Kuenga Dem - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Kuenga Dem
The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 29 No 1 June 2018 © The Australian Psychological Soc... more The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 29 No 1 June 2018 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Bhutan is a tiny Himalayan Buddhist kingdom that has faced challenges in societal changes to youth wellbeing. Twenty-five percent of its 708,000 inhabitants are school children (National Statistics Bureau, 2011). Bhutan transitioned from a feudal and monastic education structure to a modern capitalist economy and mass education system where English became the medium of instruction for primary, secondary and tertiary education (Ministry of Education, 2013). Since Western modernisation, there have been concerns of its greater influence of social and economic development on Bhutanese culture, traditional values and belief systems. Youth now have a lifestyle based on consumerism and Western modern values (Mathou, 2000). A rise in self-harm, suicide, drug abuse, theft and crime rates has been linked to a shift of values, attitudes and expectations that potentially isolate and create ...
Australian Community Psychologist, 2018
While school counselling was introduced to the Bhutan school system in recent years due to incre... more While school counselling was introduced to the Bhutan school system in recent years
due to increased concerns about student wellbeing, there is a significant dearth of
research on the influences and experiences of the profession. This is the first
documented study on school counselling in Bhutan by an insider, a Bhutanese school
guidance counsellor. Using social constructionism and critical theory to inform a
narrative inquiry methodology, we story the complexities and struggles of a first
generation school counsellor in Bhutan. This study enables voice on explaining
counsellors’ multifaceted roles and responsibilities, and on disclosing tensions in the
school system. School counsellors are challenged by limited training and professional
development, and yet are expected to provide expert-led responsive services. Regarding
these challenges, we examine the influence of metanarratives (governing community
expectations) on counsellor legitimacy – and uncover counsellor counter-narratives as
enactments of voice and resistance. We adapted a semi-structured narrative interview
and thematic narrative analysis to facilitate participant reconstructions of events with
their experiences. Findings suggest a need for relevant stakeholders within the
education system to acknowledge and collectively address the current challenges faced
by school counsellors.
The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 29 No 1 June 2018 © The Australian Psychological Soc... more The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 29 No 1 June 2018 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Bhutan is a tiny Himalayan Buddhist kingdom that has faced challenges in societal changes to youth wellbeing. Twenty-five percent of its 708,000 inhabitants are school children (National Statistics Bureau, 2011). Bhutan transitioned from a feudal and monastic education structure to a modern capitalist economy and mass education system where English became the medium of instruction for primary, secondary and tertiary education (Ministry of Education, 2013). Since Western modernisation, there have been concerns of its greater influence of social and economic development on Bhutanese culture, traditional values and belief systems. Youth now have a lifestyle based on consumerism and Western modern values (Mathou, 2000). A rise in self-harm, suicide, drug abuse, theft and crime rates has been linked to a shift of values, attitudes and expectations that potentially isolate and create ...
Australian Community Psychologist, 2018
While school counselling was introduced to the Bhutan school system in recent years due to incre... more While school counselling was introduced to the Bhutan school system in recent years
due to increased concerns about student wellbeing, there is a significant dearth of
research on the influences and experiences of the profession. This is the first
documented study on school counselling in Bhutan by an insider, a Bhutanese school
guidance counsellor. Using social constructionism and critical theory to inform a
narrative inquiry methodology, we story the complexities and struggles of a first
generation school counsellor in Bhutan. This study enables voice on explaining
counsellors’ multifaceted roles and responsibilities, and on disclosing tensions in the
school system. School counsellors are challenged by limited training and professional
development, and yet are expected to provide expert-led responsive services. Regarding
these challenges, we examine the influence of metanarratives (governing community
expectations) on counsellor legitimacy – and uncover counsellor counter-narratives as
enactments of voice and resistance. We adapted a semi-structured narrative interview
and thematic narrative analysis to facilitate participant reconstructions of events with
their experiences. Findings suggest a need for relevant stakeholders within the
education system to acknowledge and collectively address the current challenges faced
by school counsellors.