The Learning Outcomes of this course are as follows:

• Students will be able to become aware of oneself and the society.
• Make informed lifestyle choices and extend the self in the joy of giving.
• Develop empathy, compassion, connect with nature and evolve emotionally to create a more harmonious society.
• Cultivate sensitivity towards discriminatory practices and explore possible solutions.

UNIT- I Introduction - Self-Awareness and Happiness (3 Weeks)

• Getting to Know Each Other
• What to Expect from this Course?
• Getting to Know Oneself
• What Makes One Happy/Unhappy? Outer vs Inner Sources of Happiness, Joy of Giving

UNIT- II Social Relationships I Mindfulness (4 Weeks)

• Sharing vs Power: Peers, Family and Society
• Going Beyond Power Relationships Through Open Conversation
• The Value of Silence and Reflection
• Practice of Mindfulness

UNIT- III Identity, Self-Image, Status, Self-Worth- Digital Identity (4 Weeks)

• Identity Construction and Expression: Individual and Collective
• Accepting and Valuing Oneself
• Understanding the Gendered World
• Identifying and transcending stereotypes
• Identity Formation and Validation in the Digital World
• Discrimination and its Forms

UNIT- IV Lifestyle Choices I Stress and Its Management (4 Weeks)

• What Choices Does One Get To Make?
• Is Choice influenced? Relationships, Career Choices
• Career Pressures, Examinations
• Dealing with Disappointment, Coping Skills, Health and Fitness
• Connect With Nature: Sensitivity Towards Other Sentient Beings

UNIT- I

Getting to Know Each Other

In this lecture, the teacher will facilitate social engagement and personal reflection through a round of introductions. This also provides an opportunity for the teacher and students to recognise the deeper meanings that lie underneath routine exercises of introduction. For example, the adjectives that people use to describe themselves are indicative of the image that they wish others to hold of them. But do they hold the same image about themselves?

Teachers may begin the class by introducing themselves. Any introductory exercise that serves as an ice breaker and creates the classroom space as one of vibrant and open discussions, may be used. Teachers should try and ensure participation of all students in this exercise.

Activities

1. Who is in your circle?

Students may be asked to draw three concentric circles on their notebooks. The central circle is for the topic, the second for 'Love', and third for 'Like'. The space outside the circles is for 'Don't like'. The class decides on one topic, such as food, movies, web series, books, music, interests, etc. Each topic is taken up in turn and students are asked to write what they love, like, and don't like in the circles and share it with others. The exercise helps students to identify with their peers in commonalities and differences. The teacher may use prompts such as 'Why do you like this show?', 'Why do you dislike this food?' etc.

2. I am ...

Students are asked to complete the sentences. The teacher may take turns and ask random students to answer it or the teacher may write these on the board and ask every student to write the answer in their notebooks. Some suggested prompt sentences are:

I am excited about ....... .

I wish I could ...... .

I am wondering .....

I am feeling anxious about ....

IStudents can choose to share some of the answers with the class. The purpose of the exercise is to bring most students to speak in class and share their honest feelings and thoughts.

3. Introduce Yourself. Know Yourself

In this exercise, the teacher asks all students to take turns to introduce themselves. It is likely that most students will talk about their names, previous qualifications and hobbies. At the end of the introductions, the teacher can identify commonalities such as previous courses undertaken, regional identities, age, or similar common factors. The teacher may then use the following prompts to facilitate discussion:

Do these define you? Are you something more? Would you like to change any of these qualifiers?

Is there something about you that you would like to share with us? Do you ever wonder about your identity/ identities?

What to Expect from this Course?

In this class, the focus is on understanding the relevance of the course and providing a course overview. Students will be able to explore the various dimensions of their lives and develop insights about themselves and their relationships. By discussing the outline of the course and the suggested activities, the teacher shall bring to the fore the exploratory journey that the students will embark upon. The students' questions relating to the course contents will also be addressed in this lecture.

Activities

In this class, the teacher may undertake an overview of the course, discussing each week's themes briefly. The nature of assignments and evaluation can also be detailed out. The teacher may hold a discussion with students on the following:

1. Why is social and emotional learning important?

2. What can the teacher do to make the classroom a more welcoming and open space for you?

3. What would be some of the activities that you would like to undertake during the course? Such

as watching movies, reading books, maintaining a reflective journal, engagement in the field, mindfulness exercises, etc.

Self Awareness and Happiness

The aim of this module is to help students develop awareness about themselves - who they are, what their strengths and limitations are, and how they can develop themselves. This will help them to learn interlinkages and distinctions between thoughts, emotions and behaviours. This module will make them aware of the differences between happiness and pleasure and help themponder on sources of happiness.

Self Awareness

Self-awareness is the experience and understanding of one's own personality - how an individual understands his own feelings, motives, desires, and behaviour, and the triggers for the same. Hence, self-awareness can be considered to be vital for personal development. Students would thereby become more· grounded and confident. This lesson will focus on the student's intrapersonal and interpersonal awareness through discussions and activities

Activities p>

1. Students are asked to make a timeline of important events in their life and how each one affected them at that time. Do they see it differently today?

2. SWOT Analysis can be done by each student - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

3. How do they envision their ideal person - What does your ideal person look like? What characteristics do they possess? Identify the gap. How do they plan to fill/reduce the gap?

Happiness

The term 'happiness' includes pleasant and positive emotions which can range from deep satisfaction and contentment to pleasure and excitement. The focus of this session would be to discuss techniques to develop the long-lasting feelings of contentment rather than momentary and short-lived emotions of excitement and pleasure. This will encourage and foster feelings of wellbeing and life satisfaction. The teacher will use activities in order to inculcate the ways of developing and sustaining happiness.

Activities

Writing a gratitude Journal - include in it what you are grateful for. Mindfulness exercises and developing a mindful way of doing things.

"As one door closes, another door opens". A discussion based on the three opportunities that they think they lost and consider what it was they gained in the process.

Unit 2

Social Relationships

In this module, students will be asked to turn their gaze towards the society in which they are located and where they form social relations. They will be asked to introspect and understand the ways in which they connect with their immediate and extended social surroundings. In this context, peers and family exercise a significant influence on the identities of adolescents and young adults. The students will be asked to assess the nature of their relationship with friends and family and explore these negotiations in the context of sharing versus power

The teacher will help students broaden their understanding by extending the discussion to include other social relationships, beyond peers and family. They will be encouraged to think about how they are influenced and how they in turn influence the people around them. The class shall explore the importance of open conversation as a means to resolve conflicts and contradictions.

Sharing vs Power: Peers

Identity formation and development is significantly dependent on the peer group with which the individual interacts. During this class, the students may pose the following question to themselves and to each other- What is the nature of the relationships that they share with their peers? Adolescents and young adults like to conform to peer expectations. Students may explore whether relationships between peers are equal. What forces mediate these relationships? By posing examples from real life, the teacher will encourage the students to closely examine their relationships with their friends and family.

Activities

Ask the students to describe their close friends with fictitious names. They should then be asked why they are close to them and what is the one quality about their friends that they appreciate.

Divide students into groups of 5 each. This can vary depending on the class size. Each group can discuss how they were influenced by their friends in decision making processes.

The class/ group can share a story from their life about how they made a decision based on peer pressure. They should also share the result. Were they happy or unhappy about it? The findings can be discussed in the class.

Sharing vs Power: Family

The family is often considered to be a given and stable construct in which one is born or placed. As the relationships of adolescents with people outside the home grow, their interactions with their families evolve and take on a new and sometimes difficult character. Discussions and activities in the class should help the students objectively analyse their family space and the way in which they negotiate with it at different points of time. Through examples from day to day life, the teacher will help.the students understand such spaces and the role they play.

Activities

Describe the ideal family. The students can think about the nature of the ideal created by them. What is the role played by siblings in your personal development?

Role play can be used to perform the different roles in a family so as to understand the different points of view within it.

Sharing vs Power: Society

The individuals generally extend the nature of their relationships with the family to the larger social world. In their pursuit to seek autonomy and independence, they may form new kinds of relationships in the larger social context. These relationships may be characterised by imbalances in· power. This lecture will try to help the students strike a balance between self and society and stress the role of dialogue, sharing and cooperation.

Activities

The teacher can ask the students to describe any one constructive social role performed by them. (Any way in which they helped people around them). They can draw, speak, share a photograph or write a creative piece about it.

In the years to come what kind of role do you see yourself performing in society?

Share any one story about a person that has really influenced you? It can be about a public figure or anyone around you.

Going Beyond Power Through Open Conversation

In the previous lectures, the discussion has been around family, peer groups and society. In this session, the focus will be on the ways to build a more egalitarian society-one that is more collaborative, inclusive and takes into account different points of view. Open Conversation is suggested as a way by which acceptance, active listening and empathy can be encouraged.

Activities

The students can be asked to present a brief performance showing the way in which open conversation can help in conflict resolution.

Movies in line with classroom discussions held in the past few weeks can be shown to the students. Movie screening should be followed by a discussion.

A short story, poem or a play can be used to build on classroom discussions.

Mindfulness

This module focuses on the significance of silence, introspection and nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. These mental practices are for understanding and building humane connection with self and others. The students - are sometimes unable to spare time for their inner growth. Mindfulness practices aim at self-awareness and self- acceptance for overall well being. Valuing and practicing silence helps in the process of deeper reflection and builds inner strength to face conflicts with calmness. It hones the ability to develop mental equanimity and equipoise.

The Value of Silence and Reflection

The students will learn to understand the value of silence in the noise around. The practice of silence helps in self-reflection and connecting the inner and outer worlds. It enables one to experience joy, contentment and peace. Silence is a way of understanding how to enjoy one's own company and not to confuse being alone with loneliness. The students will appreciate that silence and solitude are positive and constructive.

Activities

The students can be asked to maintain silence and watch the flow of thoughts and emotions. In the process of silence the students can identify what gives them happiness and what they can do to create happiness for others.

The students can visit natural spaces to understand how silence runs in the sounds of nature which can help them realise peace.

Practice of Mindfulness

Through this lesson, the students will understand the significance of mindfulness as a daily practice for understanding that happiness depends on the self-training of mind. The joy of living in the moment with full awareness and steadiness of mind are important for accepting and cherishing all experiences positively and non-judgmentally.

Suggested Activities

Mindful walk/trek in the garden/forest/mountains or at a monument. Mindful eating while enjoying all elements of tastes in different types of food can also be done.

The students can be engaged in groups for non-judgmental listening

The class can be divided to discuss what activities of the day they engage with full awareness and where the moments go unnoticed

Unit 3

Identity, Self-image, Status, Self-worth

The module is designed to help the learners revisit the constructs of identity, self and personhood. It builds on questions such as 'who am I', 'how do others and I see myself', 'does status and self-image affect my sense of self-worth'. Specifically, it deals with how one's identity takes shape and thereon begins to be an integral part of oneself. It encourages the students to think about what factors influence their self-worth, such as achievements and accumulations, wealth, career or popularity. The students learn to accept and appreciate self and others.

Identity Construction and Expression: Individual and Collective

This lesson is aimed to help the learners deconstruct their sense of identity and rechart the signifiers/ markers and processes which have played a pivotal role in constructing their sense of identity and self. ltunfoldshowprocessesofsocialisationwithinfamily,school,community and society at large have played a role in making students who they are. How do these processes shape our notions of self-concept, self-evaluation, and selfesteem? The students will be able to become aware of their individual and collective sense of identity and self.

Activities

The teacher may ask the students to imagine one's identity in different contexts that are significant for identity construction. For instance, what does identity of being someone's 'child' entail; likewise what kind of an identity does one expect of oneself as a sibling, student and as a friend.

The teacher .may ask the students to read from biographies/autobiographies of people from other cultures and discuss excerpts from the books. The teacher may elaborate the qualities of these people.

The teacher may organise a field visit with the students to different places. Ask the students to survey people from those locales about their experiences.

Accepting and Valuing Oneself

This lesson builds on the previous lesson by unpacking how concerns revolving around self- image and status may affect one's sense of self. It aims to make one aware why a challenge to

one's identity may lead to discomfort and conflict. Students will be encouraged to accept their physical appearance and identity and to value self-worth. This lesson invites them to undertake an inward journey.

Activities

The teacher may ask students to respond to different characters in a movie where challenges to their identity lead to different kinds of responses.

What will change after 10 years in terms of your identity and what according to you will not change?

The teacher may ask the students to identify an 'open space' and 'sit alone' and write a reflective essay on the theme, 'remember what makes you, you'.

Gender Roles

The objective of this module is to enable the students to differentiate between biological and psychological context of gender in order to understand how their gendered identities are socially constructed. Gender refers to the characteristics of men and women and includes norms, behaviour and roles associated with being man or woman, girl or boy. Further, this will enable the students to become aware that their destiny need not be determined by biology.

Understanding a Gendered World

The objective of this lecture is to enable the students to understand that gender roles are taught by the process of socialization, beginning with the family. Everyday things that we do like eating, speaking, walking, our gestures and even the professions that we think we choose are all often influenced by societal norms.

Activities

The teacher may ask the students to list things associated under the heading; men and women. Once listed, the headings can be interchanged and a discussion may follow.

Ask students· to bring an artefact from home, it can be a childhood picture.On the basis of the picture students can share childhood experiences. Through the narrative of their oral history students can share experiences of how they acquired gender.

Identifying and Transcending Stereotypes

In the previous lecture, students have been made aware that gender stereotypes are socially constructed, that the ways in which we interact with others and with ourselves are shaped by gender. The objective of this lecture is to explain the importance of thinking beyond the stereotypes and to reinforce that biological differences between genders should not lead to social discrimination.

Activities

Movie viewing: Students and teachers can choose any movie for discussion.

Quiz cards: On the cards the following can be written and the student can be asked to identify which is socially constructed and which refers to biology.

Men are Breadwinners, Women are homemakers.

Males have XV chromosomes, Females have XX chromosomes. Women give birth to babies, men don't.
Boys don't cry

Digital Identity

It may be constricting to identify exclusively with ideas like region, ethnicity, language, gender, nationality. For, in this increasingly interconnected world, students find themselves at the intersection of many ideas - evolving and fixed, dominant and marginalised. This rainbow of ideas provides an opportunity to appreciate the diversity in the constitution of an individual's identity. But what happens when one is given a chance to construct a digital identity for oneself? Digital platforms and social networking sites arguably provide an individual the choice to portray oneself the way one Ukes. Do we choose to present our authentic selves or do we prefer to present highly curated versions of ourselves? Do social media posts reflect self- respect and self-love?

Identity Formation and Validation in the Digital World

Through this session, students are expected to realise the ways in which they construct themselves digitally and how that construction is a manifestation of conformity, resistance and/or subversion, of the dominant ideologies. Students should be encouraged to reflect on what exactly they are seeking from engaging with social media. They need to think how the joy pf sharing ideas may be different from the egoic need for compulsive validation.

Activities

Think of the digital filters that you use before sharing your photographs with others. Why do you think you need to do that?

We · often feel happy about being validated in the form of 'likes' and positive comments on our social media posts. However, do you feel sad when that does not happen? What could be the possible reason for your mind to have this line of thought?

Digital Identities: Impact on the Self

The students will carry forward the learnings from the previous session and continue their inquiry in the realm of motivations for curating a digital self and its relation to self-esteem. They would be encouraged to engage in a nonjudgemental conversation which would motivate them to inquire whether their digital activities are a result of anxiety which may be emanating from their self-image.

Activities

Do you think the use of digital filters is disrespectful to your self? Is not using them a source of anxiety for you? Can this have anything to do with your self-esteem?

Think of situations that make you feel sad on social media. Note them down. Do you think not exposing yourself to such a situation is a solution or do you think you also need to locate the issue within yourself?

Try spending a day without doing any activity on social media like posting anything or surfing other people's accounts for their activities. At the end of the day observe how you feel.

Unit IV

Lifestyle Choices

How we choose to live and behave influences our social and emotional wellbeing. In this module we analyse our lifestyle choices relating to material and cultural consumption, relationships and career. Students will be encouraged to inquire whether our everyday choices are based on a culture of passive consumption and conformism. We will seek to explore possibilities of alternative forms of living premised on ethical consumption, altruism, simple and sustainable living.

What Choices Does One Get to Make?

In this session, the attempt will be to explore the extent to which consumerism impacts our lifestyle choices and the repercussions of these on our natural and social environment. Today we live in an era of mass consumption and consumer culture fostered by advanced technologies and global production systems. Overt materialism, wasteful and conspicuous consumption unmindful of the larger implications are key aspects of this phenomenon. In this lecture, we explore our lifestyle choices such as our physical image, attire, dietary choices, desire for dream homes and destination weddings. This would be the starting point for a re-imagination of a world based upon choices that would lead to simple and sustainable living.

Suggested Activities

Students may be asked to work through their consumption history right from their childhood. A discussion may then be initiated by asking the students to reflect on their consumption choices and their motives behind the same.

The teacher may identify a few products like tea, coffee, coca-cola, jeans etc and ask the students to trace product histories and geographies.

The students may be asked to discuss a strong desire to possess an object and then deconstruct that desire. Discussion may emphasise upon why they wanted it?

Is Choice Influenced? Relationships, Career Choices

In this lecture, we examine the extent to which lifestyle choices, regarding relationships and career, get influenced and by what factors. Do we really have a choice as regards the career that we intend to pursue? Often factors like family, gender, the need for security and stability influence our choices. Recognizing and mapping the space of freedom and unfreedom with respect to our choices is a necessary life skill that would enable a more self-aware and harmonious living.

Activities

Reflect on an instance where you may have inflicted pain on someone and also think of a moment when you felt someone was insensitive in their conduct of a relationship.

The teacher may divide the class into small groups and hold a discussion on what constitutes a successful career.

Reflect on the various career options available in your society and discuss what you would prefer to pursue and why?

Discrimination

The module is designed to help the learners understand the origin and nature of discrimination and the effects thereof. Discrimination can be on various grounds such as ethnicity, religion, caste, race, gender, disability, or place of birth. One's discriminatory actions can lead to social fragmentation. The module encourages the learners to introspect their actions and seeks to celebrate diversity.

Why and How? Forms of Discrimination

The objective of this lesson is to make learners aware of different forms of discrimination. On the one hand, an individual can be a victim of discrimination, and on the other, the same person

may harbour prejudice or discriminate against others. It is pertinent to understand our own biases and introspect our actions.

Activities

The teacher can ask students to count their friends who belong to different backgrounds. They can reflect on what they have learned by interacting with these friends.

Ask students to learn about their neighbourhood and document what groups live there, what has been the nature of their relationships.

An exercise on privilege using nothing but wadded up papers and a trash can. Students Learn A Powerful Lesson About Privilege. https://youtu. be/2KlmvmuxzYE

Stress and Its Management

This module is designed to give students an opportunity to articulate the pressures and
challenges that one experiences in life. It gives students a chance to spell out how pressure to perform well can become a source of stress. The module is aimed to equip the learners with ways of dealing with disappointments with regard to the choice of career path and with performance related stress. It brings to fore skills of coping with stress and disappointments. It also highlights the role of physical well-being in keeping oneself mentally healthy.

Career Pressures, Examinations

This lesson is designed to help students have a relock at the challenges and pressures they have recently faced or are facing on account of career choices and examinations. It gives them a space to articulate what they might have faced while making these choices. This lesson also gives them an opportunity to highlight the uncertainties and challenges they foresee in their future lives.

Activities

The teacher may ask the students to organise themselves in groups of 4-6. Each of the groups have to do a role-play around the themes on career pressures.

Show images of different people and ask the students to quickly jot down impressions. The collective answers serve as a springboard for discussions. Students may learn about their own biases through this activity.

The teacher may ask the students to identify movies where struggles related to career and performance pressure stand out.

The teacher may ask the students to share their experiences about the following:

Activities

• First few months into an academic programmes
• 2 months before examinations
• On the day of examination
• 15 days after examinations get over

Dealing with Disappointments, Coping Skills, Health and Fitness

This session aims to equip the learners with coping skills to manage stress and deal with disappointments. Furthermore, it makes them aware of the importance of health and fitness for maintaining mental health.

Activities

The teacher can ask the students to write how they come to know they are stressed and what they do when they are stressed? The teacher may engage them in a discussion on coping skills and channelize students' energies into positive ways of resolutions of conflict and stress.

The teacher may ask the students to discuss the lives of high achievers and low achievers and how performance pressures drive their lives. Can they draw similarities and differences in the sour~es of stresses and how they deal with these stresses?

Ask each of the students to share their dai"ly regime to keep themselves physically fit. The students may also share how each one mentally 'feels/experiences' when one is engaged in physical exercises.

Connect with Nature

This module is designed to strengthen bonds with nature while understanding its intrinsic value as opposed to its instrumental value. Issues of global warming and environmental degradation are the consequences of a disconnect between humans and nature. The aim is to cultivate environmental awareness through virtues of altruistic responsibility, empathy, cohesiveness, and mutual sustainability between nature, flora-fauna, animals and humans. The students may be engaged in activities to build bridges between the inner environment (one's self) and external environment (nature). In this way, they can celebrate oneness with nature and perceive nature not as a means but an end in itself.

Sensitivity Towards Other Sentient Beings

The students, in this session, would participate in group based environmental activities as a way of building social responsibility towards all sentient beings. Any action against even a part of nature impacts the whole. Thus, it is the responsibility of all, to create a safe environment for all sentient beings to live in harmony.

Activities

Students can be encouraged for Nature walks, nature drives, treks and hikes, nature photography, adopting natural spaces in local areas, plantation drives, visiting biodiversity parks, adopting spaces for greening etc.

Visits to animal shelters can be organised to sensitise the students.

Films can be screened on environmental sustainability, environmental consciousness etc

• Any other Practical/Practice as decided from time to time

• Black,Donna Lord(2022). Essentials of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). NJ :Wiley.
• Goleman,Damiel (2005). Emotional lntelligence.USA:Bantam.
• Swami Vivekanand. (2016).The complete works of Swami Vivekanand. Advaita Ash ra ma. ( https ://www. ra ma krish naviveka na nd. info/viveka na nd/complete works.html)