Constructing Disability in Bhutan: Schools, Structures, Policies, and Global Discourses
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Constructing Disability in Bhutan: Schools, Structures, Policies, and Global Discourses A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Matthew John Schuelka IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dr. Frances Vavrus, Advisor January 2014 © Matthew John Schuelka, 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is fascinating to try to think back to all of the events of my life that led up to me climbing aboard one plane in Minneapolis and disembarking from another in Paro, Bhutan. There are many people that have made this journey possible. First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Emily, for enduring the academic process – from agony to ecstasy – and for agreeing to live in the Himalaya for a year. She would argue that she welcomed the adventure of living abroad, but that only makes her more unique and special. The rest of my family – my parents, sister, parents-in-law, and grandparents – also deserve honorable mention for their love and support. There have been many people in academia that have been instrumental in helping make all of this possible. They are, in no particular order: Chris Johnstone, Peter Demerath, Michael Goh, David Johnson, Joan DeJaeghere, Christine Min Wotipka, Francisco Ramirez, Martin Carnoy, Jennifer Adams, Colby Kervick, Katie Shepherd, Michael Giangreco, Samir Patel, Shivaraj Bhattarai, Dasho Tenzin Yonton, Janet Schofield, Dolma Roder, Liz Monson, Karma Phuntsho, and Dorji Thinley. I especially want to thank my advisor, Fran. Her commitment to excellence in all that she does, and the amount of time she devotes to her students, is truly remarkable. I could not have asked for a better advisor and look forward to having her as a colleague in the field. Also to all of my friends, peers, and colleagues at the University of Vermont, Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, Royal Thimphu College, and my charro in Bhutan … you know who you are. i DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the students, teachers, volunteers, officers, directors, members of the Royal Family, and policy makers that work to make Bhutan a more inclusive society. I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to my grandmother, Bessie Leora Schuelka, who passed away while I was writing this autumn. Twenty-seven years ago, my grandmother successfully defended her own dissertation titled “Perceptions and reported changes in the secondary school curriculum by selected Iowa superintendents.” She graduated with a PhD in Education Curriculum and Administration from Iowa State University in 1986. Her life-long commitment to education will continue to be an inspiration for me. ii ABSTRACT Bhutan is a small country in the Himalaya that has experienced rapid societal changes in the past 60 years. Perhaps the most significant change in Bhutan has occurred in its educational system, which grew from a very limited presence in 1961 to now serving the entire youth population of Bhutan. With this massive increase in educational service provision, the challenges of providing education for a heterogeneous student population are now front and center in Bhutanese policy and discourse. Specifically, one of the major challenges in Bhutanese education today is how to include students with disabilities in schooling. Inclusive education policy, philosophy, and practice has existed in international discourse for many years – especially in United Nations human rights initiatives such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This dissertation, using a vertical case study approach, explores the interactions of multiple levels of policy-making as the inclusive education discourse makes it way through Bhutan. At the top levels, two discursive streams are entering Bhutan – that of the medical approach to constructing disability and that of the rights-based approach to constructing disability. These distinct yet interconnected streams present a contradictory international message from which Bhutanese policy actors must try to make meaning. Several theories pertaining to the process of educational policy transfer are used to explain this policy borrowing process – world culture, world-systems, and a more anthropological approach – as it applies to the case of Bhutan. The study then shifts to the school level where the country’s rich historical context has produced local socio-cultural constructions of disability that serve to ‘disable’ and exclude certain students. These multiple levels of analysis show how local understandings and practices of disability influence Bhutanese interpretations and implementation of inclusive education policy borrowed from elsewhere and add new insights into the study of policy in comparative education. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………………………………... vi List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………… vii Preliminary Explanations ………………………………………………………………………..… viii Prologue ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter One: Situating the Study of Disability in Bhutan Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Research Questions ……………………………………………………………………………. 15 Education in Bhutan: From the Monastery to the Modern School ……….… 16 Education for Youth with Disabilities in Bhutan ………………………………...… 25 The Global Discourse on Education for Youth with Disabilities …………..… 33 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 40 Chapter Two: Methodology Introduction ……………….………………………………………………………………..…..… 42 Research Questions and Paradigm ………………………………………………………. 42 Site Selection ……………………………………………………………………………………… 44 Research Design ……………………………………………………………………………….… 49 Data Collection …………………………………………………………………………………… 52 Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………...… 59 Ethics, Limitations, and Trustworthiness …………………………………………….. 61 Chapter Three: Policy Transfer: Theories, Ideas, Contestations Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………… 65 Understanding Educational Policy Transfer ………………………………………… 67 World Culture Theory: Convergence and Internationalization of Education Policies …………………………………………………………………… 69 World-Systems Theory: The World Capitalist Economy and Its Discontents ………………………………………………………………….. 75 Global Constructivism: Questioning Assumptions, Finding Alternatives … 81 An Anthropology of Policy in Bhutan …………………………………………………... 92 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………...… 95 iv Chapter Four: The Construction of Disability Through Policy Transfer Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………. 97 Historical Developments in Bhutanese Education: Learning from British India …………………………………………………… 102 Contemporary Developments in Bhutanese Education: Understanding Ourselves, Learning from Others …………………….. 112 Exogenous Constructions of Disability: The Medical Model, the Rights Model, and a Multitude of Voices ……………………………. 126 Theoretical Considerations ……………………………………………………………….. 147 Chapter Five: Constructing Disability in Bhutanese Education Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….. 159 The Religious and Cultural Construction of ‘Disability’ in Bhutan ……..… 161 Structural Exclusion in Bhutanese Education …………………………………..… 173 Curricular Exclusion in Bhutanese Education …………………………………..… 185 Pedagogical Exclusion in Bhutanese Education ………………………………..… 193 Linguistic Exclusion in Bhutanese Education …………………………………...… 200 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 203 Chapter Six: Conclusion Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….. 207 Research Questions and Arguments ………………………………………………….. 207 Implications for Policy ……………………………………………………………………… 214 Future Research ……………………………………………………………………………….. 218 Concluding Thoughts ………………………………………………………………………... 219 References ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 222 Appendices Appendix A: Map of Bhutan and Region …………………………………………….. 236 Appendix B: Political Map of Bhutan …………………………………………………. 237 Appendix C: The Languages of Bhutan ………………………………………………. 238 Appendix D: The Bhutanese Education System At-a-Glance ………………... 239 Appendix E: Policy Borrowing Model ………………………………………………….. 243 Appendix F: Key Questions for Analysis of Educational Policy in a Globalized Context ………………………………………………………………… 244 Appendix G: Selections from Class I English Workbook B ……………………... 247 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Schools/Facilities that Serve Students with Disabilities in Bhutan ……… 29 Table 2: Civil Service Organizations that Serve Persons with Disabilities ………… 30 Table 3: Education and Disability Rights Initiatives in the UN System …………..…… 35 Table 4: Research Sites ………………………………………………………………………………….. 48 Table 5: Research Participants ………………………………………………………………………. 56 Table 6: Relevant Policy Documents and ‘Artifacts’ ………………………………………… 57 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A Public Sidewalk in Thimphu ………………………………………………………… 175 Figure 2: Right Age, Underage, and Overage Details by Class, 2012 ……….………… 188 vii PRELIMINARY EXPLANATIONS ABOUT USAGE CONVENTIONS The unique nature of naming in Bhutan poses a few problems with research formats and styles that are conventional in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. First of all, it needs to be explained that Bhutanese names do not have a surname. The presence of two names is common, but neither first nor last name is a family name (except in a few rare instances, e.g. the Royal Family name of Wangchuck). Usually, a community Lama or high-ranking monk gives both names. These names do not have a gender affiliation, and there are only maybe two dozen common names that are typically used for either