Implementation of Place Based Education in Lower Primary English Class in Southern Part of Trashigang Dzongkhag, Bhutan

Abstract

Aims: To explore how Place-Based Education (PBE) is implemented in teaching English in lower primary class. It also explored on the challenges and opportunities the PBE offers as a teaching-learning approach. Study Design: The qualitative study with an case study design grounded on the social constructivist worldview was used in this study. Methodology: Purposive sampling was used and collected data from twenty-two participants; five face-to-face interviews with teachers and four focus group discussions (FGD) with class II and III students, the data was also collected from one principal and analysed using thematic approach. Results: The literature shows that PBE principles were used in several fields of education for different purposes. Further, research suggests that principles of PBE can help students to engage in a meaningful learning experience using local community resources and boost students’ communication skills. In addition, the findings revealed that English teachers of lower primary classes implemented few principles of PBE such as learner-centered, inquiry-based, and community as classroom. On the other hand, teachers do not used local to global, design thinking and interdisciplinary approach due to time constraint and lack of experiences. Thus, the teachers do not fully utilize the local and community resources due to lack of competencies of teachers in terms of knowledge and skills to implement PBE approaches. Conclusion: The study recommended that teachers be provided with a monthly refresher course on PBE principles to integrate into teaching English. In addition, administrator, parents and teacher colleagues render full support to implement PBE teaching.  Therefore, future research is needed to ascertain how the principles of PBE are effective in helping learners improve academic achievement.