Support Teacher Trainings in rural Myanmar

Greetings from all of us here at Whispering Seed!

Here in the pine forests of Kalaw in Southern Shan State, the weather is changing and it is clear we are just on the cusp of the hot season. It has been another very busy three months here in Myanmar with several trainings to support teachers around the country. We have been working with several groups throughout the country to support the capacity and development of local teachers, in particular to further support a new generation of trainers. We are very excited about the positive energy of the young teachers we work with who are primarily between the ages of 17 to 23 years old.

Training of Trainers (TOT) Teachers Training (Myitkyina, Kachin State)
In early December I was invited to go to Kachin State to work with a group of teachers to provide a Training of Trainers workshop on Holistic Education for teachers from all over the State. The training stemmed from a previous trip in which a large group of Kachin Baptist and Catholic teachers, students and administrators joined a group of senior Buddhist monks from all over the country on an Exposure Trip to South Korea to look at Democratic Education.

Roughly 35 teachers attended the training from all over the state, including Saya Naw Zet, the founder and director of Shalat Education and Resource Center in Myitkyina. He also participated in our Exposure Visit to South Korea. Both of these experiences have greatly influenced the way in which he is running his school, and I look forward to collaborating with him in the future.

Follow up TOT for Teachers (Kachin State)
The 5 day training was a huge success. There was so much information to cover and so much enthusiasm from the group that on our final day of evaluation and reflection we decided to organize a follow up training for the teachers. The second part of the TOT was focused on Child Development and Child Psychology. We continued some of the Life Skills part of the training as well, teaching some handicrafts to the teachers.

Shalat Education and Resource Center Exchange Training (Kalaw, Shan State)
As a follow up to the training, Saya Naw Zet arranged for 10 of his students to come to Kalaw for 3 weeks to learn more about mud house building (as they are now building their own earthen school), baking, cooking, crafts and holistic education. Part of Shalat is a small wood working business that helps train the students and raise money for the school. While they have been in Kalaw they taught us wood working so we can build our own furniture for the opening of the Sprouting Seeds Learning Centre. (Please see our other report for Sprouting Seeds Learning Centre on Global Giving about their visit and our first official exchange and training at the new Learning Centre). We are very excited about this project and the ongoing exchange between Kalaw and Myitkyina that is has started.

Earthen Building Kindergarten (Myitkyina, Kachin State)
Following the TOT in Myitkyina, we stayed on for a few days to start the first earthen school in Myitkyina. We worked closely with our partners who are planning to open a small kindergarten in the city. This will be the first of several earthen school projects that we will work on in Myitkyina. The school was designed with help from our friends from New Zealand and Belgium. The kindergarten is in the shape of a heart with lofts for the children to climb in. The Director of the school along with the community members were filled with joy as the walls rapidly grew each day and the dream of their school slowly unfolded into a reality. We will return to Myitkyina in the next month to teach a final painting workshop for that building and help Shalat School with the beginning of their new school!

Senior Abbot Gathering for all of Southern Shan State
For three days in March a group of 22 senior Buddhist monks from all across Southern Shan State joined together at Naung Taung Monastic School, a Pa-O monastic school located just east of Taunggyi. During the Gathering the abbots were exposed to principles of holistic education and sustainability. On the final day of the training, we took the monks to an organic farm and training centre in rural Southern Shan State. Here during our reflection process, one of the Pa-O (a small ethnic group from Shan State) senior Buddhist monks shared his feelings and inspirations from the training by saying, “I am going to tear down the walls of my school and support the children to grow green like the trees!” This kind of impact and awareness raising, which is the basis for systemic change within their monastic schools and monasteries, was shared with the majority of monks who joined the 3 day Gathering. It was a great transition time for all of monks in the training.

Southern Shan State Teacher Training
Also while working Naung Taung Monastic School, we provided support training in English language and Holistic Education. The Naung Taung staff (young teachers and monks) have started to organize their own teacher training programs. I supported the training for 8 days with introduction to holistic education, child development and child psychology. There were over 40 teachers from Buddhist monastic schools from all over Shan State. The training was to support their development of teachers, promote holistic models of education and begin to create a network and support system among the teachers in Southern Shan State.

The next few months are scheduled full with more trainings all over the country. We are thrilled at the opportunity to be working with the local partners here in Myanmar and amazed at the motivation and passion for holistic education and creating long lasting change to support the youth of Myanmar.