This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
How can the school participate in the emotional development of pupils? This is the question asked by teacher Nathalie Simon, who works at Denise-Pelletier school in Montreal. “I found that the pandemic had been emotionally difficult for the students,” she recalls. There has been an increase in violence in the playground. I said to myself: “We have to do something!” »
By looking everywhere, the teacher unearthed the Quebec platform Moozoom, launched by happy chance in the spring of 2020. The tool offers videos and activities relating to the feeling of rejection, motivation, conflicts and various other aspects of the emotional life of young people. “It was an instant crush”, smiles Nathalie Simon. In October 2022, the establishment organized a launch to highlight the implementation of the program.
Breathe through the nose
In an opinion published in June 2020, the Higher Council for Education states that “the school environment […] is a privileged place to support [le] development [des compétences sociales et émotionnelles] » and says he is in favor of the idea of making these courses compulsory in primary school. At École Denise-Pelletier, the addition of Moozoom training has unquestionably had a major effect: “We have seen a reduction in violence,” sums up Nathalie Simon.
The sixth-grade teacher is also delighted to see her students adopt the “Moozoom vocabulary”, which uses the terms used by the platform to describe a conflict situation or the healthy behavior to adopt. “Young people will say: ‘I did a zoom act’ or ‘I need a zoom in””, explains Nathalie Simon. The use of this vocabulary has been standardized throughout the school, including daycare, to facilitate its adoption.
“The program reaches young people because in the videos, they are people of their age, notes Nathalie Simon. These are situations that they really experience. She is particularly delighted to see the appearance of capsules whose vocabulary has been adapted for preschool children. Another addition: actors from diverse backgrounds have been hired to star in the most recent videos, which allows a greater number of students to identify with them.
Prevent overflows
“You didn’t win, Rosalie, you’re a cheat!” In the video, Rosalie’s two friends are irritated that she broke pear ball rules and come to her to feel their frustration. “How do you think Rosalie is feeling right now?” asks the facilitator. It’s Up to Us: Is Rosalie Excited or Furious?
Like a novel in which you are the hero, the capsules invite you to get involved in the story of the protagonists. But here, there is no question of fighting dragons: the goal is rather to find a way to appease complex situations through communication and empathy. To help Rosalie, she will be offered to retire for a while, which will allow her to calm down and be able to apologize to her friends. All’s well That ends well.
Written by Caroline Allard and Benoît Pelletier, the capsules take up the research of CASEL, an American organization that has produced a framework for teaching social-emotional learning in children. Dozens of them are available on the platform, giving teachers the freedom to select which ones will be used in each class. “We choose the theme of the capsules to watch according to what we experience at school”, underlines Nathalie Simon.
“The frequency of use of the videos is determined by the level,” she explains. The use of this turnkey tool is left to the discretion of each teacher. “We have so many options that we can do anything. Some teachers will present the starting video, then, a few weeks later, do another activity like a quiz or a class discussion. Parents also have access to the capsules, which allows teaching to continue at home.
Another advantage: the tool informs teachers when their students are going through difficult times: “I have a student who wrote that she felt upset by a situation. When I opened my Moozoom account, I saw the notification and was able to talk to her about it. »
Obviously, Nathalie Simon is not the only one to be seduced by Moozoom: since its creation, the program has been offered in more than 1,000 schools in North America, in French as in English, a number which continues to climb, according to the company’s founder, Jean-Philippe Turgeon.
Created by a father whose daughter was going through a difficult period of depression, Moozoom today helps hundreds of young people to talk about their emotions. For the teacher, there is no doubt that the tool is there for good: “We will use it as long as the interest is there. For the moment, the school is delighted, the parents are delighted. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.