Teacher education for inclusive education in Bhutan: perspectives of pre-service and beginning teachers*

ABSTRACT

Bhutan is in the preliminary stages of training teachers to support inclusive education. This study investigated teachers’ views on preparation for inclusive teaching using a case study that was conducted with twelve pre-service and twenty beginning teachers in six schools. Data were drawn from focus-group interviews and open-ended questionnaires. The application of Vygotsky’s social cultural theory and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was appropriate and acknowledged the social systems surrounding learning. Socio-cultural theorisation was used to consider where people lived, and social and cultural factors; while self-efficacy theory enabled an exploration of teachers’ willingness to implement inclusiveness. Findings are presented in four key areas: education for all, barriers, policy and attitudes towards inclusion. This study contributes to inclusive education research in South-West Asia and policy goals and practice in Bhutan.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• inclusive education
• pre-service teachers
• beginning teachers

Acknowledgements

We appreciate and thank Queensland University of Technology for their support for the research. We are also grateful for allowing us to collected data from teachers in six inclusive schools from the Ministry of Education, Bhutan. We would also like to thank one of the Colleges of Education in Bhutan for allowing and encouraging us to involve PSTs in this study, enabling us to interview them.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kishore Chhetri

Dr Kishore Chhetri completed his PhD in teacher education for inclusive education from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. He was a SEN teacher and a curriculum officer in Bhutan. He also taught at the Paro College of Education for a brief period. His research interests include teacher education, inclusive education, and special educational needs which are at the heart of Bhutan’s socio-cultural structure.

Nerida Spina

Dr Nerida Spina is a lecturer in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She has experience teaching sociology of education at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Nerida has also worked on a number of major research projects including the Stronger Smarter Research Evaluation Team, and the Australian Research Council Linkage grant. Her research interests concern how the ‘datafication of education’ impacts on practice, policy, and the everyday lives of children, families, teachers, school administrators and staff.

Suzanne Carrington

Prof. Suzanne Carrington is the Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Suzanne’s areas of expertise are in inclusive education, disability, and teacher preparation for inclusive schools. She has engaged in research to inform policy and practice in Australian and international education contexts, more recently extending this research to the South Pacific and Asia. She has a broad knowledge of education research, and her publication list provides evidence of extensive collaboration with education, health, and medical research.