Transforming Indian Education through Systemic Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Lessons and Insights from Dream a Dream

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Valuing diverse community-rooted understandings and practices of education in the face of globalizing trends

Proposal

The post-independence Indian education system furthered the neoliberal agenda of education “designed to fulfil individual aims and self-interest defined in narrow economic terms” (Batra, 2020, p. 3) and children in Indian schools were left “under-nourished spiritually or imaginatively” because of poor retention rates, poor learning outcomes, dropout, and lack of imaginative spaces, stories, and arts (Kumar, 2021, p. 278). In light of the conference theme and the specific focus of the sub-theme on intersections between curriculum, pedagogy and teacher development, our symposium underscores a transformative shift towards systemic social and emotional learning (SEL) models in India, marking a critical transgression from conventional educational paradigms towards more holistic, inclusive, and equitable frameworks. The symposium will introduce Dream a Dream’s research projects focused on exploring SEL curricula and pedagogical innovations across six Indian states, in collaboration with state governments. It aims to showcase how curricular and pedagogical innovations, coupled with teacher development and practices, can confront and potentially uplift children belonging to disadvantaged socio-economic groups from education marginalisation. By blending academic inquiry into systemic SEL programs and field experiences, this paper will offer evidence-based insights that recognise and respond to the complex realities of students’ lives and advocate for making the philosophy embedded within SEL curriculums, i.e. concepts and practices related to happiness and well-being freely available for all students but more so for students whose lives are particularly precarious.

Authors

• Sreehari Ravindranath, Dream a Dream

• Apoorva Bhatnagar, Dream a Dream

• Amit Kumar Vishwanath, Dream a Dream

• Joseph Thomas Rijo, DREAM A DREAM