The SPIRIT Framework is built around ten transversal skills that we believe can help today’s children prepare for tomorrow’s world. Rather than exploring them all at once, this series takes a moment to reflect on each one individually. Together, these ten skills form the heart of the SPIRIT framework and project : emotional awareness, regulation and communication; creativity; problem-solving; critical thinking; resilience; flexibility; curiosity, sense of wonder and openness; empathy; valuing people and nature; and connectedness. It feels fitting that the first skill we explore is emotional awareness, regulation and communication because, in many ways, it lays the foundation upon which so many of the others can grow.

As adults, it is easy to forget that emotions are a language children are still learning to speak. A six-year-old who storms out of the classroom may not yet have the words to say, “I’m overwhelmed.” A child who withdraws after making a mistake may not recognise that what they are feeling is disappointment rather than failure. Like reading, writing or solving mathematical problems, emotional competence is not something children simply know how to do. It develops gradually through guidance, practice and countless everyday interactions with the adults who care for them. The SPIRIT Framework describes emotional competence as the combination of three closely connected abilities: recognising emotions in ourselves and others, learning to regulate them in healthy ways, and communicating them respectfully. Together, these skills help children respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively, laying the foundations for healthy relationships, resilience and lifelong well-being.

Between the ages of six and ten, children make remarkable progress in understanding both themselves and those around them. They gradually move from recognising basic emotions to identifying more complex feelings, experimenting with strategies that help them manage frustration, disappointment or excitement, and expressing themselves with increasing confidence and empathy. This is why emotional awareness, regulation and communication cannot be reduced to a single lesson or activity. It grows through everyday classroom experiences: resolving disagreements, working together, making mistakes, celebrating achievements and learning to listen as much as to speak. Throughout the SPIRIT Framework, teachers are recognised as playing a central role in this journey—not only through the activities they facilitate, but through the emotional climate they create each day. Children learn as much from how adults respond to challenges, communicate respectfully and show empathy as they do from any planned lesson.

Perhaps that is one of the most important messages this first skill offers. Emotional awareness, regulation and communication is not simply another competency to add to the curriculum. It is a foundation for learning itself. Before children become creative problem-solvers, thoughtful critical thinkers or resilient learners, they first need opportunities to understand themselves and feel understood by others. When education makes space for that journey, it does far more than prepare children for school—it helps prepare them for life.