Futures of Education, Culture and Nature - Learning to Become

Bhutan’s Unique Development Paradigm and the Green School Model of Restorative Learning

2023-11-19T17:42:15+01:00

This essay, penned by former Minister of Education Thakur S. Powdyel, illuminates the contrast between Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) framework and the traditional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) metric. Unlike GDP, which fixates on economic output, GNH takes a holistic approach to development, encompassing environmental, social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. The Green School initiative, a living embodiment of GNH, is not just an educational model, but a comprehensive life-enriching experience. It aims to cultivate well-rounded individuals through the Sherig Mandala, which integrates eight essential elements: Nature, Society, Culture, Intellect, Academics, Aesthetics, Spirituality, and Ethics. The essay underscores how the Green School initiative, guided by the principles of GNH, fosters a comprehensive educational experience that contributes to sustainable development and the well-being of both individuals and society.

Reimagining Education?

2024-02-01T14:27:28+01:00

In this article, based on a brief introduction to the Bhutan Baccaleareaute and Nel Nodding's theories of happiness, education, and ethics of care, I will reflect on the possibilities of 'reimagining' education based on these two approaches. In conclusion, I will briefly discuss limitations and issues in the practical implementation of the two approaches to education.

Recognizing, experiencing, defining resistance. Empirical approaches to a pedagogically relevant concept

2023-11-19T17:21:30+01:00

In Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of Liberation, the often underestimated concept of resistance is already significant in terms of argumentation. Based on this, this essay asks the question of the extent to which this concept can be reclaimed for pedagogical discussion under today's conditions. On the basis of an empirical survey of student teachers at a German university, the thesis is first put forward that the concept of resistance today is multidimensional and emotionally charged in a way that goes beyond Freire. Based on this, the categorical analysis of the students' statements opens up the field for further pedagogically relevant references to the understanding of the concept of resistance and its dimensions. As a result, resistant action and thinking as a form of learning comes into view again today.

Where is the coastline?

2023-09-07T22:35:39+02:00

Understanding the concept of interdependence means acknowledging myriad variables that assemble, separate, and redistribute in a virtual infinitude of relations. These interdependent variables, and the relations between them, can be seen as becoming perceptibly more abundant and volatile when viewed at finer, local, levels of scale. Conversely, they become simpler and more stable when viewed at cruder or macro-levels of scale. The question for policy and other practical applications, then, is which level of scale is most appropriate when dealing with any given interdependent phenomenon? Is it necessary to proceed with less "true" pictures at a cruder scale in order to foster more pragmatic results? These issues are explored through an analysis of the formulation and implementation of human wildlife conflict (HWC) policy in Bhutan. This exploration demonstrates that while HWC policy formulated at the macro-level contains an explicit focus on interdependence, when the policy is implemented at local levels of scale, much more complex tangles of interdependence emerge. These tangles obfuscate perceptions of the cause of HWC and, for some, drive opposition to a key value that is a foundation of the HWC policy. Drawing on the Bhutanese case, we advance ideas on how public policy and educational contexts can practically respond to the challenge of interdependence at different levels of scale.

Designing an online platform for supporting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

2023-09-04T09:09:46+02:00

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is recognized as a key foundation on which a sustainable future is built. This entails enabling acquisition of knowledge and skills, influencing values and attitudes, and aiding sustainable actions. In a two-year transnational research and development project, project partners have been engaged in designing and delivering an online learning platform (OLP) for supporting teachers applying ESD, in secondary schools.
This article discusses the design process and the challenges that arose with transforming identified research and policies to a suitable OLP for teachers to bring into their teaching, across diverse learning settings. Findings from the design process are based on observations from an initial Learning Design (LD) workshop with the involved project partners and a subsequent workshop with students interacting with the platform, together with project partner experiences on the overall design process and with teachers having applied the platform in their teaching. Discoveries from the development project unfolds challenges in designing an OLP for supporting ESD in schools, with a flexibility and sensitivity towards socio-cultural complexities and diverse learning contexts.

Editorial Introduction

2024-06-11T16:41:56+02:00