This testimonial is a personal learning journey of a participant in the Implementation Journey by Teach For All and Enseña por Colombia. In the project, university students become Fellows of the programme, taking a two-year placement in the countryside of Colombia to learn and implement social-emotional skills with their teacher colleagues, students and the wider community. Researchers at Teach For All iterate the innovation based on the results.
Name: Lina Moreno
Role: Headteacher
School: Colegio Guillermo Ponce de León
Location: Tuluá, Colombia
Student Details:
- Years taught: Nursery to Year 11
- Age of students: 5–17 years
- Number of students: 306
Expectations and Goals for the Programme
Why did you decide to become a partner of Enseña por Colombia?
Firstly, because I believe everything Enseña por Colombia does is of high quality, and above all, they provide consistent follow-up on the opportunities they bring to the school.
It’s not just about introducing a new programme and leaving it there; they ensure proper implementation through monitoring and evaluation. This is crucial for us, and we knew that whatever they introduced would definitely add value to what we already have, even though we have made significant progress in this area.
Do you believe socio-emotional skills or the development of socio-emotional skills are important for students to learn and for teachers to teach? Why?
I am convinced that socio-emotional skills are essential for both students and teachers.
For students, research shows that in order to learn, they need to feel safe in the classroom, have a sense of well-being, build positive relationships, and make good decisions.
But beyond the numbers, we have seen this firsthand in our school, both quantitatively and qualitatively. For example, the number of Type 2 disciplinary incidents, such as bullying, which are our biggest concern, has remained at zero.
External visitors frequently comment on the safe, calm, and positive atmosphere in our school.
Our students genuinely want to be at school. Even during holidays, many want to return, and parents tell us that their children look forward to coming back.
For many of our students, the school becomes a refuge, especially for those living in vulnerable situations. That makes socio-emotional skills even more important.
We also see the impact through personal stories. One student had to take care of his younger brother alone after their mother moved abroad for work, and there was no father in the picture. He told us how hard it was, but he applied everything he had learned about socio-emotional skills at school. He was able to focus in class because he used strategies he had developed on his way to school—preparing himself mentally for the day.
Similarly, during the school’s 65th anniversary celebrations, a former student who is now at the University of Valle shared his experience. Coming from a small school to a large university in another city was overwhelming—he described it as a jungle, full of diverse people and challenges. But he said that the socio-emotional skills he learned at school helped him adapt, and that was what he valued most about his education here.
We run a training programme in partnership with Emory University, and our graduates often realise that the level of socio-emotional education they received here doesn’t exist elsewhere in the same way.
We also use an index called Welbin Index, developed by Dr Daniel Tobón, which measures school well-being. We have consistently scored highly because we have worked year after year to improve our approach.
This index shows that schools with the highest well-being scores also achieve the best academic results.
Implementation of the Innovation
How would you describe your experience of implementing the socio-emotional skills module?
For the past three years, we have scored in the “Superior” category. The first year, we ranked 8th in Valle del Cauca (Calendar A); the second year, around 27th; and this year, we ranked 12th out of more than 900 schools.
No student in our school fails a grade, and 25% of our students are in flexible learning programmes due to cognitive challenges or vulnerabilities. For teachers, socio-emotional skills are just as important.
When we first introduced this programme, a teacher shared an experience where a student asked, “Teach, how are you feeling? What emotion are you experiencing?” The teacher was stunned because although he was teaching about emotions, he hadn’t really reflected on his own.
The first step in developing socio-emotional competencies was working on ourselves as a team, raising awareness of how we communicate and how we feel.
This year, we launched a diploma programme with ICESI University for all teachers, psychologists, and tech staff. However, to fit this in, we had to remove our well-being sessions, which focused on socio-emotional competencies, effective communication, and assertiveness workshops. As a result, teacher well-being scores have dropped, and teacher burnout has increased.
This year, two teachers experienced panic attacks, which made us realise how much mental health had been neglected. It wasn’t that their workload had increased, but rather that we had reduced their opportunities for emotional support.
We now see how essential it is to focus on well-being.
A teacher who isn’t well cannot create a positive environment for students.
If teachers are exhausted and overwhelmed, they will enter the classroom with low energy, affecting the atmosphere and the students’ experience.
It is clear that a safe and supportive classroom environment is fundamental, and that starts with teachers. It is nearly impossible to create a school culture where students develop socio-emotional skills if teachers don’t have them.
How socio-emotional skills impact your daily activities as a headteacher?
Everything I do revolves around working with people - beyond administrative tasks. The majority of my job involves leadership: motivating staff, creating a safe and supportive school environment, and ensuring everyone feels valued, from the janitor to the parents.
Many parents come to me with challenges related to their children or teachers. In these cases, empathy is crucial. I remind myself that a frustrated or angry parent isn’t attacking me personally, they may have lost their job two weeks ago and are venting their emotions.
I always put myself in their shoes.
Many schools complain about difficult parents, but I see it differently, a parent who comes to school is a parent who cares. That’s an opportunity, not a burden.
Most schools have disciplinary meetings, but they often focus on punishment—deciding what sanction a student will receive. We do things differently.
Our Code of Conduct doesn’t include punishment-based language—instead, it’s framed positively: “Why is it good to be a kind and supportive classmate?”
We know that when students behave disrespectfully, it often stems from family struggles. Instead of punishing, we focus on understanding and addressing the root cause.
As headteacher, I also prioritise staff training. Sometimes, I choose to offer a yoga class instead of a workshop on artificial intelligence, because we know that well-being directly impacts academic performance.
Some schools focus solely on exam results, overlooking well-being. But in reality, supporting socio-emotional skills leads to better performance in subjects like Maths—more than just adding an extra hour of lessons.
How has having Teach For All Fellows in your school impacted socio-emotional learning?
Most of our teachers come from the same local area. They speak the same way, grew up nearby, and probably know each other’s relatives. It’s easier to develop socio-emotional skills with people we are familiar with.
But the Fellows bring a new perspective – they come from different backgrounds, which challenges students and staff to engage with diverse experiences and viewpoints.
This is key to developing true socio-emotional skills, as they require understanding and respecting people beyond our inner circle.
The Fellows also go beyond academics—they are selected for a reason. They have a broader worldview, a passion for learning, and bring new opportunities.
For example, Jonathan (a Fellow) introduced students to six competitions, taking them to different cities and expanding their horizons.
Lessons Learned
The greatest achievement from this Implementation Journey?
Opening the school to different perspectives.
Bringing in people with different backgrounds enriches students and staff. It challenges traditional mindsets and broadens thinking.
We now encourage all teachers to enter students into competitions, as this helps them navigate application processes and appreciate learning beyond the classroom.
What is one thing you’ve gained from Enseña por Colombia?
The Fellows elevate the standard of what it means to be a teacher.
If you could start again, what would you do differently?
Nothing—I wouldn’t change a thing.
