Coffee-Chat on Teacher Well-Being: sharing knowledge from From Burnout to Balance
Sometimes the most meaningful conversations happen over coffee. On 28 April 2025, French teacher Patrick Barrotta, participant of the Erasmus+ project From Burnout to Balance – Supporting Educators’ Well-Being, decided to bring what he had learned during the project’s international trainings back to his own school community in Nice.
Instead of a formal lecture, he chose a simple and engaging format — a “Coffee-Chat”, an informal knowledge-sharing session aimed at opening a dialogue about stress, emotional awareness and resilience among teachers and students.
From training to practice
After attending two international trainings focused on recognising burnout symptoms, managing stress, and building emotional intelligence, Patrick wanted to ensure that this knowledge didn’t stay confined to reports or workshops abroad. His goal was to translate theory into daily school life, creating a space where teachers and students could talk openly about well-being.
He began by meeting with his students, introducing the aims of From Burnout to Balance and inviting them to reflect on everyday stressors in learning. The discussion centred on how emotional awareness, breathing techniques and small resilience practices can make school a healthier place for everyone.
Later that day, the conversation continued in the teachers’ lounge — this time over coffee. During breaks, Patrick met with colleagues to share experiences from the project and discuss practical strategies: recognising early warning signs of burnout, practicing active listening, and fostering mutual support among staff.
A simple idea with real impact
From these informal exchanges, three main themes emerged:
Integrating resilience strategies into everyday classroom routines.
Building stronger peer-support networks to reduce isolation.
Promoting emotional awareness among both teachers and students.
The format proved powerful precisely because of its simplicity. By replacing a formal meeting with a relaxed conversation, participants felt comfortable sharing experiences and asking questions.
This local initiative perfectly reflects the coaching and mentoring approach at the heart of From Burnout to Balance: encouraging educators to bring what they learn internationally back to their schools, adapting it to real-life contexts and keeping the conversation on well-being alive.
Patrick’s Coffee-Chat reminded everyone that promoting mental health in education doesn’t always require big actions — sometimes, it just starts with a cup of coffee and a willingness to listen.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
