Department of Organizational Leadership (OLPD) Associate Professor Chris Johnstone and OLPD Lecturer Matt Schuelka were recently in Bhutan to give a workshop on “Accessibility and Inclusivity in Higher Education” for participants at the Royal Thimphu College. Participants engaged with ideas in accessible and inclusive pedagogy, providing college systems of accommodation and support for academically struggling students, identifying existing resources, and making inclusion action plans. 

The workshop was part of a University of Minnesota Global Signature Grant on Accessibility and Inclusion in Bhutanese Higher Education that was awarded to Johnstone and Schuelka in 2021, partnering with Royal Thimphu College in Bhutan. Further work on the project includes a Delphi study–assisted by graduate student Liz Hwang (PhD, CIDE)–and participatory action research where lecturers in Bhutan can initiate small classroom-level projects with some seed money provided by the grant. 

Schuelka and Johnstone previously worked on a UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grant in Bhutan on inclusive education and employment for youth with disabilities (2018–2021), along with partners at the University of Birmingham, Glasgow University, Royal Thimphu College, and the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration. Schuelka was primary investigator of that project. During their most recent visit to Bhutan, Schuelka and Johnstone were able to meet with the Director General of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources to discuss the impact of their project and to plan future work to further support persons with disabilities in Bhutan to gain and maintain meaningful work. Schuelka has been engaged on education projects with Bhutan since 2012.