Improving schools' coexistence through emotional literacy using Theater of Awareness

"IN THEIR SHOES: A SPACE OF ACTIVE EMPATHY"

A program on emotional literacy trough Theater of Awareness to improve school coexistence and prevent violence, that has been in the HundrEd Collection years 2022, 2023 and 2024

(  https://hundred.org/en/innovations/in-their-shoes-a-space-for-active-empathy-en-sus-zapatos)

The objective of the event is to present how socio emotional learning  can improve coexistence and how it can be done by using a methodology based on the Theater of Awareness, and its application through a school program. The event will have four parts:

1.  The importance of using emotional literacy to improve coexistence and prevent violence: the compasionate look approach

2. The socio emotional learning methodology based on Theater of Awareness

3.  Getting to know the school program "In Their Shoes". An innovative inniative that has reached more than 100 schools  and more than 85.000 people, mainly in Spain, showing the impact in improving emotional literacy and coexistence. 

4.  Time to share reflexions or questions among the participants

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Adittional information about "In Their Shoes" 

It’s a programme that offers basic and practical tools to the entire school community (students, teachers, non-teaching staff, and families) to carry out emotional literacy to promote empathy and compassion. A project to prevent violence and bullying by creating a harmonious coexistence environment in primary and secondary public schools, including special education centers.

Socio-emotional learning (SEL) with children and adults is facilitated through Theater of Awareness methodology, which personifies the emotions that individuals are experiencing and make them come to life on stage. This pedagogical strategy is complemented by the development of visual tools like posters, or Children’s Stories and Manuals, that lead to an easy understanding of these learnings by children and adults. 

It also utilizes a peer-to-peer cascade learning methodology:

1. Teachers are trained as facilitators in an annual course

2. Accredited facilitators train other teachers, families and non-teaching staff of the implementing schools. Those can be the facilitators’ own schools, too.

3. Those teachers trained implement the method in their classrooms.

4. Students from higher levels will teach students from lower levels through the creation and performance of a theater of awareness play that represents the basic concepts of emotional education through their own coexistence challenges.