A Space for Kindness at School and at Home


Nam Thanh Ngo, Contributing Author
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
@mrnamvas

After returning from Dubai, where I attended the 2018 Global Education & Skills Forum, I continue to think about the story heard from three students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Each shared their experiences surrounding the recent school shooting. As I heard these children recount the deaths of their friends and teachers, I could not hold back my tears. In Vietnam, we are fortunate that there has been no such attack on any school. School violence, however, is still the sadness of many people in my country. I was faced with the question of how I can end school violence. I drew the conclusion that only when human beings treat each other with kindness, empathy, and sympathy, can society enjoy sustained peace. Teachers must do more than simply talk with the students about these characteristics. So, I’ve engaged in celebrating and teaching kindness in my own learning space while launching a project focused on promoting acts, thoughts, and words of kindness in learning communities around the world.

The students’ school day begins with 15 minutes spent listening or watching stories of kindness. Some children became emotional as they recognize the power of kindness in these videos and stories. It is encouraging to listen as they share their thoughts in response. While most students have experienced lessons on kindness, it is not enough to be limited to thinking or talking about kind actions. Teachers, as I do each day, must expect our students to demonstrate kindness in their actions.

We take time as a community of students and teachers to identify and discuss acts of kindness at home, at school, and in the community: helping parents or friends, keeping a clean environment, or taking good care of oneself. This changes the concept of kindness into something students can understand and demonstrate. I challenge students to take concrete action to show kindness in different places, such as school, home, public places. This is a prime example of how the space to learn isn’t limited to school. Parents appreciate seeing photos of students’ kind acts and, in cooperation with the parents, kindness is becoming habit in their daily lives. This partnership is seeing nearly every student engaged in consistent, frequent acts of kindness. We celebrate this at school by posting photos of students’ kind actions (photo above).

The students I teach are 10 years old and enjoy moving around and being active as they learn. I’ve designed the learning space to have adequate room for students to interact and play as part of their learning. One game that we play is called “Love Words” (see photo right). Students place a piece of paper on their backs so other students can write positive and kind words. Students smile as they read and experience the kindness shown to them. It is a natural part of encouraging a supportive and kind community of learners.

 

Learning about kindness towards people and the environment is a fundamental aspect of teaching students lessons focused on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a joy to know that they are using these lessons in real life, both now and in the future. For example, one student took action to pursue SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. She spent her weekend traveling to a contaminated water supply in Vietnam to teach people how to use a filter water as well as reducing pollutants to keep the water cleaner.

The Everyday Kindness Project
  “I feel I am useful person.”
  “I understand parents’ hard work.”
  “I’m happy to help everyone.”
  “I’m proud of myself.”

These are the words of students who are participating in the Everyday Kindness Project, my strategy to scale up teaching and learning about real acts of kindness carried out by students. The project invites teachers to engage their learning spaces as a place to experience and envision kindness in the lives of students. In my experience, children have gained a heightened sense of awareness about their parents’ struggles, their parents’ concerns, and the concerns of others around them. Many have shown a change of interest away from isolating activities and screen time and toward spending time together with family and sharing responsibility for housework.

These are the great effects that the project had during 5 weeks. Students described how it felt to to see the smiles of their parents and to see their parents happy. More importantly, students described feeling more engaged with their family and discovered how they can contribute to life at home. I invite you to visit the project website and explore kindness connections between your students experiences at school and at home!


Nam Ngo Thanh works as primary school teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is a Microsoft Learning Consultant and Varkey Teacher Ambassdor, having been a finalist for the 2018 Global Teacher Prize. He has authored multiple articles, and been nationally and internationally recognized for the implementation of creativity and the integration of technology into his teaching. Nam was also named Educator of the Year Asia 2017 and the winner of the 2018 Global Collaboration PLN Award.

A Science Lab Outside


Naomi Volain, Contributing Author

Los Angeles, California, USA
@NaomiVolain

I’m a natural science teacher. The concept of Space2Learn really resonates for me as I wanted to go to space – as in outer space – to explore and learn. I applied to NASA’s Educator Astronaut Corps and was in the top 10% of finalists. While I didn’t get to go to space, I have made sure that students get outside of indoor classroom spaces into the local environment.

Space2Learn for my students has always been outside. Once they get outdoors, their eyes can open up to the world. I feel strongly that if we bring students outdoors they’ll become more keenly aware of the land, water, air and biodiversity that surrounds us. At that point their curiosity awakens and they more actively care about the Earth’s sustainability.

Placing their feet directly on the Earth makes them global students. The student’s learning space is the surrounding air conditions, what’s in the distance and close up, and in the space between students, as they observe and ask questions. All of this, however, has to be grounded with strong content, competency development, and rigorous expectations. Getting your students outside is fantastic, but you have to be highly organized to make it more than a walk in the park. Here’s a strategy to communicate to students and guide your outdoor education work…

  • Safety concerns/organization – so no one gets lost
  • Objective for the outdoor learning space lesson
  • Student tasks and outputs – students must produce something in writing, data collection, drawing, etc.
  • Reflection – what did it all mean, anyway? Why do we go to outside places to make meaning of our world?

High school science students learn outside. Why not learn science where the science naturally exists? Biology, botany, ecology, environmental science are just some of the topics to explore. I’m inspired to see students engaged in outdoor activities using the strategy above as the conduct cloud observations, tree measurements, biodiversity mapping, soil sampling, specimen collection and more.

 


Naomi Volain is a natural and life sciences high school teacher. Her hands-on, highly interactive classes focus on environmental literacy and outdoor education with curiosity and rigor. Her awards include the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science, Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators and 2015 Top 10 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize. Naomi is writing a webpage dedicated to plants as solutions to environmental change. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

A Discussion in Abu Dhabi


Mark Reid, Space2Learn Co-Editor

SET-BC
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
@mmgreid

“Careful the words you say. Children will listen.” – Stephen Sondheim (from Into the Woods)

The Qudwa Forum in October brought together a number of wonderful diverse conversations in close proximity to one another. It was a really fulfilling experience examining elements of education systems from around the world. Amidst the progressive dialogue, the Coffeehouse Session on “Classroom Design” challenged the notion that classrooms are a universally present component of the learning experience of children. As I’ve previously written, we know this isn’t the case. One simply needed to ask participants if any of their teaching occurs in a space other than a classroom. The response was staggering. Responses included “a room in a brothel in Mumbai”, “in the open space in a village in Mozambique”, and “wherever we can find a place that day”. These are pretty powerful messages about the diverse realities for education worldwide.

Now that a summary of the coffeehouse session has been published, I thought I might provide further detail about the session’s content. I should also complete a partially-captured thought about architects and their role in designing schools. What is absent from the summary is the initial point about the title “Classroom Design” being assigned to the session. It was really inspiring to hear participants readily agree that our language would exclude the term ‘classroom’ to take a more inclusive approach.

The important expectation for the session was that participants must link a design element with a particular learning goal. Impressively but not unexpectedly, every response met this with agreement and participants offered quality perspectives. Mike Wamaya, for example, made his point through establishing a powerful paradigm that “the students are the school, not the structure”. João Couvaneiro described students arranging themselves for collaborative and supportive work by forming themselves in groups as if they were constellations.

The message that tied so many perspectives together was the idea that the value of a learning space is enhanced when it has a familiarity to it. If students can relate to the space, they are more likely to feel connected to both the space and the learning. Mirroring the community into any learning space isn’t a significant challenge, but does take some mindful effort from both students and teachers.

Before I end up with a stream of questions or criticisms about an architect’s role in designing a school, I’d ought to complete the thought that was captured in the summary. I was being sincere when I commented that an architect (alone) is poorly equipped to design a school. Traffic flow and acoustics are just two critical and procedural considerations for design of a school building or learning space. The intelligent design is found in pedagogical factors, the capacity for space to guide or encourage natural gathering places, foster collaboration and interaction, and maximize the learning space footprint. This means considering how learning seamlessly continues from within a building to beyond its walls.

I invite you to read the posted summary from the Qudwa Forum and engage colleagues in some conversation on this topic. It may require making some time to connect with colleagues and focus on this topic. Students see how we construct and value a place for them to learn. They watch and they listen to how we establish, relate to, and engage the learning space. I would challenge you, then, to invite students to be the architects of their own learning space design. This is an excellent way to democratize the learning experience, which I know will make Sean Bellamy proud!


Mark Reid is a former Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, Varkey Teacher Ambassador, Qudwa Fellow, TeachSDGs Ambassador, and the 2013 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year. He specializes in facilitating dialogue that connects policy and practice. With a background in music education, Mark has experience in the classroom and as a provincial curriculum coordinator at the BC Ministry of Education.