It is nature that brings me to meet with Darren.
We were being invited by Rachel Ong (Member of the Parliament of West Coast GRC for Telok Blangah) to share about nature from an educational point of view.
In her opinion, to increase Singaporeans’ appreciation and wonder for nature, one of her proposals is “active education in public schools, which should arrange regular immersive experiences, not just occasional excursions to nature reserves, or classroom lessons on nature and biodiversity.”
That was our lunch meeting agenda, to discuss with Nature-minded personal to appreciate nature.
Darren is the principal of Forest School Singapore. He was sharing his story about Forest School activities at Dairy Farm Nature Park. I told him that I met one group of children at Dairy Farm last month. I admired how the coach handled the group of children while spotting the wild animal.
Darren looked at me. He opened his phone and looked at the video that he recorded. He showed it to me and asked me, were you the photographer that alerted the group about the wild animal?
Surprised… yes that’s me.
We met before in the forest sitting next to each other during our discussion about nature.
Here is our talk with him about Forest School.
How is the Forest School Singapore started?
Darren is an avid lover of the forest school ideology. But to fully comprehend the beauty and impact of forest school. One has to look beyond the tip of the iceberg… and dwell deep into the philosophy and purpose of the form of education.
His experience in the humanitarian and education field taught me that education only serves its true purpose when it helps the people of the land live on their land.
In 2016, he decided to take a trip to UK to attend Archimedes Forest School Education Practitioner Level 3 Training, to get certification and to really understand further what is forest school.
That’s how it started, He chose to live a life of dreams and aspiration. “One man can’t change the world, but I can try”.
How do you recruit your team (coaches), and how do you train yourself and the team?
The team started with a few close ex-colleague and friends from my previous projects and work. The heart was at the core of the recruitment. Many of us have our personal stories and struggles through this journey together. Friendship and a sense of purpose was the foundational energy that drives everyone. We endeavour to recruit people of different perspective and belief system, giving the village that raises a child a wider range of personality that could support each other better.
Based on the above, We have a low barrier of entry for our coaches. But we do undergo an evolving training journey, where each individual embarks on a various channel of training, not isolated to just the practice of FSS. Of course, we do have basic safety and awareness training that cements the foundational skills of the coaches in FSS. The most important learning comes from the on-job experience.
Have you encountered a difficult situation along your journey?
Yes definitely. Think the greatest challenge is the urban and goal-driven mindset that we struggle to balance with. Personally, there was a lot of self-doubts and a sense of wanting to give up and just fit back in.
What’s the memorable moment along your journey?
I would say the moment when an 8 years old child from a prototype fs session in 2016 sharing in a debrief that “The FS session she attended was the first time she experiences freedom”. This moment spurred me on, and show the importance of our work of Nature and Education
There is no lesson plan at the Forest School Singapore. The children, aged three to eleven, decide what they want to do and where to roam.
Can you let us know about that concept as this a bit different from other educational institution?
The child-led and unstructured Forest School (FS) program is based on the trust that our children have the wisdom and love to lead their own experience. I think the mainstream system inherently distrust the children and think that they know lesser, which itself disempower the individual and dehumanises them many times. In an FS session, where freedom, choice and consequences are felt inexperience, children showcase their wisdom and build a sense of connection that is almost impossible to attain in the mainstream conditional approach in my view. As my sensei from Japan once said,
“The main objective of FS is to help bring people to a space between the earth and the stars.” Think this line caps it off well.
Handling children is not easy and have a big responsibility. How do you handle the children when meeting any wild animals?
Trust, Faith and Love. The basis behind working with children comes from a sense of love, trust and faith. That is not just in the program, but with the larger community and environment as well. With this powerful foundation, we go about our program, with the root to understand the wisdom that Nature shows, but also the flexibility and instinct to navigate the reality that Nature expresses in her danger and complexity.
We usually keep a distance from wild animals as do the animal to us. In a way, we take a cue from Nature herself in how to interact with her. Paying close attention to the clues and details is what we do to ensure we know what we need to do.
Can you tell about one of the milestone moment of Forest School?
It was ‘a case of the missing cracker’ story’, as the children with their mirage of personality were able to resolve a situation in the session without the usual reward/punishment model, but an empathy/understanding one. We were so proud of them.
The full story can be read from here
I read about an article related to Rifle Range Park closing down and many discussion between conservationists and educationists. What’s your view about Singapore as a City in Nature from an education point of view?
I personally feel that the tension is part of the growth. Going either way on the extreme will not serve anyone or Mother Nature well. When we understand that we are Nature. Then we can truly comprehend the notion of City in Nature. As the City is itself Nature too. In this sense, it is not the plans and activities that will bring us there, but the wisdom and connection that let us realise the balance state of Nature.
If you would like to find out more about Forest School Singapore, please click this link below:
https://forestschoolsingapore.com/
