Advancing Social-Emotional Learning for Peacebuilding in a Divided Context- Learnings of Art-Based Capacity Building from Jammu & Kashmir

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Peace education in conflict-affected and divided societies

Proposal

Education has long been envisioned as a vehicle for peace, yet in contexts marked by division and protracted conflict, its potential is often diminished by trauma, inequality, and mistrust. The UNESCO Constitution’s dictum that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed” is profoundly relevant to the fragile context of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India. Here, decades of conflict coupled with the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic left children and teachers grappling with unspoken emotional burdens and fraying social bonds. The Art-Based Capacity Building and Training (ACBT) project, initiated in 2022 by the Directorate of School Education (J&K) in partnership with the Piramal Foundation and The Red Pencil International, emerged as an innovative attempt to address these challenges. By integrating creative arts therapy with Social Emotional Learning (SEL), the project empowered teachers as instructors but as facilitators of healing, empathy, and resilience in classrooms that could become microcosms of peace.
A six-month capacity-building initiative designed to equip teachers with arts-based tools to foster SEL among students, supporting teachers’ own coping and self-care. The project unfolded in three phases: an intensive 10-week training in which teachers directly experienced arts-based SEL activities, a 3-month period of on-the-job coaching with art therapists to support classroom application, and a cascading implementation stage in which teachers began to disseminate practices among peers and adapt them to their local school contexts. Of 150 teachers initially selected across 20 districts of J&K, 112 successfully completed the program. The teachers were from primary to higher secondary level, with a significant proportion drawn from the primary and upper primary sections where the foundations of identity, belonging, and empathy is most malleable.
The training modules were structured around the CASEL framework of five SEL competencies—self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness—and each competency was explored through creative modalities. Teachers engaged in activities such as “The Forest,” where they drew themselves as trees within a collective landscape to explore identity and group dynamics; “The Mask,” where they confronted issues of trust, vulnerability, and social roles; “The Bridge Project,” a clay-based group exercise symbolizing transitions and connections; and visual journaling, which provided an ongoing private space for reflection and expression. These methods emphasized that in contexts where trauma often resists verbal articulation, art provides an alternative language of safety and expression. Teachers not only learned how to facilitate these exercises with students but also experienced their therapeutic and reflective potential in their own professional and personal lives.
The impact was assessed through baseline and endline surveys as well as qualitative narratives of change. Quantitative results demonstrated a striking shift: the proportion of teachers reporting “high” or “very high” knowledge of art therapy increased by 55%, while their self-reported ability to use art-based tools in the classroom rose by 42%. Gains in SEL competencies averaged 30% across domains, with notable improvements in self-awareness, empathy, and relationship management. Teachers expressed overwhelming satisfaction with the training, with 96% stating that the sessions met or exceeded their expectations and nearly 90% recommending replication of the program.
Evidence from qualitative data shows that art-based interventions empowered children to move from silence and isolation to voice and confidence. Teachers described cases like Rahul, a withdrawn third-grader, who began to share and present his artwork, regaining belonging; Raahi, who overcame grief and became an active participant through group activities; and Anjali, who shifted from solitary imagery to vibrant expressions of community, reflecting her renewed engagement and pride. These stories illustrate art’s power as a bridge from isolation to connection, trauma to resilience, and silence to agency.
Teachers themselves experienced transformation, noting reduced stress and anxiety, improved communication and listening skills, and deeper empathy toward students. Comments such as “art acts as a roadway to one’s hidden emotions” and feeling reconnected with “the child within” highlight personal growth. These changes fostered classrooms built on trust, cooperation, and empathy—foundations critical for peacebuilding in divided contexts.
Ultimately, ACBT demonstrates that peacebuilding is core to quality education, not an “add-on.” By providing teachers with arts-based SEL skills, the project enabled them to create inclusive spaces, reduce inequity, and model compassion. This aligns with NEP 2020’s call for nurturing compassionate, rational citizens and supports SDG 4.7 by positioning education as central to peace and sustainable development.
The ACBT project offers three insights. First, it shows how creative arts can function as a safe language of healing where verbal discourse is constrained by fear, stigma, or cultural silences. Second, it underscores that teachers, when equipped with SEL and therapeutic skills, can become frontline peacebuilders, not just curriculum deliverers. Third, it highlights a scalable systems approach: through phased training, coaching, and cascading, the model is both replicable and sustainable within public education systems.
Ultimately, the ACBT experience in J&K affirms that peace begins in classrooms. It begins when teachers listen differently, when children find safe spaces to express themselves, and when collective creativity builds bridges across divides. The stories of Rahul, Raahi, and Anjali are not isolated anecdotes but windows into how education can heal social ruptures and cultivate resilience in fragile contexts. They illustrate how art and SEL together can transform trauma into trust, silence into voice, and division into community.
This paper argues, investing in arts-based SEL is investing in peace. In a world increasingly fractured by conflict, inequity, & alienation, the lessons from J&K remind us that to educate is to heal, & to heal is to build peace. By grounding peace education in lived practices of art, empathy, & relational trust, ACBT provides both a framework for replication and a powerful narrative for re-examining the transformative role of education in a divided world.

Authors

• Meghadeepa Chakraborty, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• Anshu Dubey, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• Abhidha Seth, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP