Learning in low resource settings: the importance of socio emotional skills for rural Indian girls

Abstract

Socio-emotional (SE) skills are the attitudes and skills necessary for youth to recognize and control their emotions and behaviors; establish and maintain positive relationships; make responsible decisions and solve challenging situations; and set and achieve positive goals. It has proven to predict academic performance and long-term life outcomes. I work on the intersection of SE skills, poverty and gender to answer questions like – How do SE skills manifest themselves in low resource situations? How should educational interventions be designed that are more rooted contextually? As a result, I design and apply social interventions specifically in rural schools of India. The current session took place 7,500 miles away with a group of adolescent girls, on identifying their strengths and solving problems that surround them. This drop out 6th grader sat next to me and copied all my notes while I observed the group session on Emotional Resilience. This picture depicts what resilience looks like; a girl so focused to write in spite of knowing her limitations. Why is she doing so? What skills in her make her pursue this task? Does she have a goal in mind? If not, what is she seeking out of it?