses
• Analysing emotional clues in challenging classroom behaviours
• Enhancing teacher empathy to support student engagement
• Responding effectively to students’ emotional needs
• Considering developmental and individual differences in emotional expression
Practical Activity: Observing and analysing selected video clips focusing on interpreting emotional signals and sharing interpretations.

Module 4: Managing Emotions and Stress in the School Environment
• Understanding principles of emotional self-regulation in professional contexts
• Practising techniques for managing stress and emotional overload
• Linking self-regulation to classroom authority and presence
• Building peer support networks for emotional resilience
• Creating emotionally safe classroom routines and norms
• Sharing and reflecting on emotionally demanding classroom incidents
Practical Activity: Simulating high-stress classroom scenarios in groups, applying various regulation strategies, followed by feedback and group reflection.

Module 5: Integrating Emotional Intelligence into Teaching Practice
• Embedding emotional intelligence into learning objectives and activities
• Designing emotionally engaging and inclusive classroom tasks
• Encouraging constructive emotional expression through stories and dialogue
• Promoting cooperative learning to foster empathy and collaboration
• Supporting student reflection and emotional awareness
• Evaluating the emotional climate of learning environments
Practical Activity: Designing and presenting a short emotionally integrated classroom activity, followed by structured peer review and improvement suggestions.

Module 6: Building Emotionally Supportive School Communities
• Positioning the teacher as an emotional role model and facilitator
• Promoting school-wide approaches to emotional wellbeing
• Involving families and caregivers in emotional education efforts
• Managing classrooms with inclusivity and emotional awareness
• Preventing emotional burnout and promoting collective care among staff
• Aligning school policies with emotional intelligence principles
Practical Activity: Collaboratively developing a School Emotional Climate Plan in teams, presenting and refining it in a plenary discussion.

The course applies a learning-by-doing approach, emphasising active participation, group-based learning, and hands-on experiences. All modules are paired with practical simulations or cooperative activities allowing participants to translate theoretical knowledge into usable strategies. The environment is international and collaborative, encouraging exchange of practices and mutual learning.

• Duration: 6 days (Monday to Saturday)
• Schedule: 5 hours/day
• Location: Florence, Italy

The programme also includes:

• Study visits to local schools to explore well being practices in real settings
• Meetings with Italian teachers to exchange views on common challenges
• A guided walking tour of Florence to explore the city’s rich educational and cultural heritage
• Optional cultural visits in Tuscany available on request

 At the end of the course, participants will receive:

• Participation Certificate detailing the programme and outcomes achieved
• Europass Mobility Certificate (issued by Erasmus+ National Agencies) certifying the competences gained during the course

 The enrollment fee to attend the International Seminar is 640 euro per person*

* A 25% discount is applied to individuals enrolling in the online course and to groups of at least 6 people enrolling in the onsite course (480 Euro per person).

 Choose from several packages to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable:

Single Participant in Single Room
• Half Board (7 nights + 6 buffet lunches): €1150
• Bed & Breakfast (7 nights): €1050
• Lunches only: €120

Two Participants Sharing a Double Room (per person)
• Half Board (7 nights + 6 buffet lunches): €1050
• Bed & Breakfast (7 nights): €850
• Lunches only: €120

Packages are optional and can be tailored for individuals or groups from the same institution.