Sheila invited to train local Burmese curriculum leaders

Dr Thein Lwin invited me to deliver 2 training sessions to 50 local Burmese Headteachers and Subject leaders on Curriculum Development in Scotland and on Emotional Literacy. I did this on Friday at Mae Tao Clinic's school, CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE and it was quite an overwhelming privilege and experience.

As you can see, CDC is a huge, new high school, built to Thai standards for educational buildings, a million miles away from Hle Bee's buildings. The following photos show some of the school's 1200 Burmese pupils arriving for school. They gather first for daily assembly in a huge hall, where they sing the Thai national anthem.







Below you can see the scale of the school, the green-roofed building is one of 4 the same size. A peek in the computer room showed a room full of state of the art computers, promising fantastic quality learning opportunities for these high school students.


And so the Headteachers and curriulum leaders gathered for 3 hours to hear about the development of a new curriculum in Scotland, which I tried to make relevant to what I knew of their situation. A group of curriculum leaders are working together to do 2 things;
1) Prepare a paper for the United Nations on the state of education for Burmese migrant children in Thailand
2) Negotiate a core Burmese curriculum with the Thai Authorities to enable Burmese learning centres and schools to meet Thai standards and be officially ratified, if not accredited.

Scotland is in the midst of nationally negotiating a new curriculum so I shared key messages that

• the curriculum should be child centred
• should be broad enough to allow for local schools to create a meaningful curriculum for their children, families and community
• the curriculum should be linked to skills for life and work
• learning and teaching needs to take account of the needs of individuals and groups within a class.
• Early Years Education is of utmost importance because here the resources are prioritised towards the older children who typically seem to have the best teachers and resources

The teachers were fascinated by the insights I shared from Emotional Literacy theory and the definitions of self esteem and emotional literacy that I shared clearly resonated with their experiences of teaching vast numbers of children suffering the pain of separation from their parents, families and homeland. This is an area that I think they could listen to for hours and it may be they feel the way we first felt when we heard about Emotional Literacy 6 years ago in an education climate of assessment being all that mattered. This is what it's all about - giving children skills for coping and flourishing in life.

Was what I said any use to them? Probably not, who can tell? However it was a great honour to be invited to speak to these issues. Who am I to tell any of these extraordinarily committed leaders how to educate, when they deliver their best every day to thousands of the world's forgotten children with no or few resources? I stand in awe of them.

What Thazin needed now....

Yesterday Irvine was able to give Thazin what is left of his sponsor money (after buying resources for the school). He wanted to do this quietly so spoke to her at lunchtime. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," she screamed. (She's so like me!) "I buy big television this afternoon and show you." Irvine insisted she didn't need to.

In the afternoon school finished at 2pm, staff training from us finished at 4.45pm and we were talking everyone out for a meal at 7pm. undaunted by lack of time, Thazin shouted up to our balcony at 6.30pm "Geoff, tell Irvine, I got TV!"

Sure enough there was an enormous TV sitting in the tuk tuk along with a variety of other equipment Thazin had been desperate to buy.

We went down to school and Thazin insisted on Irvine being photographed. You can tell from her grin that 'she happy'. She had bought 2 huge speakers, an enormous megaphone and a new phone for the school. It's not exactly what we'd have thought of buying her but as Irvine said, "She knows what she needs best." It was a delight to see her joy and excitment.

And of course when we went down this morning, the children were watching the enormous TV and the megaphone speaker is in place in the centre of the school. Forthview staff know how much Sheila loves the megaphone and how much it drives the staff nuts. Thazin's megaphone will be exactly the same. It's uncanny how alike we both are!

The big TV will replace the little TV that the school now use and as the school has 350 pupils, it'll be easier for the children to see it. We will use it on Monday to show the children the video Geoff took of the OUR BURMA BOOK exhibition. They'll love that. The little TV will now be used in teaching at the night school the teachers teach in every night from 5-7pm.

PS. Note this rare picture of Geoff!

Farewell Fiona and Irvine. Haste ye back!

7am The teachers come to take us to the bus station.

Baby says bye.

Last photo at bus station. Waiting for the bus.



Thazin and Fiona have a deep, tearful last conversation.

Irvine says bye to Thazin.

Irvine says bye to Yan Yan, Grade 1 teacher.

Thazin's last goodbye.

Running across the bus station for a final wave.

Back home to a very dirty Bo Bew, the school dog.

What a strange experience not being the ones to leave.

I REALLY like it!

Last day for Fiona and Irvine

This morning I played Scottish games like The Golden River (You can't cross the river unless.....) with Grades 5 & 6. It was a brilliant laugh. Teacher Katie was the first to be caught. To quote Sheila, "What a hoot!" We then learnt Burmese games. Forthview P6, wait for the Skeleton in the Banyan Tree! Eek!

After 6 years at Forthview, I have finally been converted to Fischy Music, not a dry eye in the house. Greetin everywhere. Scottish Country Dance - brilliant! And the White Heather Club lives in Mae Sot!



Forget the kilt, I am now a longyi man and I have a brilliant bag to take to Easter Road on a Saturday. Gail, you would be proud of me. It's a wee stoater. I can't get over how generous the pupils and teachers are and yet have nothing. Wonderful people.







Tonight, we had a grand meal with all the staff and families of Hle Bee School at the Night Market. 22 of us squeezed round 3 tables and ate everything you can imagine - fish (with eyes!), pork, fruit, vegetables, rice. Everything was exquisite. Even Sheila had rice, didn't fancy the noodles but the fish was eyeing her up! No After Eights though. We finished with bamboo grubs. Salty and nice. The whole meal for 22 cost £50!

PS Even the dug got the leftovers of the fish.

Difficult to sum up this week. Certainly has had an effect. Will miss these lovely people and urge you all to come and see for yourself their beauty, dignity and resourcefulness.

I look forward to next year.

Irvine

OUR BURMA BOOK Exhibition opening

Tonight we had the privilege of being in Mae Sot when OUR BURMA BOOK opened. Sadly Mary and the Pirniehall teachers missed it and they would have been so proud of their Say Ta Nar dancers who made us all weep as they sang Auld Lang Syne with fine Scottish accents.

It was particularly lovely to see Neesha and Pho Cho's daughter introducing each act. She can only be 3 or 4 years old! Mary, don't worry, Geoff videod the whole event so you'll see it when we return to Edinburgh.

Hle Bee Dancers did 2 traditional Burmese dances. One was the Water Festival Dance, which Irvine and Fiona are going to do next Burmese New Year (Thingyan) at Forthview! The Burmese dances are beautiful and the girls look so elegant in their traditional costumes.

Next we had a more modern slinky dance that the younger Hle Bee girls were proud to do.

Finally an awesome Thai mime group, Baby Mime, who were giving a benefit concert for Borderline's 5th birthday.

At the end, everyone viewed the exhibition of Scottish and Burmese prints of Burma.

After the event, the 4 of us went for our evening meal. At 10.30pm when we came out of the restaurant, there was not a car/motorbike/cycle to be seen because it was torrential rain..... and Irvine had forgotten his rain cape! You cannae share a rain cape if you are both on bikes so he just cycled under all the rain falling down from shop fronts and arrived home drookit... but loving it!

What an awesome day - yet again.

Sadly tomorrow is Irvine and Fiona's last day in school. It's not going to be easy......

It makes me so MAD!

I have just come back from a quick visit to Hle Bee. (Today I am preparing for tomorrow's presentation to 60 Burmese teachers.) Irvine and Geoff are hanging the etchings in Borderline Gallery while Fiona teaches Kindergarten B with Bobo's help.

I asked Thazin if the guy teaching Grade 5 & 6 today was her Thai teacher.

"No, he is my computer teacher."

"But he has no computer."

"No, he is teaching from the book."

From the book? How do you teach computers from a book?

I could weep.

Scottish Country Dancing in Hle Bee - SUPERB!

PS Sorry, our blogging's a bit out of synch!