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Educating for Wellbeing (EW)

Empowering educators and students to cultivate well-being at scale, to last.

In Mexico, 1 in 2 children lives in poverty and 60% are behind in school by grade six. Gaps in educational outcomes across socioeconomic status fuel cycles of inequality and violence. EW aims to break these cycles by fostering learning environments that act as protective barriers. EW trains educators to improve their own SEC and well-being, foster SEL in students and implement systemic change.
HundrED 2024
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Countries
Teachers
Target group
We envision education systems that prioritize every child’s emotional, mental, and relational well-being as a foundation for learning. In these systems, SEL is embedded across policies, curricula, and teacher training. Classrooms and schools become safe, caring spaces where students regulate emotions, act prosocially, learn, and thrive--supported by empowered, well-equipped, caring adults.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

In Mexico, SEL is both a pressing need and a legal mandate, yet educators aren’t equipped with the mindsets, skills or training to implement it. We created EW to build educators’ and leaders’ social-emotional skills as a goal in itself, and to empower them to teach those skills, embed SEL in school culture and across their communities—supporting student wellbeing and driving systemic change.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Educating for Wellbeing (EW) consists of three core components that guide participants and school systems from initial SEL awareness to sustainable, systemic implementation.

(I) SEL Professional Development: Educators complete a 120-hour blended program—through live (in-person or Zoom) sessions, a self-paced online course, and a mobile app—to explore, embody, and apply SEL competencies in their personal and professional lives, enhancing their well-being.

(II) Student SEL Curriculum: Siconautas (Psychonauts) is a comprehensive, age-appropriate curriculum with student and teacher manuals and classroom materials. It equips educators to teach and model SEL skills through direct instruction and daily classroom routines.

(II) Leadership Training for Systemic SEL Implementation: Educators in formal or informal leadership roles undergo an 80–200-hour process to organize, implement, and evaluate SEL strategies. With coaching support, they adapt and sustain culturally relevant, systemic approaches.

Through this process, teachers, principals, and other school staff develop SEL competencies while building safe and supportive learning environments and effectively teaching SEL. A subset of leaders is trained in whole-school implementation for students and adults, including parents. Each year, new educator cohorts are mentored by trained leaders and peers. The process is repeated until a majority of educators in a region are trained.

How has it been spreading?

After five years collaborating with educators across Mexico—facilitating workshops and co-creating the national SEL framework and curricula—Educating for Wellbeing (EW) launched in 2018 as Mexico’s first scalable, evidence-based SEL professional development program, starting with 900 preschool educators in seven states.

In 2019, EW added a systemic leadership component—piloted in Campeche—and introduced the first version of a student workbook. That year, 2,451 educators across six states participated.

From 2020 to 2023, EW expanded to nine additional states and extended its scope from preschool to K–12. Around 37,000 educators and 400,000+ students benefited. The Siconautas SEL curriculum was developed for pre-K through 3rd grade.
In 2024, EW introduced coaching for sustainable SEL implementation, starting with 100+ education leaders from Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.

To date, nearly 50,000 educators in 16 states have engaged with EW, impacting at least 800,000 students in over 25,000 schools. EW has achieved multi-year, systemic implementation in at least three states and partnered with educational authorities in over half of Mexico’s states, with a focus on vulnerable communities, including Maya-speaking regions of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Scalability has been strengthened through a growing facilitator network—from 60 to 180 certified instructors in four years—enabling flexible, hybrid and fully virtual delivery in partnership with local Ministries of Education.

How have you modified or added to your innovation?

To adapt to different contexts while maintaining consistency and quality, we developed a structured implementation framework that identifies when necessary and sufficient conditions are in place and allows quick adaptation to changing circumstances while ensuring delivery.

We also developed a real-time monitoring system that enables timely implementation adjustments. This data can be shared with education authorities to sustain teacher adherence and support collaborative decision-making. The system links directly to our communication strategies—email and WhatsApp—for personalized follow-up with participants.
To support leaders post-training, we developed a 120-hour Systemic Coaching follow-up, monitoring and coaching schools as they implement and integrate new educators into SEL. This includes additional classroom curriculum workshops and in-person school visits.

Our Psychonauts (Siconautas) curriculum is fully developed through Grade 3, expanding to Grade 6 in two years and to Grade 12 in five years.

We have learned to work with education authorities and funders to deploy the program on flexible timelines, at various times of the year, and with different levels of hybridization, based on the needs of each state's educational ecosystem.

We have recently introduced teacher-based student assessments in all our implementations and piloted classroom observations with CLASS®. We are also conducting third-party qualitative research on EW.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Interested in implementing EW to strengthen your school community and educate for (and from) wellbeing?
We would be honored to work with you to adapt EW to your local context and maximize its impact. Please reach out to our Director at daniela@atentamente.mx.

We are also seeking partners to help expand and fund our work in Mexico and beyond. If you’re interested in supporting our mission, we’d love to hear from you.

Together, we can empower more educators, create nurturing learning environments, and embed SEL across education systems.

Please try our webpage atentamente.mx and our RSS for more information and free access to some of our material. Our free mobile app is also a great resource to start, on Android and IOS: AtentaMente Meditación y Felicidad.

Impact & scalability

Impact & Scalability

Educating for Wellbeing is an innovative SEL curriculum combined with teacher training and the empowerment of local leaders who advocate for systemic change in schools to include SEL as a core aspect for education.

HundrED Academy/Advisory Board Reviews

This innovation targets the full child’s ecosystem to ensure cohesiveness. It is a comprehensive program that targets the full range of SEL competencies, using evidence-based explicit and targeted practices.

Educating for Wellbeing is an innovative SEL curriculum combined with teacher training and the empowerment of local leaders who advocate for systemic change in schools to include SEL as a core aspect for education.

- Academy/Advisory Board member
Academy/Advisory review results
Impact
Scalability
Exceptional
High
Moderate
Limited
Insufficient
Exceptional
High
Moderate
Limited
Insufficient
Read more about our selection process

Media

EW adapts. EW impacts. And now—it’s peer-reviewed. Check it out! Explore how EW is creating meaningful change by adapting to culturally diverse settings. Our first peer-reviewed large-scale study highlights its impact with Indigenous educators in Mexico: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773233925000385?via%3Dihub
Equipping students for the future through EW
Bringing RCT to the SEL Field to Tangibly Show EW’s Impact
A new perspective to SEL: start by the adults
SEL for all: Opening up well-being access in Mexico and beyond
¡Atentamente: 10 años! / Atentamente: 10 years!
Expanding EW. In 2023, we reached 3000 educators in Nuevo Leon (Pre-K to K12), 450 in Yucatan and Campeche (K1-K3), and 1,589 in Sinaloa and Chiapas (Pre-K). We focus on modeling and teaching SEC to foster well-being as a learnable skill. Read more
School-wide Systemic SEL Implementation Engaging all stakeholders—teachers, principals, supervisors, assistants, psychologists, and parents and students—in 2023 our Systemic Leadership training has enabled 1,041 educators to lead school-wide SEL: organizing around a shared vision for educating for well-being, SEL, and academic success, implementing with adults and students and monitoring progress.
RCT Outcomes are Out! The RCT on EW in Sinaloa (N=2162) showed positive outcomes in educator well-being, self-efficacy, and, as with students, emotional regulation and prosocial behavior. A new cohort of 1120 educators includes 350 leaders who will implement School-wide Systemic SEL, prioritizing the entire school community's well-being. Know more
WISE Awards Film: Educating for Wellbeing
EW submitted to a Randomized Control Trial in Sinaloa. 2,162 educators were part of a Randomized Control Trial in 421 public preschools in Sinaloa, indirectly benefiting more than 50,000 preschool children. Educators’ emotional regulation, pro-sociality, and self-efficacy, and students' pro-social behavior and emotional regulation improved significantly. These results will be published soon.
Empowering leaders across the country for systemic implementation of SEL. More than 570 principals, supervisors, teachers and staff trained by EW’s Leadership component will spearhead the expansion and sustainability of SEL and support EW implementation school to state-wide in the Yucatan Peninsula, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon in the next three years. Qualitative research will monitor their work.
Expanding EW in all Nuevo León The Ministry of Nuevo Leon has a vision of state-wide SEL implementation via EW. Together we aim to train all educators in the state in 6 years (2021-27), adapting curricular content so that children and youth from Pre-K to K12 can develop their SEC. Through mixed public and private funding, EW has benefited 3,000 educators and their 90,000 students.
EW grows with children in the Yucatan EW expands ages to accompany Mayan-speaking students’ SEL development into grades K1 to K3. Extending our PD to primary teachers, we developed age-appropriate curricular adaptations, didactic materials, and bilingual Mayan/Spanish games that provide continuous support for SEL skill development while revitalizing language and culture.
Social-emotional Learning in Maya Adopted by Mayan teachers, SEL was turned into “Maya Socioemocional”: videos, activities, and stories that rescue the uses and traditions of the Mayan culture as tools to help teachers promote and re-signify the Mayan language while developing socioemotional skills in preschool students. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/BN7BdSQ3rV8=share
AtentaMente - Educating from Wellbeing in the Border Belt
Preschoolers in Maya communities are singing AtentaMente’s SEL curricula songs in their native language!
"My sense of purpose was hurt... but taking part in EW was like the breeze of fresh air I needed"
Empowering the Yucatan Peninsula to sustain and adapt EW to better serve the local communities.
Meet Aitana, future SEL instructor for the State of Sinaloa!
"If you sit still like a mountain and take three deep breaths, you won't be angry at me anymore"
Show more

Implementation steps

1. Experience EW in action and reflect on how it could help transform wellbeing in your community
Get started by experiencing EW in four simple ways: (1) Explore sample sessions from the self-paced online course at educar.atentamente.mx (login: estudiante@atentamente.org.mx / password: Atentamente.2021); (2) Book a free trial session for a key group of educators; (3) Download our free app Meditación y Felicidad from Google Play or App Store; (4) Meet with our team to explore how EW can best support your school’s and communities' goals.
2. Assess your local needs and let's co-adapt EW to support your school system effectively
Once you decide to implement EW in your area, we begin by assessing your local context. Together, we explore the challenges school communities face, the support teachers and principals need, and your short- and long-term goals. Based on this, we co-design how EW can align with your vision—ensuring the model is contextually responsive and sustainably impactful.
3. Select the right EW components and strategies to meet your goals within your local timeline
Once the needs assessment is complete, we collaboratively select the EW components and strategies that best match your goals and timeframe. This may include adapting resources, designing the implementation schedule, identifying local stakeholders, forming instructor and support teams, and deciding whether to include a research component—always tailored to your local context.
4. Get ready for implementation: align stakeholders, define roles, and set goals collaboratively
AtentaMente works with you to prepare for implementation—defining your target group, recruitment, and communication strategies. Key stakeholders align on goals, roles, and expectations, ensuring shared ownership. We support your team in monitoring progress throughout. If including a research component, this is when we define assessment tools and data collection strategy.
5. Launch EW!
Implementation begins with a live kickoff session involving all key actors. Activities—such as sessions, online learning, and mobile app—are delivered as planned, with 24/7 support from EW’s team. Ongoing engagement is maintained through clear communication, regular check-ins, and progress tracking. Feedback is gathered throughout to improve delivery and ensure shared ownership of the process.
6. Evaluate outcomes and gather insights to understand EW’s impact on wellbeing and SEL practice
At key milestones and at the end of the program, we assess participants’ outcomes (e.g. stress, burnout, prosocial skills, self-efficacy, readiness to implement SEL with students), estimate impacts and gather feedback on their experience. When possible, we also measure student and school climate outcomes. Qualitative interviews complement the data, helping us understand how EW supports personal growth and systemic wellbeing—and to tell the full story.
7. Wrap up, reflect on progress, and explore next steps for scaling, sustaining, or deepening SEL
Together, we review progress, celebrate milestones, and reflect on your original goals. Then we explore next steps: scaling EW, empowering local leadership, planning for long-term SEL integration, expanding research, or sharing your success. Based on your goals, we co-design a path forward and identify how we can continue supporting your journey.

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