ANAGI GUNASEKERA
Deakin Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar | Educator | Learning Designer | Musician | Founder of Goodville
The Goodville Program
Character-led social-emotional learning through stories, play, music and interactive design.
Social-emotional learning · Character-led pedagogy · Play-based learning · Storytelling · Music & movement · Interactive learning · Child-centred design
The Goodville Program is an evolving creative learning project I began in 2021 to help children explore kindness, empathy, emotional awareness, confidence, responsibility and positive behaviour through imaginative and playful experiences.
What began as a simple values-based idea has grown into a character-led learning world for children, combining stories, songs, puppetry, games, movement, visual resources and interactive activities to make abstract social-emotional ideas more concrete, memorable and engaging.
How Goodville began
Goodville started from a small creative idea during my Advanced Level Business Studies.
For a marketing project, I created a music jingle around the idea that “goodness comes from within”, inspired by the sweetest part of a cream cookie being on the inside. That idea eventually developed into characters such as Goody, Jolly and Sweety, each representing behaviours, values and ways of relating to others.
When children began remembering the characters, singing about them and referring to them in everyday situations, I realised the potential of characters as learning tools - making abstract ideas feel familiar, emotionally safe and easy to remember.
How the learning world has evolved
Character-led learning
Goodville characters act as familiar anchors for discussing emotions, behaviours, relationships and choices.
Stories & Story Quests
Narrative experiences invite children into situations where they can explore problems, make connections and think about how characters might respond.
Music & movement
Original songs, rhythm, actions and musical activities reinforce concepts through repetition, expression and embodied participation.
Games & playful activities
Role play, puppetry, crafts, drawing, movement and games allow children to experience ideas rather than only being told about them.
Emotional learning tools
Visual resources and activities support children in recognising emotions, expressing themselves and thinking about strategies for responding to different situations.
Camps & facilitated experiences
Goodville has expanded into interactive camps and sessions where children learn through group participation, conversation, imagination and play.
GOODVILLE TESTIMONIALS
" We're over the moon with joy about the Goodville program! Jeneli is beaming with enthusiasm, applying what she learned and animatedly chatting about Jolly, Sweety, Goody, and even Naughty. Your efforts have truly made a positive impact already.😃😃I feel that kids are not just learning, but absorbing valuable lessons about kindness and character in such a delightful way. Your dedication to teaching these essential values in a fun manner is commendable. It's not just important but timely for young minds."
National recognition for Goodville
GP was given national recognition at the New Generation Awards 2023 organised by Women in Management and the National Youth Service Council. GP received the “Well Being Award” which “recognizes organisations and individuals who take great care to promote the wellbeing of children and young people, as well as ensuring that families can stay together.”
Through the non-profit Bridge2Peace, I had the opportunity to introduce the Goodville Program to children and families in preschools in Diyatalawa and Lunugamvehera. I translated the program into Sinhala to make the learning more accessible, adapting its messages of kindness, empathy and resilience for the local context.
One particularly meaningful moment was introducing a second morning bell for kindness alongside the existing bell for peace. The school continued this practice, with the two bells becoming a daily symbol of both values.
The children’s response was especially memorable. After one session, a child excitedly told his mother, “Api jolliyen hitiya!” (“We were jolly!”), referring to the Goodville character Jolly. I also spoke with parents about the role of kindness and empathy in supporting children through difficult circumstances.
This experience showed me how Goodville could be adapted across language, culture and community contexts, while still retaining its core purpose of helping children connect, grow and care for others.
Expanding Goodville into Community Contexts
"Social-emotional learning (SEL) is like a toolbox which gives you the tools needed to fix and tweak your emotions to better understand yourself and others"
- Anagi
Goodville Resources & Take-Home Learning
I extended Goodville beyond facilitated sessions by designing take-home resources and character-based materials that help children revisit the program’s ideas beyond the learning experience itself.
These have included activity books, behaviour and reflection charts, stickers, character materials and Goodville clothing, using familiar characters and visual cues to reinforce concepts such as kindness, responsibility and positive choices.
The aim was to create continuity between the program, home and everyday life, giving children tangible reminders of the ideas they explored through Goodville.
