Teacher Understanding of the Educating for Gross National Happiness Initiative

Abstract

The focus on Educating for Gross National Happiness in schools is both on pedagogy and curriculum as well as extra-curricular programmes. Pre-service teacher training has been the focus of the Ministry of Education and the Royal University of Bhutan for many years now, but only recently has there been a major push to integrate pedagogical practices with the values and principles of Gross National Happiness (GNH) – the Educating for Gross National Happiness (EGNH) initiative. There is a greater awareness that both teacher-centred and curriculum-centred pedagogical practices may not be conducive to both the principles of GNH, nor to the future economic activity of the country. However, the implementation of EGNH ideas has been problematic, especially in translating them into classroom practices. Both pre- and in-service education has a big job ahead of them. This chapter explores the challenges in fully realising the potential of the EGNH initiative and plots a way forward. The authors argue that the teachers need to undergo fundamental changes to their basic assumptions, beliefs, and actions about the EGNH initiative if it is to be successfully implemented.