Standing ovation for educator

_{12 January 2009}

New teaching method gets greater publicity
 
The RWCT (Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking) methods, which include a shift from traditional teacher-centered approach to a student-centered one, adopted by his Thinking Classroom Foundation also received a further boost in publicity.
 
The RWCT initiated by the International Reading Association and the Open Society Institute, is featured as one of 25 recommended practices for crisis prevention and peace building in Learning to Live Together: Good Practices in Schools, a publication by UNESCO in 2004. “We have always acknowledged its contribution to building grassroots democracy,” writes Thein Lwin in his paper Education and Democracy in Burma.
 
The outcome of its application was reported by teachers from both inside and outside Burma, which was variously described by other participants as “inspiring” “enriching experience” “impressive” and “amazing”, among others.

“Critical thinking, as advocated by the RWCT, goes well with the Lord Buddha’s Kalama Sutta, in which he warned people not to be led easily by tradition or by the idea: ‘this is our teacher,’” said a senior monk from Burma. “The student-centered approach was one practiced in Burma since the Pagan period. It faded out towards the end of the Konbaung dynasty (1752-1885) and the advent of British colonialism.”
 
Nevertheless, the monk counseled the importance of preserving worthwhile traditional values such as respect towards one’s teachers.
 
The Buddha’s advice to a lay disciple Sigala included how a pupil school treat his/her teacher: “by rising from one’s seat to salute them; by waiting upon them; by eagerness to learn; by personal service; and by paying attention to their teaching.”
 
Walpola Rahula’s What the Buddha taught also advises how teachers should show their love for their pupil: “they train him well; they make him grasp what he has learnt; they instruct him thoroughly in the lore of every art; they introduce him to their friends and companions; and they provide for his security everywhere.”
 
“No Bodhisat (The Buddha-to-be) ever has the teacher’s fist (now open, now closed); he teaches all he knows,” according to the scriptures.
 
The Thinking Classroom Foundation runs three centers: Teachers Training, Migrant Learning and Children’s Learning.
 
The Teacher Training Center has already trained over 2,000 teachers since 2001. The Migrant Learning Center in Chiangmai, opened in 2005, that offers Thai language, English language and computer training, has also trained over 2,000 migrant workers most of whom are Shans. The Children Learning Center, established last year in Chiangmai, has 120 at present children of migrant workers.
 
The project is funded by Prospect Burma, DFID, Pam Baker Foundation and many individual donors, notably Bill Harrison.
 
Apart from the RWCT, Dr Thein Lwin, a graduate from the University of New Castle, UK, has recommended a decentralized education system where each state establishes guidelines and policies for its own school curriculum, according to its own priorities, values and needs.