Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand and a city that is rich with culture and traditions. During the full moon of the 12th month of the Thai Lunar calendar there are two festivals that are celebrated. Loy Krathong, which traditionally sends floating lanterns into the river and Yi Peng, which sees sky lanterns being released into the sky. When I booked my time in Chiang Mai I was unaware of these festivals, but shortly before my stay I was informed that my visit would overlap with these festivals. I had some time to research them both a little further, which only served to excite me more. Loy Krathong and Yi Peng are celebrated over three days, the first being mostly opening ceremonies. The second and third days are when the lanterns (both river and sky) are sent off.
On the second day of Loy Krathong I was able to purchase a krathong, light the candle and incense and send it off down the river. The krathongs are made up of biodegradable materials. It was such a neat experience to see the excitement of everyone in attendance, and so beautiful to see all the lanterns floating down the river.
The third and final day of the Yi Peng festival I was able to witness the sky lanterns being released. Something I did not know about these sky lanterns is that they are actually quite large and require multiple people to send them off. At least one person (more is better) needs to hold the paper lantern piece up while another person lights the ring in the middle. Eventually the paper part of the lantern will expand as the flame gets going, but they still need to be held up for quite some time before the will float away. Multiple people around the lantern had to hold it in place and wait. It was so interesting to watch different groups and the techniques that they would use to send off their lanterns. I found the whole event very touching, as different groups came together, each releasing a lantern into the sky, creating a beautiful sight for everyone present.
Like the lighting of sky lanterns, teaching involves many people. For a student to really soar, they need the support of multiple people. Parents working in partnership with the teachers, along with the many other influences (admin, educational assistants, custodians, etc) that effect a child are vital to a student's success. Ultimately a student is sent off and given ownership of their own learning and life. Zhang (2011) discusses this in their article "Sustaining Knowledge Building as a Principle-Based Innovation at an Elementary School". Addressing what happens when students are given ownership of their own success Zhang states "[Teachers] trust that children can take on a high-level of responsibility in the classroom, including responsibility for generating meaningful questions and themes to deepen inquiry; for contributing and collaboratively improving their ideas; and for reflecting on and improving their thinking, participation, and collaboration." (p. 286). With a supportive learning environment and people to care for and believe in students, they are really able to do amazing things.
Reference:
Zhang, J. (2011). Sustaining Knowledge Building as a
Principle-Based Innovation at an Elementary School. The Journal of the Learning
Sciences, 20(2), 262–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2011.528317
No comments:
Post a Comment