RAICES - Oportunidades de Aprendizaje Integral y Asesoría Colaborativa Respondiendo Necesidades de Docentes en Tiempos Desafiantes

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the years 2020 and 2021, the RAICES (Red de Aprendizaje Integral en Comunidades Educativas Salvadoreñas) program was developed in El Salvador to support teachers from four public schools in the San Salvador Metropolitan Area in dealing with the challenges caused by the pandemic. The project was developed in response to needs formulated by teachers and principals of these schools and was implemented online. It consisted of ten training sessions on topics of relevance in this crisis phase (e.g., coping with stress and trauma), nine small group collaborative counseling sessions, and reflective work to apply what was learned more personally. It was evaluated through four focus groups with a total of eleven participants. After inductive coding and concept coding, data analysis showed that teachers appreciated the level of professionalism with the respect this showed, methods used with participatory and interactive aspects, current and relevant topics, adaptation to the needs of the participants, interaction and companionship and the socio-emotional support received.