Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion & Well-being: Study of Scalable & Replicable Social, Emotional & Ethical Learning (SEE Learning®) Implementation Model in India

• In Event: Education at the Margins and the Center: Children’s Voices, Equity, and Inclusive Partnerships

Proposal

Mental health data reveals an alarming condition where rising incidents of violence, bullying in schools, and increasing youth suicide rates indicate that Indian society is grappling with emotional well-being. The report "Student Suicides: An Epidemic Sweeping India" (2024) highlights student suicides surging by 4%, likely under reported. Adolescents face mental health challenges for academic pressures, interpersonal conflicts, and career stress, compounded by delays in problem identification and a lack of trained professionals. The 21st century world demands formal school education to foster compassion, empathy & resilience as attributes in our children to equip them to efficiently manage self, others and systems.
However, there is a legitimate concern on existing gap, and the question is, do we have a comprehensive curriculum and pedagogy that allows compassion training, developing resilience, empathy, inculcate social, emotional, and ethical learning, strengthen health and well-being and prepare children deal with uncertainty?
Hence it is very important to address this gap & curate compassion-focused learning programs to develop socially & emotionally thriving citizens of tomorrow. The Piramal Foundation in India developed and deployed a strategic systemic intervention, to experiment and decode SEE Learning®, developed by Centre for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at the Emory University, Atlanta, US. The model was piloted in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan state of India and scaled up across 6 states and 2 Union Territories in India.

The broad question addressed in this paper is how to develop and deploy SEE Learning intervention model for systemic integration and adoption. The model focused on bringing conducive systemic change and develop compassion among educators and students in the public schools by creating proof of concept in one district and influenced scale-up and systemic integration in other states.

Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the scale up and system integration model for transformative educational reform. This paper will unfold how different strategies and approaches like consortium approach, cascading and OMNI channel approach supported to develop proof of concept aimed to work towards developing inner peace, compassion and well-being among the stakeholders in the value chain by embedding SEE Learning in curricula, pedagogy, school-wide culture and in state mandate across public education system. The strategic systemic intervention brought consequential transformation among educators and children after introducing Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning) programme. The innovative practices in classroom engagement and school processes strengthen emotional resilience and interpersonal connection through personal transformation to system transformation.
As a curriculum based on compassion science and contemplative ethics, SEE Learning intervention aligns with the peace-building theories which cultivate inner peace and harmony and teaches secular ethics that inculcate values like compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, humility, discernment, kindness as qualities which are driving force for bringing peace in the lives of individual and society at large.
Case Study approach was followed as the design for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The methods of data collection were interviews, observation, and group discussion. Quantitative data collected from 40 intervention schools covering 2,000 students from grade 6 to 8 from four blocks of Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, India through questionnaire. 20 teachers and 10 officials were interviewed, 5 group discussions were conducted with teachers, HMs, State officials to understand constructive meaning they create with SEE Learning with their lives from across states where SEE Learning is implemented.
The finding from quantitative data shows 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 of 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. The data demonstrated that with the SEE Learning intervention there is a positive shift in the enrollment between baseline and endline across blocks. Students also demonstrated enhanced self-compassion, a growing recognition of common humanity, and deeper appreciation of interdependence that became foundations for sustained well-being and peaceful coexistence.
The qualitative analysis shows that integrating SEE Learning into Public System through creating a cadre of state level resource group, teachers training, continuous professional development has changed mindset, attitude and developed skills among system’s people; strengthened interpersonal relations that translated to systemic reform resulting in building peace as outcome, influenced policy for embedding components in the curriculum that enforces peace education into state and national education agenda. In Jhunjhunu district, the adoption of SEE Learning focused on training educators, curating contextual content, & developing e-learning resources, fostering a compassionate classroom environment. This proof of concept influenced states like Rajasthan, J&K, Ladakh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, & Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra through impactful data & stories. The success in Jhunjhunu led to SEE Learning inclusion in two National Curriculum Framework (NCF) position papers & advocacy in Rajasthan's State Curriculum Framework (SCF). SEE Learning curriculum adopted and owned by state ensure that SEE Learning implementation strategies evolved as a scalable, replicable and an impactful model to address India’s wicked problem of mental health crisis and develop more empathetic, peaceful society reaching out to 100,000+ schools across 6 states and 2 UTs, impacting 7 lakh teachers, creating state resource group with 700+ Master Facilitators, unlocking government funds.

Authors

• Anshu Dubey, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• MONAL JAYARAM PODUVAL, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

• Abhidha Seth, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP