News and Views on Tibet

SEE learning program introduced in Ukrainian schools

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the global launch of SEE learning program in New Delhi in April 2019 (BW Businessworld)
Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the global launch of SEE learning program in New Delhi in April 2019 (BW Businessworld)

By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 20: 26 schools in Ukraine have been introduced with the Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEEL) program on Tuesday after the success of the pilot project that began in 2019. The SEEL concept is developed at Emory University, USA with the support of the Tibetan Buddhist leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

On Tuesday, a members of EdCamp Ukraine, an educational NGO that is Emory University’s official SEE Learning partner in Ukraine participated in an interactive session titled ‘Educating the Heart’ with the Dalai Lama through video link. The Tibetan leader who has partly funded the SEEL program and shared his vision and guidance to the initiative said the modern education system has greatly neglected the inner values of the human beings and hence resulting in an education system that concentrates only on materialistic values.

The ground work for SEEL program’s introduction in Ukraine was underway since 2019 with a pilot project implemented in late 2019. Oleksandr Elkin, founder of the EdCamp Ukraine movement, and adviser to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine at the time said, “The SEE training is based on the education of three skills. The first is awareness, a good understanding of oneself and an effort to understand the other person. The second is compassion, the ability to express empathy not only to relatives, but also to those who have different views than you: the ability to be tolerant. And the third skill is engagement, understanding that each and everyone can play a role in life processes, change the world for the better.”

The SEEL program was globally launched in April 2019 in New Delhi by the Dalai Lama and was introduced in schools of the Indian capital since last year.

Program developers said that the initiative provides educators with a holistic framework and resources for incorporating social, emotional, and ethical values. A high school curriculum has been planned and an online platform is being developed for SEE teachers. The curriculum will be made available into 14 languages.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *