Indian schooling system gives importance to high-pressure competitive academic exams focusing on rote-memorisation & doesn't teach SEL skills. Explicit SEL instruction is essential to equip students with capabilities to succeed academically, nurture healthy relationships, maintain sound mental health, secure employment, and become productive citizens. LEAPED aims at addressing this problem.
We teach self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building skills, and responsible decision making capabilities explicitly in our LEAPED classes which happen daily at the start of the day. We changed our timetable to include teaching this essential subject explicitly. Students also do guided practice of each of the skills they learn so that first they are able to learn exactly how to do it in a controlled simulated environment and get feedback on it and practice appropriate ways of doing this. Then, through the day when these things happen, teachers and peers can remind and support each other using the same things they had explicitly learnt in class. This way students learn it explicitly and then practice it when situations crop up instead of being thrown into the deep end without knowing what to do or how to do it and maybe with no one supporting them.
We started by creating an evidence-informed SEL K-12 Curriculum for our LEAPED Program. We understood that students need SEL knowledge but also opportunities to put what they have learned into practice. We also understood that teachers would need professional development to empower students successfully. We incorporated both into the design of the program. We then piloted, iterated and then scaled up. We now serve more than 2000 students in our schools and as we measure its impact on students, we will continue to refine and release research. In time we hope to extend our reach beyond our own schools to many more.
For further information and to discuss the LEAPED program; it's components, content, implementation and impact, please reach out to Siamack Zahedi at siamack.zahedi@acresfoundation.org and Pooja Harlalka at pooja.harlalka@acresfoundation.org
