"We have been talking about psychosocial skills since the 1980s, notably in the Ottawa Charter, but it was the World Health Organization that truly brought them to light in 1993, defining them as skills we develop daily to effectively respond to the challenges and demands we encounter in everyday life,” says Laure Reynaud.
These skills encompass a set of abilities in the cognitive, emotional, and social domains that everyone can develop throughout their lives, and they are major determinants of health, particularly mental health, short- and medium-term success, and well-being.
We all possess these skills. We already use them in our daily lives without even realizing it: stress management, self-awareness, empathy, listening, conflict resolution.
These are teachable skills, emphasizes Laure Reynaud, which can be developed and cultivated daily, at home but also at school, where children spend 40% of their waking time. Because while it’s never too late, the earlier we learn, the better it is.
Thus, ScholaVie was created to equip education professionals, including teachers, AESH, administrative staff, CPE, educational assistants, and cafeteria staff, because “research shows that we are the best tool, we adults in educational positions, to help young people develop their psychosocial skills.”
ScholaVie offers in-person training in 22 academies. It also provides online and free resources. Here, many educational tools are accessible, allowing anyone who wishes to use them in their daily lives, including education professionals and parents.
Psychosocial skills help to calm the school climate and prevent bullying. Recent studies show that programs aimed at developing these skills can improve academic results by up to 11%, particularly in French and mathematics.
Finally, psychosocial skills help reduce social and gender inequalities by enabling better emotional management, fostering greater self-confidence, and encouraging daily engagement. Ultimately, they strengthen cooperation among students as well as between adults.
"With psychosocial skills, we completely change the paradigm; instead of fighting against, we truly seek to work for, for living together, for respect,” concludes Laure Reynaud.
