Exploring possibilities for participatory approaches to contextualized teaching and learning: a case from a public school in Nepal

ABSTRACT

This paper reflects upon and discusses the case of a participatory action research project in a public school in Nepal with the aim of exploring the possibilities for participatory approaches to contextualised teaching and learning. We discuss how research-degree students and school stakeholders involved in participatory needs assessment identified the need for contextualised teaching and learning and the participatory and generative model of contextualised teaching and learning we initiated in response. However, at the end of three different participatory action research (PAR) cycles, we came to an understanding that, for sustainable pedagogical reforms, even buzz words like ‘participatory’ and ‘shifts in perspectives’ have some limitations. In a bureaucratic schooling structure, like that in Nepal, pedagogical innovations for contextualised teaching and learning have to negotiate pre-structured schooling cultures, and therefore, any change in individual and group perspectives has to be accompanied by a shift in regular schooling design, from linear closedness to ecological openness. Otherwise, the innovations for contextualised teaching and learning are unlikely to be sustained in the face of the dominant practice architecture.

KEYWORDS:

• Dominant practices
• contextualised teaching and learning
• participatory approaches
• pedagogical innovations

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge that the paper was prepared with the support from the NORHED Rupantaran Project entitled ‘Innovations in Teaching and Learning through Contextualized Approaches to Increase the Quality, Relevance and Sustainability of Education in Nepal’ which has been jointly implemented in Nepal by Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu University (KU), and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Readers who wish to get a clearer sense of the research context may enjoy a short video on YouTube, ‘Innovation Spotlight 15: Shree Krishna Wagle and Bal Chandra Luitel – Kathmandu University, Nepal’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HfPpQ6gTro).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded in part through a NORAD project (2016-2021), agreement number [2016Q2A04].