An Education Conference in Thailand
A state-of-the-art three-story school rises from a vast grass-covered field in Ongkharak, Thailand. Srinakharinwirot University established the Ongkharak Demonstration School and Educational Research and Development Institute in 2008, serving children from kindergarten through secondary grades, with plans to expand to high school in the next few years.
Bing Nursery School director Jennifer Winters and I visited the university and the demonstration school in December 2013. During our stay we saw the demonstration school’s programs in action and Winters presented a talk we prepared together at the institute’s 2013 academic conference. Our presentation was on how national identity and culture influence and shape the developing child.
Our trip had been set in motion by a visit to Stanford in January 2013 by a delegation of faculty members from the Thai university. University president Chalermchai Boonyaleepun, MD, invited us to present at the institute’s academic conference 2013 and to visit the demonstration school to meet with the teachers and director to discuss best educational practices in early childhood.
Based on a child-centered approach to learning, the school encourages children to explore, work collaboratively, learn through play and build cognitive skills through in-depth experiences with materials, peers and teachers. Atriums open directly to the sky, classrooms are spacious and modernly furnished with natural lighting spilling in the wide windows. Work areas are set up for collaboration and exploration. In the center of the atrium with walls that reach three stories high is a large sand pool, supplied with baskets of shovels, buckets and sand toys for the younger students. Children work together at desks arranged in a circle — their excited voices echoing throughout the school. The first two floors house the demonstration school and the third floor holds a research facility looking at innovative learning practices and providing public policy recommendations.
Speaking in Bangkok at the university, Winters gave students and faculty members a closer look at the teaching practices and philosophy of Bing. She explained that our founding director, Edith Dowley, PhD, carefully planned the indoor and outdoor environments to be places where young children would have the freedom to make their own choices and develop initiative and independence. By valuing independence and creativity and offering children the freedom to explore the environment, Bing school mirrors our national identity, she explained. Teachers at Bing see students as unique individuals and give them opportunities to make decisions with materials, friends and adults. There is an inherent belief that each child is competent and capable of independently making choices and decisions. This was of great interest to the administrators and teachers of the demonstration school, who also held a philosophy of being child-centered, learning through play, focusing on individual children’s interest and abilities and encouraging intellectual curiosity and problem solving. Our discussion of cross-cultural implications in working with diverse groups of children highlighted the work of two Stanford psychologists: associate professor of psychology Jeanne Tsai, PhD, and professor of psychology Hazel Markus, PhD.
Conference participants were most interested in research done at Bing over its 48 year history. A major goal of the demonstration school and Educational Research and Development Institute is to conduct research on best educational practices and innovative learning while providing public policy recommendations to improve the standard and quality of education. Much like Bing, the demonstration school offers university students from around the world an opportunity to learn best practices and work with children and teachers in an educational setting.
After visiting Bing in early 2013, the demonstration school’s director, assistant professor Kittikoon Rungruang, PhD, had already incorporated some aspects of Bing’s programs into his school’s early childhood and kindergarten classes. Inspired by the environment at Bing, he adopted elements such as a woodworking table, a wooden outdoor play structure, blocks and sand. Rungruang and the other Thai visitors were impressed with Bing’s outdoor environment, the high-quality curriculum materials and the collaborative nature of the child-teacher and child-child interactions. The Thai school administrators noted the high skill level of the Bing teachers and how the children were deeply engaged in their play and work.
As we ended our three days in Thailand, a quote from Margaret Mead came to mind: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” To inspire and teach children in the best environment possible is certainly a goal worth working toward.