Naming what we feel
But talking about emotions also means learning to listen: picking up on the signals, embracing vulnerability, and creating spaces where what we feel can be expressed without fear of judgment.
From different perspectives and experiences, the experts involved in the project reflect on the value of emotional competence and on the role that schools, relationships, and places can play in giving voice to what so often goes unspoken.
This is also where the gesture at the heart of Wonderseekers comes from: stopping in front of a place, recognizing the emotion it evokes, and trying to give it a name.
Liceo Scientifico Statale “A. Scacchi” di Bari
A.A. | The Missing Vocabulary
This report is based on my direct classroom experience in high school with students between the ages of 14 and 18. It is not intended to be a theoretical treatise, but rather an illustration of what I observe on a daily basis: emotions are there, they are overwhelming, they often have no name, and they struggle to find a legitimate place within the teaching process.
Chiara Conte | The Seismograph of Listening. Emotional Direction of a School Community
While a teacher’s gaze is, by its very nature, focused on the intense and vibrant space of the classroom, the school principal’s office serves as a unique observatory—a seismograph where the emotional shockwaves of an entire ecosystem converge. During my years at the helm of the Scacchi High School, I have come to understand that the principal’s office is not merely the seat of organizational decisions or institutional rigor, but is, first and foremost, the crossroads of a profound—and at times heart-wrenching—need to be heard.
D.L. | Recognizing the Signs
Entering the classroom means entering a place where not only is knowledge imparted and learning takes place, but it also means entering an environment where emotions, expectations, fears, frustrations, joys, and satisfactions intertwine on a daily basis. Every student brings with them a personal story, an inner world, and emotions that they are not always able to express in words.
This difficulty leads them to adopt behaviors that are actually visible signs of deep inner frustration—such as a lack of attention, a distant gaze, isolation, or, conversely, impatience, hyperactivity, increased irritability, responses out of proportion to the situation, and an altered, provocative tone of voice.
G.B. | Listening to Those Who Don’t Speak
I’ve always had a clear idea of my role as a teacher, right from the very moment I began working in the classroom. Over the years, my goal has remained the same: to listen to those who don’t speak. That’s why, throughout my teaching career, I’ve always left plenty of room for the unspoken, relying above all on observing my students. I’ve tried to establish a form of nonverbal communication with them, first building a relationship of trust through eye contact, and then gradually drawing closer to their emotions through words.
Dipartimento For. Psi. Com. Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro" di Bari
Musso, Semeraro, Stifano | EMO-ACTIONS. How Doing Things Together Can Strengthen Emotional Competence
Giving emotions a name is a fundamental step, and it is only one part of the process through which we learn to understand and regulate them. Think of a group of children rehearsing a play, a team engaged in a game, or adolescents making music together or collaborating on a project. In all these situations, people share more than actions. Enthusiasm, anticipation, embarrassment, frustration, trust, and fear of making mistakes all come into play. Group activities can therefore become opportunities for emotional learning.
Cassibba, Coppola, Lillo | When Emotions Find Words: Recognizing and Labeling Emotional Experiences to Better Understand Ourselves and Others
Emotions emerge before words. From the earliest months of life, children express pleasure, distress, interest, and fear through gaze, vocalizations, posture, and behavior, well before they can label these experiences verbally. Over early development, and later through language acquisition, children gradually learn to organize initially undifferentiated emotional experiences into states that can be recognized and, consequently, communicated, shared, and regulated.
