Dan Hoa Secondary School located on Highway 6, in the center of Dan Hoa commune, with 22 teachers and employees. The whole school had four classes with 93 students including 54 male, 39 female, 8 disadvantaged students. 90% of students are Muong ethnic.
In June 2011 the project “Promoting Community Management in Vietnam” – PCM introduced with teachers and students of the school. Then a core group including 10 teachers and 12 students has elected. Teachers and students in the core group was building capacity in community management, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Facilitation Skills, Financial Management … Besides the children were facilitated on how to identify problems / needs and priority ranking in order to solve problems / meet their needs to create a better learning environment. By implementing three sub-projects which financed by the Community Management fund of PCM project: “Ensure safety for assets of students and teachers through building a garage”; “Improving the learning conditions for physical education of students ” and “Promoting cultural movement for students”, the teachers and students of Dan Hoa Secondary schools deeper, wider understood approach of community management, especially the application of skills and methods of community management to change teaching and learning methods in schools.
In January 2012 Award Fund of PCM Project was given to Dan Hoa Secondary School. A new “cycle” began with the process of Community Management with the students and teachers of the school.
Change teaching methods – a task seemed hardly because it was considered deep, rooted in each teacher in the school for many years, it has really changed. Partly because 80% of teachers in the school are young, and mostly because through the process of capacity building with PCM project, both the teachers and students had noticed the need to renew the traditional way of teaching “read – written” to new method of enhancing the participation of students, student are center of learning process, learning by practicing.
Sub-project “Promoting the participation of Dan Hoa Secondary school students in learning through innovative teaching methods” with the total budget of 4,300,000 Vietnam Dong which PCMM supported 3,000,000 Vietnam Dong, the school and students’ parents contributed 1,300,000d. The result of the sub-project was 20 boards for group activities, other facilitation tools provided… and teachers have used these goods to turn it into products for 48 lessons in Mathematics, History, Literature, English, Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Physics in the second semester of the school year 2011-2012 as the song “Weather” of 6 subjects in English class … The teachers also applied Facilitation Methods more smoothly. Ms. Pham Hong Thoan, a teacher of the school shared “Previously we also apply the same methodology but did not follow the right techniques. After participating in the training I understood more clearly and distinguish the difference, the purpose of each method, skills and know which methods, skills are used in the appropriate time “.
After one segment of piloting participatory method in the school, the students were more excited with the learning, understood lessons more quickly and more important they active “participated” in activities of the school, not only in learning but also in building a friendly environment.
Some pictures on the training vizualization:
