Soft Skills 2.0: A Modern Approach to Professional Development

In today's work and everyday life, the significance of soft skills is continually on the rise. Abilities like emotional intelligence, empathy, teamwork, conflict resolution are indispensable both within and beyond educational settings. Through a blend of theoretical knowledge and hands-on exercises, our participants gained valuable insights into enhancing their communication competencies.

The new edition of the course “Soft Skills and Emotional Intelligence for Teachers and Education Staff​” took place in Bologna from 27/08/2022 to 02/09/2022. The participants came from all across Europe, with Carmen and Yolanda from IES Río Duero in Spain, Caroline from  St Augustine College in Malta, Bratu Radu from Scoală Gimnaziala Rosia în România, Antoaneta, Zoya, Iliana and Boryanka from VUZF University of Insurance and Finance in Bulgaria, Jonatan from IES Alameda De Osuna in Spain and last but not least Patricia from  Rectorat de Nantes in France.

t the beginning of the week we discussed what soft skills are and what they mean. Then we continued by talking about emotional Intelligence & self awareness. This means being able to understand not just our own feelings but also how other people feel, so that we can know more about ourselves and what's happening around us. 

Second day we dove more into the Emotional Intelligence topic. In this session, we talked about empathy. The participants did some exercises to learn how to be more empathetic, control themselves, stay motivated, and make better connections with others. In addition we did group activities and debates about self control, self motivation and SMART goals. At the end of the day we started talking about leadership. Our participants described leaders they admire and they explained the reasons. It was nice to see how different and unique ideas we have about the same things.

On the 3rd day of the course we continued talking about leadership. We also talked about the importance of teamwork for achieving shared goals and maximizing productivity in any organization. To prove this explanation our participants built a tower and they had a chance to do practical experience about teamwork.

At the end of the week we tackled the topic of conflict management. Working with people can be difficult sometimes and we do not always know how to deal with conflicts. By sharing their own experiences they realised how these are common situations and that conflict doesn’t necessarily have to bring a negative outcome, but it is also a possibility for growth and development.

The last topic for the course was assertivity & active listening. We drew attention to the importance of using these concepts in the classroom and in our personal lives. We talked and did practical activities to improve these skills.

This course allowed participants to confront themselves with each other and learn from their shared experiences. Each participant had a different background that certainly contributed to the growth of the group as a whole. In addition, networking was also possible because of the planned cultural activities, showing that learning does not happen only inside a classroom! 

​ Discover more about this course here.