Across Europe, many teachers and students are facing the same reality: pressure is rising, motivation is dropping, and too many people feel disconnected from school. SWELL responds to this challenge by helping educators create learning environments where both teachers and learners feel valued, capable and engaged.
At the heart of SWELL is Self-Directed Learning: an approach that helps learners take an active role in their own learning. It is not about leaving students alone! It is about giving them the tools, confidence and space to understand themselves as learners, make meaningful choices, set goals, reflect, collaborate and grow.
In doing so, SWELL supports teachers to move from “delivering content” to facilitating agency, curiosity and wellbeing.
Through training, mentoring, online learning, communities of practice and international exchange, the project equips pre-service and in-service teachers with practical strategies to make classrooms a co-inquiring and meaningful space.
SWELL connects universities, teacher education providers, schools, democratic education networks and civil society organisations across Europe.
Together, they are building a new model for teacher education: one where wellbeing is not an extra, inclusion is not an afterthought, and students’ voices are not symbolic!
Understand what is happening in schools by exploring how wellbeing, self-directed learning and school culture are experienced in different European contexts.
Co-design teacher training that links learners and teachers wellbeing with agency, self-determination and meaningful learning.
Offer open learning opportunities, including a MOOC, so teachers can explore tools, ideas and practices at their own pace.
Create European communities of practice where educators exchange experiences, challenges and practical solutions.
Develop resources for everyday school life, supporting teachers to bring self-directed learning and wellbeing into their classrooms.
Inform education policy by producing recommendations and opening dialogue with institutions and decision-makers on how wellbeing and self-directed learning can become part of teacher education and school curricula.
Self-directed learning is about learning and teaching with agency and responsibility.
It is a process where learners are trusted and supported in taking ownership of their learning: to identify what they need, set meaningful goals, choose strategies and resources, monitor their progress, and reflect on what they are learning.
Self-direction is both a way of learning and a lifelong competence. It builds motivation, confidence, self-regulation and the ability to keep learning in a changing world.
Wellbeing in education goes beyond simply feeling “good” at school. It is about creating sustainable environments where both students and teachers feel supported, build meaningful relationships and grow with confidence.
Wellbeing has many dimensions: emotional, social, cognitive, physical and ethical and it is shaped by relationships, school culture, learning conditions and the wider system.
In SWELL we look at wellbeing in its collective dimension and we address it systemically beyond “wellbeing programmes”, looking at how teachers and students relate, how learning is organised, how voice and agency are supported, and how people are given the space to thrive.
Belgium
Romania
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Romania
Bulgaria
Portugal
Germany
Belgium
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
