Observe in Bhutan, the only country that measures its worth in "Gross National Happiness," ways in which nature and education contribute to human happiness and student success.
Through my Fund for Teachers Fellowship, I have learned so much and gained new skills. I was planning to learn about the connection between the environment and students' happiness but I learned other things as well. For example, before going to Bhutan I knew almost nothing about Buddhism but after going to dozens of temples I have a deeper understanding of the culture and religion. When teaching about different countries, I will be able to discuss Buddhism in a cultural context.
I plan to give my students more opportunities to learn by exploring outside. I will have students use nature as inspiration for their learning and investigations. I will also incorporate service learning so that students can develop ways to protect their local ecosystem.
In terms of a personal accomplishment, I am proud that I made it to Tiger's Nest Monastery, one of the holiest pilgrimages in the region. Tiger's Nest is a monastery that was built into a side of a mountain and it is so steep that it looks like it will fall off at any moment. The hike to the monastery is steep and at a much higher altitude than I had ever been to before. However, the gorgeous environment was motivation enough to keep going.
I think that making learning more meaningful by connecting it to the local environment and the natural world, will give students a greater sense of purpose and hopefully increase happiness and joyful learning. I plan to use Bhutan's Happiness Index as a way to guide my lesson planning and increase engagement and joyful learning in the classroom.
I am lucky to have three colleagues who also went on Fund for Teachers Fellowships this summer. We have already started to plan more cultural experiences for our school this year. We are using our fellowships as inspiration for monthly culture events and global learning clubs. It is wonderful to have a team to work together with. We are also planning to encourage more of our colleagues to apply. In addition, I will co-teach lessons with my colleagues that were inspired by this fellowship.
Since I am trying to give students more ownership of their nature based learning, I am not exactly sure how their products might be best showcased. I imagine that there will be an evening celebration like I have hosted in the past where students can show their projects to community members. They might also share with other grade levels. Or, possibly, share to an authentic audience of stakeholders depending on what form the product of their learning takes.
I was inspired through this fellowship to do more project based learning round the issue of climate changing. Bhutan has taken many initiatives to reduce climate change. They involve the whole community in their effort; especially children. In fact, Bhutan is the only carbon negative country in the world. I am hoping to inspire my students to investigate topics like renewable energy (like the hydro power plants in Bhutan) and developing carbon sinks.
I would say, "This summer was the first time as a teacher that I was empowered to plan my own professional development. I was able to have an experience that completely changed how I see global literacy, the environment, and happiness in my classroom. I wish all professional development was as valuable."
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