発表内容

「世界の学校教育におけるインターネット活用」
新１００校プロジェクト　国際シンポジウム'98
国内の事例発表　小学校

An I*EARN Project

International School Bangkok　 Siriluck Hiri-O-Tappa

Abstract

The Indigenous Global Art Project is run through I*EARN (International Education and Resource Network). Its objective is to link indigenous students around the world in working together on projects. It includes art exchanges, writing and discussion. It allows non-indigenous students to contact indigenous communities for discussions and an exchange of information. All work done within the project is done with the consultation and approval of the indigenous communities involved.

Keywords

We don't need to have an access to a computer to open the world to children in remote areas. Communication used in the project includes the internet, electronic mail, usual mail, telephone and sometimes elephants.

How did I get started?

Having been an elementary Thai Language and Culture teacher at the International School Bangkok for 13 years, I consider myself very fortunate, It's a big school consisting of 2,000 students of 49 nationalities. Most of the teaching staff are Americans and the mixture of Canadians, British, Australians, Japaneses, Spanishs, Thais and a few other nationalities. The school really emphasizes the necessity to prepare the students with technology literacy for their future education and living. I have seen the students at school getting more and more acquainted to computer technology while I feel nervous every time I have to do something on a computer. Like many other middle-aged teachers, I'm scared of trying new technology. I use my computer mostly as a typewriter, let alone the internet and many other high-technology programs. I'm afraid that I'm going to ruin the machine or do something wrong and mess it up. However scared I am, I know that I can't run away from technology. On the contrary, it will become more and more important as a tool of education in all schools. The more I realize how important and meaningful computer technology is, the more I feel sorry for the majority of the Thai students who cannot afford such a wonderful tool of information and knowledge. I always look forward to an opportunity to do something with the Thai children so that they can benefit from this wonderful invention. I have to thank my school for allowing me to share their resources with the Karen students.

Three years ago the first opportunity for me to get involved in a global project came up when I was invited to attend the third Annual International Conference of I*EARN in Budapest, Hungary. The network was initiated by the Copen Foundation in the United States in 1988, with the aim of linking teachers and students globally through internet-based systems of partner telecommunications network in countries worldwide.
The overall focus of I*EARN is "mouth making a meaningful difference in the world" The network includes schools from over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, South America and Central America. At that time I didn't know even how to send an email but I was so impressed with many projects presented at the conference.
There were projects focused on a great variety of topics such as environment, humanity, literature, science, technology etc. Since my personal interest is culture and literature, one of the sessions that attracted me was "The First Peoples Project" a project decided to link students and teachers around the world via telecommunications (email and conferences/bulletin boards). The emphasis is on collaborative projects between schools in different countries.

The Indigenous Global Art Project

The idea for the Indigenous Global Art Exchange came from a discussion of teachers of indigenous students at the 1996 I*EARN International Conference.
Listening to all the ideas, I saw an opportunity to do something for the Karen" tribe in Thailand. "Karen" is one of the 6 hilltribe groups living along the north-western border between Thailand and Myanmar. The villages don't have power supply so there's absolutely no computer access. But I can travel to their school in the border area and use the computer at my school to communicate with the other participating schools.

I asked the project co-ordinators {Virginia King, Bairnsdale Secondary College (Australia) and Cathy Bullock, A:Shiwi Elementary School (U.S.A.)} whether I could participate in the Indigenous Global Art Project eventhough I don't directly work with indigenous students. Both of them not only made me feel very welcome but also guided me through the first year. Actually I found out that all the participating teachers are very helpful, caring and warmhearted. It's fantastic to find out that using technology is not always frightful. Technology can be a great tool to meet and know great people around the world.

Art Project Themes
	1996-7	:  Myself, My Family, My Culture
	1997-8	:  Traditional Stories
	1998-9	:  My Community - Past and Present

Processes

Participating students create art work in any medium on an agreed theme. In December each year each school sends a selection of their art work to each of the other participating schools. Each school then orginises its own Indigenous Global Art Exhibition. The project in Victoria, Australia is very well-supported by the community. They always have their Art Exhibition in the community Art Gallery with famous artists attending the opening ceremony.

Karen of Thailand

Let me first introduce to you the 2 groups of Karen in Thailand. There are at present 2 big groups of Karen living in Thai territory. The first group is the Karen people born in Thailand and have Thai nationality. They live in small villages along the border area. The other group is the Burmese Karen who ran away from the government attacks and stay in the refugee camps. The Burmese Karen in the camps attracts international attention and get food, medical, educational supports through foreign organizations. On the contrary, the Karen in the Thai villages have to struggle a lot for their living and they live way too deep in the forest to get proper care from the government. Because of the hardship they have to face, they have very low self-esteem. Through the Indigenous Global Project, we hope that they will learn about the other indigenous groups around the world. They can learn about the life and culture of the tribes. Without the magic of the Internet and technology, the Karen students will never know about the other indigenous students living around the world (many of them have never seen " city" at all).

How did I run the project with the "Karen"

Since the "Karen" live along the Thai-Burmese border, I have to travel at least 2-3 times each year to discuss the theme and the deadline of the year. And, of course, the project can't be successful without the help and support from the people living and working in the government offices up there. One of the neat things working on this project is to see many people from all walks of life offer themselves to help once they know what you are trying to do. Let me share with you a report I wrote to the coordinator after one of the trip to a Karen school. The trip to Umphangkee School is quite rough. It's a branch of a bigger school called Samakkee Witthaya School (about 12-14 km. away), so the only teacher (70 students) of Umphangkee School is under the supervision of the headmaster of Samakkee Witthaya School. The distance is not that far but it took us almost 2 hours in a four-wheel pickup truck. (I have to thank the director of Umphang Hospital for his generosity. Without the pickup and the great driver, we have to walk through the hills the way the Karen do or hire an elephant). We went through dirt roads (should I call it road? To me, it looks more like a wagon trail), dry field with tall grass and 11 rivers (I'm not sure how to call it, brooks? rocky bed rivers?). We were lucky that the river is low enough for the vehicle to go through orelse we had to wade through water ourselves. The village itself is clean and well self-supported eventhough there's no electricity. The school is located on the hill behind the village with a one-storey building for classrooms. The playground consists of a big tree and a swing....
After making many calls, making a few trips, sending many emails and usual mails, the art work from Karen students were sent to the participating schools while many beautiful pieces of indigenous art work arrived at my school. We arranged for the Art Exhibition in the ES and HS library for a month before sending them up to the Karen school. What a great opportunity for both indigenous and non-indigenous group to know more about each other art and culture.

The Humanitarian Project

As expected, the participating students were excited to see the work of the other students. They saw photographs of the people, the schools and the villages.
Unexpectedly, after seeing a video from Baan Nu-Se-Plo School of the Karen, the Koorie students of Bairnsdale Secondary College,Australia; the Zuni students of the A:Shiwi Elementary School, and the Chactaw students of the Chactaw Tribal School in U.S.A. asked their teachers whether they could arrange for a fund raising to do something to help the Karen students. One of the Zuni students said that they thought their life condition was the worst in the United States.
Now they realize that their life is much better than many other students living in the other part of the world. The most meaningful part for all the students who initiated the fund raising program is that their role of life is diverted from a receiver to a giver. This surely elevates their self-exteem. From the art exchange program, it led to the humanitarian project. With the money raised by the students of International School Bangkok, and the 3 participating schools, we bought a power generator and school supplies for the Karen students at Baan Nu-Se-Plo school in 1997. This year we raised money to hire a teacher assistant to help the only teacher of Umphangkee School so the school doesn't have to be closed when he is sick. Next year the Koorie students from Australia and the Elementary students of International School Bangkok plan to use the raised money to buy some playground equipments for Umphangkee School. When I went to deliver the power generator to Baan Nu-Se-Plo School, I took with me some video tapes on animals around the world. The headmaster said that he was impressed with the initiativeness of the indigenous students who live in the other part of the world to think about and care for a small group of children who live quietly in the forest area of Thailand. He borrowed a television set and a VCR from the military camp and we used the new power generator to show a video to the students. Standing in the playground on the hills, I heard the laughings of children coming out from the room and I told myself, "This is it! This is the reward that makes any teacher feel how precious the teaching profession can be.

It's the teachers who make all the projects successful. Computers and technology can be a great tool for children if teachers take action. You don't always have to be fully equipped with computers or to be a computer wizard to start a global project with your students. What you need is the desire to do it and you'll be surprised to see so many helping hands everywhere for you.

How to participate

The project is open to all school age indigenous students. Currently there are Koorie students from Australia, Karen students from Thailand, Kaurna and Narragun students from Australia, Mapuche students from Argentina and Native American students from USA. participating in the project.

	The WWW site for the Indigenous Global Art Project can be seen at
	http://www.peq.apc.org/~bairnssec/art/arthome.htm

	If you would like to join this project or want further information you
	email 	Virginia King <bairnssec@peg.apc.org>
	or	Cathy Bullock <cathy@arriba.nm.org>
	or	Siriluck  Hiri-O-Tappa <siriluch@isb.ac.th>

1998.6.15 Update