Learning
Edition 08 | August 2025
Bookmarked
Discover thought-provoking book recommendations tailored for educators. Each pick includes
a concise synopsis and actionable takeaways to inspire and enrich teaching practices.
Overview:
The School of Life: An Emotional Education explores one of the most vital yet overlooked aspects of human development: understanding and navigating our emotions. Alain de Botton and his team at The School of Life delve into how emotional intelligence shapes our relationships, work, and sense of purpose. Moving beyond academic knowledge, the book examines how we can learn to live, love, and work better by understanding ourselves and others more deeply. Through essays and practical insights, de Botton highlights why emotional education should sit alongside traditional schooling. He touches on themes like self-knowledge, communication, relationships, and resilience—presenting them not as abstract ideas but as life skills to be learned and practised.
Why Teachers Will Find This Useful:
Teachers are not just educators of subjects; they are guides in the emotional growth of their
students. This book provides language and frameworks to bring emotional learning into
classrooms.
- Embedding Emotional Literacy: Learn how to weave emotional education into daily teaching to support student well-being and better classroom dynamics.
- Understanding Students’ Needs: Gain insights into why emotional struggles often lie beneath behavioural issues or learning gaps.
- Teacher Well-being: Practical tools for self-reflection that help educators manage their own emotional health and avoid burnout.
- Resilience and Empathy: Strategies to foster a classroom culture where setbacks are seen as opportunities and empathy is valued as much as achievement.
Why We Recommend It:
This book stands out because it reframes education as not just the transfer of knowledge but the
cultivation of wisdom about living well. De Botton’s writing is warm, relatable, and deeply practical.
For educators, it’s a reminder that teaching is not only about the curriculum—it’s about equipping
young people to handle life’s complexities.
In a time when mental health and social-emotional learning are critical, An Emotional Education offers a roadmap to make emotional intelligence a cornerstone of teaching. It’s equally a guide for teachers’ own growth, encouraging them to reflect on their emotional patterns and how these shape their interactions with students
In a time when mental health and social-emotional learning are critical, An Emotional Education offers a roadmap to make emotional intelligence a cornerstone of teaching. It’s equally a guide for teachers’ own growth, encouraging them to reflect on their emotional patterns and how these shape their interactions with students
Interesting and Actionable Takeaways:
- The book argues that emotional education deserves as much emphasis as academic learning for a fulfilling and successful life.
- According to de Botton, self-awareness and clear communication are not innate traits but teachable skills that can reshape how classrooms function.
- The book highlights that building resilience in students often requires teachers to model it in their own behaviour as much as they teach it.
- It also underlines that the emotional health of educators significantly influences their ability to nurture emotional growth in children.
Zoom-in Excerpts:
“We learn to be emotionally intelligent not by being told to be so, but by having the right sort of
conversations and experiences with other people.”
— Alain de Botton
Explanation:
De Botton underlines that emotional intelligence isn’t taught through theory but through
relationships and dialogue. For teachers, this reinforces the power of daily interactions and creating
a classroom environment where students can practise empathy, self-awareness, and
communication.
Key strategies teachers can take from this:
- Facilitate reflective discussions that help students articulate feelings and perspectives.
- Model vulnerability and self-awareness to normalise emotional conversations.
- Use everyday classroom moments as opportunities to build emotional resilience.
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