Much is being said about climate change and the deviant effects of a consumer led society. Research shows that human consumption of natural resources has increased - we consume 88 billion tonnes of natural resources every year. Of course this comes at a steep cost to mother nature and scientists are worried that people don’t fear the repercussions of over consumption enough.
Is there a way to instil a true sense of fear and direction in people so their consumption patterns change? Is there a way to promote values of conservation and respect for nature? Yes, of course there are ways and one of the most defining ways in which we can arrive there is through education.
The Green School in Bali has a name that is pretty indicative of what they do - they teach children fundamentally by bringing them extremely close to nature. Education is a problem solver and that is exactly what this school aims to achieve - send out children into the world who have been raised to improve it truly through thoughts, actions and spirit.
Of course, world over, there are many educators and institutions that desire the same model of education in their schools, for their children. We set sail with 13 educators from India on the 11th of May for an immersive workshop conducted by The Green School in Bali, to know what inspires their approach to teaching and learning.
Our key findings from the programme can be summarised as below:
Skill training vs rote learning: Most education systems prepare students for competitive exams and jobs. While the Green School does prepare students for it, it strays away from traditional examination models to project based learning techniques where students can work for credits instead of grades. The idea is to make students truly participate in a dynamic world where they operate on sharp critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Infrastructure is intentional and extremely crucial to the success of this model: The school campus, centered around sustainability, makes use of no-wall buildings that are made from recycled and sustainably sourced materials. Every corner of the campus, which is spread across acres, has vegetable patches and gardens that are cared for by staff and students and the upkeep of the school campus is part of their academic credits. Children also build and involve themselves in projects in school that pertains to renovation, innovation and improvement of the campus.
Unlearning is a big part of this curriculum: The school’s values and mode of operation may seem offbeat to traditional educators and that is because it is born out of the idea of making students participate in the world instead of only in careers and exams. No hate to exams but to truly immerse yourself in this educational experience and extract value from it, unlearning is a big part of the movement, especially for parents. No exams, non traditional Math-Science subjects and child led learning methods form the cusp of this model and to a vast majority of parents and educators from outside their system, it could seem bizarre and untenable but it is truly the opposite of both these things!
Students are extremely independent and know their way around the world: Having interacted with a few students during the workshops, one thing we noticed was that these 15 year old students had the knowledge levels of college students. They presented their projects and defended their hypothesis to adults with PhDs with extreme ease. They handled the Q&As very well and had in-depth knowledge of their projects (Water Conservation Turbines for Terrace Farmers and Food & Nourishment with Locally Available Ingredients). These students developed the research methodologies on their own, contacted and tied up with researchers and organisations in their respective fields and started working with them closely to tag the findings of their projects. The level of their researched self expressions were so compelling that our delegation pleaded to spend more time with those students!
Parents are the key to this model’s success: The school requires parents to be extremely involved in their child’s scholastic pursuits. Parents actively participate in the school’s curriculum, sometimes even volunteering their time to teach certain subjects and skills. The success of this system relies heavily on parents’ splitting their time, almost evenly, between work and school.
Education is a spiritual experience and sometimes in the rat race of things, we tend to forget that. The Green School in Bali invigorated this idea in all our delegates. While some of their methods can be executed in any classroom around the world, most cannot. This workshop however, was a steady reminder that with a strong vision, anything is possible. Missed the trip to Bali in 2024 with Cambridge Education Lab? Don’t worry - watch this space for more!