Chapter · September 016 doi: 10. 1007/978-981-10-1649-3 10 citations reads 725 authors: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects
Conditions of Happiness: Bhutan’s Educating
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- Introduction
| Conditions of Happiness: Bhutan’s Educating
for Gross National Happiness Initiative and the Capability Approach Pema Tshomo Abstract The Educating for Gross National Happiness (EGNH) initiative is viewed as one of the main frameworks for the promotion of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan. Therefore, in recent years, the nationwide implementation of the EGNH initiative has become the focal point of education reform in Bhutan. As an operational GNH framework, a primary focus of the EGNH initiative is to provide those conditions that lead to quality and equity in education. This chapter evaluates the EGNH framework to assess how the EGNH initiative can provide the necessary conditions for well-being and happiness to enable the pursuit of GNH in Bhutan. It uses Amartya Sen’s capability approach (CA) perspective to emphasize that the EGNH framework needs to promote the right conditions for quality and equity in education to ensure that every student in enabled through the education system to pursue GNH. The CA brings to the forefront the need to place the immediate needs of students at the heart of the EGNH framework to provide the conditions necessary for the enhancement of capabilities of students to become the best that they can be, to lead the kind of life they value, to choose a life that leads to well-being and happiness. Introduction The State shall strive to promote those conditions that will enable the pursuit of Gross National Happiness. –The Constitution of Bhutan What are the conditions necessary for the pursuit of happiness? Who is respon- sible for these conditions? Many have attempted to answer these questions throughout history . Over two millennia ago, Plato and Aristotle grappled with them philosophically and, more recently, economists, educators, and psycholo- gists have started exploring them empirically. But in 2008, one nation took the Pema Tshomo ( * ) Independent Education Consultant , Thimphu , Bhutan e-mail: ptshomo@gmail.com mattschuelka@gmail.com 140 bold step of addressing these questions as a matter of public policy. Bhutan endorsed its fi rst constitution in 2008 declaring the “pursuit of Gross National Happiness (GNH)” a national goal, suggesting that the state is responsible for the well-being and happiness of its people; this, however, highlights a fundamental challenge for Bhutan. Educational settings are recognized as institutions where state ideologies are developed and implemented (Apple 1982 ). Consistent with this view, Bhutan’s 2013 State of the Nation Report distinguishes education as “the glue that binds all the pillars and dimensions of Gross National Happiness and the key to their real- ization” (RGoB 2013 , p. 39). In 2009, Bhutan launched the Educating for GNH (EGNH) initiative as an attempt to operationalize GNH. This nationwide imple- mentation of educating for GNH is one of the most expansive attempts at the oper- ationalization of GNH in Bhutan. The EGNH initiative has direct implications for the lives of nearly 200,000 students in Bhutan, who account for approximately 25 % of the Bhutanese population (MoE 2013 ; NSB 2014a ). This implies that an in-depth analysis of the EGNH framework is imperative to ensure that the educa- tion system in Bhutan contributes to the enhancement of the capabilities of stu- dents who attend the schools to increase their well-being and happiness as part of the GNH goal. In the evaluation of any GNH-related framework, an important point of focus is the promotion of the right conditions for the improvement of GNH, as specifi ed in the Constitution of Bhutan. Thus, GNH, as a policy objective, seeks to remove those conditions that may cause harm in the political, social, and economic lives of the Bhutanese people, while promoting conditions that enable individuals to move towards the realization of their well-being and happiness (Mancall 2004 ). This view extends to the implementation of the EGNH framework, which signifi es an impor- tant aspect of Bhutan’s attempt to operationalize the overarching national philoso- phy of GNH in the country through the education system. This chapter evaluates the EGNH framework to address the question: How can the EGNHI framework ensure that the education system provides the necessary conditions for the pursuit of GNH in Bhutan? It examines Bhutan’s current educational status to argue that Amartya Sen’s ( 1985 , 1999 ) capability approach (CA) provides the theoretical perspective that the EGNH framework needs to ensure that the right conditions for quality and equity in education are provided so that every student is empowered to choose a life of well-being and happiness. The CA expands the emphasis of the EGNH initiative from a pedagogical and curricular focus to address structural and systemic dispari- ties in order to promote quality and equity in the education system. tải về 0.95 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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