Why supporting teacher wellbeing is critical to developing learners’ social-emotional skills (and how to do so effectively)

What challenges do out-of-school learners face in Colombia? 

Colombia faces persistent educational inequalities with an estimated 2.6 million children and youth not in school (UNICEF, 2022). Many are Venezuelan migrants, internally displaced, ethnic minorities such as Afro-descendants or indigenous groups, or from rural and conflict-affected areas. These students often face adverse childhood experiences, including violence, child labour, and poverty, making social-emotional learning essential for their re-engagement. To address these gaps, both Colombia's 2022-2026 National Development Plan and most recent education sector plan prioritize flexible education models that restore learning pathways and re-engage out-of-school children and youth (OOSCY). 

What are flexible education models? 

In Colombia, the term ‘flexible education models’ (FEM) refers to over 25 different programmes targeting marginalised learners (both children and adults) in rural and urban contexts, and both in-school and out-of-school. Within these models, there are various programmes that use an accelerated curriculum, such as the Learning Acceleration Programme (Programa de Aceleración de Aprendizaje) or Walking into Secondary (Caminar en Secundaria). ¹ These programmes aim to reintegrate OOSCY aged 9–17 into the formal school system. 

Offered in public schools and taught by certified formal school teachers during school hours, FEMs in Colombia condense 2 to 3 years of primary or secondary education into a single academic year. They are different than other accelerated education programmes, because FEM participants are expected to already have foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Activity-based learning is used to deliver the curriculum, whereby students address relevant community concerns, and families are engaged in the learning process (Plan International and Education Cannot Wait, n.d.). Through ‘Life Projects’ (Proyectos de Vida), students articulate their aspirations and map out their personal development goals (Calvo, 2019). Promotion is based on portfolio assessments, approved by the school’s Evaluation and Promotion Committee, after which learners transition into regular primary or secondary classrooms. 

The MEN leads regulation and oversight of all flexible education models, setting national quality standards, funding teacher salaries, and distributing materials, including operating manuals and teacher guides. While there is no national curriculum, the MEN provides baseline standards for subjects like literacy, numeracy, science, and citizenship education, which includes social-emotional competencies like empathy and conflict resolution (MEN, 2004). All materials are publicly available online, increasing autonomy for teachers and other implementers at the local level (Plan International and Education Cannot Wait, n.d.). 

Local Education Secretariats are responsible for curricular and pedagogical innovation. This autonomy promotes adaptation, ensuring programmes meet the needs of OOSCY. However, local governments often have varying levels of resources, technical knowledge, and interest in implementing FEMs, creating challenges at the local level. To enhance implementation, NGOs collaborate closely with Secretariats, developing curricula, training teachers, and providing advisory support. Organisations such as Fundación Carvajal, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Plan International, for example, strengthen teacher training and embed SEL and teacher wellbeing practices into FEM delivery.  

While there is limited recent evidence on the impact of these programmes, data from 2011-2016 suggest that 86% of learners participating in one FEM model (the Learning Acceleration Programme or Programa de Aceleración de Aprendizaje) transitioned successfully to formal school (Ortiz & Betancourt, 2020).  

Why teacher wellbeing matters for social-emotional learning? 

SEL curricula helps learners to develop confidence, autonomy, communication, teamwork, and conflict-resolution skills, amongst others. These skills result in long-term impacts, making learners more resilient after transitioning to traditional classrooms (D’Angelo et al., 2025). SEL is particularly relevant for learners who have experienced trauma or displacement, making it particularly relevant for Venezuelan migrants and communities affected by Colombia’s armed conflict. But SEL curriculum is most effective when delivered by trained and motivated teachers. 

In Colombia, FEM classrooms are often seen as challenging environments. Teachers are expected to manage high academic demands while working with learners who have experienced significant trauma or instability. “These are not easy classrooms,” explained one implementer. “Some principals assign teachers to these rooms hoping they will resign." 

NGOs help local governments address this challenge. Organisations such as Plan International, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Fundación Carvajal have developed SEL curricula, training, and monitoring and evaluation tools to assess and support the psychosocial wellbeing of teachers and their students. Norwegian Refugee Council’s Better Learning Programme (BLP), for example, complements FEM delivery (see more on BLP in our Kenya case study). Likewise, Fundación Carvajal has developed a wellbeing toolkit and integrated socio-emotional training into its FEM teacher support model. This includes school visits, group reflection, and ongoing mentoring, including through collaboration with social workers. Teachers are trained to understand the effects of trauma on learning and to adopt responsive, inclusive approaches. They are also provided with spaces to share how they feel, express concerns, or learn strategies for self-care. 

The training recognises that teacher motivation and emotional resilience are prerequisites for effective SEL delivery. Teachers who feel supported are more likely to come to work prepared, build strong relationships with their learners, and foster a classroom climate that enables both academic and emotional growth. Indeed, global evidence suggests that teacher wellbeing can be a conduit to student learning: when teachers feel safe and supported, they are more likely to be effective (Falk et al., 2019). 

But teacher wellbeing is not just a means to an end. It is about recognising and respecting the rights and broader needs of teachers as human beings and capable professionals. As one stakeholder said:  

“It’s about showing that we understand them, that we understand their situation, that we understand that it's not easy, that the pedagogical challenge is enormous, but that also for them, as people, this experience can be exhausting.”  

Teachers from these communities may also be vulnerable, and therefore supporting their wellbeing requires the provision of psychosocial support, improving working conditions, ensuring teachers are fairly compensated, and that they have agency and autonomy in their day-to-day work (INEE, 2022). This holistic approach is also reflected in Colombia’s policy frameworks. As part of the MEN’s teacher wellbeing programme it offers initial and ongoing training, housing, health insurance, social security, as well as sports and games as a means of “improving the quality of life of ^teachers and their families." While more research is needed to understand how these efforts play out in practice, at a minimum the programme provides an supportive framework and entry point through which FEM implementers can build on. 

Lessons for other contexts

The experience of Colombia’s flexible education models offers valuable insights for governments and NGOs seeking to support learners and teachers from marginalised communities, especially those who have experienced conflict or displacement:

1. Embed SEL and teacher wellbeing into national policy frameworks to facilitate local implementation: Despite Colombia not having a national curriculum, FEM regulations and wider policy efforts promote both SEL and teacher wellbeing. These frameworks create a clear path for scaling and sustaining local innovations. They allow education authorities and implementing partners to develop and fund SEL or teacher wellbeing strategies tailored to their contexts. And they encourage implementers to see these efforts not as an add-on, but as central to rebuilding inclusive, equitable education systems.
2. Enhance implementation capacity through public-private partnerships: In Colombia’s decentralised education system, where responsibility for implementing programmes like the FEM lies with subnational education secretariats, technical capacity can vary significantly. NGOs and other non-state actors have played a critical role in bridging these gaps. Through sustained partnerships with Education Secretariats, NGOs like Fundación Carvajal, Save the Children or Norwegian Refugee Council, offer targeted support. These public-private collaborations are essential for embedding SEL and teacher wellbeing at scale, particularly in under-resourced or high-need areas.
3. Support the whole teacher through whole-school approaches: SEL cannot thrive in fragmented systems. Teachers working with vulnerable learners face significant emotional and professional demands. Effective initiatives recognise this by pairing pedagogical training with holistic support for teacher wellbeing. A whole-school approach involves providing psychosocial support for teachers, fostering peer-to-peer learning and reflective practice, strengthening instructional leadership, and addressing structural challenges such as overcrowded classrooms and resource shortages. When schools invest in the full ecosystem of teacher support, teachers thrive, and learners benefit from more responsive and inclusive learning environments.