My Experiences in Teaching and Educational Changes in Bhutan

Everybody thinks that teaching is an easy job. George Bernard Shaw once cynically told his friend that if one is unable to do anything, he will become a teacher. His friend retorted that if one is even unable to teach, he will become a writer. Many look at teaching profession cynically like Shaw. The regard for teachers depends from country to country and from time to time. Years back, teachers would receive immense respect and honour from the students and the communities, but with the modernisation, such respect is diminishing. Time might come that teachers have to respect the students instead.

I firmly believe that teaching is a novel profession. We have many evidences that great personalities, like Guru Rinpoche, Lord Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Krishna, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, were great teachers who changed the minds of many people and are remembered forever. As teachers, we have to maintain our image working hard for the welfare of the students, communities and the nation, leading them to the right paths through our perseverance, dedication and self sacrifice and becoming a role model.

There are two types of teachers: born and made teachers. Born teachers are those teachers who have natural and in-born qualities in them. Everything comes naturally to them. There might be very few such teachers. Most of us are made teachers. We have to constantly learn and try to do something or other in order to be good teachers. We never become perfect in teaching thought we might be teaching for ages. There are many things to discover every day and try out. That way, we can become good researchers and teachers.

I have been teaching for the last thirty-two years starting from a primary school as an assistant teacher to an assistant professor in Samtse College of Education. I have learnt a lot through teaching and contributed quite a lot in many small ways. I have tried to explore my experiences and opinions in teaching and changes in education from the details given below.

My first venture in teaching in Leopani Primary School

I started my teaching career as an assistant teacher in January 1978 after my graduation. In those days there were opportunities for joining any government jobs. But I thought deeply and decided to go for teaching. My motivation for joining the teaching career was to help and work with young children and thereby render my sincere services for the welfare of the children and at large the country. My other motives were to go for higher education. My main subjects during my graduation were Economics and Political Science and English. I decided to go for teaching English ultimately. I think, in the lives of many teachers, we land up teaching randomly and even start teaching any subject randomly. But I can assure that if we take it seriously and try hard, anybody can become great teachers.

I received the office order from the joint director on 5^th January 1978. I was appointed an assistant teacher to work in Leopani Primary School in Sarpang. I joined the school on 9^th January 1978. Somehow, I can still recollect many things that happened on that day as it was the inception of my long journey of teaching. The head master was Mr. M. Bhattacharji. There were some Indian teachers and some national teachers. The school is located on the way to Gelephu. The school had classes from kindergarten to SIX. I got well acquainted with the head master and other teachers on the very first day.

I have a very silly story to narrate of that very night. The school inspector, Mr. K. P. Nair, came to the school on that very day. The head master could not arrange any room for me for the night. I was asked to sleep in a rat-infested classroom. I joined two benches together and made my bed. There was no electricity. I managed to get some candles. I went to bed but I could not sleep at all almost the whole night. The rats started squeaking and squealing up and down. It was a very dark night. I was very much scared of something or other. I did not tell it to anybody. The next day, the head master arranged a room in a private house nearby the school. I was really exulted.

No doubt, as teachers, we face such odd difficulties during our teaching career. But we have to face such things as challenges through which we can learn a lot.

I worked in that school till the half yearly examination. I taught English in Class IV, Mathematics in Class VI and social studies and science in lower classes. I mostly followed textbook explanation method and used chalkboard intensively. I would tell some jokes to add spice to my teaching. There was no problem regarding my content knowledge to teach any subject up to Class VI level. At that time I considered myself to be a good teacher as I was able to impart content knowledge perfectly well. I did not know anything so called classroom management, stimulus variation, use of teaching aids and other professional techniques. Though I was there for a short period of time, I gained a lot of experiences in teaching and still I cherish the unforgettable moments I had. It provided me an avenue for teaching career.

I firmly believe that a teacher should have a good content knowledge first and the professional knowledge is the ingredients to polish our teaching making it more enjoyable. What I have realised is that if we are really interested in teaching, we do not have to be exceptionally good at anything. The only thing we need is the constant hard efforts and sincere interest. We can try out many things randomly at first and realise the shortcomings and try to overcome them. There are lots of things to realise and discover for teachers. So, as new teachers, we should not be afraid of anything. All comes through slowly.

My second phase of teaching in Bara Junior High School

After my completion of Bachelor of Education and M.A. in English from the University of Pubjab, I was posted in Bara Junior High School in 1981. The school was just upgraded to junior high school from primary school. It is in a remote place and we had to climb for almost 2 hours. The headmaster was a very efficient person and the school was in a good shape in many ways. There were almost 600 students and 12 to 15 teachers. We used to teach almost all the 8 periods. However, there was a good working atmosphere and we enjoyed working hard even in such a place.

After some months of my arrival to that school, the headmaster was transferred to another school and I was handed over the charge. After a month or so, I was appointed an officiating head master as nobody wanted to come there even as a head master. Teachers were transferred one after another and we had a tough time in managing the classes. We had to teach two or more classes in the same period in a multi-grade system. I had to teach English, Geography, History and even Science and Mathematics in higher classes. That way, I was a jack of all subjects. As a new person with lots of responsibilities and work, I had a tough in managing the school. However, I tried my best for seven to eight months, and gained a great deal of knowledge in administration and management in many ways. Though it was a bitter experience for me, I could learn a lot practically within a short period of time.

Sometimes we have to work under hard circumstances as teachers. In fact, we learn a lot when we have to face difficulties. All the hardships will server as blessing in disguise. Sometimes we will be forced to teach some subjects though we might not be having adequate knowledge on them. So, teaching profession provides avenues for discovering new knowledge and skills.

My posting in NIE/Samtse College of Education and long experiences

I was transferred to NIE, Samtse in 15^th September 1982. It was a new experience for me. I had to teach grown up trainees and make use of both content knowledge and methodology. In the beginning, there were two sections of trainees under going primary teachers’ training course. There were 10 to 12 lecturers. We did not have to teach many classes. I was asked to go to Samtse High School and Samtse Primary School and take some classes. That way, I was keeping in touch with school experience as well as in a training institute. Life in Samtse was very much different from that of Bara Junior High School where I had to teach so many periods but in the NIE, I hardly had to teach one or two periods in a day.

The Bachelor of Education course was introduced in 1984 and all the lecturers had to work very hard. Some expatriate lecturers were brought from India. We were asked to design syllabuses for the B. Ed secondary programme and we had a tough time and gained a good deal of knowledge as well. With the limited knowledge in syllabus designing, I managed to design syllabuses in some form. However, later on some consultants were brought in and the syllabuses were refined and re-designed. The NIE was growing very fast and we all had to work very hard and keep ourselves busy every time. Within a short period of time, a lot of changes were brought into the PTTC in line with the B. Ed programme.

The PGCE programme was introduced in 1989. Our teaching responsibilities increased. The Distance Education programme was introduced in 1995. We were asked to design module guide books within a short period of time. The B. Ed primary also started. However, the PTTC programme was phased out in 2000. That way, many programmes were introduced and our teaching load also increased tremendously along with other responsibilities. Along with the new programmes, infra-structures and other facilities also increased a lot.

That way, we upgraded ourselves in many fields from classroom teaching to designing syllabuses, preparing module handbooks, and many other odd jobs. We have to be busy throughout the year taking classes even during the vacations.

Now, Samtse College of Education is a well-organized institute with lots of facilities and different programmes. I have been gaining a lot of experiences in many ways academically, professionally and personally.

I have spent more than 27 years (half of life) in this college. When I reflect back how I spent all these days, I feel nostalgic and sometimes, very exulted. Even in this college, I taught and have been teaching different English modules, Teaching Skills, Teaching Strategies, Curriculum theories and Economics.  After describing my experiences in teaching, let me express my views on the changes I have witnessed.

Teachers, students teaching in the past

Teachers in the past were from India and a few from abroad. There were very few national teachers including the Dzongkha Lopens. They were very different from present day Dzongkha Lopens in many ways. They had only content knowledge but hardly any methodology. They used to apply corporal punishment ranging from slapping to whipping. Teachers in those days used to have good content knowledge and some of them also had some professional qualifications. But most of them did not have professional qualifications. It was purely teacher-oriented teaching except the question-answer sessions. Hardly any kinds of teaching aids were used. The only teaching aids were the blackboard, chalk and the textbooks. They used to teach from the books and dictate notes and make us memorize them. However, whatever they used to teach, they used to go in detail and make us learn well somehow or other. We used to regard teachers as gods and used to respect them. Students used to be very obedient and were afraid of the teachers.

At present we can see so many changes. The attitudes of students towards the teachers are different. Most of the teachers are national with both academic and professional qualifications. Modern techniques and principles are applied in the classrooms. The whole scenario seems to be different in many aspects. Even the non-national teachers have professional qualifications. Professional qualification is a must in teaching these days.

Curriculum in those days and now

The school curriculum in those days was totally different from what it is today. We had to follow the textbooks used in English medium schools in India. Dzongkha textbooks were just in inception and were different from what we have today. Some of the textbooks were – Radiant Readers, Brighter Grammar, Deskwork, Stream of Time, Nature Rambles, etc. What I presume today is that these books were well graded and had good standard, informative and reader-friendly. With the establishment of the curriculum section within the Education Department, textbooks in some of the subjects started appearing in the department itself. Now, most of the textbooks are designed and published in Bhutan. Some of the textbooks of higher classes were brought from India used in I.C.S.E and I.S.E. The textbooks produced in Bhutan are well graded and based on Bhutanese contexts.

There were very books in the library and we hardly used to read any library books. There were no other sources of material and media in those days. We had to solely depend on the prescribed textbooks and the teachers and our own study. We were lucky to get free textbooks from the education depart.

Quality of education in the past and at present

At present there is a concern that quality of education is going down. Quantity and quality cannot go hand in hand. There are many factors for quality of education in the past.

 N. B. Gajmer. Asst. Prof., Samtse College of Education,