Think like a Smart Farmer, act like a Smart Teacher

Ban Samanmit School, Rayong Province

Think like a Smart Farmer, act like a Smart Teacher

Kit Suthiwirat, Director of Ban Samanmit School, Rayong Province

Many people have probably heard of integrated teaching as learning that combines many subjects together, but they may not have heard of integrated teaching based on the subject 'Natural Agriculture', which crosses science from the curriculum for modern farmers and has been borrowed and used by modern teachers who think and do it.

Bringing everyone into the school to speak with Director Ruangkit Suthiwirat, Director of Ban Samanmit School in Rayong Province, a new generation teacher who draws on knowledge of natural agriculture from the Suthirat Yoovidhya Foundation’s Smart Farmer training course, can be applied to the teaching process in schools. Importantly, those lessons also fully integrate core subject knowledge for the ultimate goal (School Concept) which is to be a SAMANMIT Creative Eco-School using the concept of developing the entire school system using the local context as a base for creating innovation to drive it to be an environmental education school for sustainable development (Eco School) to enable learners to grow up to be citizens with a sufficient life for a sustainable society and environment.

It was the beginning of a worldview and the use of natural methods in teaching, which this director later developed into a model for educational management. It should inspire many people to borrow and use it, or to see how the area can be developed to fit its own context. If you want to find out what the story is, read it!

It begins with lessons on organic farming that can be taught in schools across disciplines.

The school’s natural farming program began with the director’s strong interest in organic farming. He wanted to expand his knowledge while also using it to help the school grow. As a result, we always see the things around us as valuable, particularly the ecosystem.

“We already enjoy working with dirt and leaves. When I go to work, I look at the natural world because it is our life. It is unavoidable and must be thoroughly researched in order to coexist in this world in a way that benefits both us and the environment.” The director decided to attend the Suthirat Yoovidhya Foundation’s second Smart Farmer course based on his initial idea.

The Smart Farmer course is designed for young farmers and emphasizes the importance of incorporating sustainability into their lifestyle. Learning about 'Natural Agriculture' entails knowing how to allocate your resources in an organic way, making them worthwhile, and recognizing your own strengths. The director saw that everything mentioned above could also be applied in schools.

“We must first assess the area where we intend to manage. This location is surrounded by various environments. Most people are farmers who own rubber plantations, durians, and various fruits. The concept of agriculture is common to both the community and the school.” Accordingly, the director has begun the process of transitioning to an environment-driven school (Eco School), preparing to apply the knowledge gained to school-related problems.

“After completing the course, we received a lot back. The words we remember clearly from Teacher Chukiat Koman’s classroom are “reducing EGO, increasing ECO,” which is consistent with our idea of doing Eco School.” A course that simplifies difficult subjects by removing and reintroducing the ego in order to see the big picture of the overall system’s development.

Teaching and learning that transforms children into environmentally responsible citizens.

“In the Smart Farmer course, we study in real-world settings and gain firsthand knowledge of landowner experiences. We use his case as an example to advance our field. After we learned, we returned to ask questions.”

Following the learning process, the director began the first step, which was to identify and manage the school’s environmental problems using natural agriculture. The school is based on major issues surrounding the school. Many farmers continue to use chemicals, but changing the community from the start seems too difficult.

The process that the teacher teaches the children entails getting down and immersed in nature, seeing problems and solving them in natural ways, and teaching the children to be aware of the consequences of using chemicals that will harm both the environment and the health of future users.

At the same time, a major issue in schools is 'dry leaf waste'. The teacher devised a plan to teach the students how to compost dry leaves into organic fertilizer. The end results can be applied in practice. The teaching process begins with dividing the tasks of collecting dry leaves in the morning and forming groups to construct compost fences. While composting, students will learn math, science, and other core subjects (continue reading the article on the composting mission here - link to the article The StoryDoing).

The Ultimate Goal Is for Students to Be Environmental Citizens

“How can we address the existing environmental issues in schools without simply managing waste? Can we incorporate them into the teaching method to help children become environmentally conscious citizens? Every profession is concerned with the environment because it is so important today. It is the source of all problems.” Teaching and learning that uses the environment as a foundation and connects it to the main subjects allows children to become more connected to nature, learn about its benefits, and understand how to coexist peacefully.

“Each child grew significantly as they became more aware of and proud of the nature of school. It was observed while speaking, expressing opinions, and reflecting. It was a highly effective integration of learning.”

If children must learn, teachers must study additional skills.

“There was a teacher rotation at the start of the activity. We have to constantly communicate and adjust our ideas. Sometimes simply saying it does not convey the intended message, so I enroll the teacher in the Smart Farmer course, Class 6. Teachers are essential to facilitating learning because children will never understand what we teach. We take them to do things and ask questions, so we also have to send teachers to study organic courses. He'll have a better idea of where to take the child.”

When teachers delve deeply into the process until they understand it, use teaching techniques appropriate for children at each level, view each child as an individual, and support their interests, each child’s potential is maximized. This school’s environmental integration subject combines teaching and learning to allow children to interact at all levels. Younger children help older children, and older children help younger children, creating a new relationship in which teachers serve as guides and learn from each other.

Schools Belong to the Community, Not to Us

“The goals of our school cannot be determined solely by teachers. We must involve the community in the decision-making process because the school belongs to them, not us. Notice that there is no fence around the school. If there is a fence, it appears that we are blocking it. It is difficult to get in and out.”

Even though the space is open, everyone respects one another’s space. Students are present in the schoolyard during class. When there are important events, the entire community comes to the school. Because of the area’s friendliness, students and community members are close to one another and can always share everything.

“We don’t always have enough money to buy animal manure for composting. This parent’s house was given to them, and if they needed to cut grass in the field, a village headman and a group of volunteers would be there to assist because the school is owned by the community. They’ve been living together since childhood. Some became rulers. Everyone is willing to help each other without being asked because the community understands the Eco School concept and is eager to learn together.”

The grass cut from the school field was used to make compost. The addition of animal manure completes the process of making dry leaf compost. Children learn in a comprehensive manner. In addition to having positive relationships with the local community, there are also relationships with communities further away.

“We contacted other communities with organic agriculture learning centers and took the children to the actual locations to make connections on the same topic. Perhaps our school cannot do as much as he can. We approached him to provide a learning environment for us. This connects the village and sub-district levels as well.”

Quality-Focused Small School

“It’s challenging to run a small school because we don’t have much money, but we also don’t need it. We simply use our knowledge and thoughts to drive. Why is it that all of these expensive items are needed to build a playground? We can use other methods,” the developer’s director said, smiling.

“We strive to create work that meets our needs. Everyone is ready to support us. We develop schools to improve their quality in exchange. If we have quality, someone will want it. We never made great merit of giving because it was not the school’s responsibility. It all depends on how much faith we instill in him, so he wants to come and help.”

Because it still believes that school is a place for education, administrators and teachers play an important role in developing the school in order to achieve the desired goals and elevate the level of being a small school with quality. For example, this school’s playground was built from a pile of good-quality leftover wood from a nearby temple. The layout was designed by members of the community and educational architects, who agreed that this learning area should be usable at all points.

“Developing a network of collaboration in each area is critical because we cannot do it alone. We requested collaboration with the community leadership team to help create a systematic and sustainable development, as the community was also involved. Despite changes in management, the community has not changed. Any director who visits will adhere to the original concept and context of the area.”

Create Value and Enrich Life Together

“Being a pilot school in the innovation space is regarded as a significant benefit because the goal of education is to achieve freedom and happiness within our own context.”

Ban Samanmit School is the smallest of the 11 schools chosen by the Education Council to be model educational institutions for extracting lessons on how to develop educational institution management, resulting in the creation of a model (Model) that is an innovation in educational institution management in implementing national educational standards using the SAMANMIT Model, which was published by the Educational Standards Group, Office of Educational Standards and Learning Development, Office of the Secretariat of the Education Council, printed on September 1, 2021 to be able to use it as a guideline to apply to other schools with a similar context to Ban Samanmit.

The SAMANMIT Model is a framework for educational administration. Ban Samanmit School takes pride in putting Thai people’s three desirable characteristics into practice in order to be learners, create jobs and a good quality of life, and be co-creators of innovation for a stable society, be prosperous and sustainable, be a strong citizen, be for peace, be aware of right and wrong, and have a volunteer spirit.

“Importantly, whatever we do today, we want to be useful. People must survive. We can survive alone, but we want to live together in a meaningful way, creating value for ourselves and others. Even though we are not a large school, we can raise awareness and serve as a model for many other schools.

“We don’t like being alone or doing things alone, so we invited friends from three other schools to drive with us. Even though the other school is close to the sea, it can help raise awareness about beach waste management. Another school surrounded by rice fields raises awareness of organic rice.

“Because what we need more than money is cooperation with one another,” the director said, adding that she has invited friends from other schools and members of the community to take the same curriculum and intends to collaborate in the long run by establishing a network of cooperation in all sectors, using the local context as a foundation to drive educational innovation.

Society can move forward by holding hands and moving together through the power of sharing knowledge and leveraging one’s own strengths to be a learning ecosystem for the holistic and sustainable development of education.