Special Section Papeles del Psicólogo / Psychologist Papers, 2017. Vol. 38(1), pp.

58-65
https://doi.org/10.23923/pap.psicol2017.2822
http://www.papelesdelpsicologo.es
http://www.psychologistpapers.com

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, EMOTIONAL EDUCATION AND

THE HAPPY CLASSROOMS PROGRAM
Rafael Bisquerra Alzina1 y Silvia Hernández Paniello2
1
Universidad de Barcelona. 2CIFE (Centro de Innovación y Formación Educativa) Juan de Lanuza de Zaragoza

La psicología positiva tiene múltiples aplicaciones. En este artículo nos centramos en la educación formal, de los 3 a los 18
años. Se expone como el desarrollo del bienestar debería ser una de las finalidades de la educación, lo cual repercutiría en el
profesorado, alumnado, familias y por extensión a la sociedad en general. La educación emocional (Bisquerra, 2000, 2009),
desde sus orígenes, ha tenido esto claro. Con el surgimiento de la psicología positiva se produjo un renovado esfuerzo en este
sentido, como una mejor fundamentación. El GROP (Grup de Recerca en Orientación Psicopedagógica) de la Universidad de
Barcelona está realizando investigaciones en esta línea. Aulas Felices es el primer programa en lengua castellana de psicología
positiva aplicada a la educación; dirigido a alumnado de educación infantil, primaria y secundaria. El programa centra sus
aplicaciones en las fortalezas personales y la atención plena; es gratuito y de libre distribución. En el artículo se argumenta
sobre la importancia de potenciar el bienestar en la educación, se presentan actividades prácticas y estrategias de intervención,
con especial referencia a la formación del profesorado.
Palabras clave: Psicología positiva, Bienestar, Educación emocional, Fortalezas personales, Atención plena.

Positive psychology has multiple applications. This article is focused on formal education, from the ages of 3 to 18 years. The
development of well-being should be one of the aims of education, which would affect teachers, students, families and by
extension society at large. This has been a clear aim for emotional education (Bisquerra, 2000, 2009), from the outset. With
the emergence of positive psychology, there was a renewed effort in this direction, as a means of providing a better foundation.
GROP (Grup de Recerca en Orientación Psicopedagógica [Research in Psychopedagogical Education Group]) at the University
of Barcelona is conducting research on this subject. The Happy Classrooms (“Aulas felices”) program developed by the SATI
team is the first program in Spanish aimed at working on positive education. It is designed for children and youths in pre-school,
primary and secondary education. The program focuses its applications on character strengths and mindfulness. It is freely
available for access and distribution. This article argues for the importance of enhancing well-being in education. Practical
activities and intervention strategies are presented, with special reference to the importance of teacher training.
Key words: Positive psychology, Well-being, Emotional education, Character strengths, Mindfulness.
ELL-BEING AS A GOAL OF EDUCATION myopic view of individual personal well-being to guide

W Well-being should be one of the main goals of

education and politics. But what kind of well-being
ourselves towards the integral development of individuals within
their respective organizations. The objective is social well-being
are we talking about? In the media, when well-being is in interaction with personal well-being.
discussed it is understood as material well-being, meaning Education should not be confused with schooling. Schooling
economic and technological development. Here we refer to equates to formal education and is limited to centers of infant,
another type of well-being. The diversity of approaches to well- primary, and secondary education. But education is a much
being justifies the usefulness of “adding a qualifier” to specify to broader concept that refers to any learning process in any
which kind of well-being we are referring: material well-being, context, and throughout life. In this article, however, we will only
social well-being, physical well-being, professional well-being
cover formal education.
(engagement), emotional well-being, subjective well-being,
It should be emphasized that schools are an ideal medium for
psychological well-being, hedonic well-being, or eudemonic
the dissemination of the culture of well-being. Among other
well-being (Bisquerra, 2013). All of these types of well-being
reasons because, this way, it can begin in the earliest ages and
should be part of education, as they guide our way forward.
also because it is the most effective way to reach the entire
It should be made clear that well-being has a personal
dimension and another social one. We must transcend this population. Indeed, in developed countries almost one hundred
percent of children go through the school system and access to

Received: 15 February 2016 - Accepted: 6 May 2016

the families can be gained through these centers. Therefore,
Correspondence: Rafael Bisquerra. Universitat de Barcelona
intervention through formal education ensures access to a large
(UB). Campus Mundet, Edifici Llevant. Passeo Vall d’Hebron,
171. 08035 Barcelona. España. E-mail: [email protected]
part of the population. No other intervention can ensure that so
many people are reached.

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RAFAEL BISQUERRA ALZINA Y SILVIA HERNÁNDEZ PANIELLO
Special Section

EMOTIONAL EDUCATION FOR WELL-BEING in psychological research and practice, by drawing attention to
Emotional education aims to develop emotional skills and well- the positive aspects of human functioning and experience and
being (Bisquerra, 2000, 2009). It is based on the principle that integrating them into our understanding of the negative aspects
well-being is one of the basic goals of personal and social life. of human functioning and experience. At the pragmatic level, it
Happiness is often sought via erroneous paths that can lead to is about understanding the sources, processes and mechanisms
risky behavior such as drug use. Science-based education for that lead to desirable successes.
well-being should be seen as essential for the integral As a result of research in positive psychology, practitioners are
development of students. in a better situation to help people build their well-being and
Positive psychology, emotional intelligence and emotional flourish rather than simply exist. This means improving the
education provide evidence of what works and what does not. quality of life and subjective well-being; preventing the onset of
Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive and express mental disorders and psychopathology; and developing
emotions, to use the emotions to facilitate thought, to understand emotional skills, amongst other things. All of this occurs within
and reason through the emotions and to regulate one’s own the most rigorous scientific methodology.
emotions and those of others (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & The usual themes of positive psychology are well-being, human
Cherkasskiy, 2015). Knowledge of positive psychology and strengths, flow, optimism, humor, creativity, resilience,
emotional intelligence should be disseminated through emotional intelligence, and mindfulness, among others. All of
emotional education, with the aim of developing key life skills these contents should be part of the compulsory academic
that enable one to achieve greater well-being. curriculum of primary and secondary students, as well as
Emotional education should begin in the early stages of life universities.
and must be present throughout the entire life cycle.
Emotional education is an eminently practical methodology EMOTIONAL EDUCATION FOR WELL-BEING WITHIN GROP
(group dynamics, self-reflection, dialogic reason, games, GROP (Grup de Recerca en Orientación Psicopedagógica)
relaxation, breathing, etc.) with the aim of promoting the [Psychopedagogical Guidance Research Group] at the
development of emotional competencies. University of Barcelona (UB) was founded in 1997 with the aim
Generally, teachers have not received an initial or continuing of investigating emotional education. A model of emotional
training in emotional education and they are the first ones that competencies was produced, which is in constant review and
need this, in order to be able to contribute to the development of includes five blocks: emotional awareness, emotional regulation,
emotional competencies in students. In this sense, we can affirm emotional autonomy, social skills, and life skills for well-being
that teachers and families should be the first recipients of (Bisquerra, 2009).
emotional education. When GROP had been working for three years, positive
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of psychology emerged, which gave a boost to the aforementioned
the first article on emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey, fifth block (life skills for well-being). In 2002, at the UB, the
1990) a review of the research applied to education has been Postgraduate Diploma in Emotional education and well-being
carried out (Bisquerra, García Navarro, & Pérez-González, was created, which has among its fundamentals emotional
2014) from which principles are derived for the implementation intelligence, neuroscience and positive psychology. In fact, the
of programs. development of conscious well-being is one of the essential
objectives of the work of GROP.
APPLICATIONS OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO EDUCATION The postgraduate students carry out internships in schools that
Positive psychology is a movement that emerged at the turn of generally involve the design, implementation and evaluation of
this century and it has experienced considerable publicity from emotional education programs, in which, of course, well-being
outset, as if it were a paradigm shift opening new hopes for a is an essential aspect. Currently, an assessment of the effects of
better future, focused on the well-being of people and of society this educational practice is in the process of being carried out.
in general. This has very important applications in education. At the moment, due to the evidence that is available, it can be
Positive psychology is proposed as basic pillars of study and said that the teachers involved show a clear satisfaction with the
research: positive emotions, positive individual traits (virtues and improvements in emotional competencies, reduced conflict and
strengths), positive institutions that facilitate their development violence, improved classroom environment, and even improved
and programs that help improve people’s quality of life and academic performance.
prevent the incidence of psychopathology. Emotional education can be applied through all of the
To Linley, Harrington, Stephen, and Wood (2006) Positive academic subjects like a multidisciplinary theme. However
psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. tutoring provides an ideal space for its practice (Bisquerra,
At the meta-psychological level it aims to redress the imbalance 2012). Examples of activities are noting on screens the emotion

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being experienced with different facial expressions, expressing Libro de las Emociones [The Big Book of emotions]; and
or verbalizing the positive emotions one is “feeling”, expressing Bisquerra (2015) presented a didactic material entitled Universo
thanks for the good things that happen through texts or in de las emociones [The Universe of Emotions].
person, spending the first or last five minutes of each day, The design, application and evaluation of emotional education
discussing the positive aspects of one’s life, and carrying out programs is one of the lines of research of GROP, on which
relaxation and meditation practices at certain times of the school there have been more than ten doctoral theses presented and
day. numerous journal articles published. The overall results are
School activities can be fun, because fun is not the opposite of highly positive. For more details on the activities, research and
seriousness, but rather boredom. We still have the challenge of publications of GROP, please see the website: http:
moving from schooling based on the idea of “no pain, no gain” //www.ub.edu/grop/castellano/, which directly offers an
to one where the motto is “teaching by inspiring”. The value of abundance of literature on the subject.
play for learning should be rediscovered in order to make
academic activities fun. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE HAPPY CLASSROOMS
A sense of humor is another step regarding the above. Humor PROGRAM
does not have to decrease discipline, but it can increase the The “Happy Classrooms” program was created by the SATI
respect for the teacher. We must accept that learning takes effort team formed by Ricardo Arguís, Ana Bolsas, Silvia Hernández
and sacrifice; but this is not incompatible with humor and fun. and Mar Salvador. The word sati comes from the ancient
It is about creating a secure environment where students feel language of Pali, and it roughly translates to ‘mindfulness’. The
comfortable, both with their peers and with the teachers. Fear is team is composed of four teachers working on different
at the opposite extreme to happiness. A climate of fear can have educational stages, with a varied work history and based on the
various causes: fear of exams, fear of the teacher, fear of desire to work with positive psychology in education.
punishment, and fear of peers (bullying), among others. Fears After learning about positive psychology, observing its
should be monitored and sensitivity is required in order to applicability to schools and searching the publishing market and
counteract fear in a climate of security. internet for proposals that existed on the subject, they decided to
Group activities foster well-being. Research has shown that create an educational program that reconciles the learning of
one of the main factors in well-being is the social relations. classroom content with well-being in the classrooms. Its main
Therefore, using group dynamics in class can promote learning objectives are twofold: to increase happiness in students,
and well-being. Some methodologies such as cooperative teachers and families, and to promote the personal and social
learning also promote social relations. development of students.
With the intention of making the activities, exercises and Happy Classrooms was published online in October 2010. In
resources available to the interested teachers, various materials November 2012 the second edition, revised and improved, was
have been developed by members of GROP. Some examples published. This program takes as its conceptual framework the
are as follows. López (2003, 2011) developed materials and scientific contributions of positive psychology. It offers 300
resources for children’s education; Renom (2003) did the same activities, methodological suggestions and general proposals for
for primary education; Pascual and Cuadrado (2001) did this action consistent with the program.
for secondary education; Guell, & Muñoz (2003) for upper It is aimed at students from 3 to 18 years of age. The activities
secondary; Agulló et al. (2010) presented resources for the for the higher grades can also be used with adults. It can be
practice of emotional education in general; Álvarez (2001) applied in all curricular areas; also within tutorials and values
developed the methodology for the design and evaluation of education. The program is located within the core competencies
emotional education programs; Bisquerra (2011) presented of the current European education systems; it allows teachers to
proposals for educators and families; several members of GROP practice the more multidisciplinary skills: a sense of initiative and
(2009) have produced activities for the development of entrepreneurship, social and civic competence, the skill of
emotional intelligence in children; Redorta et al. (2006) studied learning to learn.
the relationship between emotion and conflict; Bisquerra (2008) It is a freely available program that can be downloaded at no
presented the approach of emotional education in citizenship cost at www.aulasfelices.org. A version in English is also
education; Soldevila (2009) discussed emotional education in available. Its generous sharing over the Internet and the
the elderly; Bisquerra et al. (2014) present proposals for painstaking work behind the material have earned it recognition
preventing bullying at school through emotional education; by the teachers who know it. At present it is applied in around
Filella (2014), focus on the application of emotional education 100 schools. It is recommended reading in university programs,
through video games; Pujol and Bisquerra (2012) have masters and doctorate degrees at various Spanish and foreign
developed a teaching resource for children entitled El Gran universities.

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The SATI team was founded on the model of well-being psychologists, physicians and educators in various countries and
described by Seligman (2002: 346-347; 2011) known as in numerous professional contexts, and its benefits are backed
PERMA. The name is an acronym of its five components: by a growing body of research (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Cebolla
Positive emotions & Miró, 2008; Davidson & Begley, 2012; Kabat-Zinn, 1990,
Engagement 2005, Lavilla, Molina, & López, 2008; Lyubomirsky, 2008;
Relationships Simón, 2007; and Vallejo, 2006). From this research, it has
Meaning been shown that “the practice of mindfulness can produce many
Achievements highly beneficial effects, among which we highlight:
Happy Classrooms takes the research of positive psychology 4 Increased concentration
into consideration, since this research provides evidence that to 4 Reduced automation
be happy one must develop personal strengths and a state of 4 The achievement of more control of one’s thoughts, emotions
serenity to help achieve satisfaction in life. Thus, happiness and and behaviors
human self-improvement are united. Well-being does not 4 Greater enjoyment of the present moment
depend so much on the external circumstances but rather on 4 Healthy physical effects: relaxation, improved breathing, reg-
how we perceive and deal with them. ulated blood pressure, strengthened immune system, etc.
4 Positive changes at the neurobiological level” (SATI Team,
Basic characteristics 2012, p.37)
The basic features of the program are as follows: Advances in psychology and scientific support for the practice
4 It is an integrative model to enhance the personal and social of mindfulness have meant that its application to the school
development of students. context has increased and gained recognition. Arguís (2014)
4 It unifies and structures the work that is currently being car- argues the importance of mindfulness in education. According
ried out in schools on the tutorial, values education and key to this author, “Mindfulness helps:
skills related to personal and social development and learn- 4 To counteract daily stress, to experience things in a more at-
ing to learn. tentive and conscious way.
4 It is a broad and flexible set of resources that are applicable 4 To assimilate the information we receive more calmly and in
to students aged 3 to 18 years with the possibility of apply- a more relaxed way, in order to learn better and avoid “in-
ing them in all areas and all school situations without having foxication”.
the feeling that it has been “added on”. 4 To provide elements for personal and social development and
4 It has two central pillars, which are two concepts of particular the promotion of well-being in schools that complement tradi-
relevance in positive psychology: mindfulness and educating tional academic learning” (p.131).
in the 24 personal strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). All Before carrying out this activity in the classroom, the teachers
this with the eventual aim of making the students more inde- must be trained in and practice mindfulness in order to be able
pendent, more able to navigate the world around them and, to work adequately with students and also to reap the benefits
ultimately, “happier” (SATI Team, 2012, p.11). of regular practice.
In keeping with the premises of positive psychology and the There are various techniques for training students in
rigor with which the program was created, several mindfulness, which include the following. A more detailed
investigations are underway to obtain data on the effectiveness description can be found in Chapter 7 of the Happy Classrooms
of the program. The results of these studies will be available program.
soon. 4 Meditation based on breathing and walking.
4 Techniques based on relaxation and meditation: body scan,
MINDFULNESS exercises derived from yoga, tai chi, chi kung.
Mindfulness is a permanent attitude of consciousness and calm 4 Mindfulness in everyday life: calmly savoring a food; enjoy-
that allows us to live fully in the present moment. Its roots go ing a picture or music; choosing and performing everyday
back to the ancient Eastern traditions, which have been studied tasks mindfully, etc.
and promoted in recent years within modern psychology. It is For example, the activity “My hands (1): the caress”. This activity
important to emphasize that mindfulness is not limited to aims to promote sensory awareness and concentration. It can be
relaxation and concentration techniques. It goes beyond that, summarized as follows: After taking a few quiet breaths, the
since when integrated into regular practice, these techniques students observe their hands; they put their palms together,
form the spark of an attitude, a philosophy of life that allows us pressing them in order to try to bring them closer together; the
to live every moment more deeply and with more enjoyment. hands are released, leaving only the fingertips touching. This is
Currently, the practice of mindfulness is being promoted by repeated several times. After the hands are separated, they are

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opened and closed simultaneously, noting the gentle pressure of 3. Open-mindedness (judgment, critical thinking)
the nail on the skin when making a fist and noting the stretching 4. Love of learning
feeling when opening them. Finally, a hand is reached out and its 5. Perspective (wisdom)
outline is drawn with the index finger of the other, going over the COURAGE: Emotional strengths involving the exercising of will
fingers one by one, while enjoying the caress. This is repeated on power in order to achieve goals in situations of external or
the other hand. Three deep breaths are taken in order to close the internal difficulty.
activity. Doing this final stage in pairs is another option. This 6. Courage
activity and other similar ones can be seen at: 7. Perseverance
https://convivencia.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/atencionplena 8. Integrity
enceipcatalina/ 9. Vitality
Throughout the school day, there are many moments for HUMANITY: Interpersonal strengths that involve caring for
practicing mindfulness. For example: others and offering friendship and love.
4 At the beginning of a class in any subject or area. 10. Love
4 At times of commotion in the classroom or a disruption to the 11. Kindness
working environment. 12. Social intelligence (emotional intelligence, personal intelli-
4 In the transition from one activity to another one that requires gence)
more concentration. JUSTICE: Civic strengths that involve a healthy community life.
4 Restoring calm after a very “lively” activity (after recess, after 13. Citizenship (social responsibility, loyalty, teamwork)
PE class or music, etc.). 14. Sense of justice
It is about small, but systematic, moments of mindfulness – 15. Leadership
which take place within the routines and habits– that the students MODERATION: Strengths that protect us against excesses.
internalize in order to integrate them into their daily lives. These 16. Ability to forgive, mercy
moments are a resource of inestimable value, an inner strength 17. Modesty, humility
and an attitude to life that favors a conscious and happy life. 18. Prudence (discretion, caution)
19. Self-control, self-regulation
PERSONAL STRENGTHS TRANSCENDENCE: Strengths that forge connections with the
One of the key aspects of positive psychology is the study of immensity of the universe and provide meaning to life.
human strengths, which lies within “trait theory” and is linked to 20. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
the idea of ”good character”. Research on the positive traits of 21. Gratitude
personality has created an elaborate theory about what are 22. Hope (optimism, future projection)
known as personal strengths (Seligman, 2002; Peterson & 23. Sense of humor
Seligman, 2004). These authors have developed and validated 24. Spirituality (religious meaning, faith, meaning in life)
a descriptive model of personality based on personal strengths, The interested reader can find out more about these human
understood as universal, measurable and teachable positive strengths in the literature. It should be noted that there is
traits. growing research to support the usefulness of this system in
After evaluating other models, the SATI team opted for the enhancing well-being and happiness in various fields of
model of 24 strengths by Peterson and Seligman (2004), human life. The Values In Action Institute (VIA,
because they deemed it to have the following characteristics: it http://www.viacharacter.org), created by Seligman and
is all-encompassing and it also has a solid theoretical basis, Mayerson, is an organization that promotes research, with its
empirical evidence and, above all, great applicability in the main tools being online questionnaires.
educational world. The research results have shown the relationship between these
After years of research, a team of practitioners led by Peterson strengths and life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and
and Seligman identified 24 personal strengths, grouped around happiness. The development of skills related to human strengths
six broad virtues. The strengths are defined as “morally acts as a barrier to psychological disorders (Seligman &
assessable styles of thinking, feeling and acting that contribute Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
to a successful life.” This is the list (Peterson and Seligman, The synthesis of some of the most noteworthy results on the
2004): issue of strengths and virtues related to education can be found
WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE: Cognitive strengths involving in the Aulas Felices [Happy Classrooms] manual, the result of a
the acquisition and use of knowledge. literature review on the subject (Park & Peterson, 2009a,
1. Creativity 2009b; Peterson & Park, 2009; Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
2. Curiosity Education can play a very important role in the development of

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Special Section

human strengths, facilitating it and providing training as a tool subjects. It is recommended to choose a number of strengths
for building happiness. and to schedule their practice in the classroom, choosing the
With regards to the no. 12 strength, social or emotional activities to be carried out carefully in order not to be
intelligence, it is essential to address this from an educational inundated or overwhelmed and to make the above principles
standpoint. To carry out the proposed activities around this a constant that permeates the work in the classroom.
strength the contributions of different authors such as Fernández An example is the “positive messages” activity (from strength
Berrocal, Salovey and Mayer were taken into account, as well 12, social intelligence). Its objective is to convey well-being and
as the material produced and presented according to age level happiness to others through positive messages. This is a
prepared by GROP. This strength is related to others such as summary of the proposal: As motivation and inspiration the
citizenship, self-control, or open-mindedness. video “Be happy” is shown, which can be located on YouTube:
Inserting the strengths model by Peterson and Seligman into http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpbMt7ehgeo).
the curriculum provides an integrative framework that enables Afterwards, the students are asked to write messages that
school work to be tackled based on the three core competencies: produce a positive effect when read.
sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, social and civic The messages (or a sample of them) are read in class and a
competence, and the skill of learning to learn. number of them are selected for the creation of posters that
will be distributed and placed around the school. Emphasis is
Despite their importance and regulatory support, these
placed on the originality of the messages and the fact that
strengths are at risk of being missing in the classroom as they do
they come from the students. The activity can be practiced in
not correspond exactly to traditional curriculum areas. The SATI
English class (or other languages) following the same pattern.
team has related the 24 personal strengths to these skills, and
Examples of messages developed by students from 4th grade
this work can be considered a functional breakdown of them.
primary can be viewed at:
Table 1 shows this relationship.
https://convivencialles.wordpress.com/2015/01/mensajes
positivos.pdf
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES https://convivencia.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/buenasp
In the “Happy Classrooms” program, there are more than racticasfortalezainteligenciasocialaulasfelices/
three hundred activities, aimed at students of infant, primary 3. Personalized plans.- The growth of the student is oriented,
and secondary education, for practicing each of the personal taking into consideration the different characteristics of each
strengths. These activities are accompanied by a series of individual and their specific profile of personal strengths. At
intervention strategies that are complementary to each other: this level, the students complete the VIA questionnaire and
global proposals, specific proposals, customized plans, and choose the strengths to be practiced, devising their own
joint work between families and schools. individual work plan.
1. Global proposals.- This concerns the following five principles
for creating a positive environment in schools, enhancing TABLE 1
well-being and learning, and promoting the development of
Competencies INITIATIVE SOCIAL AND CIVIC LEARNING TO LEARN
personal strengths.
4 The teachers’ attitude is very important. This refers, among Creativity Perspective Creativity
other things, to the role of the adult as a role model and ref- Curiosity Integrity Curiosity
erence in the classroom, particularly in the work of personal Openmindedness Love Openmindedness
strengths. The boosting of positive traits in students must be Love of learning Kindness Love of learning
accompanied by the work of the teacher. The effort and con- Bravery Citizenship Perspective
sistency of the teacher will be the invitation and the activation Personal Strengths Perseverance Sense of justice Perseverance
of the students’ response. Vitality Leadership Citizenship
4 Creating learning conditions that allow flow Modesty Capacity to forgive Self-Control
4 Implementing efficacious methodological strategies for learn- Prudence
ing and enhancing the well-being of students Self-control Gratitude

4 Promoting an education that prioritizes quality over quantity Appreciation of Modesty

4 The use of other complementary programs that can contribute

beauty

Hope
to the development of personal strengths
Sense of humor
2. Specific proposals.- This is a large battery of around 300
Spirituality
activities for practicing the 24 personal strengths in the
Modesty
classroom with the class group and it can be applied by any
Leadership
teacher: the class tutors and the experts in the different

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4. Joint work between families and schools.- It is obvious, but educación emocional en la práctica [Emotional education in
necessary to remember, that it is essential to inform and practice]. Barcelona: Horsori-ICE.
educate families to establish joint guidelines for action, in Álvarez, M. (2001). Diseño y evaluación de programas de
order to encourage the necessary coordination between educación emocional [The design and evaluation of
family and school, in the interests of greater program emotional education programs]. Barcelona: Wolters-Kluwer.
efficiency. Arguís, R. (2014). Mindfulness y educación: aprendiendo a
vivir con atención plena [Mindfulness and education:
WHAT ABOUT THE TEACHERS? learning to live with mindfulness]. In A. Cebolla, J. García
Teacher training is critical to any change or impetus in Campayo & M. Demarzo (Eds.), Mindfulness y ciencia
educational improvement. The model promoted by the SATI [Mindfulness and science] (pp. 236-265). Madrid: Alianza.
team is committed to theoretical and practical training, with Bisquerra, R. (2000). Educación emocional y bienestar
examples of good classroom proposals for the different [Emotional education and well-being]. Barcelona: Wolters
educational stages, complemented by a personal commitment to Kluwer-Praxis.
work in the classroom. It includes first-hand experience of the Bisquerra, R. (2008). Educación para la ciudadanía. El enfoque
strengths and mindfulness, with guidelines for their practice de la educación emocional [Education for citizenship. The
between sessions. Happy Classrooms program activities in focus of emotional education]. Barcelona: Wolters Kluwer.
different schools are available for teachers using this link: Bisquerra, R. (2009). Psicopedagogía de las emociones [The
https://convivencia.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/9525/ psychopedagogy of emotions]. Madrid: Síntesis.
As a summary we can say that education is much more than Bisquerra, R. (2012). Orientación, tutoría y educación
the traditional academic instruction of content. An authentic emocional [Counselling, mentoring and emotional education]
education should promote the personal and social development Madrid: Síntesis.
of all students. The ultimate purpose of education is to promote Bisquerra, R. (2013). Cuestiones sobre bienestar [Well-being
personal and social well-being. Issues]. Madrid: Síntesis.
In the previous sections we have hoped to convey that learning Bisquerra, R. (2015). Universo de emociones [The universe of
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