We have just completed an intensive three-day program with 60 teachers, vice principals and principals from Hue public schools, hosted by the Peaceful Bamboo Family. This third module, Care for the environment and planet : Learning to respect and protect our fragile environment and live in harmony with Nature.
At the end of February a second batch of teachers and directors will attend this last module of training, thereby closing the cycle of training for this first year.
This module included experiential learning from the body of lessons and practices in deep ecology called the Work that Reconnects developed by Joanna Macy, as well as spending time reconnecting to nature in the biodynamic garden of The Peaceful Bamboo Family, making biodynamic preparations and experimenting using the Design 4 Change framework, a design thinking tool intended to empower students to develop their own projects. The intention is to use this tool to develop projects to care and protect the environment and our precious planet.
Although the content and practices were new for most participants, it was impressive to observe the dedication and enthusiasm that teachers brought to the course.
On the last day, participants were divided into school-based subgroups so as to reflect on ways of bringing this last mode of care into each school. Teachers shared school-level action plans which included diverse teacher and student-led projects such as tree-planting in the school garden and plastic-reducing or recycling campaigns.
The learning environment could not have been more adapted, as the Camphill Peaceful Bamboo Family is not only a wonderful host, but embodies the qualities of care for nature and the environment that we wanted to convey. When participants arrive in our community, they are able to experience right away the care for nature and the environment that manifests not only through words and theory, but that can be felt and observed in each detail of the community: in the biodynamic garden, in our collaborators’ and our youngsters’ quality of heart and in the healthy food served with great care.
The six Hue schools will continue to implement Modules 1 & 2 at school and class levels with the support of the Hue University and Eurasia Learning Institute teams in Hue.
They will begin to practice the third mode of care in their schools, based on what teachers experienced during the last training, helping city-dwelling students reconnect to nature, but also actively getting engaged via teacher and student-led projects to protect and care for the environment.
The Hue University team has begun and will continue to conduct the scientific assessment of the impact of the programme on students.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Tinh Truc Gia (TTG), Eurasia and ELI team of co-workers and youngsters, the Department of Education of Hue Province, especially Dr. My Director, and Mr. Hai, Vice Director, for the trust and support, the Vietnamese and international ELI team: Trinh, Tu, Hai, Khanh, Ngan and Vy, the College of Education of Hue University, especially Prof. Tu Anh, Cat Tuong and Trang, and our friend Chieu Anh from the Authentic Live and Learn team, who supported us with the Design 4 Change process. Finally I would like to express my gratitude to our dear sponsors: Mahle Stiftung, and Damus Donata e.V.