ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific Innovation Programme for ESD: Implementing the “HOPE” Evaluation Approach at Bansankong School in Thailand
As part of the 2006-2010 ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence (COE) Programme for the Promotion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) supported by UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust, on 6-10 September 2008, Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) participated in the “HOPE” Evaluation mission at Bansunkong School in Chiang Rai Province of the northern Thailand. The mission aimed to assess the knowledge and skills of, as well as to draw lessons learned from, an innovation project on "Participatory Learning Leading to Integrated Community Development Project: A Case Study of Bansunkong School" being executed by Thailand’s Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC).
At the Bansunkong School, teaching-learning activities are based on the so-called “7 Step Approach.” Introduced by OBEC, the “7 Step Approach” encourages both students and teachers to be more proactive and creative in teaching and learning. The project engages students, from kindergarten to primary level (grade 1-6), in both school and community development education. Whereas those in earlier years (K-3) participate in studying and addressing issues to improve their school areas, students from fourth to sixth grades have an opportunity to learn outside of the school environment, i.e., from studying a nearby community, the Sajae Village.
Through the “7 Step Approach,” the third grade students design and implement a project entitled “stop the toilet odor.” Under the guidance of teachers, students take the first step to collect relevant information, in an attempt to understand the problem. In the second step, they investigate possible causes of the problem. This is followed by the third step in which students present their findings to the class and the community. The first part of the “7 Step Approach” aims to maximize student learning in group activities, as well as to encourage peer learning and peer support. In addition to teamwork skills, students also have the opportunity to learn how to build up their analytical and cognitive skills. Mind maps are used as an aid in drawing some conclusions on students’ findings.
Moving up a level to the fourth grade, students are encouraged to apply their skills to study an issue faced by the nearby community, the Sajae Village. At present, a group of the fifth and sixth grade students has decided to work on a series of research entitled “Preserving the Akha Culture” and “Crop Price Declines.” They first go through the 3 basic steps of the “7 Step Approach,” from information gathering to making a presentation on their findings, then take a step forward (step four) to examine options for solving the issues they jointly identified. At step five, students develop an action plan which includes activities and timelines for implementation of the solutions. They are motivated to implement their action plan by teachers’ advice and support. After all planned activities are concluded, students invite teachers and community members to give comments and evaluate their projects, as well as to discuss potential impacts on student learning and community development.
An article written in Thai language about the Bansunkong School’s ESD experience is published by Pli-Bai, TEI’s youth magazine in the November 2008 issue.
