Here’s a little secret: Green School is a complex, interconnected place of learning. It is actually four schools in one (Early Years, Primary School, Middle School and High School), serving ages 3 to 18. With a kitted-out innovation hub/makerspace, state-of-the-art bamboo science labs and wall-less classrooms for all ages, Green School is its own village, its own community, and, most importantly, a school of the future.

Its unique High School programme is part of its magic. When the school started, there was no High School, but as the first students grew older, the school grew with them.

Of course, there have been bumps and hiccups along the way. College admissions presented a challenge since it required communicating the ins-and-outs of the Green School diploma and portfolio for traditional entrance requirements. The barriers were high, but now, universities from around the world are recognising the value of graduates with rich life experiences, well-honed skills in thinking and doing, that transcend traditional placement tests and GPAs.

A Green School parent mentors a Grade 12 student for her Green Stone project

Only a few weeks ago, over 60 universities came to the Green School campus in Bali to our annual school’s university fair to recruit from a pool of fewer than 25 Green School students in the class of 2019. Such is the changing face of university admissions, including universities in Europe and Ivy League universities from the United States. Colleges and Universities now value leadership experiences, project-based learning, immersion in real-world projects and holistic education. These are 21st-century skills and the way forward.

Green School’s University Fair in 2018 was attended by over 50 universities from all over the world

A requirement for every Green School graduate is a capstone project, known as Green Stone. Green Stone is a year-long inquiry and process where students demonstrate a mastery of core skills and Green School skills. This can be a passion project, an area of interest, or a solution to a real-world problem. The Green Stone experience culminates in a 13-minute TED-style talk the week before graduation. It is a life-changing experience and prepares every student for their next adventure and arguably for the rest of their life. Green Stone is a process and an experience that not only develops skills but also provides a platform to demonstrate mastery of those skills.

“I have seen every Green Stone since it started. I have watched the students grow. They are breaking these models about how we look at the world. It opens our minds. Everyone is crying, including parents. This wisdom and knowledge is coming from these young people.”

Chris Thompson, Green School parent and former Director of School

Watch the documentary below to learn more about the process of Green Stone.

You can also watch the full Green Stone talks here.

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Changemaker. Green Leader. Big words and big expectations for Green School’s first graduates. In 2018, ten years after Green School opened, its first cohort of alumni graduated from college.

Ira Warastri, a Balinese Local Scholarship student, was amongst those first graduates. She shared her experience.

Ira’s Story

It all started with a phone call from my dad back in the summer of 2008. I was at my grandparents’ house in Karangasem, East Bali for the summer holiday and my stay was cut short because of his call. He told me that there was an opportunity to study full-time on scholarship at the Green School, where he was working, and they were having an open house later that day.

Four hours later, I was standing inside a beautiful bamboo building that was to become my future classroom. At the end of the tour session, there was a sign-up sheet for scholarship interviews. I was excited by the idea of befriending people from around the world and studying in a cathedral-like building. I took the pen and wrote down my name.

Three interview sessions later, I officially became a Green School student. I was on my way.

Ira as one of the first graduating class of Green School in 2013.

In June 2013. I was part of Green School’s first graduating class. Two months later, I was on my way to Vancouver, where I would study for four years at Quest University Canada. I received my Bachelor’s degree in May 2017 and have been working in Vancouver at a rock/heavy metal merchandise store as its Social Media Manager and Retail Supervisor.

“As much as I am still trying to figure out my role in the world, I would like to think that all of these things happened because I thought ‘why not?’ when an opportunity to experience something new came to greet me.”

Ira’s Graduation at Quest University, Canada.

“It was quite a journey,” Ira said via Skype. “Seeing how much the school has grown since then is pretty incredible. There were fewer than 100 students when I started in Grade 8.”

Integrating local Balinese scholars was always central to the school’s mission, but support mechanisms for scholars and their families were limited in the early days. Local scholars took a leap of faith. They helped the school nurture and expand its Balinese community, which now has its own Banjar (local council) and counselor to help support 43 enrolled scholar students.

Ira when she was studying at Green School.

“I remember my first day of school,” Ira says. “It was nerve-wracking. My friend Gika and I were the only Balinese students at the time. I had only learned a little English in a classroom setting, and now I was about to be surrounded by English speakers. It took us quite a while to understand what teachers were saying and what students meant due to the cultural differences. Things like TV shows, movies, and pop-culture. Learning English in the classroom and hearing the language first-hand was very different.”

Learning in English was not the only cultural difference. In Bali and Indonesia, students are not encouraged to ask questions at school; at Green School, asking questions is expected and encouraged. “Everyone had to be very patient with me because it took me a while to catch up and speak up.”

Ira persevered through the early days of nerves and adjustments. She now credits Green School for opening up doors for her to study internationally and securing a scholarship at Quest University.

“The block system at Quest University is similar to Green School’s High School block system,” she says. ”It was a good fit for me. Quest is a liberal arts and science university and my focus of the study was on music. You can design your own major and towards the end of your second year, you start to decide your focus. My thesis was what influences my musical tastes. I wrote a 40-page literature review on this area of inquiry. At the end of writing the review, I presented a 13-minute keystone presentation. It was very similar to Green School’s, Greenstones, a TED-style capstone presentation.”

Ira on her first overseas trip to Cambodia with her Green School classmates.

When Ira boarded a plane with her Green School classmates on a service trip to Cambodia, it was a big deal. Unlike her international student peers, Ira had never left her homeland and had never been on the plane. The Balinese connection to land, family, and temple is strong. Traveling abroad was as exciting for Ira as it was terrifying for her mother.

Ira is still a young, talented, independent, Balinese woman moving through the world. She is infused with deep tradition and cultural commitment while remaining open to future ‘why not?’ But is she a changemaker?

“I try to be, mainly through my arts,” she says. “This is how I communicate my ideas to the world and make a positive difference. It is a lifelong process. I try to be a changemaker, to keep asking ‘why not’, to follow your dreams, to take a risk and to encourage others.”

Some of Ira’s art pieces.

Having the courage to leave the familiar to go to school with very little knowledge of English, to move on your own to the other side of the world as a young Balinese woman, to work to support yourself financially while simultaneously carving your niche in the world sounds like a changemaker.

Asked what she misses most about Bali, in addition to family and food, Ira says she misses the ceremonies and celebrations that are so interwoven into the fabric of Balinese culture.

What are your words of wisdom for the Class of 2019?

“Stick to your guns. If you have a passion, just keep doing it. Eventually, you will find a way. Stay open and someone will see how passionate you are and be supportive of you and, in turn, you can support others.“

We could not be prouder of Ira. Stepping up, making a bold move, taking her culture and traditions with her on her journey, living her life philosophy of ‘why not’ and finding her place in the world as a changemaker.

Help Green School educate more changemakers through our Local Scholars Program and support our campaign here.

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Green School’s Head of Upper School, Glenn Chickering, one of Green School’s longest-serving members of the faculty community, launched the Authentic Learning Podcast this year. The podcast focuses on all things education featuring progressive educators from Green School and from around the world. Educators who are pushing the envelope of education in our rapidly evolving world.

In the latest episode, Chickering speaks to Clover Hogan, a Green School graduate from 2016 who shares her unique educational journey and experience transitioning from a traditional educational system to a progressive system and back again.

Listen now, to learn how Clover transitioned through various educational systems and how her educational pathway and an opportune visit to COP22 in Paris with her Green School classmates, brought her back to Green School and on to an internship in Silicon Valley. Listen on to hear the benefits and some of the pitfalls of transitioning into a progressive education system.

“We need to stop treating students like a set of averages, and realize that naturally being human, that they are highly individual, highly complex creatures and we need to recognize that and build the [educational] system around that.”

Clover Hogan,
Green School Graduate 2016

Clover Hogan’s graduation in 2016.

Clover is described by her teachers as the quintessential Green School student – engaged, curious, with a passion for learning and community involvement. She is currently working in Marketing Communications at a social enterprise in Silicon Valley.

You can follow Clover’s blog at www.cloverhogan.com

Listen to more Authentic Learning podcasts HERE.

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I got together with schools such as High Tech High, Think Global School, Singapore American School, Harbour School, Hong Kong and Hangzhou, CIS to share our success and missteps along the way and discuss ways in which we can all further progressive education in the world to best prepare student to face today’s challenges and opportunities.

The common themes that dominated the weekend were; Entrepreneurial learning, fostering 21st century skills, project-based learning, student passion projects and connecting students to communities. There were many examples of schools implementing one or two of these programs to great success. Green School stood out as one of the very few schools implementing programs focused on all of these things. However, I came away feeling that our mission to create a learning environment focused on making our world sustainable is our most vital contribution to the educational world.

I sat on a panel with leaders of other schools described as the ‘Lone Nuts’. We were a group of schools who broke the mold and fearlessly created our own versions of a school. Among these nuts, Green School was the only one with a primary focus on educating for sustainability.

Among the other schools in the audience, sustainability didn’t even enter the conversation without Green School in the context. If we are to have any hope of steering the natural and human systems in our world toward sustainability, it is vital that the next generations have a critical mass of leaders and citizens who have an understanding of the principles of sustainability. We need to create a generation of systems thinkers who can see the big picture of how our human systems interact with each other and with the Earth’s natural systems. We need to be aware of how these systems effect and rely upon one another. We need to be able to identify the leverage points that will help us to steer systems toward sustainability.

Green School is well positioned to not only get educating for sustainability into the global educational conversation, but to help ensure it soon becomes normal for schools to implement such learning. Being a part of a community of learners focused on making our world sustainable is an honor, a privilege, and a worthy mission.

Glenn Chickering
Head of Upper School
Green School Bali

Learn more about the Green School Learning Program.

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Children learn best when we engage the body, mind, heart and spirit (in fact the same is true for adults!). Maths is no exception to this rule. It just requires some progressive, creative teaching practices and imagination to transcend the textbook and reveal the magic and relevance of maths in our lives.

The Green School Middle School Mathematics program is as rigorous as it is innovative, student-centered, project-based and fun. The Middle School Maths program is based on the learning outcomes of the highly acclaimed Singapore Maths Curriculum. These learning outcomes provide us with the guideposts necessary for a robust program – delivered in the unique Green School way. A major goal of the Maths program is for students to ‘connect’ with numbers – to understand the relevance of maths in their lives and to relate it to their understanding of the world. Numbers describe our amazing planet –  our aim is for students to have fun, feel comfortable and confident, and enjoy learning maths.

Differentiation
A major factor that differentiates the Middle School Maths program is that classes are not ‘grade-level’. There are no standard Grade 6, 7 and 8 Maths classes. We know that age is not a determining factor of mathematical ability, so our classes are arranged in ‘ability’ groups. These groups are assigned from pre-unit assessment activities and students often move around these groups as they change from unit to unit and find some math concepts more easy to grasp than others. Students learn maths in different ways.Our low teacher to student ratio enables us to deliver a dynamic and varied program.

Some teachers design game-based units, whilst other teachers teach more ‘traditional’ lecture-style and practice/repetition lessons. Our class-groups are also organized so that students who need the most help get the most help.Our Student Support group concentrates on hands-on ways to build number skills and, most importantly, confidence, in a small group setting.  Catering for students who have the confidence and ability to take on more challenge is the Maths Extension group. This group often has 20-plus Middle School students, powering ahead with formal High School Maths units, including more formal examination and assessment, necessary at the High School level. Providing appropriate challenge, gaining confidence and busting the boredom of regular maths classes is at the core of the Program.  

Minimise Homework
In line with the Green School approach to homework, maths homework is carefully considered, evidence-based and only given where it is assessed as impactful. We do not do homework for ‘homeworks sake’.  Homework is minimal but here are times where it is impactful for students to practice recalling new skills and concepts in order to make solid, hard-wired memories.

Focus on Student Growth vs Testing
As students progress through Middle School and High School, we need to make sure their progress is assessed and they are prepared for life beyond Green School. Assessment comes in many and varied forms at Green School and, in the case of maths, tests at the end of each unit that help teachers, students and parents to stay informed of student learning and assist in making adjustments to student support or extension.. Tests are just one form of assessment, with in-class formative assessments being made progressively throughout units. Test results are not the core of the student reporting process, we look more at individual growth for each individual student.

Mix It Up – From Skill Building to Application
The Middle School maths program has the ‘standard’ units that all schools have: Semester One – Number Skills, Fractions-Decimals-Percentages, and Ratio-Rates; Semester Two – Geometry, Measurement, Statistics, Probability, and Algebra etc. This sequence allows us to build number skills through the first part of the year – and then start to apply the learning in the second part of the year. Semester Two units have many project-based activities – culminating in student projects such as conducting School-wide sustainability audits to gather, analyse, calculate impacts and prepare and publish a report on energy, water, waste, consumables, transport and other sustainability metrics.

Beyond Maths – Integrated Experiential Learning
Maths is a part of the other components of the Middle School program. This sophisticated, integrated, experiential approach to learning is fundamental to learning at Green School.

From our art-science classes (robotics, coding, and pure science), to thematics (where maths is the tool for analyzing local and global problems-to-solutions concepts), to nature-based Green Studies units (in PE and arts classes), to other experiential units (architecture, photography, cooking, music and PE). Maths, numbers and patterns are everywhere, students don’t just learn maths in maths classes.

Take Maths Outside The Classroom
At Green School, we understand that learning can happen anywhere and the the whole world is the classroom. With such an expansive and natural campus, opportunities to take maths outside the classroom are in abundance. Looking at one example of taking maths outside, was the Middle School bridge project. This challenging project involved student  construction of a real, cable-and-bamboo, footbridge across the Ayung River. Not a model of a bridge, but a real, functional and beautiful bridge. Students designed, calculated costs, dragged heavy cables, measured, cut and attached the bamboo, and conducted load-tests.

Make Mathematics Gamefied & Fun
Having fun – we cannot stress this enough! It is a requirement for real learning. Students play a lot of games in the Middle School maths classes. Whole-units are designed around a particular game. Friday is often ‘Fun Friday’, where we see teachers and students having fun together, building maths abilities with strategy, pattern and number-skill games.

Embrace Digital
We utilize the format of Google Classrooms to deliver day-to-day lessons with assigned activities, resources and homework or extension. Students have the opportunity to set up on-line math program accounts – either for reinforcement of classroom learning, extension of concepts or individual enquiry.

Green School believes that avoiding students defining themselves as either ‘good at maths’ or ‘bad at maths’ is critically important. Middle School is a precious time in a child’s development. Developing positive relationships, developing inner-confidence, feeling free to be an individual and learning to be more independent is central to the Green School Middle School experience.   Maths is no exception to this and as we prepare students for High School we are committed to preparing them both academically and socially and emotionally.  A meaningful, relevant, fun and individual student-centered approach is what gets them there.  

Sal Gordon
Deputy Head – Middle School
Middle School Mathematics and Science Teacher
GREEN SCHOOL BALI

How to apply Green School Middle School Maths in your own classroom or home:

• Consider creating projects that engage and inspire students to connect maths with real-world problems.
• Look for ways to take classroom learning outdoors. Consider building projects and other group-based experiential activities.
• Engage students with games and activities that are fun and inspiring and ‘imprint’ learning for time to come.

Learn more about the Green School Learning Program here

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What is Green Stone?

Green Stone is Green School’s High School capstone experience. It gives students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of core skills and offers an extended period of focus on individual interests in an academic framework. It is designed and implemented entirely by students, based on their passions and interests. Each Green Stone culminates in a 13-minute presentation, in the spirit of a TED talk. They are filmed, edited and published to the world. But most importantly, these presentations are a rite of passage for all Green School graduates, bridging the Green School experience and each student’s next steps in life.

Class of 2016 Graduate Elle O’Brien Presents Her GreenStone

Our holistic educational ethos emphasizes experiences and skills rather than credentials and standardized tests. We believe we’re shifting the culture of education, creating sustainable solutions, and building bridges around the world. Green Stone is an opportunity for our graduating seniors to show the world what they can do. You can view all of our Green School graduates’ Green Stone presentations on YouTube from last year here. With Green Stone, graduating seniors showcase their mastery of Green School Skills – adaptation, collaboration, critical thinking, creative thinking, thinking in systems, communication, collaboration, activation and problem solving.

As the community and friends of Green School gather in our bamboo amphitheatre for this year’s graduation ceremony, we will take comfort in knowing that they have been supported to develop as a whole person. With a good understanding of themselves and their place in this big and beautiful world. With a set of skills that will serve them well, regardless of their endeavour of choice.

Their graduating pathways will be as diverse as the students themselves. Some will go straight to university, some will take a gap year and some will get straight onto pursuing an enterprise or vocation. Some are still not quite sure what their next adventure will be, but let’s take a moment to congratulate the 2016-17 graduates, accepted into the following universities so far.  

Concordia University, Canada
University of New Brunswick, Canada
Quest University, Canada
The American University of Paris, France
Jacobs University, Germany
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
Bangor University, UK
Blake College, UK
Hampstead School of Art, UK
Richmond, The American International University in London, UK
City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA
Cornell University, USA
Evergreen State College, USA
The New School, USA
New York University, USA
University of California, Davis, USA
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
University of Michigan, USA
University of Montana, USA
Vanderbilt University, USA

We are also very proud to announce our first university graduates.

Local Scholar from Karangasem (East Bali) Ira Warastri (pictured above) and Rasa Milakynte, both Green School Class of 2013 and Quest University Class of 2017! Congratulations, Ira and Rasa!

To learn more about Green School Bali’s High School Program, visit us here or see our High School curriculum overview here.

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Isabel and Melati were the only two youth leaders to receive the accolade. Bye Bye Plastic Bags is a social initiative driven by youth to say no to single-use plastic bags.

Photo: Anggara Mahendra

“I really hope we can open people’s minds more. We are living proof that kids can be the change,” said Isabel in a recent video by BBC Storyworks. “The ones who dare to explore are the ones that can contribute something better to the world. So go out there and explore everything the world has to offer.”

Learn more about Bye Bye Plastic Bags here. 

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What started as a seven-day workshop, quickly grew into a six-week program, and now aims to become a permanent part of Green School. The goal of the intensive program was to make functional bamboo bikes, to promote clean and sustainable transport, and to build a network of local trained builders. Led by Visual and Practical Arts Teacher Jason Gutzmer, and the legendary bamboo bike builders Craig Calfee and Mark Donovan, the course transformed the Heart of School building into a production space, creating more than just bikes.

Students incubated ideas, designed, hypothesized and tested collaboratively in groups and fired-up power tools to bring designs to life.  Applying skills and knowledge in geometry and physics along the way is emblematic of the Green School approach to learning. “There’s something about taking numbers off a page and bringing them to life that makes learning fun “ said one of the high schoolers. After completing the construction of a BMX, a mountain bike, a city-adventure bike, a cargo bike, an electric beam bike, and an electric tadpole trike, the students still wanted to learn more. Following the students’ lead, Pak Jason integrated bamboo bikes into a six-week program to build an electric bamboo bike and cargo trailer that the school’s Kembali Recycling Facility could use to collect recycling throughout the village.

Pak Jason says it has sparked creativity in so many of the students, including Kai Young-Lee, an 8th grade student who will apply this newfound knowledge to his Middle School Quest project – to build a solar powered electric bike. Senior, Leeland Gentry will also ride the prototype mountain bike he built with Kai, and Pak Jason as part of his Greenstone project (See last year’s Greenstone Talks here) and product testing for Mark’s new company.

To continue offering experiential learning programs like this, Pak Jason has designed plans to create six mobile maker stations. Each station will be equipped with a set of the basic professional tools and safety equipment for real world building and fabrication projects, like bamboo bikes, bamboo carpentry, upcycling workshops, sculpture, applied sciences, screen printing, and more. Each rolling workstation can be used from all sides or the students can push them together to make a long island assembly area.

The limitless applications of this endeavour to the practical and integrated arts will add another special element to the Green School experience. If you are a fan of enterprising youth and progressive education, you can play a role in supporting and following this endeavour by contacting us via our website at ‘Support Us’.

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Green School courses has also been cross pollinated in this process. The Intro to Architecture class this year will take into account both bamboo modelling and CAD, giving students a starting point for both of these skills. We have also started to extend design principles into Green Studies, and we are running a course called “Green Building and Design” wherein student will familiarize themselves with different organic building materials (Adobe, Earthbags, Bamboo, Rammed Earth). Part of our mission is to build a building kit which we can share with the Primary and Kul Kul students, to spread design thinking further still.

In the future, IBUKU plans to host a couple more Green School students as interns alongside Axel. With this, we will no doubt learn new real world skills and be able to continuously apply these in the educational environmental of Green School, while IBUKU may also learn from our talented young minds.

Written by Pak Noan, Middle School

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Please look into her blog to keep in touch with her stories.

Salah satu siswa SMA Green School, Shanti Balam menjelajahi Butan dalam sebuah acara Festival Internasional Bhutan yang di selenggarakan baru pertama kali ini. Shanti mencurahkan seluruh pengalamannya ke dalam sebuah blog. Selamat membaca dan semoga menginspirasi para generasi muda lainnya di seluruh dunia.

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