Culminating Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Violence (Ahimsa) for Peace Building through Social Emotional & Ethical Learning in Public Education System

• In Event: Educating for peace and global citizenship: Integrating life skills, non-violence, and philosophical wisdom for social cohesion and sustainable futures

Proposal

According to the UN Sustainable goal 16 , peace is considered as fundamental precondition for socio-economic development of any nation. Absence of peace due to national or international conflict not only affects the economy but also makes society dysfunction and instability often paralyzed the society that disrupt the growth and development of the nation. However, in the contemporary time, the environment, economy, and social aspects are undergoing tremendous changes which is affecting individual lives and creating challenge at all levels – locally, nationally, and globally especially, children of today growing up in a challenging world where it is important develop their competencies that ensure their well-being and they grow up as an compassionate, empathetic adult who is capable of exercise their own agency and contribute in making a harmonious & peaceful society.

Though attaining peace is a lifelong goal for all individuals, nevertheless, peace has been narrowly understood by the absence of physical violence. But peace has various natures that encompasses both internal peace (within individuals and interpersonal relationships) and external peace (social, structural, and cultural harmony). The absence of peace can be observed through a lack of unity within groups or systems, compounded by the presence of structural and cultural violence.

The school ecosystem of Jhunjhunu District, Rajasthan, India, children come from diverse socio-economic background, experience challenges such as poverty, discrimination, domestic violence, early child marriage, social alienation etc. These conditions exemplify structural and cultural violence, not only affecting academic performance but also emotional and social well-being, threatening their inner and outer peace. Traditionally, scholastic achievement has over-emphasized material wealth over emotional and social well-being, thus giving less importance to preventive measures, keeping peace-building competencies underdeveloped.

This paper attempts to decode the Social Emotional & Ethical Learning (SEE Learning) intervention from the Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of peace education as its theoretical lens, emphasizing Ahimsa(nonviolence) and Sarvodaya (universal upliftment) principles that emphasis cooperation, non-violent interaction, dignity, responsibility, integrity for the community or society to be self-reliant. According to Gandhi’s incorporation of peace education is crucial for non-violence and conflict resolution as he articulated education has means to develop competencies such as empathy, compassion, active listening, ethical responsibility and discernment as foundation to contribute in the building harmonious and peaceful society (Khatun, 2023). He further advocated that education should support enhanced global citizenship where children develop openness & empathy to diverse perspectives, promote cross cultural engagement, sense of responsibility and sensitivity towards other countries’ challenges (Das, 2023). Thus, Gandhi’s philosophy of peace education deeply resonates with the SEE Learning curriculum that cultivates awareness and compassion towards self, others and system, emphasis on inner transformation, responsibility and ethical discernment, global citizenship and common humanity. Both Gandhi’s philosophy and SEE Learning curriculum fundamentally consider children to become the agent of social change where they exercise their agency to make positive contribution in society with their mindset, attitude and skills to have a healthy and happy life for self and for others.
The paper contextualizes peace through Danesh’s Integrative Theory of Peace, which focuses on unity by teaching values and skills to develop harmony, cooperation, empathy through peace-oriented curriculum and Galtung’s Positive Peace Theory, addressing structural inequalities alongside interpersonal harmony through psychological, social and ethical development. Together, these theories frame peace as both an internal state of unity and a societal state of building peace through social justice and equity (Danesh, 2006; Galtung, 1969).

Using a mixed-methods approach, data collected from 40 government schools in Jhunjhunu implementing SEE Learning interventions, covering 2,000 students from grades 6 to 8 administering questionnaire. For qualitative data, group discussion, interviews were undertaken to collect data. The study demonstrates improvements in competencies related to self-awareness, compassion, emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, and appreciating diversity, central to developing personal transformation and collective engagement.

Findings reveal an 11% overall improvement in SEE Learning competencies from base line to end line, with maximum shift in compassion dimension by 12.9 %, system domain by 12.6%. The data also shows positive shift between the baseline and end line across nine specific competencies. The maximum shift by 15% is observed in recognizing common humanity, 13.70% shift in appreciating interdependence, 12.12% in community and global engagement, self-compassion 14%, and rest are between 9% to 10% shift.

These findings suggest that SEE Learning interventions effectively address complex societal challenges (“wicked problems”) that disrupt positive peace. SEE Learning intervention enhanced pro social behavior, positive mindset among children, improved abilities to conflict resolution, contributing to reduced school-based violence and enhancing solidarity and cohesion. The above data shows incorporating SEE Learning in the classroom teaching through experiential learning has developed competencies among children that instill the principle of trust, dignity, respect for others, compassion towards self and others, sensitive towards other communities and their challenges, improved interpersonal relationships that foster the culture of peace, harmony not only in the classroom but also within one’s inner self.

In conclusion, this study posits that integrating Gandhi’s philosophy with contemporary peace theories illuminates how Piramal Foundation’s SEE Learning develops both inner nonviolent transformation and systemic building agency of the children in a complex Indian socio-cultural context through different experiential learning and practices. The pedagogical model not only promotes emotional and ethical growth of the children but also advances the broader peacebuilding goals articulated in Sustainable Development Goal 16 that consider education as a critical component that contributes to making a peaceful and inclusive society.

References
Danesh, H. B. (2006). Towards an integrative theory of peace education [PDF]. In E. Cairns & M. D. Roe (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 361–375). Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/epe/epe-entries/Danesh_ch17_22feb08.pdf

Das, S. C. (2023). Exploring Gandhi's educational philosophy: A comprehensive study. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), 11(8), 694–698. https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2308395.pdf

Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 6(3), 167–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301

Khatun, S. (2023). Elements of peace education in Gandhian thought and its relevance in contemporary society, with special reference to National Education Policy 2020. EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR), 9(2), https://doi.org/10.36713/epra2013

Authors

• MONAL JAYARAM PODUVAL, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• Meghadeepa Chakraborty, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• Anshu Dubey, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP