Bhutan Baccalaureate
About Bhutan Baccalaureate
In order to develop constructive, contributory citizens of a just and harmonious society, the Bhutan Baccalaureate sees education as a holistic process that extends far beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge. It is a model of education that takes into account a more rounded and wholesome understanding of the learning process.
About Bhutan Baccalaureate
In order to develop constructive, contributory citizens of a just and harmonious society, the Bhutan Baccalaureate sees education as a ‘wholistic’ process that extends far beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge. It is a model of education that takes into account a more rounded and wholesome understanding of the learning process. The Bhutan Baccalaureate strives to break down the silos in schooling and ensure the development of a learner in the cerebral as well as in the emotional, physical, social and spiritual realms.
These Five Areas of Development form the basis of the Bhutan Baccalaureate’s ever-evolving curriculum in which each area is recognized as an integral part of a child’s overall development. Here, by the term ‘curriculum’, we mean the totality of a learner’s experience in the context of the school, both inside and outside the classroom.
Philosophical Underpinnings
The teachings of Guru Padmasambhava serve as the basis for the philosophy of The Bhutan Baccalaureate. At the heart of Guru Padmasambhava’s teaching is the realization of primordial wisdom (yeshey – ཡེ་ཤེས), which is understood as the recognition of one’s innate awakened state.
Similarly, The Bhutan Baccalaureate sees as its mission the harnessing or awakening of the primordial wisdom of every learner. Learners engage in a sustained process of self-introspection in order to recognize that they are fundamentally pure, joyful, wholesome, creative and ever-evolving. An important feature of Padmasambhava’s teachings is the practice of unearthing treasures (Terma – གཏེར་མ) by treasure-discoverers (Terton – གཏེར་སྟོན). The Bhutan Baccalaureate similarly seeks to enable learners to become their own treasure-discoverers and unearth within themselves the various treasures that form a part of their innate being, their primordial wisdom.
Philosophical Underpinnings
The teachings of Guru Padmasambhava serve as the basis for the philosophy of The Bhutan Baccalaureate. At the heart of Guru Padmasambhava’s teaching is the realization of primordial wisdom (yeshey – ཡེ་ཤེས), which is understood as the recognition of one’s innate awakened state. Similarly, The Bhutan Baccalaureate sees as its mission the harnessing or awakening of the primordial wisdom of every learner. Learners engage in a sustained process of self-introspection in order to recognize that they are fundamentally pure, joyful, wholesome, creative and ever-evolving.
An important feature of Padmasambhava’s teachings is the practice of unearthing treasures (Terma – གཏེར་མ) by treasure-discoverers (Terton – གཏེར་སྟོན). The Bhutan Baccalaureate similarly seeks to enable learners to become their own treasure-discoverers and unearth within themselves the various treasures that form a part of their innate being, their primordial wisdom. Through their individual and shared journeys of self-introspection, learners learn to identify their treasures and actualize their ever-evolving inner potential, which they may, in turn, share with their community at an appropriate time. The Bhutan Baccalaureate believes that education is not just about learning but more importantly about helping a learner develop and recognize the Skills, Processes, and Watermarks that are necessary for self-actualization.
5 Areas of Development
Cerebal Development
Cerebral development focuses mainly, but not exclusively, on the academic content of curriculum. There is a strong emphasis on developing and enhancing the learners’ abilities in the three languages- English, Dzongkha and Mathematics. The content used in the learning experiences for the three languages will be drawn from the other domain areas such as Life Science, Sports, Aesthetics and Computer Science. With a wide range of new knowledge emerging constantly and the increased accessibility of this knowledge to learners, it is no longer enough to simply learn static concepts.
What is ever more important today is the process of learning and the acquisition of skills and abilities to interpret and critically analyse both pre-existing and new knowledge and its application in real-time. Therefore, a focus of cerebral development is creating opportunities for learners to develop Skills and Processes, and to engage their curiosity and creativity.
Emotional Development
Emotional development focuses on emotional well-being of learners. It offers opportunities to help build the learners ability to recognize their own emotions, understand the external and internal factors that influence them and regulate emotions positively. It is important to create a safe environment for all learners to express themselves and experience a range of emotions. The priority is on providing a nurturing environment and the essential skills for all learners to discover, explore and continuously develop their potential.
Physical Development
Physical development ensures the general well-being, health, hygiene and physical fitness of all learners. Through physical activities such as games and sports, there will be opportunities for learners to build on and improve their physical health and fitness. Learners will be provided with experiences to enhance their interactions with the community and environment. Through games and sports, students will value the spirit of collaboration, leadership and communication.
Spiritual Development
Spirituality is used to describe a wide range of ideas, from personal belief in a cosmic existence to subjective experience of profound connection with the universe. In The Bhutan Baccalaureate, it refers to the idea of mindfulness and interconnectedness. Buddhist concepts will form a crucial basis for this aspect of development but there will be a conscious effort to explore beyond the philosophical and religious aspects of Buddhism.
Finding joy in every experience and understanding the essence of compassion and empathy will guide the experiences and learning. Therefore, Spiritual Development aspires to ensure that each learner becomes the best that they can be for the benefit of individuals and the community.
Learning Process
The Bhutan Baccalaureate learning process puts into practice the method of learning the skills, processes and watermarks, using concepts and domain-specific content.
Assessment
In the Bhutan Baccalaureate, assessment is the engine that drives the learning process. Assessment makes it possible to ensure that the students are on the right track along the path of holistic development, by making it possible to get relevant information about their progress.
Cross Pollination
Cross Pollination is a non-siloed approach to learning. Domains are not learnt as independent silos, but teachers and students collaborate to find natural connections that exist between the various concepts that must be learnt and used as an integrated approach to learning.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics in the Bhutan Baccalaureate refers to more than the perception and cultivation of a sense of beauty. Rather, it extends to the way in which individuals operate in the world, based on such a perception.
Skills, Processes and Watermarks
Skills are mechanisms used to interpret, process and make sense of existing and new knowledge. Processes are the ways through which the learner acquires skills and knowledge. Watermarks are the impacts of the learning environment and experiences upon the character and values of a learner, which include integrity, compassion, rigour, and leadership.
Technology
Technology has always been a driver of change. It has revolutionized our world and changed the way we approach all aspects of our everyday lives. It has helped us reimagine human innovation and paved the way for efficient processes. Having recognized the critical role of technology in our world, the Bhutan Baccalaureate learning process leverages technology to augment learning.
Learning Process
The Learning Process in the Five Areas of Development helps all learners, including students and faculty, to develop continuously and wholistically, so that the school and its wider community evolve toward a more just and harmonious society. The Learning Process in the Five Areas of Development creates opportunities for all learners to develop and showcase their inner treasures. The school and wider community becomes a safety net in which learners become adventurous and take risks. Learners continuously actualize their innate potential to become constructive contributory citizens of their communities. The learning process puts into practice the method of learning the skills, processes and watermarks, using concepts and domain-specific content.
What is ever more important today is the process of learning and the acquisition of skills and abilities to interpret and critically analyse both pre-existing and new knowledge and its application in real-time. Therefore, a focus of cerebral development at The Royal Academy is creating opportunities for learners to develop Skills and Processes, and to engage their curiosity and creativity.
Assessment
Assessment in the Bhutan Baccalaureate is the engine that drives the Learning Process. It aims to help learners develop Skills, Processes and Watermarks, and grow in the Five Areas of Development. Assessment is a means to enable and nurture holistic development of Learners. It should help Learners view and understand their Learning journey – the particular areas of improvement and more importantly, the patterns and relationship of their growth.
This analysis of their learning journey is qualitative in nature, through the use and emphasis of Roadmaps, reflection, reviews, and effective feedback. Assessment is a continuous and evolving process, which intends to strengthen and enable a learner’s understanding of themselves. It encourages Learners to constantly be in the learning mode, to recognize and identify their internal resources and areas they want to develop further.
Cross Pollination
Cross Pollination is interdisciplinary learning taking place when a concept is understood through a holistic approach. Understanding the connections between various domains is critical for authentic understanding of a concept. For example, a disease that affects humans is best understood through the biology of the disease, its geographical spread, the social customs or environmental factors that may lead to it, the chemistry of the medicines that cure it, and the physics of the devices that detect it. Domains are also linked when a concept is perceived from the perspectives of different domains. For example, seasons can be viewed poetically in literature, scientifically through the understanding of revolution and rotation of the Earth, or through an understanding of socio-economic customs or festivals in the Social Sciences. This approach provides the learners with different perspectives on a concept or topic and an understanding of the various processes these domains use to approach that particular concept or topic.
Aesthetics
The Bhutan Baccalaureate’s understanding of aesthetics is epitomized by the words of His Majesty the King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, ‘We aspire to build a just and harmonious society.’ As this indicates, aesthetics in the Bhutan Baccalaureate refers to more than the perception and cultivation of a sense of beauty. Rather, it extends to the way in which individuals operate in the world, based on such a perception. This active nature of aesthetics, understood as the basic mechanism of human evolvement, lies at the heart of the Bhutan Baccalaureate’s vision of education. The Bhutan Baccalaureate’s notion of aesthetics thus primarily rests on an understanding of the terms ‘just and harmonious’. These two terms are deeply interconnected and mutually dependent, and an exploration of their connotations in the context of the Bhutan Baccalaureate is crucial to elucidate its vision of aesthetics.
Skills, Processes and Watermarks
Whatever the path, pace, standards and direction a learner adopts, the Bhutan Baccalaureate focuses on the manner of acquiring and understanding knowledge. These are termed as ‘processes’ by the Bhutan Baccalaureate. These processes help the learner make connections with existing knowledge and experiences and create new knowledge. Processes also help the learner apply and transact this knowledge with others in the community. Along with processes, learners will use mechanisms to learn, interpret, analyse and synthesize both existing knowledge and new knowledge. These mechanisms are termed ‘skills’ by the Bhutan Baccalaureate. All learning environments leave lasting impressions on the learners who participate in it. The practices and culture that a learning environment creates has the potential to impact the character and attitude of the learners for the rest of their lives. These impressions are called ‘watermarks’ by the Bhutan Baccalaureate. Watermarks are the traits and characteristics that manifest in a learner in specific situation or conditions. The development of these watermarks is not being left to chance or as a positive side effect of the learning process. Learners are aware of watermarks and intentionally incorporate them into their aspirations and expectations from the learning process.
Technology
Going beyond the conventional approach of simply using technology within the classrooms, in the Bhutan Baccalaureate technology is used to create a thriving learning environment for both students and adults. Technology enables both student and adult learners to explore and discover new avenues in their learning journey by taking ownership of their own learning. By using the plethora of resources made available through technology, learners are able to develop new skills, explore new processes and imbibe new watermarks.
A critical component of the Bhutan Baccalaureate’s approach to technology is its recognition of the important role of technology in bridging the gap between humans and nature. Modern advancements in technology have created a barrier between human beings and nature. Like any tool, however, the impact of today’s technologies emanates from the users and the applications, not the technology itself. As such, our endeavor must be to develop a relationship with technology wherein learners are able to use technology to restore and enrich the innate interconnectedness between humans and nature. Through technology, learners need to understand that they are not islands that can be compartmentalized into silos but rather that they exist in interdependence with nature.
Social Development
Social development focuses on developing wholesome relationships with peers, adults, community and the environment. Social Development aspires to help learners become a person of substance, one who is open to ideas, has the willingness to change, is a trustworthy member of a community and someone who conducts herself with integrity at all times. The choices that the learners make should help them become a responsible, contributory member of a just and harmonious society.