ABOUT CERC
Primary Collaborator in Romania
Resource platform for social-emotional learning (SEL)
CERC is a Verita Foundation project and is intended to share our valuable SEL knowledge, results and resources with educators in the public education system and with other organizations and people who understand the importance of changing the way we look at and treat our children's education.
CERC's mission is to provide resources in various forms based on scientific data but also based on the practice and information gathered from around the world in over 30 years of research and studies on how and why SEL works in learning environments and its decisive role in the academic success and development of healthy life skills for our children.
Verita Foundation has launched CERC (Compassion in Education Resource Center) in order to put together internationally validated resources about social emotional learning through the SEE curriculum ( Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning ) which was developed by Emory University and Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion- Based Ethics, USA.
Verita Foundation is the Primary Collaborator in Romania, aiming to introduce the SEE curriculum in the public education system.
Our
Experience
For the past six years our team went through its own process of transformation, learning and experimenting with SEL within Verita International School.
Our school recognizes the significant importance of social, emotional and ethical learning in the process of educating the hearts and minds of our children, increasing their self-knowledge skills, healthy management of stress factors, developing their critical thinking and resilience.
This process included teaching weekly SEL classes, organizing trainings and workshops for educators and parents. Also, our team of trainers completed internationally accredited courses with global experts in SEL.
10.000 hours of class teaching
Over 5 years of teaching weekly classes of socio-emotional learning to a number of over 500 children aged 2.5 to 15 years old.
CERC Programs
Educaring
We know that every year hundreds of thousands of teachers come to class for the very first time with the dream of changing children’s life chances for the better, wanting to inspire a love for learning and important skills for a healthy and happy life. Unfortunately, research shows that 40-50% of teachers will leave their teaching position in the first five years.
Educaring is an 8-week online course that aims to support educators and teachers in strengthening their social and emotional skills to manage the stress that comes with their profession thus helping them stay in this meaningful profession for a longer time.
Wellbeing Retreats
Each year we organize retreats that focus on identifying stress factors in education as well as effective emotional self-regulation practices for educators that can be reflected more in the classroom interaction between students and teachers.
The first retreat for educators brought together 20 people who wanted to learn more about stressors and stress resilience tools when it comes to their emotional education and well-being. We worked to identify our stressors and understand the science behind how our bodies respond to stress and how we can return to the "Green Zone", where we feel more relaxed, focused and ready to use our inner resources.
Online workshops for parents and teachers
The degree to which parents and educators manage to be more aware of their own emotions and how to manage them will have a direct impact on the quality of the relationship with their child at home or in class as well as on their educational process.
Our online workshops offer information as well as hands down models of modelling and implementing social emotional learning skills and strategies at home or in the classroom.
Themes of interest include:
- What is social emotional learning and why is it so important for the harmonious development of my child
- What is the impact that SEL has on academic performance
- What is stress and what are the five domains of stress in our lives
- Managing stress - the healthy way
- Parent - child and educator - child relationship - the importance of establishing an emotional connection
Conferences and symposiums with international experts
With the development of our community of educators and parents, we began to organize larger events that bring together experts in education and specialists from all over the country to provide a space for community development and to enrich the collective knowledge in regards to social-emotional learning and compassion in education.
In recent years we have organized conferences with experts such as Nipun Mehta, the founder of Service Space or Ed Dunkelblau, Director of the Institute for Emotional Intelligence. The events had themes such as social-emotional learning, service learning, compassion in education, new models of building resilience and critical thinking for our future generations and other topics of interest.
Programs for companies
We partner up with companies for:
- Wellbeing Online personalized programs for employees
- Online Parenting and Social Emotional Learning programs for employees and their children.
- Mindfulness at work sessions
- Social emotional Learning experiential workshops for employee’s children.
Contact us and let’s start the transformation of your company!
Testimonials
I have devoted the last 30 years of my professional life to the understanding of the importance of Social and Emotional Learning and to the efforts of disseminating its value across the globe.
In this endeavor, I was invited to spend a week at Verita International School to observe what they had already put into action regarding SEL and to provide guidance about next steps in their process of broadening their reach for the children in public schools in Romania through their Verita Foundation non profit organization.
During my time in Bucharest, I observed an organized, inventive and integrated SEL program that was delivered by an extremely talented and passionate staff. Since then they have continued to be on the forefront of SEL program development and implementation.
This program and its staff have the highest standards for educational excellence and are devoted to providing all children with the skills that are needed for them to be caring, kind and academically successful adults. I have been consistently impressed with what Verita has done and continues to do as they pioneer this extremely important educational endeavor.
Ed Dunkelblau
Director of Emotional Intelligence Institute, USA
When I think of Verita, I feel a deep gratitude for every AHA moment I lived with them. And there were many.
They were my mentors in the process of bringing social-emotional skills to the children who needed them the most, of bringing learning through experience and real connection with the needs and realities of children.
They were my mentors in the process of bringing social-emotional skills to the children who needed them the most, of bringing learning through experience and real connection with the needs and realities of children.
Cristina Constantin
Tutor Coordinator Teach for Romania
I am grateful for every experience I have had with the people at Verita. Thanks to them, I understood that the good starts with each one of us, when you choose to look at the world around you with more compassion. They helped me discover the importance of social-emotional skills in education and in the interactions I have with the people around me. For me, they are a true example of what a servant leader means and how you can empower others through compassion.
Anca Popa
Tutor Coordinator at Teach for Romania
The Educaring course for me was an oasis of calm and knowledge. Knowledge of other people, other ideas and concepts, but especially self-knowledge. I started the course with the same pressure and desire for perfection with which I started many other things and I finished it with understanding, acceptance and compassion. Along with the wonderful people who were my mentors, but also with the other participants, I discovered that we all fight for perfection, but that together we can open another path for it.
Through Educaring I also discovered what compassion really means. I have not yet fully mastered it, but the fact that I understood its meaning was a big step for me, because suddenly that pressure and perfection took on a different meaning. And so I arrived in a state of calm and warmth, a combination that I felt every time I entered the Educaring sessions.
Julie Dinca
teacher, Verita International Schoo
The encounter between Teach for Romania community and Verita Foundation is about the synchronicities generated by a common vision of contribution to the collective good. Eco-systemic thinking, compassion, servant leadership, interest in well-being, direct contribution where it is most needed have become the foundation of a collaboration that has taken various forms.
Teachers were supported through training aimed at both their own well-being and the provision of valuable methodological solutions for the development of social-emotional skills of students, through access to wellness retreats and group mentoring. Moreover, resources to cover basic needs have been directed to vulnerable schools and children in difficulty.
The Teach team benefited from the know-how accumulated by Verita in SEL and advice on various processes.
Beyond all these concrete directions of collaboration, however, lies the great lesson that this "togetherness" offers us: sustainable changes, aimed at mentalities and behaviors, take place in small steps and involve courageous partners, who act humbly and are in for the long run, not only the small wins.
We are deeply grateful to have the Verita Foundation as such a partner.
Mirela Ștețco
Head of Training and support Teach for Romania
I am a public school teacher which means that most of the time, I cannot choose the courses I wish to take part in. I gladly received Lila’s invitation to this course and the first thing I did was to look up in the dictionary the definition and difference between compassion and empathy . I managed to a certain degree to understand it and the rest of the clarifications came during the course through direct interactions with the other participants.
I have learned from the many stories the other educators have shared about the way they interact with their students and I have also shared my own methods that I use in class, receiving validation that I have never received so far thus becoming more confident along the way.
The resources that have been shared with us were those I would have chosen myself after many hours of searching and sorting. I also enjoyed listening to completely different perspectives than mine about the chosen topics.
Discussing with the other participants, I understood that they also saw education more like a relationship than a process and that the educator, in order to be efficient, needs to be exactly half of that relationship. This course was for me a journey and an opportunity for professional introspection. Thank you!
Maria Popa
Public school educator
I participated in the Educaring - Cultivating Resilience in Education course and I want to share this amazing learning, self discovery and putting into practice experience with those interested in such a journey. I felt fantastic throughout the entire course. I realized that I am part of an amazing team where it’s ok to be wrong so that I can learn to develop myself and to contribute to the development of others.
We went through the main topics together and shared our opinions which was a very practical way to learn , dealing with documenting, answering questions and presenting your ideas in front of the rest of the group. An excellent format, oriented towards building your resilience skills and a lovely virtual space where you feel safe to open up and give your best.
I felt engaged throughout the entire time and totally captivated. I have added to that many personal challenges, self trust to overcome them, validations, feedback and a lot of joyous moments. I am very happy to have been able to participate in this course. Thank you!
Mihai Iulian Mares
PE Teacher,Traian Theoretical High School, Bucharest
For me, participating in the educators retreat organized by Verita is one of the memorable events that I remember gladly. The joy comes both from the moments I lived there but also from the resources that I took with me.
The framework they provided was a beautiful balance between science and emotion, between being and doing. The guided meditation in the morning, the meaningful discussions, the challenges to have moments of self-reflection, were all supported by the rigorous research that they shared with us with so much enthusiasm and gentleness.
Regarding the resources I took with me, one of the most powerful ones that I use is the idea of doing guided meditation, a tool that has integrated beautifully into my mornings. Thanks for the experience!
Alina Andronescu
Tutor coordinator Teach for Romania
Un proiect CERC
Susținut de Fundația Verita
educaring
The online Social emotional Learning Program for educators
EDUCARING curriculum
educaring
The “Educaring” training is based on a learning model that helps participants to be and feel deeply involved in the process. The system is built on three dimensions, Heart – Head – Hands, through which the educators will participate in a process of reflection,will acquire fresh knowledge in the field and will apply new practices.
Week 1
Compassion
Week 2
Building Resilience
Week 3
Inner Transformation
Week 4
Managing emotions
Week 5
Learning from each other
Week 6
Compassion for ourselves and for others
Week 7
We’re All in This Together
Week 8
Building a Better World
When you register for an Educaring course
you will receive:
Weekly resources about:
- emotional intelligence
- neuroplasticity – how does our mind work
- wellbeing – what it is and how do I make it last
- recognizing and managing our daily stress
- emotional self regulation
- self-compassion
- thoughts and emotions – what’s the difference between them
- difficult emotions – what do we do about them
- conscious listening for difficult conversations
Eight online meetings
- You are part of a long term online community and mentorship group
- You are connecting with people that have shared values and passions , learning with and from them
- You have support from facilitators with long term experience on the appointed themes of the course
Certification of Course Completion Diploma offered by CERC and Verita Foundation
Time remaining
Time expired!
21 zile
3 ore
59 min
HOW CAN I SIGN UP?
1
Fill in the form below
Fill in the form below and we will contact you by email with information about the next step of the registration process.
2
Let’s meet online!
In order to keep high standards of this course the limited number of participants is 15. Selection is made based on the answers from the registration form and the one on one online meetings.
3
Confirmation of participation
You will receive the confirmation of participation by email. The course fee will have to be paid afterwards.
TEAM CERC
Richard Joannides
Founder
Lila Vasilescu
Passionate director
Andreea Alexandrescu
DIR Floortime therapist, trainer and psychopedagogue
Marius Luca
Mindfulness and SEL program facilitator
Andreea Neagu
Clinical psychologist psychoterapist
Doina Grigoraș
Project manager