LESSONS from BHUTAN: EMBRACE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES TO EFFECT CHANGE

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Nestled in the Himalayan Mountains, Bhutan, a Buddhist country, is one of the most isolated nations in the world. After spending a month there, we all agreed it deserved its title of "The Last Shangri-La." Our team of professional development specialists spent the summer of 2010 providing professional development in the basic principles of special education to teachers, administrators, and government officials. At the end of our visit, we left with a new appreciation of the need for all professional developers to become more aware of cultural differences both overt and subtle. In the process, we sharpened our skills, increased our cultural sensitivities, and came back to the United States …