Professional Development Models for Equipping Teachers with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Pedagogical Skills in Indian Contexts

This paper explores the current landscape of professional development models aimed at equipping teachers in India with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) pedagogical skills. It examines government-led, NGO-driven, private/blended, whole-school, and pre-service education models, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and modes of SEL integration. The analysis reveals that while government programs offer broad reach, they often lack sustained support; NGO initiatives provide contextualized and reflective training but face challenges in scalability; and private and whole-school models offer deeper cultural embedding but remain limited in reach. Pre-service teacher education shows promise but is yet to be standardized nationwide. Based on these insights, the paper proposes a comprehensive roadmap for sustainable and scalable SEL teacher development, emphasizing policy integration, multi-stakeholder collaboration, experiential learning, technology-enabled outreach, capacity building, and robust monitoring mechanisms. The findings underscore the importance of a coordinated approach to prepare teachers for fostering emotional and social competencies in students, contributing to holistic education and well-being in the Indian context.