We believe that education needs to go beyond the current practices to incorporate holistic education for harmony. While alternative schools can be centres of experimentation it is important to bring these ideas to public education systems. There is growing recognition of the importance of education for social emotional learning (SEL), however, there is limited understanding of what SEL means in the Global South. To fill this gap in our understanding, we are focusing on the Happiness Curriculum in Delhi government schools. This large-scale intervention based on SEL aims to promote happiness and well-being of school-going children. Our mixed methods study explores perceptions, experiences and impact of happiness curriculum on 6th-8th grade children and teachers in government schools in New Delhi, India.
Additionally, we are investigating the landscape of value-based education in India to gain a comprehensive understanding of how organizations approach this concept. This research aims to map out existing practices and initiatives related to value-based education, contributing to a broader understanding of value education, SEL, citizenship education, and lifeskills education in the Indian context.
By examining both sets of research, we aim to enhance our understanding of SEL development in Indian contexts and identify the systemic factors that underpin the successful implementation of the interventions related to value education and SEL.
To participate in the studies or to learn more email us at research@tideinternational.org.
Our research team
Jwalin Patel
PhD, University of Cambridge
Dr. Jwalin Patel is a research scholar and social changemaker with a keen interest in educational philosophy, classroom pedagogy, and teacher professional development. He focuses on alternative purposes of education, such as learning to live together, education for social emotional learning, and education for harmony; exploring classroom and school wide practices, systems and ethos, interventions and policies in the global south.
He is also involved in grassroots level change in India and work on improving access to quality education as the cofounder and President of Together In Development & Education (TIDE) Foundation. Furthermore, he has also served as an education and international development consultant supporting various Indian and global educational organizations.
Seema Nath
PhD, University of Cambridge
Dr Seema Nath is an inclusive education and developmental psychology practitioner and currently engaged as a Associate Director with Ummeed Child Development Center, Mumbai, India. Her interests lie at the intersection of education, social emotional learning and mental health.
Dr Nath holds a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, UK and her research critically examined systems and pedagogies in mainstream schools in India that ‘include all learners’ and consequently laid out a roadmap for implementing inclusive education in the Indian policy context. Previously, she worked with the Centre for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University on scaling up educational innovations in primary schools in India across three districts.
Mansi Nanda
PhD, University of Cambridge
Dr Mansi Nanda has recently completed her PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research focused on teachers’ perspectives on interactions with parents in rural India and the need for a collaborative relationship between teachers and parents in these communities. With expertise in mixed-methods design, she has seven years of experience in conducting research and evaluation in India. Her work has primarily focused on education of young children in rural India, especially early childhood education and primary school education. Her interest lies in educational governance and building effective educational systems for student success. Most recently, she has been working with TIDE Foundation on exploring the perspectives of children and teachers on the happiness curriculum in government schools in Delhi.
Our publications
Researching Happiness Curricula
Researching Happiness Curricula
This study explores the impact of India’s Happiness Curriculum on children’s social emotional learning (SEL) and relationships using surveys, discussions, and other methods. It aims to understand SEL development and successful implementation of interventions.
Early updates from the study
Early updates from the study
Researchers set out to investigate the processes underpinning India’s happiness curriculum on students and teachers, exploring their perceptions and experiences through surveys, discussions, and photo narratives. They aim to inform future studies and promote effective classroom practices.