Friday 28 September 2012

Small Article from the Guardian

Here's a short piece used in The Guardian about bringing aspects of teaching back to the UK...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2012/sep/28/teaching-education-ideas-from-other-countries?INTCMP=SRCH


David Green, head of science, Bhutan


The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is perhaps most well known for two things – the philosophy of  gross national happiness and for being the last enclave of Tibetan Buddhism. When I came here, I was
fascinated to find out how the values of these two cultural aspects would filter into education.

Public speaking is highly valued. Students deliver speeches in assemblies with topics that reflect the values of GNH, with titles such as 'why we must keep our forests', 'compassion – the most important quality'.

Mindfulness exercises are practised throughout the day, beginning with five minutes of silent reflection in assembly. Every class begins with a few minutes of the same, with an opportunity for the teacher to guide the mind training. Classes settle and the mental noise of the previous lesson dissipates. When teaching the water cycle, we became rocks in a river, feeling the water pass by, following it to the ocean, up into the sky, down as rain and back into the river. A brilliant starter.

It might seem hard to imagine this in the UK, but the kids here enjoy it and they feel the benefits. It can be fun. I met a teacher who practices mindful chocolate eating; the kids have to keep the chocolate in their mouths and focus on it for 15 minutes.

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Sunday 23 September 2012

Savaged by a Vicious Bear called Chunku

Be careful! This is what happens when you growl at the wrong kind of bear... you get Chunku'd... Aaaaaargh!




Monday 17 September 2012

The Grass is Not Always Greener - an article in the Kuensal


I didn't choose the title! But I like it. An article I wrote for the Bhutanese paper, Kuensal.


The Grass is Not Always Greener

As a British volunteer teacher in Bhutan, I’m often asked what life in a ‘developed country’ is like.  Television tends to portray life in countries like mine in one of two ways – either its full of super heroes and villains, or it’s full of wealthy and attractive people, who have plenty of time for leisure and very little difficulties.
The TV show, ‘Friends’, is the perfect example.  Nobody really works much.  Nobody worries about money.  Nobody gets hurt.  Everybody has a laugh.  A superhero that can fly and stop bullets is an obvious fiction, but the fictional nature of Friends is less obvious and more believable.  The realism makes the lifestyle a seemingly attainable goal.  Nobody in their right mind would aspire to fly or stop bullets, but becoming a ‘Friend’ seems possible, something to aspire to.
The media in the UK is predominantly aspirational.  In the newspapers, we are shown houses that we can never afford, cars that are beyond our wildest dreams, beauty that is rare but presented as common (and often photoshopped), lifestyles that are beyond our means.  This feeds and fuels the desire to improve oneself by external standards, to become richer, more materialistic, more unique, to stand out from the crowd as a successful person.  If everybody is thinking like this, the economy grows rapidly, because everybody is trying to make more money in order to realise the dreams they are told over and over again to dream.
Herein lies the foundation of western capitalism; growth.  The economic model that dominates the small world we live in demands endless and unsustainable economic growth from a finite amount of resources.  The capacity for the natural environment to deliver these resources is rapidly diminishing, as global population and demand continue to rise.  The way we do things has to change, but the only people, who don’t seem to accept this truth, are the very people, who have the power to make changes: economists and politicians.
I find it hard to believe that this is actually the case.  In truth, the authority of the governments of Western Europe (and increasingly the rest of the world), is increasingly becoming undermined by the power of private, profit-orientated commercial banks.  Over and over again, we see these giant corporations on the verge of collapse into bankruptcy because of their profligate behaviour, and the governments step in to bail them out with tax-payer money.  In the so-called ‘’developed’ west, it has now become normal for huge sums of money to flow from the public purse into large corporations via the governments that should be protecting us from such scandalous actions.  In a boom, the banks win.  In a bust, the banks win.  It is said that 20% of the world’s resources are consumed by 80% of the people.  In the UK, it is common to hear that 5% of the people account for 95% of the wealth.  Is this progress?  Is this development?  These inequalities are inevitable outcomes of a debt-based growth-oriented economy.
When people here ask me about ‘the developed world’, I sometimes sense frustration about the rate of progress in Bhutan; people want the country to be moving faster.  But racing for progress without consideration for natural resources and the health of communities has a brutal effect on a country’s natural capital.  Bhutan’s government seems to have understood this.  Others have not.
The Island of Borneo once looked like Bhutan – ancient forest from shore to shore, but the thirst for progress and profit led to 50% of the forest being removed and replaced with palm oil plantations.  From a distance it looks like nothing has changed.  The canopy looks healthy, green, leafy and full.  But a closer inspection reveals a semi-desert on its way to a complete desert.  The palm tree is a soil-killer and nothing else grows in its shadow, so the floors of the forest are barren.  In twenty years, the soil will no longer sustain the palms and the illusion of normalcy will have gone – Borneo will be half desert.
Easter Island in the Pacific is a profound example of what can happen if we live beyond our means in our desire for progress.  A civilised race of people called the Rapa Nui once lived there, but over the centuries they cut down every single tree without considering the consequences.  In the end there was nothing to hold the soil and it all blew into the sea. The island, incapable of supporting life, died.  The people died.  Progress is not always positive.  In this regard, the leadership and restraint shown in managing economic progress by Bhutan is praiseworthy.
It is often said that it’s the journey that counts, not the destination.  A Buddhist would tell me that happiness lies in my ability to enjoy the present moment, and not concern myself with a future that does not yet exist and cannot be predicted.  Living in a ‘developing’ country like Bhutan is exciting, and I savour each and every moment I spend here.  There’s an ascendant atmosphere in this country, an excitement that reminds me of teenage years, when the world seems unbounded and everything is possible.  Democracy is new.  The institutions are still establishing themselves and have not yet petrified into the lumbering old monoliths of their UK equivalents.  The possibilities for reform in education seem tangible, despite the lingering influence of the antiquated Indian curriculum in some subjects.
This is a thrilling time for Bhutan, and my advice is to take time to enjoy every moment of it.  Why?  Because this journey will almost certainly be more exciting than the final destination.

Friday 14 September 2012

Choe Ton Say... Nee Sim Baa Maa Chaa

Here it is - the first verse of the hit song of Bhutan that I like a lot and the kids seem to take great pleasure in hearing me sing. Check out my Dzongkha skills (although I've since learnt that there are a few pronunciation errors that I've corrected!). Now I just need to learnt he next verse. And the chorus. And I need to find a willing female vocalist - it's a duet!


Translation: when I see you my heart goes bonkers...

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Videos From the Bumthang Trek...

A quick post...

So I went trekking into the Tang Valley a while back, heading out from Bumthang with an intrepid gang of hikers, a guide, plenty of snacks and the bonhomie of teachers far away in a foreign country and on holiday! It was lovely. On the first night we stayed in a 16th Century home. The same family has always lived there. Up on a nearby hill there was an abandoned dzong, blown up by a merciless baron when the Tibetan army came to kick him out. He filled the basement with explosives and then left incense as a wick. When the army came in.... BOOM!

Here are the children we met in the house. They were very funny and good at making noises, as you can hear: 



The next day we set off. The first corridor through the foliage was very muddy. Poor Ashley didn't have the most robust of shoes so she had to tread carefully. Her knee wasn't as robust as it could have been either, but her will was strong and nothing could stop her. In fact, she led the way most of the time, striding on through the pain. Well done Ashley.





At the end of two long days of hiking through one of the most diverse landscapes I've ever had the privilege to wander through (bamboo groves give way to rhododendron forests, give way to deciduous, then pine.. mmm), this man milked a cow for us os we could have fresh milk... 


Here's the full crew - a few days earlier in Tang.



And here's the hardcore hikers making an album cover for a band with a name I cannot repeat in the blogosphere (mostly because I've forgotten it)