Bhutan Journal of Research and Development

Building the Mindfulness City: Lessons from Special Economic Zones

Tai Young-Taft — 2025-12-31

Bhutan is building a new city, Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), with the goal of leapfrogging into a high-tech service economy, while preserving and promoting its cultural heritage of Vajrayana Buddhism. GMC–as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ)/Special Administrative Region (SAR)–will pursue a new model of urban development, ensuring a balance between economic prosperity and spiritual well-being. This paper is a perspective article that draws lessons from SEZs in China, Singapore, Dubai, and beyond to inform the development of the GMC in Bhutan. The paper identifies key factors – location, infrastructure, regulatory environment, human capital development, and integration with global and local value chains – that will drive the success of GMC, while requiring Bhutan to address the challenges of youth unemployment, brain drain, limited domestic savings, and an underdeveloped financial system. The paper concludes that GMC would benefit from a comprehensive needs assessment and strategic focus, based on global best practices, to realise its full potential as a new model of urban development.

Unpacking TFGBV in Bhutan: A Qualitative Study of Impact and Experience

Kezang Sherab — 2025-12-31

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) is an emerging global concern, particularly in digitally evolving societies like Bhutan. This qualitative study investigates the lived experiences, manifestations, and consequences of TFGBV through the lens of Digital Sociology. Data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions with 54 participants, including survivors, educators, service providers, and institutional stakeholders. The research reveals a spectrum of abuse, including cyberbullying, image-based violence, sextortion, and gendered hate speech. These acts are often intensified by anonymity, cultural stigma, and limited digital literacy. The study highlights significant psychological, educational, and social impacts, especially among Gen Z, whose digital immersion makes them uniquely vulnerable yet potentially powerful agents of change. The findings call for culturally responsive legal reforms, trauma-informed support systems, and multi-sectoral collaboration. This research contributes to the global discourse on gender equity and digital safety, offering actionable insights for policy, education, and advocacy.

Professional Learning Communities in Age-Mixed Schools

Bodil Svendsen — 2025-12-31

This study examines the professional learning community (PLC) of teachers within a network of three small rural primary age-mixed schools, which organised teaching structures (SAMOT) in Norway. Over the course of one year, the network conducted four collaborative workshops, which cultivated a shared responsibility for student well-being and development, and built mutual reliance among teachers. Trust and strong professional collaboration emerged as central dynamics, supported by a shared values-based perspective typical of small rural schools. The study tests the hypothesis that cross-SAMOT collaboration enhances PLC development, positing that teachers benefit most when they work with peers from other SAMOTs. The research question is: How can a SAMOT network foster the development of a PLC? Using a qualitative case study with 17 teachers across the three schools and data from group interviews, findings indicate that the SAMOT network strengthens teacher collaboration and mutual professional learning, while elevating emphasis on ongoing professional development. The key contribution is that PLCs in age-mixed, small-school contexts are reinforced when schools join cross-SAMOT networks, enabling shared responsibility, deeper trust, and an expanded network-based focus on professional growth.

Threads of Devotion: Interweaving Spaces, Practices, and Relationships in Bhutanese Buddhism

Tiatemsu Longkumer — 2025-12-31

This article analyses the intersection of space, religious practice, and identity in Bhutanese Buddhism through a case study in Thimphu. Drawing on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and textual analysis, the article explores how individuals navigate intersecting ontological spaces in everyday life. Adopting an essentialist stance and an “ethnographic sensibility”, the research explores porous boundaries between Buddhist and Bon elements, lay and monastic communities, and sacred and profane space. The findings show that root practices such as the maintenance of household shrines (Chosham), visiting public temples (Lhakhang), and circumambulation (Kora) construct a stratified Buddhist identity, simultaneously context-sensitive and experientially rooted. Through the description of how dharma teachings and bodily devotion become intertwined in the daily life of Bhutan, the article identifies the resilience of Bhutanese Buddhism amidst accelerated social change.

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Universities

Robert Klitgaard — 2025-12-31

Generative Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how people learn, work, and create—and universities sit at the centre of this upheaval. GenAI is double-edged: it can facilitate fake learning, yet it can also deepen true learning, spark creativity, and strengthen academic integrity if used well. The implications are both threatening and potentially transformative. Without redesign, many universities risk rapid decline. But collapse is not inevitable: by embracing co-intelligence—effective human-AI collaboration—universities can flourish. This paper offers concrete recommendations and two brief GenAI prompts that illustrate how learning and research can be meaningfully enhanced.

Factors Influencing Women Teachers’ Aspirations for School Leadership Positions: A Mixed-Methods Study in Thimphu District

Deki Dema — 2025-12-31

In Bhutan, women constitute a significant portion of the teaching workforce but remain underrepresented in public school leadership roles. This mixed-methods study explored the factors influencing women teachers’ aspirations for school leadership positions across nine schools in Thimphu District. Using stratified random sampling, data were collected from 82 female teachers through surveys, and seven of them participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings, guided by the study’s theoretical framework, demonstrated that women’s leadership aspirations were shaped by interrelated personal, institutional, and socio-cultural dimensions. While personal motivation, confidence, and proactive leadership development emerged as internal drivers, institutional barriers such as inadequate mentorship, gender-biased promotion criteria, and limited support systems, along with socio-cultural expectations related to caregiving and traditional gender roles, constrained women’s ambitions. The study concludes that advancing women’s leadership aspirations requires systemic reforms, including gender-sensitive policies, leadership training, mentorship programmes, and supportive institutional environments. These insights hold important implications for policymakers and school leaders committed to fostering gender equity in Bhutan’s education system.

Determinants of Insomnia Severity in Bhutan: Demographic and Mental Health Factors

Sonam Zam — 2025-12-31

Insomnia is a growing health concern, yet little is known about its predictors in the Bhutanese context. This research studied demographic, behavioural, and psychological factors associated with insomnia severity during the COVID-19 lockdown. Thus, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 534 Bhutanese individuals using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analyses were performed. The results of the Correlation analysis showed significant positive associations between insomnia severity and depression, anxiety, stress and phone usage. However, age was negatively correlated with ISI. This was further confirmed by multiple regression analysis, which revealed that depression (β = 0.30, p < 0.001), anxiety (β = 0.25, p < 0.001), and phone usage (β = 0.16, p = 0.001) significantly predicted higher insomnia severity, while age (β = - 0.14, p = 0.001) was a negative predictor. Stress, relationship and employment status were not significant in predicting insomnia. The model explained 41% of the variance in insomnia severity. Thus, psychological distress and excessive phone use increase insomnia severity, whereas older age appears protective.

Teacher Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Technology Integration in Bhutanese Classrooms

Sonam Dhendup — 2025-12-31

his study aimed to analyse the technology use by Bhutanese teachers, their attitudes and perceptions toward the integration of technology in teaching. It sought to determine the impact of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)–the conceptual framework for technology integration in teaching-learning. It employed a quantitative non-experimental correlational survey design. The data were collected through a web-based cross-sectional survey from a total of 204 teachers from 19 schools in Thimphu. The findings revealed that while teachers used a variety of devices to support their teaching, Bhutanese teachers rarely utilised web-based applications. The analysis of teachers’ attitudes and perceptions toward technology integration showed a combined mean score of 1.74 (± 0.77) on the given scale. A total of 94 (46%) respondents held a negative attitude, 69 (34%) were moderately inclined, and 41 (20%) expressed a positive attitude toward technology integration. The path analyses showed a significant direct relationship between content knowledge and technological knowledge to technological pedagogical content knowledge. However, no empirical support was found for pedagogical knowledge. This study highlights a timely and comprehensive national professional development programme and advocates for the establishment of a robust ICT infrastructure in Bhutanese Schools.

Enhancing 12th Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension of The Play “The Merchant of Venice” by applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Kinley Pem — 2025-12-31

This study explored the efficacy of integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to enhance the reading comprehension of Bhutanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners studying William Shakespeare's play, “The Merchant of Venice.” Lesson activities were meticulously designed to align with UDL principles, empowering students with the autonomy to choose their tools, methods, and avenues for exploration and learning. Additionally, students were given the freedom to present their understanding in formats comfortable to them for assessment. The study employed a quantitative research design involving 12th-grade students from a high school in Bhutan for this intervention. While the experimental group received UDL intervention, three control groups did not. The findings suggest that implementing UDL strategies can significantly enhance students’ reading comprehension of the play, “The Merchant of Venice,” highlighting its potential as a pedagogical approach to enhance reading comprehension in EFL contexts, recommending educators in similar EFL contexts to adapt UDL in their classrooms.

Exploring Equity and Inclusion using Universal Design for Learning in Teacher Education at Samtse College of Education

Kinley — 2025-12-31

The study investigates how teacher educators in Samtse College of Education (SCE) conceptualise and implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in teacher training. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were gathered from 18 educators, out of which nine were engaged in semi-structured interviews and class observations. Findings indicate moderate conceptual knowledge of UDL among teacher educators, but high commitment towards diversity and learner inclusivity. Strengths were noted in providing multiple means of representing content, but a wide variability existed in providing multiple means of performing, expressing, and personalising. Significant barriers were scarce resources, large class sizes, and lockstep curricula, which restricted full implementation of UDL principles. Although training sessions were provided, the participants rated them as too theoretical and removed from classroom settings. Despite these problems, teacher educators were positive regarding the promise of UDL to enhance student engagement, equity, and pedagogy. The research highlights the importance of institutional support in the form of constant professional development, increased use of resources, and systemic dedication to inclusive practice.