The Religious and Cultural Education of Tibetan Education in Exile

[[abstract]]Thousands of Tibetan refugees followed H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama into exile in India in 1959. Tibetan government-in-exile established the education system in exile by two distinct types of educational system: rebuild monasteries and establish its own independent school. The aim of the study is to understand how the education of Tibetan refugee children in exile maintaining the recognition and heritage of Tibetan religion and culture. This study applied field study in Tibetan Children’s Village School to explore the cultural and religious education, focusing on the policy, formal and informal curriculum, and students’ learning experience. The methods used to collect data included participant observation, in-depth interview and document analysis. The conclusions are as followings: First, the education of Tibetan refugees was a kind of popular education. Second, the policy of religious and cultural education was modified in the educational conference of Tibet-in-exile.Third, The efforts of the Tibetan education sucessfully reserved the heritage of Tibetan religion and culture through formal and informal curriculum. Finally, the students suffered from homesickness. And the Tibetan education needs to nurture the elites. According to the conclusions, the following suggestions are proposed: The Tibetan education needs to be reformed to nurture more elites who can lead Tibet-in-exile to a better future. Teachers should be trained to enhance the education of elites. The school should invite elite professional Tibetan refugees as school lectures. In addition, the Tibetan refugee students need psychological counseling.