Social-emotional competencies and coexistence in educational contexts: toward a relational, preventive, and restorative ecology

Abstract

Coexistence in educational settings is a relational, cultural, and institutional phenomenon that cannot be reduced to rule compliance or the absence of violence. Its sustainability largely depends on the capacities to recognize and regulate emotions, understand different perspectives, build trusting relationships, deliberate in the face of dilemmas, and repair harm within relationships. This article aims to analyze the relationship between social-emotional competencies and educational coexistence and to integrate their main dimensions into a conceptual proposal applicable to schools. An integrative narrative review of scientific literature and institutional documents was conducted, focusing mainly on publications from 2015 to 2025 and seminal contributions on social and emotional learning, school climate, and restorative practices. The material was organized through thematic-comparative analysis around four areas: intrapersonal competencies, interpersonal competencies, institutional conditions, and constructive conflict management. The documentary findings suggest that social-emotional competencies are associated with better conditions for interaction, belonging, safety, and participation, although their effects depend on cultural relevance, pedagogical continuity, and institutional coherence. As an original contribution, the Relational Ecology for Educational Coexistence model (ERCE) is proposed, comprising five interconnected dimensions: personal awareness and regulation, recognition and care for others, communication and cooperation, restorative conflict management, and institutional and community co-responsibility. The article concludes that coexistence should be understood as a collective capacity that is taught, practiced, assessed, and reconstructed on a daily basis, rather than as a spontaneous outcome or the exclusive responsibility of students.