Educating with Dignity: Reimagining Foundational Literacy and Girls’ Education as Pathways to Peace

• In Event: Peace education and youth- and gender-inclusive peace

Proposal

Education is widely recognized as both a human right and a foundation for social development, but in an increasingly divided world its role in fostering peace requires urgent re-examination. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies dignity as the cornerstone of freedom, justice, and peace (United Nations, 1948), while the Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasizes that children must be allowed to grow and learn with dignity (UNICEF, 1989). Peace education scholarship similarly highlights that affirming self-worth is foundational to building just and peaceful societies (Galtung, 1996). Yet education systems too often measure progress narrowly through access and test scores, neglecting whether the process of learning affirms children’s sense of worth, builds their agency, and cultivates the values essential for peaceful societies.

This paper explores the early efforts of Room to Read India to integrate dignity into its Literacy and Girls’ Education Programs, drawing on practitioner experience and emerging evidence. For over a decade, the organization has excelled at literacy technicalities, especially reading comprehension, fluency, and decoding (PARAKH, 2023). However, practitioners noticed that comprehension scores alone did not explain why some classrooms thrived while others stagnated. Motivation, confidence, and classroom climate were deeply shaping outcomes. The realization that dignity—whether children felt respected, whether their home languages and identities were represented, and whether their voices mattered—was central to learning has begun to reshape our design and practice (Room to Read, 2024a; Room to Read, 2024b).

Current practices provide important entry points. In literacy classrooms, teachers are encouraged to use interactive pedagogy, invite participation, and celebrate effort. Storybooks developed in multiple Indian languages feature local contexts and diverse protagonists, affirming children’s identities. In the Girls’ Education Program, life skills sessions and mentorship provide safe spaces for girls to explore their aspirations and challenge restrictive gender norms. Early evidence from alumnae surveys suggests that young women are increasingly delaying marriage, pursuing higher education, and participating in household decisions—signs that dignity nurtured in adolescence translates into agency in adulthood.

Measurement of dignity is still nascent. Classroom observations now include indicators on respectful environments, avoidance of bias, and inclusion of home languages. The Habit of Reading survey captures enjoyment and confidence in reading, complementing comprehension scores. In the Girls’ Education Program, the Adolescent Life Skills Assessment (ALSA) measures resilience, empathy, and leadership, while alumnae surveys assess agency in decision-making. These tools provide glimpses into how dignity influences learning, but they are partial and not yet synthesized into a comprehensive framework (Room to Read, 2024b).

Equally important is acknowledging gaps. Small group work, widely recognized as vital for equitable classroom management and agency-building (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000), has been difficult to integrate into Room to Read’s structured literacy design, which emphasizes measured flexibility. Similarly, while home language is recognized through oral language activities and some published books, classrooms remain far from fully multilingual spaces that consistently affirm identity. Another tension lies in marrying strong literacy technicalities with larger classroom dynamics that foster equity and agency. The decoding and comprehension approaches are robust, but they have not yet been fully interwoven with practices that consistently nurture dignity at scale.

Several lessons are emerging. First, dignity matters for learning. Evidence shows that classrooms where children feel confident and respected achieve stronger outcomes, while authoritarian classrooms undermine learning even when technical instruction is delivered (Marsh & Martin, 2011; Valentine, DuBois, & Cooper, 2004). Second, measurement must evolve. Comprehension alone gives an incomplete picture; tools like the Habit of Reading and ALSA point to new ways of capturing motivation, self-worth, and agency. Third, embedding dignity requires balancing aspirations with design constraints. Small group work, multilingual pedagogy, and participatory teaching are aspirational but must be adapted to systemic realities. Finally, dignity is linked to peace. Research shows that inclusive classrooms and positive school climates enhance both academic and socio-emotional outcomes (Thapa, Cohen, Guffey, & Higgins-D’Alessandro, 2013; Somani et al., 2021). Practitioners observe that girls who discover their voice through life skills often become advocates for themselves and peers, and boys in bias-free classrooms grow into men who respect equality. Such experiences foster empathy and resilience—qualities central to peaceful societies (UNESCO, 2018).

Room to Read India’s dignity agenda is best described as a journey in its early stages. We share this paper not to claim mastery but to reflect honestly on emerging practices, early data, and the gaps we are working to address. Its value lies in illustrating how one organization is moving beyond measuring comprehension alone to consider dignity as a crucial dimension of learning. In doing so, it contributes to broader conversations about how education can nurture not only skills but also the sense of self-worth and mutual respect needed for peace.

In line with the CIES 2026 theme “Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World,” this paper makes three contributions. Conceptually, it positions dignity as the missing link between learning and peacebuilding. Empirically, it draws on literacy and girls’ education program data in India, enriched by practitioner reflections on classroom realities. Practically, it offers lessons for NGOs and governments beginning to embed dignity into systems while managing design and implementation constraints. Education that affirms dignity improves reading, builds agency, and nurtures the values required for peaceful societies. By reimagining both literacy and girls’ education through the lens of dignity, we illuminate a pathway from classrooms to peace.

Authors

• Poornima Garg, Room to Read India Trust

• Rishi Rajvanshi, Room to Read India Trust