volume 6 (2015) Issue 1
Cross-Cultural
Methodological
Innovation
in Bhutan:
Teacher
Experiences with the Process
Writing
Approach
Dechen
Zangmo (Paro,
Bhutan)
Rachel
Burke (Newcastle, Australia)
John Mitchell O’Toole
(Newcastle,
Australia)
Heather Sharp
(Newcastle,
Australia)
Abstract
The role of English
as the global lingua
franca
and its centrality to economic and social expansion in the
twenty-first century has led to increased government emphasis on
fostering the language in contexts where it has no official status.
Frequently initiatives to increase English competence in these
so-called ‘expanding circle’ nations – a term coined by Kachru
(1992) in association with his concentric circles model of the global
uptake of English – take the form of aid-funded
projects with methodological innovation based on educational
paradigms originating in contexts where English is a primary
language. This paper examines one such collaboration; a partnership
between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the
Kingdom of Bhutan, which led to Bhutan’s adoption of the Process
Writing Approach (PWA). Specifically, we utilise Hofstede’s (1980)
framework of cultural dimensions to compare the ideological
underpinnings of the PWA with the values and practices of traditional
Bhutanese education.
Keywords: International
Development Agency, curriculum development, Process Writing Approach,
educational change, cross-cultural methodological innovation.
1 Introduction
The Kingdom of Bhutan is
a small, mountainous nation of Southeast Asia, with a population of
approximately 671,083 inhabitants (National
Statistics Bureau
2011).
Bordered by China, Tibet, and India, Bhutan
has
a strong Buddhist culture and a history of isolation from external
cultural influences. The internet
and television were not introduced to Bhutan until the late 20th
century (Faris
2004, Siok 2003)
and traditional monastic style education has played an important role
in maintaining the national culture, traditions, and religious
activities. Currently, the government cautiously pursues an agenda of
modernisation that seeks to retain the nation’s unique cultural
identity whilst engaging further with the outside world.
Central to this
development program is an emphasis on English. The
Bhutanese speak Dzongkha,
which was recognised as the official language of Bhutan in 1961 by
His
Late Majesty King Jimi Doji 'Wangchu (van Driem 1994). Along with
Choke, a
classical Tibetan language used for religious and ceremonial
purposes, the Kingdom of Bhutan is also characterised by great
linguistic diversity with some nineteen different languages spoken
across the nation (van Driem 1994). In addition to promoting Dzongkha
and maintaining existing linguistic diversity, the Bhutanese
government continues to recognise the English language as an
important means of accessing ‘the discoveries of science and
mathematics, medicine and information technology’ (Curriculum
and Professional Support Division 2006: p.ix)
which are otherwise unavailable in Dzongkha.
As articulated in the National Education Framework of 2009:
The
advent of the English language to Bhutan was a matter of choice. When
Bhutan looked beyond its borders and began to prepare itself to
modernize and join the community of nations, it was English language
that enabled it to interact with the international community. English
is seen as the most advantageous language to assist Bhutan in the
articulation of its identity and the elevation of its profile in the
many organizations to which it would belong. English has enhanced its
capacity to participate more effectively and purposefully in the
global community. (National
Education Framework 2009: 26)
While Bhutan shares
various characteristics with other small
nation-states, it
presents a unique social and cultural context, famously determining
its own value as a nation by using a Gross National Happiness Index.
Rather than reliance on an economic metric such as Gross Domestic
Product, the Bhutanese government asserts that:
…sustainable
development should take a holistic approach towards notions of
progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of
wellbeing (The Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research 2014: §1).
Accordingly, the
government gauges the nation’s success according to the four
pillars: good governance, sustainable socio-economic development,
cultural preservation, and environmental conservation. These pillars
are a significant departure from dominant western capitalist values
that privilege economic expansion as the main measure of a nation’s
success. The striking contrasts between the social and cultural
contexts of the west and Bhutan render this nation an ideal setting
for the close examination of the cultural implications of
cross-country importation of language teaching methodology. This
paper reports on research on the implementation of the PWA in Bhutan
in order to inform broader understandings of cross-national policy
implementation in smaller, project-driven educational jurisdictions.
Specifically,
this article considers Bhutanese principals’
and
English teachers’ experiences during the curriculum reform and its
implementation in their classrooms, five years after becoming
mandatory.
2 Cross-Cultural
Importation of Methodology
A growing body of
research identifies the pitfalls of failing to adequately consider
the specificities of socio-cultural context when implementing
curricular and pedagogical innovation. Hu (2002) has examined English
language instruction in China, suggesting that discontinuity between
the imported methodology of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and
the cultural values of Chinese education is a key factor in the
failure of this approach to yield expected outcomes. Sonaiya
(2010) has questioned the appropriacy of implementing autonomous
language learning approaches in Sub-Saharan Africa where the
underlying philosophy of communal learning is of great importance.
Likewise, Chowdhury and Le Ha (2008) have examined the experiences of
Bangladeshi EFL instructors and critiqued the convention of preparing
language teachers at Western institutions that emphasize
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) despite the contrasting values
of the instructional culture in which
they will eventually practice.
Central to these studies
is the recognition that all methodological approaches embody a
particular set of ideologies; as Sonaiya states,
a
teaching method is a product of the society in which it was
developed; that is, teaching methods are cultural products. (Sonaiya
2010: 107)
Also
common to these studies is the fundamental criticism of the
one-size-fits-all approach to language teaching methodology; the
tendency to import approaches from the West or ‘inner circle’
(Kachru 1992) countries and the necessity of questioning the
associated discourses of colonialism (Pennycook 1994), pedagogical
imperialism (Phillipson 1997), and the notion of the first language
speaker as the norm (Canagarajah 1999). As
Pennycook has argued, ELT
practices "cannot be reduced to a set of disconnected techniques but
rather must be seen as part of larger cultural, discursive or
ideological orders". (Pennycook 1994: 167)
The phenomenon of
implementing externally derived methodological innovations as a
corner stone of language education programs in so-called ‘expanding’
and ‘outer-circle’ nations is an overarching theme of this
discussion. We assert that the striking contrasts between the
ideological underpinnings of the PWA and the social and cultural
values of the Bhutanese education system render this case a
particularly illuminating example of what Phillipson (1997) has
termed ‘policy borrowing’. Whilst the Bhutanese government
clearly emphasises the preservation and continuation of Bhutanese
tradition in the midst of development (see,
for example, The Planning Commission 1999) and this maintainence of
cultural identity is carefully
embedded in educational reforms (see
the National Education Framework 2009),
the introduction of the PWA appears to have occurred with minimal
acknowledgement of the cultural context of the Bhutanese education
system.
In
this paper, we consider principals’ and teachers’ experiences of
the implementation of the PWA, not as a criticism of those who
enacted this initiative, but in an attempt to better understand the
socio-cultural factors involved in such methodological innovation.
3 Hofstede’s
(1980) Cultural Dimensions
Among the various
theoretical frameworks for understanding culture, Hofstede’s (1980)
model of cultural dimensions is one of the most cited in academic
literature (Bond 2002, Hofstede 1997). The result of a macro-level
study of IBM organisational practices, Hofstede’s model identifies
four universals of culture – collectivism vs. individualism, power
distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity vs. femininity.1
Later Hofstede added the dimensions of Confucian dynamism or long
term vs. short-term orientation, pragmatic vs. normative, and
restraint vs. indulgence. When
examining educators’ experiences of the implementation of the PWA
in Bhutan, collectivism vs. individualism, power distance, and
uncertainty avoidance proved to be the dimensions most apparent in
the data.
Individualism
vs. collectivism relates to the extent to which people see themselves
and their identity as independent or as tied to group membership
(Hofstede 1997a: 51). In collectivist societies, emphasis
is on the well being of the group and commitment to others, with
group harmony and consensus highly valued, and an underlying concern
to save ‘face’ (Dodd 1998, Brislin & Yoshida 1994). In more
individualist societies, independence is valued, with disagreement,
debate, and contrasting ways of thinking considered desirable. The
emphasis in individualist societies is on meeting personal needs and
goals rather than thinking in terms of the group (Dodd 1998).
Power
distance refers to the notion of separation between the most and
least powerful members of a society and the degree to which such
power imbalance is accepted within the culture (Hofstede 1997a: 28).
Societies with high power distance tend to be hierarchical in
organisation and the chain of command is carefully preserved, with
positions of authority accorded great respect (Dodd
1998).
In low power distance cultures there is a desire for more horizontal
organisation and a greater emphasis on equality in relationships.
The
notion of uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent of ambiguity
members of a culture feel comfortable with (Hofstede 1997a: 113).
Cultures that have high levels of uncertainty avoidance are thought
to prefer established rules and guidelines (e.g. concerning religion and
food) and structured situations. Cultures with low levels of
uncertainty avoidance tend to accept that uncertainty is a natural
part of life and may feature greater risk taking behaviours (Brislin
& Yoshida 1994).
Masculine
cultures are thought to value competitiveness, ambition, and the
accumulation of wealth and material possessions (Hofstede 1997a: 82).
In contrast, feminine cultures are thought to place more value on
relationships, caring for others, and a preference for cooperation
and consensus. Gender roles are considered to be more fluid in feminine
cultures.
While
not without its critics – questions
have arisen regarding Hofstede’s underlying research methodology,
the macro-level approach of his work, and accusations that his model
infers cultural and situational homogeneity (Williamson 2002,
McSweeney
2002)
– Hofstede’s work has had a significant impact on contemporary
understandings of culture and continues to inform ongoing research.
With its attention to broad cultural traits, Hofstede’s model
provides a lens for comparing the ideological foundations of the PWA
and the traditional Bhutanese education system. In utilising this
theoretical framework, we acknowledge Hofstede and Peterson’s
(2000: p.404) advice that the ‘cultural dimensions were never
intended to provide a complete basis for analysing a culture’ and
see them not as definitive markers but as providing a continuum to
discuss broad cultural tendencies or ‘relative positions by which
nations can be compared’ (Williamson 2001 in 2002: p.1380).
4 Bhutanese Culture
of Education
The National Education
Framework (2009) describes the Bhutanese set of values based mainly
on two concepts: (ley
judrey) and
(tha damtshig).
Ley
judrey means
‘actions
have consequences’ and
tha
damtshig means
‘sacred
commitment to others’ (National Education Framework 2009: p.16).
These values of sacred commitments are identified as relationships
between various pairs, for example
pha
da bhushi gi damtshig (parent
and child), lobey
da lobtu gi damtshig (teacher
and pupil), nyen
da drok gi damtshig (husband
and wife), poen
da yok gi damtshig (master
and servant). Such pairing of relationships is used to state the duty
and obligations of one to the other .(National Education Framework
2009: 16)
Wangyal (2001)
explains that these relationships are based on responsibility and
commitment to each other. For example, as much as the parents need to
commit to care in raising the child, the child in return needs to
commit to obeying parents and taking care of them in their old age.
If one fails in committing to the above responsibilities in a
relationship then
the result of one’s action known as jumdrey
will
determine the future of the individual:
metaphorically
just as sowing good quality seeds brings about a good harvest, and
vice versa (Wangyal 2001: p.109).
Fundamental to Bhutanese
traditional values is that each individual in the paired relationship
accepts their role and takes responsibility for committing to its
function. The relationships are interdependent and sustained by
values shared
by society - defining characteristics of Hofstede’s (1980) notion
of collectivism. Interestingly,
the Hofstede Centre (an official agency for the dissemination of
information on Hofstede’s research and associated projects) ranks
Bhutan with an intermediate score of 52 on the individualism
dimension (http://geert-hofstede.com/bhutan.html;
15.06.2015).
This
would suggest an absence of preference toward collectivist or
individualist tendencies, yet data gathered in accordance with this
research suggests a strong collectivist ideology; at least within the
particular context of the education system.
Among all the
relationships in Bhutanese culture, that between teacher and pupils
(lobey
da lobtu gi damtshig) is
traditionally a very sacred one. As Wangyal explains:
The
teacher is expected to show compassion and love for the students by
observing impartiality among his pupils and ensure that all his
students acquire knowledge and wisdom. In turn the student is
expected to concentrate on his [sic]
studies and show lifelong gratitude to the teacher.
(Wangyal 2001: 110)
This loyalty and mutual
respect not only references Hofstede’s (1980) dimension of
collectivism but also the notion of high power distance with
acceptance of inequality and hierarchy as an important and natural
component of relationships. In fact, Bhutan is given a very high
score of 94 on this dimension, indicating that within Hofstede’s
paradigm, Bhutan is considered a hierarchical society with clear
demarcation of roles and responsibilities
(http://geert-hofstede.com/bhutan.html:
15.06.2015).
All forms
of life regardless of religion, law, education survive by mutual
cooperation based on their interconnectedness. (National Education
Framework 2009: 16)
The belief that
interdependence among different forms of life results in harmonious
relationships is a key theme of the Buddhist iconography of the four
friends (the bird, the monkey, the rabbit, and the elephant) known as
the thuenpa
puenshi.
This image is a common sight on monastery walls and is frequently
depicted in wall paintings in private homes. Such interconnectedness
and acceptance of power imbalances suggests that efforts to adopt
educational practices from contexts that value individualism may be
subject to a range of cultural issues.
The strong emphasis on
the preservation of Bhutanese cultural traditions is in line with the
low score of 32 on Hofstede’s masculinity dimension, indicating
that Bhutan is a relatively feminine society
(http://geert-hofstede.com/bhutan.html:
15.06.2015).
The importance placed on harmonious relationships and measuring
success
in terms of ‘quality of life’ rather than solely in economic or
material terms aligns with this ranking. This dimension is juxtaposed
alongside a very low score for uncertainty avoidance, indicating
Bhutanese society is generally tolerant
of ambiguity
(despite the high power distance) and people are open to taking risks
and adopting new ideas (http://geert-hofstede.com/bhutan.html;
15.06.2015).
This cultural dimension was evident in the experiences of principals
and teachers in this research project who expressed overwhelmingly
positive attitudes to the PWA approach despite obvious logistical and
cultural issues with its implementation.
5
A Short History of Curricular
Innovation in Bhutan
The
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) initiative examined
in this article is not the first educational partnership to take
place in Bhutan. One such unsuccessful implementation took place in
1986 when the Royal Government of Bhutan, with assistance
from the
United Kingdom, attempted to introduce a New Approach to Primary
Education (NAPE) (Dorji 2005). Dissatisfaction arose from the change
in educational pedagogy from a teacher-centred to child-centred
approach and difficulties implementing the new methodology in the
Bhutanese classroom context due to class size and differences in
access to resources. Put simply, the nature of the approach did not
match the local context; culturally or in terms of infrastructure.
Problems
also arose through
locally initiated curriculum reform. For example, in 2006 in response
to difficulties students experienced with learning in the English
language coupled with a Bhutanese national desire to maintain and
develop local culture, an attempt was made to rewrite aspects of the
history curriculum so that it had local, rather than foreign, origins
(Sherab 2008). In order to achieve this goal, the language of
instruction for grades six to ten was changed from English to the
local Dzongkha. However, the history teachers who taught this subject
in English could not teach it in Dzongkha due to their own
difficulties in that language; and the Dzonghka speaking teachers did
not have sufficient history content knowledge to teach this subject
effectively.
Students
encountered similar difficulties with the Dzongkha terminology. Thus,
teachers during history lessons ended up teaching the Dzonghka
language rather than history. These problems were unforeseen during
the planning and curriculum development periods but, as a result of
the issues, teaching history in the Dzongkha language ceased in 2009.
The costly and time-consuming curriculum innovation process
ultimately could
not be implemented.
6 Implementation of
the PWA in Bhutan
6.1 General Remarks
The Process Writing
Approach (PWA)
became a part of the National English curriculum in Bhutan in 2006
when internal dissatisfaction arose over
an apparent decline in students’ English writing. Several local
studies and classroom observations revealed that the methods of
teaching writing used in the Bhutanese classroom followed a
traditional, teacher-directed approach in which the teacher explained
the texts and students either took notes or answered questions. This
pedagogical approach was deemed as lacking in meaningful student
writing practice. Subsequently, the Royal Government of Bhutan,
drawing on expertise and funds from Canada, responded to this concern
by mandating English curriculum reform and the adoption of the
externally derived PWA.
This curriculum approach
is based on the ideology of student-centeredness, a completely
different pedagogical style to the indigenous Bhutanese sentiment of
tha
damtshig (or
‘sacred
commitment to others’) whereby the hierarchical relationship
between teacher and student is more pronounced than that promoted by
student-centeredness. There
are a number of concepts central to the successful and full
implementation of the PWA,
including that teachers
and students work as partners, that the teacher’s role is primarily
as a motivator or facilitator, and that the role of each student is
to discover the writing strategies that suit them best (Keh 1990,
Patthey-Chevaz & Paulus 1999, Matsumura & Valdes 2004).
In
Hofstede’s (1980) framework of cultural dimensions, these
practices
may be classified as individualistic, low power distance behaviours.
In order
to research
the experiences of
Bhutanese principals and English teachers during the curriculum
reform and its implementation in their classrooms, this
research first investigated the alignment or misalignment of the
objectives stated in the official curriculum documents titled The
Guide,
The
Silken Knot, and
The Reading and Literature Book,
with the corresponding student activities and writing assessment
outlined for teaching writing using the PWA. Points
of concern exposed by the analysis of official curriculum documents
and corresponding teaching activities and assessment items were used
to generate the initial protocol for semi-structured interviews to
take place in the second phase of the research.
The findings of this first stage of the research are discussed
elsewhere (Zangmo, Sharp, O’Toole, & Burke, forthcoming). The
second phase of the research involved interviewing
eight lower secondary principals from various parts of the country.
Each principal had started teaching the mandated PWA in its initial
implementation stage (Table 1 below). The rationale for
recruiting lower secondary educators was based on the fact that grade
seven has the highest rate of school dropouts in Bhutan (Bhutan
Annual Education Statistics, 2011). In the series of hour-long,
in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the principals, issues of
support, training, and the usefulness of the official curriculum as
well other factors that affected the implementation of the PWA were
discussed. All participants’ responses are anonymized in this
paper.
Third,
the research investigated the manner in which the mandated PWA was
received and enacted in actual classroom situations. Three grade
seven classroom observations took place via video recorded lessons.
Each recording lasted for 45 minutes. Interviews with the observed
teachers explored their reasons for implementing the PWA in specific
ways. The issues that emerged were similar to those that the
principals indicated as challenges for implementing the PWA during
the initial interviews. Each teacher’s running commentary was
transcribed and then loaded into NVivo 9 and coded. The running
commentaries were crosschecked with the corresponding scene of the
video record of each lesson and then divided, based on teachers’
practices and comments, into different themes such as Bhutanese
classroom
factors,
task-related
factors,
culture-related
factors,
and other
factors.
Teachers were asked to confirm that the summary accurately reflected
their experience.
The
recorded lessons were then used as the basis for follow-up interviews
with three different secondary teachers. Each teacher watched one
video-recorded lesson and commented on the typicality of the writing
instructional practices in each lesson. The reactions of these
teachers were audio recorded and then transcribed for analysis. This
final stage of the investigation provided a check for idiosyncratic
practices or interpretations of the lessons observed.
Gender
|
PWA Training Received
|
Grade of PWA Training
|
Taught the PWA Since
|
School Location
|
P 1 (F)
|
The Writers’ Workshop: 45 days
|
9 & 10
|
2006
|
Rural
|
P 2 (M)
|
Orientation program: 10 days
|
6 - 8
|
2006
|
Rural & taught in urban schools
|
P 3 (M)
|
Orientation program: 10 days
|
6 - 8
|
2007
|
Rural
|
P 4 (F)
|
Orientation programs: 10 days
Writers’ Workshop:
45 days
|
9 & 10
|
2006
|
Urban & taught in rural schools
|
P 5 (M)
|
Orientation program: 10 days
|
6 - 8
|
2007
|
Rural & taught in urban schools
|
P 6 (M)
|
Orientation program: 10 days
Writers’ Workshop:
45 days
|
9 & 10
|
2006
|
Urban
|
P 7 (M)
|
Orientation program: 10 days
Writers’ Workshop:
45 days
|
9 & 10
|
2007
|
Rural
|
P 8 (M)
|
No training
|
NA
|
2006
|
Rural
|
Table
1: Principal Participants
The interviews and
observations revealed that a number of educational
and cultural factors were problematic for the implementation of the
PWA (Table 2). Eleven major themes emerged from the NVivo open coding
of the interviews with lower secondary principals. The node for
‘challenges’ in implementing PWA was the most prevalent with 82
references across the eight interviews. The ‘challenges’ node
displayed several sub-themes including issues pertaining to the
logistics of implementing the PWA and issues related to specific
geographic location. Each classroom observation across each of the
three schools revealed a strong hierarchal teacher-student
relationship, which was contrary to the teacher acting as a
facilitator and students taking charge of their own writing as the
PWA proposes. This mismatch in cultural approach to education was
also upheld in each interview with the two groups of participating
teachers.
As
will be shown, interviews and observations also revealed that
contradictions in the underlying ideology of the PWA and the
Bhutanese culture and educational practices led to a partial
implementation of the approach in Bhutanese classrooms. This
partial implementation needs to be understood in the context of the
practical support, or lack thereof, provided to teachers. However,
despite the various challenges discussed in interviews, the positive
attitudes and commitment of principals and teachers to make the
implementation successful was a key outcome. The enthusiasm of
teachers and principals to participate in professional development to
aid in the implementation of PWA and their strong compliance with the
innovation is unusual in research that focuses on externally derived
curriculum change and is perhaps indicative of the Bhutanese
culture’s emphasis on teacher compliance with allocated roles and
responsibilities.
- Main themesSourcesReferences
- Challenges
882- Positive
826- Other documents
59- Teachers concept of the PWA
55- Teachers’ existing beliefs
36- How teachers managed
614- Teaching background
89- Training
813- Evaluation
817- Views on The Guide
813- Suggestions
713
Table
2:
Themes from the Semi-Structured Interviews
6.2 Cultural Tensions
Arising from the Implementation of the PWA in the Bhutanese Context
Specifically, the
findings from the semi-structured interviews with principals and
teachers indicated that the cultural tensions they experienced when
implementing
the PWA were mainly associated with two aspects of method; the
multiple drafting and peer conferencing stages.
The
data from each of the classroom observations and follow-up teacher
interviews indicated that as a result of these cultural tensions, the
PWA was reduced to students simply producing multiple drafts of their
written work. The notion of teachers and students working as partners
was identified as problematic to the implementation of the PWA in
full.
The
underlying expectation that the teacher fill the role of motivator or
facilitator whilst the student works to discover the writing
strategies best suited to them, created tension when applying the PWA
in the Bhutanese classroom. This appeared to be particularly
prominent during the multiple drafting stage. The students’
expectations that teachers check and give feedback on every draft and
the teachers’ incapacity to do so due to the large class sizes,
appears to have demotivated students. As principal 6 explained:
Actually first prewriting
after the brain storming and then they do the first writing. Then I
ask them to submit to me and I correct…drafting, redrafting, again
to make so many drafts is problematic to do because we cannot edit
their work somehow and if peer do but it’s quite difficult because
they don’t find the mistakes of their friend. And in a way that
part is neglected...
The PWA’s goal for
students to take ownership of their own work clashed with the
students’ expectation that teachers would give them controlled
instruction. The
expectation that an authority will judge the quality of student work
is deeply embedded in Bhutanese culture. Particularly
in the rural areas, the more traditional local values place high
priority on the final product of student work, echoing customary
religious and educational patterns of rote learning to produce exact
copies of classic models. Assuring such high fidelity involves
teachers checking and marking student work for assessment purposes,
rather than encouraging experimental writing that involves different
steps in a tentative writing process. This collectivist, high power
distance view (Hofstede 1997a: 28, 51) where education tends to be
teacher-centred, clashed with the individualist, low power distance
outlook contained within the PWA.
Cultural mismatches also
occurred with the general reluctance of local students to speak
freely in front of their teachers. Such student initiative
contradicts local culture, where talking freely can be interpreted as
showing lack of respect to the teacher. This practice can be stronger
in rural than urban districts as rural parents tend to have had a
traditional education and low English literacy rates. This means most
rural Bhutanese live strongly by the principles of Buddhism and have
had minimum exposure to any outside culture. A common Buddhist
principle stresses respecting the teacher at all times. Thus, the
existence of a high power distance (Hofstede 1980) relationship
between the teachers and the students as observed in the classroom,
is unsurprising. As principal 3 suggested: At
this stage peer-conference is not effective mainly because first of
all they are not very comfortable with English. And secondly they are
shy …not able to give critical comments because they are not
trained… So peer conferencing is not effective…
In a similar fashion, the
principals also reported that peer conferencing was found to be
ineffective
for cultural reasons, with students appearing unwilling
to speak freely in front of their teachers. Students resisted
commenting
on the work of their friends for fear that any criticism would cause
offense and damage important relationships. In particular, the
rural students placed great importance on group harmony in the
classroom. Thus, to keep the group harmonious, students were hesitant
to comment on their friends’ work for fear that such feedback would
be interpreted as criticism. As principal 8 commented:
The
students in the rural are, you know shy and they shy away. They don’t
show their work. For instance children try to hide their writing with
their hands because they are really scared of showing their weakness
to others.
As such, peer conferences
appeared to threaten overall classroom happiness and cohesion. Again,
this reflects an overarching concern for respecting ‘face’ and
maintaining the harmonious relations of the group as described in
Hofstede’s (1980) notion of collectivism.
There
were also key cultural mismatches between the values embedded within
the PWA and the values of the Bhutanese assessment system. Elsewhere,
we discuss how the inconsistency of importance
placed on the PWA in the core curriculum documents as opposed to the
set activities and prescribed assessment seems to have forced
teachers to cover the local syllabus rather than implement PWA in a
meaningful manner. Not covering the syllabus in depth could mean
students would fail their end of year, high stakes examinations and,
importantly, the examinations did not include the PWA or recognition
that students would have learnt using this curriculum approach.
Failing the end of year examinations means that students will have to
repeat their school grade and teachers receive an official reprimand.
Such a failure to ensure students are successful in examinations
constitutes a significant breach of teacher duty. Therefore, whilst
cultural factors were an important element in difficulties
implementing the PWA, the findings from the semi-structured
interviews also indicated that logistical local factors contributed
to the ineffectiveness and eventual abandonment of multiple drafting
and these factors are considered in a separate paper (Zangmo, Sharp,
O’Toole, & Burke forthcoming).
6.3 Partial
Implementation of PWA and Positive Attitudes of Teachers
In
line with the feedback concerning the cultural discontinuity of the
multiple drafting and peer conferencing stages with the social mores
of the Bhutanese classroom, observations of the lessons
indicate only partial implementation of the
PWA in Bhutan’s rural and urban schools, with these stages omitted.
This left only the prewriting activities, which teachers
described as both suitable to the needs of the students and an
improvement on their previous practice. However, classroom
observations revealed that teachers generally implemented the
prewriting stage of the PWA, using transmission
methods typical of the more traditional product-based approach to
writing. Observations of the lessons also showed that teachers taught
writing by collecting student work for correction, which, according
to follow up interviews with teachers, was the normal classroom
practice. When informal peer conferences were introduced to the
classroom, they were adapted in such a way that students simply
exchanged their exercise books with their desk partner to mark
spelling mistakes and other functional grammatical errors. This
adaptation echoes earlier studies that revealed that teachers from
Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore took a middle-path approach by
combining product and process when asked to teach the PWA in their
classes (Pennington, So, Hirose, Costa, Shing & Niedzielski
1997). Knowledge of the existing literature makes much of what was
observed unsurprising. What is more surprising is that, despite all
of these challenges, the Bhutanese principals and teachers
participating in this project were still very positive about the PWA.
The
findings from the semi structured interviews showed that all the
principals shared very positive attitudes towards the mandated
approach and they stated that their students developed confidence in
writing as a result of its implementation. The PWA was also described
as having assisted teachers to identify weaker students so that
remedial help could be provided and as having helped teachers improve
their own writing. Those principals who did not receive adequate
training and were less successful in implementing the government
mandate apparently saw it as their own failure, indicating sincere
regret and expressing their strong interest in trying again. This
attitude may be linked to the seriousness with which Bhutanese
teachers view their responsibilities to students.
Similarly the rural
teachers revealed positive attitudes towards the PWA, reasoning that
the approach helped students to write. This suggests that Bhutanese
principals and teachers were not resistant to this proposed change;
on the contrary,
they were committed
to making the PWA successful in their schools and reported
taking a variety of initiatives as they attempted to implement the
innovation.
This stands in marked contrast to previous studies in which teachers
expressed frustration and resistance during curriculum change (Ling
2002, Alwan
2006).
The positive attitudes of Bhutanese principals and teachers toward
the PWA also reflects a paradox – on the one hand, the context
emphasises the continuation of tradition and preservation of culture.
However, those who
participated in this project readily accepted the innovation and took
initiatives and risks to implement it in their classroom. This
resonates
with
the low uncertainty avoidance ranking of the culture and the set of
local values based on commitment and responsibility of teachers. The
local teachers seemed to fear that their inability to adequately
implement the PWA was tantamount to failing to fulfil their duty
as educators.
The
positivity of teachers and principals may indicate the pervasiveness
of the paradigm whereby curricular innovation from externally derived
contexts is afforded higher status. The findings of this project
demonstrate that principals had positive attitudes at the initial
stage of the curriculum change, that their attitudes remained
positive even after the challenges they faced in implementing the
PWA, and that such positive attitudes were shared by the
participating teachers involved in classroom observation. They were
generally excited about the innovation, even five years after its
mandated implementation. Although it was not continued due to
insurmountable challenges, many principals and teachers remained
committed to the implementation of the PWA. This may illustrate the
very powerful notions that ‘west is best’ in terms of pedagogy
and methodology in EFL and might have played a role in continued
support for the PWA despite its mismatched cultural underpinnings for
the context.
6.4
Summary
of the Research Findings
The implementation of the
PWA, like many other curriculum change projects adopted by smaller
jurisdictions, emerged from an ‘inner circle’ (Kachru 1992),
English as a first language, individualist, low power distance
context (Hofstede 1997a: 28, 51) but was implemented in classrooms
with contrasting
cultural milieu. Tensions
appeared to emerge around local
collectivist views as opposed to the individualist view of the PWA,
and the high power distance that is the norm in Bhutan as against the
low power distance demanded by the PWA. These differences should have
been foreseeable by those in authority to implement curriculum
change. Perhaps though, as Stuart suggests:
because
much of the strength of cultural influences stems from the fact that
they operate in the background of behaviour at the value, linguistic,
and construct levels, people often have difficulty defining their
cultural influences, and social scientists have difficulty measuring
them.
(Stuart 2004: 4)
This project provides
evidence that borrowed curriculum innovations cannot be sustained
without considering the differences between the source and target, or
local, culture. Brown’s
assertion regarding the paramount importance of "cultural
continuity" in curricular innovation and the need for this
continuity to be "respected, by not losing contact with current
[local] practice" (Brown’s 2000: 227) is very apt in terms of
the Bhutanese case. Several
researchers have emphasised the importance of considering the
cultural and educational context during curriculum change (Dushku
1998, Holliday 2001, Berry 2006). Wedell (2003: 439) explains that
gaps emerge between the intended and the implemented curriculum when
curriculum planners fail to consider the differences between the two
cultures, and that sometimes only a partial implementation of the
proposed change occurs. Therefore, curriculum planners need to
identify the extent of the cultural shift that teachers need to make,
question the ideological implications of such change and whether or
not this is favourable, and consider designing curriculum or training
for what Holliday (2001: 169) calls bridging between the two cultures
or ‘cultural continuity’.
However, the
incompatibility of the PWA with the local educational context caused
difficulties that were likely to remain, even if the cultures had
more closely matched. The large class sizes and diverse levels of
resourcing that are characteristic of the local context exerted extra
strain on
implementers who were left on their own to handle the problems. These
difficulties were compounded by the fact that the process of
implementing the curriculum change was shortened in an attempt to
make a speedy start. Initially willing and enthusiastic educators
gradually stopped implementing the PWA. This problem may have been
avoided or reduced if a detailed study of the local cultural context
had taken place, with modifications made to the PWA prior to
implementation. Instead, this innovation resulted from centralised
decision-making that did not take into account the cultural and
educational contexts of the different localities within Bhutan, which
in turn affected the success of the proposed curriculum change.
The decisions leading to
the implementation of PWA appear to be based on the willingness of
the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA)
to provide support for a reform that would address a local need,
which Bhutan appeared to lack resources to meet, resulting in what
Phillips and Ochs (2004: 11) would call a ‘quick fix’ decision.
As stated earlier, this study considers the difficulties associated
with the PWA innovation in Bhutan, not as a criticism, but in order
to help ensure more success for future innovations. For instance, a
pilot-testing programme could have involved educators having direct
exposure to the PWA and sharing their experiences to influence the
shape of the PWA before being more widely implemented. Not doing so
had predictable negative consequences, notwithstanding teachers’
positive attitudes towards it.
7
Conclusion
This
research revealed that differences between the nature of the PWA and
the Bhutanese context resulted in persistent struggle for both
teachers and students in trying to accommodate significant cultural
shifts.
The
cultural tensions mainly occurred in regard to contrasts between
collectivist cultural views of mutual support and criticism of
friends and the more individualist view of self-development and
personal goal orientation that is characteristic of the PWA. The
challenges
were stronger in schools located in rural areas due to factors such
as parents’ socio-cultural background, students’ low level of
English, and stronger traditional cultural practices. Our
research
findings indicate that the PWA had minimal impact when viewed five
years after initial implementation and the innovation was eventually
diluted almost beyond recognition.
Pilot
testing the PWA locally before introducing it nationally may have
allowed the
appropriateness
and suitability of the PWA to be considered before committing
resources to its implementation. We postulate that the extensive
implementation of externally derived methodology in a context with
such a strong focus on cultural preservation illustrates the
pervasiveness of the ‘West is best’ ideology that continues to
characterise much of the current mindset in EFL. We further argue
that this ingrained notion requires critical interrogation; as
Brown asserts:
To
deny that there is a conflict in contemporary ELT, particularly but
not exclusively in the ‘importing’ of new techniques
associated with communicative language teaching into the state
sector educational systems of developing countries, is to deny a
reality with which many are familiar.
(Brown
2000: 227)
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Authors:
Dechen Zangmo
Lecturer
Paro College of Education
Paro College of Education
Royal University of
Bhutan
www.pce.edu.bt
E-mail:
dechenzangmo.pce@rub.edu.bt
Rachel Burke
Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
The University of
Newcastle,
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
Australia
E-mail:
rachel.burke@newcastle.edu.au
John Mitchell O’Toole
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
The University of
Newcastle
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
Australia
E-mail:
mitch.otoole@newcastle.edu.au
Heather Sharp
Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
The University of
Newcastle
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
Australia
E-mail:
heather.sharp@newcastle.edu.au
1
This
cultural dimension is sometimes referred to as Quantity
of Life vs.
Quality of Life.