Meaningful Education in Preparation for a Meaningful LifeThe founders of Begawan Foundation, Bradley and Debbie Gardner, firmly believe that children, adolescents and young adults in Indonesia and other countries around the world need meaningful education to prepare them to take up creative and responsible roles in their future lives, and to equip them to meet the complex demands they will have to face in the coming years.Their concept of meaningful education places a strong emphasis on entrepreneurial skills. Rather than turning out numbers of potential employees for the conventional labour market, they believe education should nurture visionaries who recognise and understand problems, develop entrepreneurial ideas for dealing with them, and implement those ideas in a way that contributes to the community. The formative years Education for life has long been an interest of Bradley, who left school at the age of 14. While constructing Begawan Giri Estate, he worked closely with Prof. Dr. Jurgen Zimmer of the Internationale Academie, Freien Universitat Berlin, who had previously collaborated with two internationally famous alternative educationalists, Paolo Friere and Ivan Illych, during the 1970s. Bradley and Dr. Zimmer also had a number of meetings in September 1996 with Prof. Zimmer’s colleague at Freien Universitat, Prof. Dr. Gunter Faltin. During their discussions, the three men formulated the idea of establishing NISBA (the National and International Boarding School Bali). The NISBA document's ideals have influenced the Gardners’ approach to education ever since, and it led them to set up a small kindergarten at Begawan Giri Estate. From 2001 until they sold the Estate in 2004, they invited children from the local villages to come to the Estate four mornings a week. During their visits, the youngsters were introduced to English via games, books and simple conversation. They also learned about conservation, observed the birds and took part in gardening. This situational approach, learning by doing, is the basis of the Gardners’ view of education. The Gardners had previously set up a clinic on the Estate, primarily for its employees and their families. However, the kindergarten children were also encouraged to visit it regularly, and they were taught the elements of hygiene and health as integral parts of growing up. They also used the clinic’s equipment to learn about the importance of personal hygiene, such as brushing their teeth, washing their hands and understanding their bodies. Coming to the clinic helped to banish their fear of doctors too. Another activity for the local children was to learn Balinese dance. This is part of their culture, therefore gamelan and dancing were encouraged and teachers were employed in these arts. United School for Life The Gardners have since reconnected with Prof. Dr. Jurgen Zimmer, and they are now working together with him to establish programmes for United School for Life, a company which will promote entrepreneurial educational concepts in various Southeast Asian countries. United School for Life will develop and operate the existing school of Pengalusan, originally set up by David Booth, founder of the East Bali Poverty Project, as its pilot project in Bali. |
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