Exploring the Challenges and Benefits of Shadow Education in English Language Education: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

This paper explores the benefits and challenges of shadow education in English language learning in Nepal. This study adopts phenomenology as a research method to explore the benefits and challenges through the lived experiences of participants. While previous research has largely focused on quantitative outcomes such as test scores and enrolment rates, only a few studies have explored students’ lived experiences. To address this gap, four secondary-level students (two boys and two girls) engaged in shadow education for English language learning from two community and two private schools in the Rupandehi district were selected for in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) method of thematic analysis. The study revealed four interconnected themes: motivation, benefits, challenges, and the socio-cultural dimensions of shadow education. Students were motivated by the exam pressure, dissatisfaction with mainstream classrooms, parental expectations, and aspirations for future mobility, particularly studying abroad. The benefits mentioned by participants included improved academic achievement, higher levels of general confidence, better communicative competence, and individualized attention or instruction. In contrast, some of the disadvantages that participants expressed were financial implications for families, social inequality, over-reliance on tuition, and increased teacher workloads. Shadow education also emerged as a socially acceptable cultural practice that became part of the students' identities, as well as an ethical dilemma for issues of fairness and equity. The author concluded that though shadow education may empower some students and create pathways to broader possibilities globally, it also serves as a mirror to the shortcomings of public and private schooling, and a mechanism that exacerbates social divisions. The insights of the study can contribute to the discourse on shadow education by informing reforms of Nepal’s existing educational policies and minimizing its negative effects.