NHE Conference Taipei , Taiwan

Taiwan is right now in the season of hurricanes. When the hurricane comes, the government announces an emergency and everyone stays at home. And in Taiwan , a place where people work very hard and long hours, it becomes a welcomed extra holiday. This time the hurricane chose to come during our NHE conference, so two days became one day, and we tried to utilize this one day together as much as possible.

The morning workshop was given by Abha who is originally from the Philippines and has been living in Taiwan for the last three years. She has worked in the field of education for over twenty years. The workshop was called The Journey of Cultural Subjects towards a Universal Sentiment . She presented different materials that she has been developing over the past three years; she is influenced by the Montessori way of teaching and is combining ideas into new exciting material. One of her ideas is the timeline which gives the children an understanding of the relationships in time, place and person. It is one very long piece of paper that you spread out on the floor and the children are given cards to match different seasons, persons, dresses, and so it gives them a clear understanding of the relationships in time.

The afternoon followed with a class given by Yatindra, principal of the Sarkar school. The Sarkar School is our elementary school in the south of Taiwan . They have recently moved into a new place which is exceptionally beautiful with high quality and standards. The setting for the school is ideal, right close to nature with scope for many activities. Yatindra gave an interesting class about a practical approach to discipline and how to bring Yama and Niyama and discipline into the classroom. The day ended with a brainstorming session and discussions on how to continue communication between NHE educators in Taiwan .