“A classroom of children is like a field of flowers – all are unique in their own way and are in their own stage of development”
-Saang Tip (Senior educator at Phum Ou School
EDventure International is committed to creating a sustainable grass roots collective of Khmer and western educators in The Kingdom of Cambodia. Working in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and local Khmer people – we are preparing the children of rural Siem Reap for success in the continually developing global and local economic landscape.
We are taking leaps and strides to accomplish our long term vision of sustainability and empowerment within this beautiful country by providing Khmer teachers with voluntary teaching aids, professional development workshops, curriculum development and teaching resources. We at EDventure believe teachers make the most significant difference in learning outcomes of students (from any culture) within their classrooms. Educators are the pillars which any amazing education system is built from. EDventure International has been interacting with twenty five amazing Khmer educators helping the children of their communities get a leg up on education and opportunities it will present.
We gather our unique staff and provide a monthly professional work-shopping space specifically designed to stimulate engaging discussion about: teaching methodology, professional development, and cross cultural collaboration. The goal is to assist with providing alternatives for teaching English as a foreign language and integrating other subject matter into their lessons (this is a crucial element of the overall picture as the formal teacher training is quite minimal in rural schools).
When asked about personal and professional experiences with EDventure volunteers – responses from the educators are overwhelmingly positive – the teachers bubbled forth with a seemingly inexhaustible stream of valuable insights and funny stories from collaboration with foreign educators. This feedback is crucial to our program in Cambodia.
As 2015 winds down we are reflecting on the positive gains of this year; of developing a dynamic interdisciplinary curriculum at our school in the Phum Ou Community, which is to be used by other schools in the region; garnering support across multiple village communities, public schools and the ministry of education; and increasing student attendance numbers in Phum Ou from approx. 40 students to approx. 250 students, ranging from 5 years old to 42 years. We’ve also focused on establishing the levelling of students based on their capabilities as opposed to age, registering all students at our Phum Ou school, completing and submitting our full school constitution for the Phum Ou School and Community Centre (see link below) and establishing a professional network for teachers to connect, learn new schools and become more valuable educators. It is now time for our local and international staff to begin prepping for a prosperous 2016 to continue the educational development here.
EDventure International will be focusing on maintaining and organically developing these bridges we have co-constructed with the individuals of these rural communities. EDventure will be moving ever closer to our goal of professionally empowering the powerful Khmer people through education while doing concentrated development work within The Phum Ou community centre and surrounding villages in the Bakrong district. It is our absolute intent to provide free teacher training opportunities monthly, in order to better solidify these bonds which have been formed.
Phum Ou School and Community Centre Constitution
https://docs.google.com/a/edventureintl.com/document/d/1lQMhf_R2OEwptT9-kKfF6dx-Tgka0qgDdXvpFRJSGnw/edit?usp=sharing
Please watch a short video from our Teachers at Phum Ou Village School and Community Centre sharing a little about their thoughts on education and working at the school.
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