Book Review: Powdyel, T.S. My Green School: An Outline; 2020; ISBN-13: 979-8677417979

Abstract

The Green School—An outline reflects on the author’s vision of a holistic approach to the education system as a leading arrow for human beings and social prosperity. It is a needed book, an education of choice, conviction, and passion by Thakur S. Powdyel, former Minister of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan a long with several studies in terms of reflections on Gross National Happiness in the education context and globalization, and context of development. Thus, Powdyel’s Green School conducts all the fundamentals as well as many other crucial aspects related to greenery concepts in the entire school as a whole-green school approach for future education.

In the third decade of the 21st century, the world faces the two largest challenges impacting the existence of human beings, including the COVID-19 pandemic and global climate change. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not seem to be an effective measurement of a country’s health due to the fact that it does not discourage environmental destruction. The limitation of GDP means that an alternative, more measured approach to the global economy is needed, such as a measurement of happiness index, like the annual World Happiness Report, which counters Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness [1]. In Bhutan, the Gross National Happiness (GNH) has been adopted for a new vision of progress. GNH is more important than GDP (H.M. King IV of Bhutan—Jigme Singye Wangchuck), having been launched by Bhutan’s 2008 constitution that determined the government’s role as being to “ensure peace, security, well-being, and happiness of the people” [2]. In the nine domains of GNH, education is one critical factor in responding to the four pillars of Bhutan’s development philosophy. In a decade of implementing the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Bhutan is one of a few countries worldwide using the whole-school approach for a high level of education for sustainable development (ESD) [3]. The Green Schools for Green Bhutan program is a part of the Ministry of Education’s nationwide reform initiative, Education for Gross National Happiness, which was adopted in 2009. The Green School—An Outline, indeed, aims to reflect on the author’s vision of a holistic approach to the education system as a leading force for human beings and social prosperity that contributes to Bhutan becoming a frontier country implementing the whole-institution approach to ESD in the global context.

The Green School is a needed book on education of choice, conviction, and passion by Thakur S. Powdyel, former Minister of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan. Along with several studies in terms of reflections on Gross National Happiness in the education context and globalization, as well as the context of development, Powdyel’s Green School describes all the fundamentals, as well as many other crucial aspects related to greenery concepts in the entire school, as a whole-green-school approach for future education. This approach responds comprehensively to 17 SDGs on school improvements.

Before discussing the limitations of the book, it is critical to look at the title, simply “A green school”. While other books have sub-titles to narrow their coverage, this title suggests the breadth and depth of the book, with a green scene of a school mirroring a sustainable society in the Jewel of the Himalayas. Indeed, the book offers a clear and specific definition of the eight components of greenery.

The book starts with a broad introduction to the “tree” symbol as a metaphor for a complicated life, and learning activities as the “tree of life” and “tree of learning”. My Green School thus reflects the entirety of school life in eight dimensions, including drawing the colors of life as natural greenery; telling a story about living together and learning together as social greenery; lighting a pathway towards improving school culture as the way we are, cultural greenery; mind cultivation in the mind of a school as intellectual greenery; the fun of learning in schools as academic greenery; the matter of taste as aesthetic greenery; entering the temple of the soul as spiritual greenery; and, finally, the question of right and wrong as moral greenery. It can be noticed that the greenary dimensions correspond to the 17 SDGs comprehensively: national greenery corresponds to SDG 6—clean water and sanitation, SDG 7—afforable and clean energy, SDG 14—life below water, and SDG 15—life on land; social greenery correspondsto SDG 1—no poverty, SDG 2—no hunger, SDG 3—good health and well-being, SDG 4—quality education, SDG 5—gender equality; SDG 10—reduced inequity, SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities, and SDG 13—climate action; cultural greenery reflects SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities, SDG 12—responsible consumption and production, SDG 16—peace, justice, and strong institution, and SDG 17—partnership for the goals; intellectural greenery corresponds to SDG 3—good health and well-being, SDG 4—quality education; SGD 8—decent work and economic growth, SDG 9—industry, innovation, and infrastruture, and SDG 13—climate action; aesthetic greenery corresponds to SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities; spiritual greenery corresponds to SDG 3—good health and well-being and SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities; and moral greenery corresponds to to SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities and SDG 16—peace, justice, and strong institution.

One of the dominant highlights of the book is that it offers a clear definition of a green school, with eight components covering all the aspects of schooling and reflecting on all aspects of life and society. Strongly disagreeing with the existing definition in the context of peaceful and Buddhist education, Powdyel critically analyzes more than his own definition, which is nurturing, in the direction of GNH. He declares that a green school is not just about the environment; it is a philosophy, and we are trying to develop green minds, which are flexible and open to different types of learning. This is a values-led approach to education that stems from the belief that education should be more than academic attainment; it should be about expanding children’s minds and teaching them what it is to be human [4].

“The green school concept has also become an integral part of a performance management system, the goal being the boosting of school performance and the delivery of quality education […], has included a nationwide teacher-training initiative translating the principles of green schools into practice” (see, as an example, Salmon [3]).

While some readers may find the narrowing of the definition restrictive, such specificity is, in fact, much needed to avoid discussing different purpose, especially the purposes of studies on green finance, taxation, and well-managed society with economic pillars, as is referred to as the spirit of green by Nordhaus [5].

A second strength of the book characterizes the field of education as the “sector noble”. Powdyel states that “In the context of education, green is the necessary orientation of our mind, our heart, and our hands as we engage them in the cultivation of the useful and the graceful, the true and the good, the enlightening and the uplifting”; therefore, “Green is a color. It is the primary color of Nature. But it is also a metaphor. Green stands for anything and everything that supports and sustains life in all its varied forms” [4]. Influenced by Johann Pestalozzi, whom some consider as the “father of modern pedagogy”, the author sees education as a means to provide young boys and girls with a crucial balance of three fundamental aspects: head (cognitive development), heart (emotional development), and hands (physical development) [3]. For example, he also mentions that “Education has the rare distinction of being called the Noble Sector of public service because seats of learning have long had as their primary mission the cultivation of the nobility of mind, heart and hands” [4].

Other books on green schools or those written about green concepts in an education context under the umbrella of capitalism partially cover schooling activities. Such research has been following a dominant global trend navigating education with individual success and personal achievements in terms of social position, as well as short-term economic benefits, in mind [6]. Furthermore, the development of education systems has become obsessed with outcomes and achievement, and the human capital model has been adopted in order to ensure the economic function of education systems.

This is not a book about life and death, war and peace, technology and the Internet, kings and countries, men and women, mountains, or valleys. Rather, the book is about a vision for a good education system “When such a graduate enters the larger society, he or she should be able to release much goodwill and positive energy and make the society and the world a better place to live in” (p. 7) [4]. It seems to be a vision of timelessness and the wonders of modernity (p. 99) [4].

Green is not only a color, but also, more importantly, it is an allegory for anything and everything that supports and sustains the development of society. He states that “Green is a color […]. It is an orientation, attitude and outlook. Green is pro-Life. Green is Life” (p. 82) [4]. The enduring goal of a green school model of education is to achieve balancing-integrated, harmonious individuals, nature, and society, and ultimately to help create a better world for all.

Furthermore, the author uses metaphors for topics like “my green school, the colors of life, living together, the way we are, the mind of my school” to illustrate the core mandates of what makes a good education system. It is known that natural aspects, social aspects, cultural aspects, and intellectual aspects of the daily individual needs in society should be met in classroom learning activities. Moreover, the strength of these concepts is also reflected in the educational reforms that emphasize ecology literacy, the practice of profound culture, an universal understanding of the earth, and real care [6].

The topic “learning is fun”, or, as the author called it, “Academic Greenery”, positively affects schooling through teaching and learning activities [4]. It is important to make learning and school a fun-filled environment and promote a life-long learning journey. It transforms each school day into a happy day for all students. For example, the academically green school uses various teaching strategies to break the monotony of today’s education, which suffers from “the narration sickness”, which is characterized through the “banking” method of receiving, memorizing, and repeating knowledge in the learning process, as mentioned by Freire [7].

Anther strength of spiritual and moral greenery is that a spiritually green school ensures the practice of mindfulness due to “our children and youth, need the peace of quiet moments the blessings of silence, the aid of the divine, to be fuller purer stronger”, and learners should learn how to uphold moral values to create better societies and countries. The author argues that “education is essentially a process that gently draws the human mind to look for and to love what is true and good and beautiful” (p. 86) [4]. Additionally, an aesthetically green school enables children to discover their talents and aesthetic sensibilities actively and appreciatively. This opinion is opposed to the modern education system, characterized by passive transmission of knowledge to students, which is known as “banking education” and is referred to by Freire [7].

The book is not only informative, it is also fruit for thought. The book is a modern manifesto of a modest 13,000 words or so, consisting of “an outline”; however its scope of effect is ambitious, with universal resonance for readers around the globe [4]. Beyond the sections are concerns about the politics of green concepts and their political, economic, social, and cultural influence. It intends for students, teachers, policy makers, researchers, journalists, and even other citizens to obtain the benefits from their schooling lives. Furthermore, it provides a beautiful way for the readers to think and act more sustainably in all aspects of the life and society. The expansion of concepts is provided to the readers to improve their linguistics and education. The reader will see pure idealism in the green concepts approach with eight dimensions. Moreover, the book opens readers’ minds to rethinking the prior role of the GDP in measuring the health of a nation, and describes the new frontier of academic functions at the national and institutional levels so that they can learn from Bhutan’s GNH context. Finally, by “building every school a Green School so that Education becomes a Noble Sector”, it considers that without education, growth is nonexistent, so green education should be the first priority for each person, family, nation, and the globe for a sustainable future. All ecological, social, cultural, ethical, spiritual, psychological, organizational, and pedagogical aspects will provide a new viewpoint on the western-dominant paradigms of the education system, and the quality of education systems will be improved by green schools, thus making the society and the world a better place to live (pp. 99–106) [4].

Returning to the point about the book’s international importance

The book is extremely useful not only for present times, characterized by global challenges for the existence of humankind, but also for the future, characterized by uncertainty. It is worthy, thus, to learn to experience life with education that comes only at the price of massive individual sacrifices.

This book is an international manifesto for a school of ecology aiming to impact the development of children in the world, so it should be reach out the young generations as much as possible. Therefore, the book plays an important role in transferring the green concepts to the teachers, and the learners will become the future leaders of the world to rebuild a greener and more peaceful globe.

The book deals with novel concepts reflecting theoretical issues and practices, and it will encourage students, teachers, policy makers, and researchers to think deeply and broadly. It uses the entire-institutional approach in terms of green definitions of the indicators measuring the happiness of a person, a learning family, a community, and a country. Throughout eight greenery dimensions, the readers learn about the taxonomy of privilege, namely, “The Sherig Mandala”, which is a good starting point for readers (p. 33) [4]. It indeed provides a beautiful way for the readers to think about greener actions in all aspects of life and society.

However, the book has reflections on each section of greenery, which will overcontrol the food for thought for readers and confuse potential readers regarding how to implement the novel theory of greenery with the whole-school approach. It covers all sides in terms of schooling activities and reflects on the inequality and injustice of society. Furthermore, the rhymes, metaphors, and other linguistic devices conveyed in the book will challenge marginalized and disabled readers with limitations to their literacy.

The book reflects the adoption of greenery characteristics into schooling activities in each specific school context. As a result, the governments partnered with the UNICEF Bhutan to help roll out the green school initiative and embrace a national teacher-training initiative, putting the principles of green schools into practice [3].

Powdyel’s intentions in this book involved the greenery values. He stated that “our schools and institutions across the country inculcate and imbibe the values of a Green School” [4]. Moreover, occupational greenery and digital greenery are suggested as other, equally important aspects that a green school must accommodate (p. 81). Green schools provide hope for future students, who will participate in the international environment with greenery values and, thus, create a better society and a better world. The green school program is a journey to achieving a green country, with all the various green dimensions highlighted in the elite taxonomy. The author is looking forward to seeing the country adopt these practices, and stated that “It will be the true home of Gross National Happiness” (p. 82) [4].

With this definition in mind, it should be noted that, while this book review article is not exhaustive in terms of the green concept and the theories involved, it does draw from a typical example, and provides a conceptual background for the notion of green schools and green universities.

My Green School is translated into eighteen languages, like Spanish, Catalan, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese, and translations into several other languages are underway. Therefore, the practices of green schools can be globally integrated to create a better future that is more thoughtful, and aligned with sustainable development. With versions in Asian languages such as Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese, the book is considered as a framework for adopting educational policies and administrations involving ESD in Asia-Pacific countries, which are destinations of cultural interference and central points of global economic development in the 21st century, as well as those impacted the most seriously in terms of climate change.