Alongside with my work colleagues, we set off for a long weekend cum pubic holiday trip to Bali, Indonesia. Personally, we spent time touring around the place - life was so different in a developing country, you realized how lucky you are when you're from Singapore, but also how mollycoddled you are, and also how protected you are. Professionally, we visited two very beautiful and successful international schools - The Green School and The Anak Atelier. There was simply so much to learn from these schools, ultimately, it is about what we can bring back to our local context.
1. What is Sustainability in Singapore? Potential in Early Childhood.
At Green School, you could clearly see self-sufficiency of the large campus with abundant of natural resources. Natural resources are planted or attained within the local community - teak, bamboo, wood, plastic, fabric. Beyond just using natural resources in learning corners, all their building structures were made with bamboos! Learning takes place mainly outdoors and they values conservation of endangered species, planting their own food resources and managing long-term recycling projects. At Anak Atelier, we see re-purpose in recyclables ; using the same tools for a different purpose. Unlike recycling, reducing and reusing, re-purpose seeks new meaning in the recyclables. For instance, using plastic bottles as eco-brick. Singapore being one of the 'greenest' city in the world, honestly, we lack in educating ourselves on sustainability. I believe more work and efforts has to be invested to achieve our sustainability development goals. In terms of preschool education, there must be education and advocacy on protecting the planet. My suggestion - start by having schools without air-conditioning.
At both Green School and Anak Atelier, you see that they prioritize outdoor play, specifically mud play, they have their own mud field. Why? Their rationale was genius because ingenious Balinese are farmers and spent most of their time in paddies fields. Mud Play was their culture, their comfort zone and their kind of lifestyle. Akin to water play and sand play, mud play promotes integrated learning and development. In my opinion, mud play would not be a smart idea in our local schools due to our culture and resources. We can go back to our heritage and discover who are we as a country, what is our history teaching us? Also, in foresight, if technology is our top priority, should preschools begin introducing coding and programming at a young age?
In both schools, we see the strong collaboration with parents and community as well. Parents volunteer as tour guides for the school's open house and diversity of their cultures are embraced and evident. In terms of community involvement, it is beyond just going for a community walk. Their curriculum sets for children to do more for their community through sustainability projects, education and advocacy while the community provides local resources to the school continuously. This reminds us that we must tap on our community resources - beyond just textbook knowledge, what can we do for the community?
3. Outdoor Play as a core curriculum
Be it rain or shine, Balinese children spends at least half their school time learning about the natural world around them. There are substantial research on the importance of outdoor play for our young children and I wonder when would our curriculum shift out from paper and pencil. Sadly, outdoor play has often been compromised for core curriculum learning in our local schools. Simply put, we care too little on their physical development (except their writing and penmanship), we plan too little physical space for our children to utilize. If our land is scarce for large outdoor play area, what are some creative potential strategies? Co-sharing? Intentional public areas?
I like how Indonesia has a rich and complex culture. Being a developing culture, they embraces, preserves and innovates their own natural resources and cultures. I'm in the amidst of planning for a potential childcare/schools visit in Shanghai and London in October, I would love to get in touch with you if you have any suggestions!
