Creating Community-Centered Change
During the “Collective Vision” activity at Huay Krajao Pittayakom School on July 20, 2023, members of the Huay Krajao community in Kanchanaburi reflected on and expressed their vision for education. This activity, organized by Teach For Thailand, aimed to invite community members to design and take ownership of their education.
“This activity has proven fruitful, and my child is reaping the benefits! Last semester, his grade was 2.5, but after the activity and the consensus to bring teachers back to classrooms, his grade increased to 2.9. I think the teachers now have more time to care for their students.”
Uthen Adkonghan, president of the Parents Network at Huay Krajao Pittayakom School, shared his thoughts on the Collective Vision held at the campus.
“The school’s facilities were improved, and the trash problem was addressed.”
Rattanaprapa Kromdee, a member of the student council, concurred.
“This discussion involved everyone, allowing us to come up with the right solutions. Many problems were brought up, such as the trash issue and our teachers’ inability to attend to students due to their workload.
“Because everyone identified these as issues, the student council is now responsible for taking out the trash, and the area is now clean,” said Rattanaprapa. “I am very proud that adults are paying attention to my concerns. We also saw many relevant parties collaborating more.”
Acting Sub Lt. Kamon Ninrote, a teacher at the school, reflected on the activity.
“We get to hear what everyone has to say, so the benefit was for all of us – and they become the school’s vision.”
“After the activity, we took those visions to execution and made progress! At first, we could only achieve 70-80% of them, now with everyone on the same page, it goes up to 90%,” said Kamon.
“My compliments go to Teach For Thailand for organizing the activity and coordinating to ensure everyone is involved through activities, questions, and opportunities to reflect individual thoughts. It all led to a satisfactory conclusion.”
Phattharanan Phrumpool, director of Huay Krajao Pittayakom, shared her thoughts.
“After those discussions, we experienced many changes. We have made several efforts to reduce teacher’s time outside of classrooms and students and improved the school’s facility by installing electric fans and fences.
“The discussion allowed the school board, teachers, and me to understand each other’s expectations. We had the time to discuss, connect, exchange, and learn, and I love how much teachers were involved. Thanks to Teach For Thailand.”
“We share the same goal: to maximize students’ potential. The school was also inspired and intrigued by TFT as well.”
Collective Vision is an important agenda for Teach For Thailand because the school is part of the community where students grow. Involving the whole community in educational direction will foster continuous and sustainable change, and one day all children will receive equitable quality education.
