Sunday, October 24, 2010

A Glimpse Into the Education Policy of Petoen School


By Jen, Jennica, Lindsie, Natasha, Chelsea, Grace

“Learning is the Search for Truth, and Teaching Provides a Space in Which Children Feel Welcome in their Search for Truth.”

Petoen School was the first to implement an education policy unlike any other in a Tibetan School of this area. This policy; called the Basic Education Policy of Tibet, has now expanded to several schools in the area and has shown to be very successful. The Policy has four basic aims by which it follows; Freedom, Altruism, Upholding Heritage and Innovation. One of the major concepts we as new student teachers really enjoyed about this philosophy is its holistic approach and how Petoen is not only an educational institution, here, the children are taught basic life values and skills such as spirituality, compassion, tolerance, love and non-violence, which shape children to be well rounded people in and outside the classroom. Part of the holistic approach is a removal of all competitive sports, and the implantation of daily morning yoga classes and prayer. In addition, the school has a “no text-book” policy where learning topics change with children’s interest and capabilities. The school strives to uphold traditional Tibetan language, values, culture and costumes but is also competitive to other educational policies and institutions around the world.

Another aspect of the school that amazed use was how much the teachers and students were able to do with such little resources. As a result of a lack of abundant resources compared to schools in Vancouver, each resource is used and reused creating little to no waste. During meals, students use the same metal plates each day which they wash themselves, with the only waste being scraps of food. Photo copies are shared among students and re-used over and over again and students use every inch of their work books making every entry count; there is no such thing as a draft. As well, there is an overwhelming respect for the resources they are given. Work books are used from cover to cover, textbooks are covered and recovered with protective covers to preserve them and the students show a genuine interest and care for their space and school resources. This was modeled when the students spontaneously began sweeping their classroom floor and organizing their books at the end of one of the lessons. They truly care about their learning environment and take pride in what little they have.

Finally, as new student teachers, the most inspiring aspect of the school is the students and teachers themselves. In general, we have never met teachers and administration so dedicated to their students. Many of which show up early to play with the students before the morning assembly and who show affection to each and every student. During class, they interact with the students in a manner that is compassionate and loving; the teachers really have a grasp on the idea that each student is an individual with different aspirations and goals which need to be addressed and nurtured. In addition, the students are so full of life it is intoxicating. I don’t think any of us have ever met a group of students from preschool age to thirteen years who really just love being kids; learning, playing and showing affection and love to everyone around them. Most of us have to peel each other away from the kids at the end of the day who are calling out our names and wishing us a good rest of the day as we leave the school grounds. Mati keeps joking that by the end, she will have to drag us away from the kids, little does she know, this is already the case; none of us are leaving (haha).

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