{"id":342,"date":"2026-07-20T15:16:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/?p=342"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:17:31","slug":"teacher-reflections-from-nepal-learning-through-reparative-pedagogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/2026\/07\/20\/teacher-reflections-from-nepal-learning-through-reparative-pedagogy\/","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Reflections from Nepal: Learning Through Reparative Pedagogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mercy O. Martins, Karuna Nepal, and Lila Dhar Adhikari<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of the British Council ELTRA project<\/a> (Reparative learning and English language teaching in Nepal and Uganda), teachers were invited to reflect on how engaging with other teachers and the team on reparative learning shaped their thinking and classroom practice. Rather than producing formal evaluations, these blogs offer personal accounts of teaching, learning and reflection. The two reflections below are written by English language teachers working in community schools in Nepal. Although their experiences differ, both describe how through engaging with reparative learning during the project, they were able to think differently about care, inclusion and justice in English language teaching. They also illustrate how teachers draw on their own experiences, contexts and professional judgement to create classrooms where all learners can participate with dignity. Together, these reflections remind us that reparative learning is not simply a set of teaching strategies, but an ongoing process of questioning assumptions, learning with others and creating more equitable educational spaces. The ELTRA team will be sharing some other blogs with reflections from Uganda and from the team members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"3<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning Through Working Together: Reflections on Reparative Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Karuna Nepal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

English language teacher, community school, Bhaktapur District, Nepal<\/em><\/p>\n

I am an English language teacher from Nepal, working in a community school in the countryside of Bhaktapur District. My students come from diverse geographical, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Responding meaningfully to this diversity is one of the greatest challenges of my work, and I am always looking for approaches that help me teach more inclusively.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, I participated in a workshop facilitated by Dr Bal Ram Adhikari and Mr Chandra Bahadur Lama in Kathmandu. Participating in the workshop on reparative learning gave me the opportunity to collaborate with educators from diverse contexts and critically reflect on my own beliefs and classroom practices. It was my first experience of participating in a formal discussion that explored English language teaching as a space for care, justice, multilingualism and healing.<\/p>\n

The interactive nature of the workshop encouraged us to share our experiences, engage in group discussions, collaborate with teachers from different backgrounds and reflect on our own practices. It also encouraged us to develop practical strategies for creating more inclusive classrooms, challenging exclusionary practices and contributing to a more just society.<\/p>\n

As a language teacher, I had always assumed that developing learners' communicative competence was the primary goal of English language teaching. I also believed that maintaining an English-only environment in the classroom would maximise learners' exposure to the language and improve their proficiency. Although I consciously tried to avoid discriminatory ideas and practices, I did not always have the tools to ensure justice and promote epistemic reparation. As a result, I found it difficult to connect language teaching more deliberately to learners' identities, emotions and lived experiences.<\/p>\n

Before attending the workshop, I expected it to focus mainly on incorporating multilingualism into English language classrooms, as linguistic diversity is central to educational discourse in Nepal. However, the workshop went much further. It explored how language teaching can unintentionally reinforce long-standing hierarchies and prejudices, and how language learning itself can create experiences of exclusion, trauma and harm. What struck me most was exploring practical ways of healing these experiences and creating classrooms where such harms are less likely to occur in the future.<\/p>\n

The workshop encouraged me to question my own beliefs, assumptions, biases and classroom practices, and to consider how I might unintentionally reinforce social inequalities. It also introduced practical strategies that I can use to create classrooms where inclusion and equity are actively cultivated. I now place greater emphasis on building trusting relationships and emotionally safe classrooms. I aim to create opportunities for learners\u2014and myself\u2014to share personal narratives and lived experiences so that we can recognise harmful practices, acknowledge exclusion and explore possibilities for repair. I also intend to make greater use of collaborative learning, reflective dialogue, translanguaging and creative forms of expression in my teaching.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I realised that teachers are not only responsible for transmitting knowledge but also have an important role in addressing past injustices and creating more equitable learning environments. I am determined to use my teaching to promote equity, inclusion and social justice, and to contribute to classrooms where every learner feels valued, respected and able to participate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Multiple<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teaching with Care: Reflections on Reparative Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Lila Dhar Adhikari<\/em><\/strong>
\nEnglish language teacher, community school, Nepal<\/em><\/p>\n

I am an English language teacher at a community school in Nepal. For the past 30 years, I have taught English to students from Grade 1 to Grade 12. I spent more than half of my teaching career working in schools in rural areas, while in recent years I have been teaching in community schools in urban areas. In Nepal, community schools generally serve children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, whereas children from stronger socioeconomic backgrounds tend to attend private schools. When I first heard about reparative learning, I felt that it was not only relevant to the students I teach but essential.<\/p>\n

Even before learning about reparative pedagogy in a formal or theoretical sense, we had already been practising child-friendly approaches that respected diversity in both theory and practice. For nearly two decades, we have integrated children's rights, human rights, equality, and language and cultural rights into our teaching. Looking back, I realised that many of these practices already reflected the principles of reparative pedagogy, even though we had never described them in those terms.<\/p>\n

While participating in my first interactive workshop on reparative learning, I was reminded of an incident from my time as a school headteacher. Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds and those whose home languages differed from the language of communication used at school often did not appear as polite or well-mannered as teachers expected. This was especially a concern raised by teachers in the lower grades.<\/p>\n

Some teachers would say, \"Some children only respond to force, not to words. It is impossible to discipline them without shouting at them, scolding them or intimidating them.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

At the time, I responded differently. I said:<\/p>\n

\"These children may not experience polite and respectful language or balanced behaviour at home. If we use the same insulting language and punishment at school that they experience elsewhere, they will never learn what respectful communication feels like. Shouldn't we, as teachers, be more patient with their innocent language and behaviour?\"<\/em><\/p>\n

This experience has stayed with me throughout my teaching career.<\/p>\n

In my experience, however, maintaining these principles becomes much more difficult as class sizes increase. Today, I teach more than 80 students in a single class. A few years ago, my classes had around 30 to 35 students, and I could support learners through individual conversations, explanation, care and respect. In much larger classes, this has become far more challenging, even when teachers understand their students' backgrounds.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, I participated in a workshop on reparative learning. The workshop did not introduce the idea of violence-free teaching for the first time. Rather, it gave me a clearer conceptual framework for understanding why these practices matter and how they relate to reparative learning. It also helped me recognise how approaches such as the Direct Method and English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) can, directly or indirectly, create forms of exclusion or violence for some learners.<\/p>\n

For example, a new student in one of the lower grades could not understand simple classroom instructions such as \"come here\"<\/em> or \"go out\"<\/em>. Some classmates began to laugh at and tease the child. At that moment, I realised that teacher intervention was essential to protect the child's emotional safety. I spoke separately with the new student and with the children who had been teasing them. The outcome was very positive. Not only did those particular students stop teasing, but the rest of the class also became more understanding and supportive.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on this experience, I see reparative learning as something that extends beyond teaching language. It is about creating classrooms where learners feel respected, emotionally safe and able to participate without fear. The workshop gave me a clearer language for describing values that have guided much of my teaching for many years, while also encouraging me to continue reflecting on how those values can be put into practice, even in challenging classroom conditions.\"One<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mercy O. Martins, Karuna Nepal, and Lila Dhar Adhikari Introduction As part of the British Council ELTRA project (Reparative learning and English language teaching in Nepal and Uganda), teachers were invited to reflect on how engaging with other teachers and...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2057,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language-educational-practices"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}