Progressive Education In Nepal: The Community Is the Curriculum
()
About this ebook
Related to Progressive Education In Nepal
Related ebooks
Independent Thinking on Teaching and Learning: Developing independence and resilience in all teachers and learners (Independent Thinking On... series) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExemplary Classroom Questioning: Practices to Promote Thinking and Learning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Lead a School Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories from Novice Teachers: This is Induction? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChecking Our P.U.L.S.E. For Kids: A Personal and Practical Guide to Effective Educational Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntelligent and Effective Learning Based on the Model for Systematic Concept Teaching Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Implementing a National Assessment of Educational Achievement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education, Second Edition: copublished by TESOL and NAFSA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Public School Miracle: Transforming the Hearts and Minds of a School and its Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLet's Explore Technology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGetting to the HEARTS of Teaching Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCassandra's Classroom Innovative Solutions for Education Reform Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReaching Out: A K-8 Resource for Connecting Families and Schools Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeaching Today: Becoming the Candidate of Choice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCultural Diversity A Complete Guide - 2020 Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHumanizing Classroom Management: Restorative Practices and Universal Design for Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLinking Leadership to Student Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld-Readiness Standards (General) + Language-specific document (CHINESE) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRural Lifestyles, Community Well-Being and Social Change: Lessons from Country Australia for Global Citizens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeaching Tools to Streamline Your Classroom and Engage Students (K-5): Through the Eyes of a Teacher Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Digital learning A Complete Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGoogle-Izing the Blended Classroom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmbracing Work Readiness in Teaching Language Arts: Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelivering Inclusive and Impactful Instruction: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGetting Textbooks to Every Child in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategies for Addressing the High Cost and Low Availability Problem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeacher Quality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Trimester Schedule that Works: Solutions for Secondary Teaching and Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to Mobile Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning For Life: Empowering Students Through Personalized Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Teaching Methods & Materials For You
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside American Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Speed Reading: Learn to Read a 200+ Page Book in 1 Hour: Mind Hack, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher Reading Order: The Complete Lee Child’s Reading List Of Jack Reacher Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Study Guide for Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPersonal Finance for Beginners - A Simple Guide to Take Control of Your Financial Situation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Three Bears Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anxious Generation - Workbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything You Need to Know About Personal Finance in 1000 Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Take Smart Notes. One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn French - Parallel Text - Easy Stories (English - French) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How You Learn Is How You Live: Using Nine Ways of Learning to Transform Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Tools of Learning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Progressive Education In Nepal
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Progressive Education In Nepal - Bertram C. Bruce
Progressive
Education in Nepal
The Community is
the Curriculum
Bertram C. Bruce
2018
First published by Chequessett Neck Books, 2018
© Bertram C. Bruce, 2018
All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Chequessett Neck Books
130 Daniels Drive
Wellfleet, Massachusetts 02667
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-359-18244-2 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-359-24941-1 (ebook)
Printed by Lulu Press, Inc.
Acknowledgments
The work on education reported here represents the collaboration of many people. This includes the dedication to improving education in Nepal in specific sites and the work to organize workshops, conferences, school visits, and other meetings.
Umes Shrestha, Narottam Aryal, Nama Raj Budhathoki, Swastika Shrestha, Pavitra Gautam, Aakriti Thapa, Shisir Khanal, Raj Poudel, Kamana Regmi, Kumar Thapa, and many others we indispensable for the success of the workshops. Krishnakumar KC and Amrit Poudel made a special contribution in arranging the stay in the village of Dalchoki. In listing a few people here, I'm inevitably leaving out many others.
I’d like to add that when I heard the initial plans for my first trip to Nepal, I couldn’t quite believe that it would all come together: workshops, community inquiry in a village, and a national conference. But that all happened better than I expected. The reality went beyond the original plan and came to include multiple organizations, visits to schools, follow on trips to Nepal for me, and the creation of the Progressive Educators Network of Nepal (PENN).
I would also like to acknowledge invaluable assistance in preparing this book. Kshitiz Khanal made good suggestions on the focus of the book itself, especially about making clearer the connection between progressive education and anecdotes about Nepal life. Mike Fisher provided both many detailed comments and general advice on the book. Hanni Woodbury and Daniel Dejean helped me with the introduction. Emily Bruce made useful comments throughout. Susan Bruce, as always, gave strong support throughout, edited the text, and took many of the photographs.
Dedication
Dedicated to the many people who are working to make education
in Nepal more accessible, relevant, and engaging.
Preface
If we could measure a country by the resourcefulness of its people, their devotion to family and community, the diversity of language, art, and music, or the kindness exhibited in virtually every interaction, Nepal would be very rich indeed. What it lacks in the material realm is offset by strength of culture that could be a lesson for those in many other countries.
Economical travel for a family
Nepal is a country with daunting needs in terms of basic education and other social services. At the same time, its cultural and moral wealth provide a strong basis for meaningful life and learning. In particular, it offers fertile ground for progressive education, in which learning grows out of experiences in the community. Thus, despite material poverty, the country holds the possibility of significant advances, even international leadership, in the area of progressive education.
Most of the content comes from my blog (chipbruce.net) reporting on my work in Nepal, but many of the entries have been updated and they are now grouped into categories. The posts are one person’s impressions of a country and people far too complex to capture in a few visits or a short book.
You can see from the dates that I overrode the strict chronological order of posting. Also, there are posts
and photos that never appeared on the blog. On the blog itself, there are many more photos and videos available, as well as hyperlinks to the various organizations and additional information.
Brochure of Various Buddhist Sites
, Jenish Budhathoki (age 11)
(1) Introduction
The list of remarkable things about Nepal is remarkably long. You could start with the physical: It has 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world, and overall has elevations ranging from 66 meters to 8,848 meters above sea level. It is a biodiversity hotspot deriving from the multiple ecoregions–arctic to tropical, including mountains, hills, and savannas.
A singer and tradesman, with his sarangi
There is a corresponding diversity of flora and fauna, with gorgeous butterflies and birds. There are diverse cultural groups and many languages spoken. The architecture, the food, the music, the arts, the history, the religions, and more are fascinating. Not surprisingly, tourism is the largest industry. Nepal is a top destination for mountaineering, trekking, rafting, and jungle safaris.
Spending time with friends
However, I experienced something perhaps even more remarkable. I was fortunate to be invited to join a group of young Nepalis who hope to build a movement to make education in Nepal more progressive, specifically to make it more relevant to people’s lives, more connected to community, and more supportive of inquiry that leads to sustained and creativity.
How I became involved
I have had a long fascination with Nepal, what to me seemed a remote land of majestic mountains, jungles, ancient religions, exotic food, clothes, dance, and architecture. This interest only intensified as I got to know several doctoral students at the University of Illinois. They encouraged me to go there, to teach or do research, or just to visit. Although I was sorely tempted, I never seemed able to work out the timing, the work plan, the funding, or other crucial details.
After I retired in 2011, I had more flexibility and began to consider how to make a Nepal visit possible. My student, Nama Raj Budhathoki, had completed his PhD and returned to Kathmandu. He enthusiastically encouraged a visit, and perhaps more importantly, was a good organizer. In addition to many emails and draft plans, he set up a skype call with Narottam Aryal and Umes Shrestha from King’s College in Kathmandu. They invited me to visit Nepal during the Fall of 2016. My time was self-funded, but the college provided me with an office and an apartment to stay in. I arranged to go for more than two months, which included a six-week work plan and some time for exploration of Nepal.
Working with faculty at King's College, Kathmandu Living Labs (Nama's nonprofit civic technology company), Karkhana, Teach for Nepal, schools such as Nisarga Batika and John Dewey School, and other organizations, we held a workshop to learn about progressive education and what it means for Nepal today. This led to the formation of the Progressive Educators Network of Nepal.
In the Spring of 2018 I returned for a second trip of nearly three months. We held a follow-on workshop, with both familiar and new participants. There was a shift in emphasis to more reflection on the work and writing about it. I plan to return in the Winter of 2019 to continue this work.
The genre of this book
The book is an account of these trips and workshops, visits to the different sites for learning, and my own learning through immersion in Nepal. As such, it ranges from personal observations of