The world invests heavily in responding to violence, inequality, and conflict. We build prisons. We try to negotiate ceasefires. We rebuild societies after they fracture. Yet, we rarely ask the more fundamental question: where do these behaviours begin and how could they be prevented?
Across education systems, literacy and numeracy are mandates, but the development of mental health, psychosocial competencies, and social justice is largely neglected - often left to families who may not have the tools or support to value or nurture these skills. As a result, children may learn how to succeed academically, but not necessarily how to understand and value themselves, relate to others or to the world around them.
Leslee Udwin founded Think Equal following her documentary, India’s Daughter, which exposed the deep-rooted social conditioning underpinning gender-based violence. The insight was clear: violence is not the disease, but the symptom of it. The disease itself is discriminatory mindsets, beliefs and biases learned early in life.
Neuroscience shows that ages 3-6 represent a critical window of opportunity when the brain is most malleable and core attitudes, behaviours and identities take shape. Yet this is precisely where systems are weakest.
Think Equal was created to intervene at this foundational stage - embedding a structured, evidence-based SEL approach into education systems - so that every child learns not only how to read and write, but how to be human.
Think Equal is delivered through a 30-week structured programme for children aged 3-6, designed to translate often theoretical SEL objectives in education curricula into practical, high quality classroom practice. It integrates seamlessly into early years systems, as the tools which operationalise national curricula.
Each classroom is equipped with a complete set of:
- 24 original narrative picture books (printed)
- 90 prescriptive, step-by-step lesson plans (printed + shared as PDF)
- Classroom resources (printed, easy to reproduce)
-Home Kits for parental engagement (digital audio and animated adaptations)
The structured pedagogy model enables teachers to deliver high-quality SEL three times a week, without requiring prior expertise and with minimal preparation. Through story-based learning and guided activities, children develop core competencies, including emotional literacy, empathy, inclusion, and peaceful conflict resolution, with measurable improvements observed within a single school term.
Think Equal is implemented in partnership with Ministries of Education, ensuring alignment with national curricula, integration into teacher training and Quality Assurance systems, and long-term sustainability. The programme is grounded in neuroscience and supported by three independent Randomised Controlled Trials, which demonstrate significant reductions in aggression, anxiety and social withdrawal, alongside increases in empathy, prosocial behaviour, and emotional regulation.
Think Equal has been operating in 39 countries to date, reaching over 824,000 children and 30,000+ educators.
In the past couple of years, growth has been driven by a deliberate shift from pilot projects to system-led scale. 14 Ministries of Education have partnered with Think Equal to embed its programme into curricula, teacher training, and monitoring systems; moving from short-term delivery to sustained, government-owned implementation. In multiple countries, this has already led to formal integration and mandates within national or sub-national education frameworks, enabling full saturation over time.
This approach has been strengthened by the Think Equal matching Multiplier Fund: a philanthropist-supported fund which provides catalytic co-funding to unlock large-scale, system-wide adoption where governments commit to integration. This model is already enabling expansion across regions and accelerating pathways to national scale.
Think Equal’s impact and model have been recognised globally, including the WISE Award, inclusion in the HundrED Global Collection, and recognition at the UN Transforming Education Summit.
Over the next few years, Think Equal plans to deepen national rollouts in priority countries, reach an additional 10 countries each year and millions more children through government systems, and further embed SEL as a core, measurable component of foundational learning worldwide.
The core Think Equal model - a 30-week, structured curriculum delivered through narrative picture books and scripted lessons - remains unchanged. What has evolved is how the programme is made more inclusive, embedded, and sustainable at scale.
A key priority has been ensuring that no child is left behind. Materials have been expanded to include accessible formats such as audio resources and adaptations for diverse needs, including children with disabilities and caregivers with varying literacy levels (sign language and audio versions). In contexts where formal education is disrupted, such as Gaza, Think Equal has developed a mobile app with animations to support family-based delivery. Ongoing work includes integrating radio and tv broadcasts, and tech-enabled access where possible.
At the system level, Think Equal has strengthened its integration model through partnerships with Ministries of Education, universities, and teacher training colleges. The programme is increasingly embedded into both pre-service and in-service teacher development, ensuring educators are equipped from the outset and reducing reliance on external delivery.
The Think Equal Multiplier Fund has accelerated this shift by providing catalytic co-funding linked to system integration criteria, incentivising government ownership and full-scale implementation.
Finally, Think Equal is investing in longitudinal research to strengthen its evidence base.
Think Equal partners directly with Ministries of Education to co-design integration and rollout plans. If you can facilitate a Ministry introduction or would like to support a pilot project, please contact paloma.dowell@thinkequal.org. For families or UK-based nurseries, materials and training are available online via ThinkEqual.org (search EQlicious).
