LEARNING, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, AND PLACE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY BEFORE THE ADVENT OF COMPULSORY SCHOOLING IN TIBET Olga Shugurova Doctor of Philosophy Nipissing University 2017 LEARNING, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, AND PLACE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY BEFORE THE ADVENT OF COMPULSORY SCHOOLING IN TIBET OLGA SHUGUROVA SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY NIPISSING UNIVERSITY SCHULICH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION NORTH BAY, ONTARIO Abstract This study explores the precolonial cultural and historical context of children’s ways of learning before the advent of compulsory schooling in Tibet by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the 1950s. The study focuses on local people’s lived experience shared in their voices. In listening to their situated learning experiences of childhood, we collectively learn from the elders’ wisdom. The research seeks to advance knowledge about unique aspects of Tibetan cultural heritage in order to raise educational awareness about children’s ways of natural learning. Study findings show that these ways were place-based cultural practices that led local children to experience existential happiness during childhood and ontological freedom as their self-subsistence. Such learning experiences will help all educators concerned with sustainability to understand how children (ages 5–14) have learned without schooling in the rural Utsang and Kham in Tibet, and why these personal experiences of sustainable childhood are important for them. In a broader perspective, the study is fully aligned with the Dalai Lama’s intention and the Tibet Oral History Project’s mission to sustain and preserve the cultural heritage of Tibetan people. Acknowledgements My infinite gratitude is to the Spiritual Teachers of the Himalayas such as the Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava and the Buddha, as well as all Enlightened Beings who have guided my spirit, spoken at heart, and clarified my mind during my prayers and meditations throughout the research and in life. I would like to express my eternal gratitude to Dr. Carlo Ricci, Dr. Daniel Jarvis, Dr. Michael McCabe, Dr. Kathy Mantas, Dr. Kellie Rolstad, and Dr. Lorraine Frost. I don’t know the words that can truly describe Dr. Carlo Ricci’s guidance, knowledge, and support. His faith in me has given me the confidence to continue the research during the time of uncertainty and distress. His compassion and kindness have helped me to connect with others through compassion and kindness, as well as to sustain my compassion and kindness throughout the research process. I hope the readers will feel the compassion and kindness that are embodied in the text and art of this research fabric. Dr. Michael McCabe and Dr. Daniel Jarvis have also guided me constructively and compassionately through all the ups and downs of the research process. Their expertise has led my thinking and writing toward the clear light of understanding. I can honestly say that their individual and collective pedagogy has been not only academically effective but also life-changing. My enormous gratitude is to the Tibet Oral History Project for their support and encouragement of my research as well as for their globally important work for the preservation and sustenance of the Tibetan cultural heritage. Their oral history collection is at the heart of this research. v I express my special gratitude to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York for their support of my research. Their collection of archival photographs has shaped my visionary experience and uplifted my spirit during the research. In addition, I would like to express my infinite gratitude to my mother, whose wisdom has led me through life on the path of becoming. I have inherited her artistic talent and learned from her about the wisdom of art-making as a life-long learning experience. vi Dedication Dedicated to the self-determination, independence, and freedom of Tibetan people and their Land of Tibet. “The world is doing nothing but just watching. If it wants to, the world can help. The world can say, ‘[The Tibetans] should be given independence’” (Jampa Thinlay, 2012, p. 11). vii Table of Contents Page Title Page ............................................................................................................ i Abstract ................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ............................................................................................................. v List of Figures ....................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 Introduction and Background ............................................................... 1 Purpose of Research .................................................................................... 2 Defining Key Terms .................................................................................... 7 Research Questions ..................................................................................... 15 Research Thesis ........................................................................................... 17 Research Paradigm ...................................................................................... 17 Brief Overview of Theoretical Approaches ................................................ 19 Methodology: An Overview ........................................................................ 21 My Role as the Researcher .......................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Perspectives .................................. 31 Situated Cultural Context: Learning Places ................................................ 31 Local Knowledge and Children’s Ways of Natural Learning ..................... 37 Childhood .................................................................................................... 44 The Social Changes: Compulsory Schooling in the 1950s ......................... 48 The Advent of Compulsory Schooling in the Region ................................. 59 Theoretical Perspectives: Learning as Living ............................................. 65 Learning: Living Place and Local Knowledge ............................................ 73 Chapter 3 Methodology ........................................................................................ 78 My Naturalistic Inquiry ............................................................................... 79 Why Have I Chosen A/r/tography? ............................................................. 81 What Is A/r/tography? ................................................................................. 82 Oral History Interviewees ............................................................................ 84 Data Collection ............................................................................................ 86 Poetic Reflections ........................................................................................ 87 Thick Descriptions ....................................................................................... 88 Impressionist Paintings ................................................................................ 90 Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 91 Data Interpretation ....................................................................................... 94 Data Representation ..................................................................................... 95 Artful Authenticity and Trustworthiness ..................................................... 95 Chapter 4 Understandings/Findings ...................................................................... 100 Multiple-Voiced Collective Poetic Openings: The Historical Background ..... 109 Living Places of Childhood: Land and Self-Sufficiency ............................. 114 Interpretive Reverberations: Playfulness, Childhood Place, and Local Knowledge .............................................................................................. 129 Game of making mud houses ............................................................. 131 Game ghopo ghopto ........................................................................... 134 viii Games: Apchu .................................................................................... 135 And what is Cham? ............................................................................ 138 Monasteries and Local HomeSchools: Unexpected Findings ..................... 144 Living Inquiry: Four Individual Situated Snapshots ................................... 151 Cho Lhamo ......................................................................................... 151 Free verse .................................................................................. 152 Cho Lhamo’s childhood: The living inquiry of found poetics in her exact words .................................................................................... 152 Blank verse ............................................................................... 152 Daily meals in Cho Lhamo’s childhood in her exact words .............. 155 How life learning has changed with the advent of colonial schools ..... 155 Dawa Dolma ...................................................................................... 164 Childhood place: Memories in her exact words ......................