Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and earthquake: the teaching of emotions meets Geoscience

In the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 2019 L’Aquila earthquake,
the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia of Lerici (SP), together with
the Fire brigade Command of La Spezia and the Seismic Sector-Office of the
Tuscany Region, designed a transformational learning path for the 2019 INGVScienzAperta
involving about 300 students of Middle Schools (ISCED 2) of Liguria
in their classrooms. Images, videos and readings of earthquake testimonies told
by rescuers, seismologists and geologists were shown to students, underling the
great humanity of people who worked during the emergency. The Social Emotional
Learning (SEL) experiment revealed an enriching experience for both recipients
and trainers, as it was well put in evidence by the touching students’ essays after
the ScienzAperta meetings and by the satisfaction questionnaires differentiated
for students and teachers. The results were also presented at the University of
Camerino 2019 Summer School for Geosciences teachers.