KU School of Education
KUSOED values education immensely. Education is the backbone of a prosperous society. Economic prosperity and social transformation can only be possible if every member of the community is literate. KUSOE acknowledges education and genuinely believes that education changes lives. All four departments of KUSOED are working with proper collaborations to have a positive impact on the community.
Representatives of the school
sgautam@kusoed.edu.np: Department of Development Education
dpsubedi@kusoed.edu.np: Department of Educational Leadership
binod@kusoed.edu.np: Department of STEAM Education
tikaram.poudel@kusoed.edu.np Department of Language Education
prakash@kusoed.edu.np: Department of Development Education
Department of Development Education
To explore the community practices of sustainable development and enhance the critical and analytical thinking on development practices of students, the department has been working relentlessly for the well-being of the community. The department usually conducts fieldwork for community visits to learn about the community’s problems and address them. The department has held fieldwork for community visits for MSD students (2018-2020). Furthermore, the department has also encouraged students to participate in research-related activities.
The department also involves a number of students for environment preservation and the generation of evidence for policy advocacy. The department has successfully implemented environmental preservation programs in many National Park, CG Foundation, communities around Buffer Zone, and local governments. This practice helps the community grow and develops students’ leadership skills, research skills, analytical skills, and teamwork. With these attributes, the students can further contribute to society.
Additionally, the Department of Development Education has also partnered with SOCH Nepal, NEPAN, USAID, and FHI 360 to organize a discussion series on academia practice collaboration for community development. The discussion series focuses on several issues such as sustainable development, anti-corruption, local participatory development, etc. These discussions and debates teach students how theory and practice blend. The students can understand the ongoing problems in the community and focus on eliminating those problems.
Department of Educational Leadership
Department of Educational Leadership has been working on a school improvement project for a long time. As the name suggests, the department advocates for transforming the education process, improving teaching-learning activities, and developing leadership skills in every school in the country. The department is primarily working in remote areas of the country. For instance, it has been working in Phalewas of Parbat, Bolde of Sindhupalchok, Manekharka of Kavre, and Godhamchaur of Lalitpur for more than five years. The department has been involved in Assessment, teacher training, head teachers’ training, and parental counseling in those areas. With the years of hard work, change in teaching-learning activities has been seen in recent times. The quality improvement, practical-based knowledge, and studying atmosphere at home have been improved, depicted by the student’s progress report card and their involvement in community-related activities.
Department of STEAM Education
The department has also been working to better the education system in both the private and public sectors. Intending to develop and implement remedial packages to support and develop the school system in rural Nepal, the department has implemented STEAM pedagogies in many different parts of the country.
Recently in Namo Buddha, Kavre, KUSOED has successfully implemented STEAM Pedagogy. The department has also partnered with UNESCO, Federal Education, Science and Technology Ministry, Provincial Ministries, World Education, CDC, ERO, Norwegian University (NMBU), and Tribhuvan University (TU), many community schools in Nepal. To support school teachers via training/workshops, the department had developed remedial packages in Mathematics and Science and implemented them in more than 50 schools of 3 districts; Banke, Dang, Salyan, in 2015-2017.
Apart from the school-level education, the department has offered research supports for MEd/MPhil/PhD students in collaboration with NORAD. Training, Workshops, Orientations are being conducted by the department in many local communities, including municipalities and rural municipalities. These endeavors were beneficial for the upliftment of the educational system in Nepal by introducing integrated, multidisciplinary, and meaning-centered educational processes. Webinars on the pedagogy of STEAM education are an ongoing feature of community engagement of STEAM Education. International conferences focusing on Transformative Education and Sustainable Development have emphasized the showcasing of local and indigenous knowledge, skills, and practices. The department organizes workshops for school teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to share the culminating projects, research outputs, and newer understandings of our students. The department is also collaborating with the international network of Transformative Education Research for several community-based activities.
Department of Language Education
Department of Language Education has a broader purpose of disseminating research conducted at the Department of Language Education, School of Education Kathmandu University. The department has launched various programs in the communities like the International Webinar on Current Trends in English Language Education (Organized by the M Phil scholars in English Language Education (February 2019 batch) at School of Education Kathmandu University on 6-10 July 2020. Similarly, the department launched International Webinar on Current Trends in English Language Education by the M Phil Scholars in 2019-2020. The department had addressed the research through virtual activities to both national and international audiences. This work has resulted in deeper understandings of the issues of English language teaching and learning in Nepal. This initiative has also encouraged many scholars to carry out research that will eventually help the community grow.
