Jo and Dan Rubinstein started 2016 a Zero-to-Hero Foundation in Thailand to help to finance the Huana Pilot Project. The goal with the Pilot is to try to find a "model", how to considerably improve the Quality of Education for poor countryside children in the new, Value-based world, which in Thailand is called 4.0.
In the below video (Teacher Teaching vs. Students Learning) we have discribed what we try to do now and what in future to be presented to the Governor of our Province as well as to the Minister of Education. The length of the video is 39 minutes.
By improving the Quality of Education, we will also improve the Quality of Life in our Pilot Village Huana. After showing exellent results, we will try to sell the idea to the Thai Government, to invest more resources to schools in order to implement the model of Active Learning (see below the video presentation to Phetchabun Governor).
When we talk about Education in Thailand, we only talk about Teachers and Teaching, while we should talk about Learning. Students can learn 100% of what a Teacher is Teaching, or 0%, or something in between. The differences in teaching skills are enormos. According to the worldfamous Edgar Dale, if you listen to a lecturer, you remember up to 5% of what was said. But if you activate the audience to actively participate in the Learning Process, you can learn up to 75%! Most Thai Government teachers do the lecturing, where students have to sit quiet and listen without disturbing the teacher.
Zero-to-Hero has focused on how to implement Active Learning in Huana School for children from 0 to 12 years old. If and when we have found the optimal model, we hope it can be spread to other similar schools around in Thailand. In the next picture is our recommendation, how Active Learning should be done in Thai countryside schools by using the so colled PAD -technique:
In PAD -based Active Learning we combine three simple Active Learning strategies; Problem-based, Activity-based and Dialogue-based strategies.
Problem-based Active Learning
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered approach in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. This problem is what drives the motivationand the learning.
Activity-based Active Learning
Activity-based Active Learning (ABL) is based on Learning-by-doing and -experiensing. HighScope corners are a good example of Activity.based learning in Kindergarten and Preschool. Also here the activities are mainly done in smaller groups. Parents/guardians should be involved in providing experiences for kids also outside the school hours.
Dialogue-based Active Learning
A dialogue approach to education views learners as subjects in their own learning and honours central principles such as mutual respect and open communication. Learners are invited to actively engage with the content being learned rather than being dependent on the educator for learning.
Huana Pilot Project
Huana Pilot starts with 6 month old babies and continues until the age of 15, at which point every child should have grown to become a HERO (H=Healthy, E=Experienced, R=Responsible and O=Open-minded. Every kid will go through our Active Learning Program, which we above discribe as a Train.
Baby and Parent Club (0 to 2 years)
Baby and Parent Club is meant for babies from 6 month to 2 years. Parents, or mainly grand parents, bring the kids twice a week to our Hero Center, where we develop babies with the critical skills (Physical Skills, Social Skills, Emotional Skills, Communication Skills and Cognitive (Brain) Skills). At the same time we teach the grand parents to do the same developing activities at home between the Club meetings.
HighScope Kindergarten (2 to 4 years)
The normal way in Thai Kindergartens is to look after children, not to ambitiously develop them. Our new HighScope concept makes us a model for all over 400 kindergartens in Phetchabun Province. Children learn to Think, Plan, Do and Review.
Huana Preschool (4 to 6 years)
We have implemented the excellent Finnish Moomin English Program for all our Preschool students. The learning happens in daily 15 minute sessions using tablets. The Program is designed by leading Finnish educators developing also the thinking skills besides the language. From November 2019 we have started to implement the HighScope learning method also in Preschool. Again, with amazing results in just few a short time.
Huana School (6 to 12 years)
In 2020 we started to find a way how to implement Active Learning also to the Huana Primary School. The challenge is how to change attitudes of teachers. As our first Baby Club participants are approaching the first class at School (P1), we started by implementing an Active Learning concept there. From May 2021 P2 will join P1 in becoming an Active Learning class. By the end of 2023 the whole School should be a showcase, how to move from Passive- to Active Learning classroom.
Obodjo School (12 to 18)
Obodjo School is a surprisingly developed School in Phetchabun with around 800 students. It is a natural part of our Zero-to-Hero Program, as most of Huana School students continue their studies there from ยง1 to the age of 18. In February 2020 we organized a 2-day workshop for over 60 Obodjo teachers in order to define a Target Statement for the School as a base for a development program.
BASED ON THE FAMOUS FINNISH EDUCATION
Our Zero-to-Hero Program in Huana/Phetchabun, Thailand, is based on the Finnish world famous early childhood education concept. Together with Thai experts we are adapting the concept to suit the poor Thai countryside children. Huana is our laboratory. When ready, the model can be applied everywhere in the developing countries.
Development starts from birth. The 3 first month are critical for BRAIN development. The end result should be Healthy Educated Responsible and Open-minded teenagers or as we call them, HEROs, with the skill to THINK and SOLVE PROBLEMS.
Finland has ranked nr. 1 in Early Childhood Education
Read more about a study done by The Economist
In the picture below Preschool students learn English through the famous Finnish Moomin Language School Program run by our Star Teacher Ja-oh.
