Philosophy of Education
The school follows the Neo-Humanist philosophy which emphasizes:
- Physical, mental and spiritual development
- Emotional and moral development
- Creative development
- Harmonious living- how to live with respect for and in harmony with nature
- Cultural and religious respect- respect and deep understanding of a variety of cultures and religions.
- Universal love - love, concern, and respect for all beings
- Applied learning - knowledge gained from studies is used in practical ways
These beliefs translate into our classroom activities in numerous ways.
To provide a foundation for the mental, physical and spiritual development of our students, we practice yoga and meditation on a daily basis. In addition, curriculums are taught in a way that incorporates movement, creative arts, and high academic standards, in order to nurture the whole child.
Students learn how to manage their emotions. Moral and ethical understanding is integrated into our curriculum through story telling, individual guidance, counseling and positive reinforcement. We teach the students about kindness and living in harmony with all forms of life from the smallest beings to the largest forms of life. We seek to instill the values of service, helpfulness and concern towards others.
Nurturing ecological awareness in our students through hands-on projects and by promoting vegetarianism is a critical component of neo-humanist philosophy. Children have frequent classes about the environment and our school leads community projects to improve the local environment. Our most recent annual trash pick-up project involved 400 students from a variety of schools throughout our community.
The children at our school come from a wide variety of backgrounds, some from wealthy Thai families, and others from various hilltribes throughout Thailand and Burma. The majority of our students are orphans whom we care for in our women´s and children´s home, Baan Unrak -- Home of Joy. Our children are permitted to wear their traditional clothes in school in order to share their culture and to cultivate pride in their identity. As opposed to other schools in our area, the students in our school can use their native languages as well. We have lessons and field trips to teach the children about our different cultures and religions. In addition to their own cultures, we are blessed with volunteers from around the world who expose the children to cultures they would not otherwise in rural Thailand .
Children learn in different ways, therefore we vary our lessons to address each child's individual needs. Some lessons require that students work individually, others in pairs or in groups. The classrooms are set up with a variety of materials for self-study. Because we believe each child needs the individual attention of our teaching professionals, we have small class sizes.
Our teachers have received additional training to incorporate our teaching philosophy into a program which meets the Thai Ministry of Education standards. Our curriculums are rigorous but also highly enjoyable for the students. Students are taught through thematic units where various subjects are combined and connected, and in a way that stimulates their creativity, such as through drama, dance, arts and crafts, or play.
