2021, February – Teacher’s Well-being Month in Romanian Education
The Transylvania College Foundation, through the Happy Teachers for Romania Program and Finish Teacher Training Center in Sibiu, organized the second edition of the Teacher’s Wellbeing Month, in February. It was a project that promoted the benefits of teachers’ well-being, in the classroom and abroad, because the emotional and social health of the teacher has a positive impact on the behavior and school success of students.
This initiative was joined by ten private schools in the country: Transylvania College (Cluj-Napoca), Romanian-Finnish Secondary School (Bucharest), Avenor College (Bucharest), Prems School (Brasov), Paradis International School (Iasi), International School (Baia Mare), Romanian-British School (Craiova), Petre Ispirescu School (Constanța), Babel School (Timișoara) and ERI Romanian-Finnish Secondary School (Sibiu).
The purpose of this project was to encourage teachers to apply new methods to find emotional and behavioral balance, practice stress-reducing exercises that explore concentration techniques and thought patterns, develop individual action plans to strengthen motivation and enthusiasm and relieve stress, and organize communities, where the authentic voice of the teacher is heard, understood, and respected.
During the Teacher’s Wellness Month, a series of online activities dedicated to teachers were organized in order to provide the necessary support for them to feel supported in their role as creators of education and to pass on, to the students, joy, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude. “The great advantage of these virtual events was that we were able to create connections with teachers from all over the country, we were able to exchange experiences and ideas and we developed a beautiful community that was formed around the Happy Teachers for Romania program”, said Simona Baciu, founder of the Happy Teachers for Romania program. “We wanted teachers who may have felt alone to know that they can always ask for help and grow together. Because a teacher who puts their well-being first has an infinitely greater impact on the well-being of the students in front of them”, the message of Elena Lotrean, the founder of the Finnish Teacher Training Centre.
Calendar of events:
Teacher Wellbeing Webinar Series
On February 8 and 22, starting at 17:00, two webinars dedicated to teachers took place. This was together with founders and directors of private schools in Romania, during which methods, experiences, and models of good practice for the well-being of teachers were shared. Registration for these free events were available on the teachertraining.ro website in the Calendar section.
If it was Thursday, it was about Wellbeing!
On February 4th, 18th, and 25th, on the Happy Teachers for Romania Facebook page, Organized Conversations for Well-being, a series of live meetings occurred in which a discussion, together with Gabriela Secoșan – director of the training program Happy Teachers for Romania and Simona Baciu – the founder of Happy Teachers for Romania and the author of the book “The Teacher in You” and their guests – education specialists and opinion leaders in the field, which was about the challenges that teachers face during this period and how they can manage them to maintain their Well-being.
The guests of the three discussion sessions were: Nadia Crișan – Executive Director, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Gilda Scarfe – Director and founder of the innovative educational consulting project at global level Positive Ed, and Cătălina Novac – Senior International Student Advisor in the Office of Education and Sponsored Programs at Northern Virginia Community College.
Webinar Neuroscience and Teacher Wellbeing
On February 15, at 15:00, the Neuroscience and Wellbeing webinar will treat, in terms of chemistry and biology, how well-being influences the physiological capacities of the brain. The guest, Elena Lotrean, the founder of Finnish Teacher Training Center and Laura Popa, shared with the participants their experiences as teachers, mentors, director, and trainers. Some of the points reached during this meeting were: neuroplasticity, emotional blockages, and motivation of learning regardless of the context. This webinar was distributed live on the Finnish Teacher Training Centre page, and registration was done on the teachertraining.ro website (in the calendar section).
The community is us!
The teachers were invited to share examples of methods they use to bring and preserve well-being in their classroom within the Community of Happy Teachers for Romania. During the month of February, on the Happy Teachers for Romania Facebook page, a series of short recordings were shared by teachers for teachers.
Happy Teachers for Romania podcast
Along with all these events, the Happy Teachers for Romania Podcast was launched. The podcast was dedicated to Conversations for Well-being, which was created out of the desire to support teachers and all those who wanted to practice their profession with gentleness and enthusiasm. What can we do to feel better, overcome stress, anxiety, and restlessness, accept and valorize ourselves more? How can we create a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom by conveying positive thoughts to our students that will make them engage in our classes with joy? What does it take to be a happy teacher? The answers to these questions were found in the collection of Conversations for Well-being, in which the challenge of being a teacher in these times was discussed in a different way.
The Happy Teachers for Romania podcast is available in the audio version and on the following platforms:
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/4wxnsq4…
Google Podcasts
https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=…
Breaker
https://www.breaker.audio/podcast-pro…
Pocket Casts
https://pca.st/h8r2adi3
RadioPublic
https://radiopublic.com/podcast-profe…
Anchor
2020, February – The month of the teacher’s well-being in Romanian education
Transylvania College Foundation, through the Happy Teachers for Romania Program, together with Finnish Teacher Training Center declared February, “The month of teacher’s well-being”.
Education in Romania is in dreadful need of trust, unity, and solidarity. Even if a teacher is alone in the classroom, they don’t have to be #AloneInTheClassroom. We trust teachers, but we also need to give them the support they need to feel comfortable in their role as creators of education. The emotional and social health of the teacher has a positive impact on the school behavior and success of the students.
The Finnish Teacher Training Center, together with the Happy Teachers for Romania Program, initiated a partnership for teachers. We started with ten founders from schools in Romania and together declared February the “Month of teacher’s well-being” in Romanian education. During the month of February, ten workshops were dedicated to teachers and provided an open invitation to share methods, experiences, and models of good practice.
The ten workshops proposed experiences that proved every day that a mistake can be an excellent opportunity for learning, that the appreciation of teachers and children can move mountains, and that we need perseverance, patience and gentleness to get there. The seminars were free of charge and took place in Cluj-Napoca – Transylvania College Foundation, Bucharest – Romanian-Finnish Secondary School and Avenor College, Brasov – Prems School, Iasi – Paradis International School, Baia-Mare – International School, Craiova – British School, Constanta – Petre Ispirescu School, Timișoara– Babel School, Sibiu – Romanian-Finnish Primary School.
Calendar of events:
Cluj – Napoca – February 8 – Simona Baciu, Transylvania College
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-cluj/
Bucharest- February 15th – Alina Cîrjă, Romanian-Finnish Secondary School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-bucuresti-ro-fin/
Braşov- February 15th – Ornela Anghel, Prems School
https://teachertraining.ro/post_type=ajde_events&p=3784&preview=true
Iaşi- February 15th – Oana Albu, Paradis International School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-iasi-sc-int-paradis/
Baia-Mare- February 22- Flavia Zah, International School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-baia-mare-scoala-internationala/
Craiova- February 22nd- Cristina Cătană-Bucă, Romanian-British School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-craiova-sc-britanica/
Constanţa- February 22- Loredana Muhscina, Petre Ispirescu School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-constanta-scoala-petre-ispirescu/
Timişoara- February 29th – Monica Diaconu, Babel School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-timisoara-scoala-babel/
Sibiu- February 29th – Elena Lotrean, Romanian-Finnish Primary School
https://teachertraining.ro/events/luna-februarie-luna-starii-de-bine-a-profesorului-sibiu-scoala-primara-romano-finlandeza/
Bucharest- February 29th- Diana Segărceanu, Avenor College