This year, eleven Irish teachers travelled to Siem Reap as part of the Connect to Cambodia programme. Seven of the teachers will join SeeBeyondBorders between 26th July and 16th August to learn from and share experiences with Cambodian educators.
Miriam Judge is from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. She teaches in a special class for children with autism in Ballyhaunis Primary School, and wrote about her experience of the Connect to Cambodia programme.
Week two started with an unexpected public holiday, where some of the Connect participants took the opportunity to visit the Kulen Elephant Forest. The 1,100 acres of protected forest at Bos Thom, 40km from Siem Reap, is the home to the former elephants of Angkor. Here, these mighty animals live a comfortable retirement from providing rides to tourists, an activity which was ended by local authorities in 2019 for the welfare of the animals. This more natural habitat provides a fun, educational approach to elephant conservation, and it was great to see these amazing creatures up close and personal.
Communities of Practice: Sharing Expertise and Ideas
On Tuesday, the Connect teachers went to take part in the first of our workshops on Communities of Practice (COP), in newly established Teacher Development Centres in the districts of Srei Snam and Kralanh. In both districts, a room is dedicated to the Community of Practice – what we would call an Education Centre in Ireland. The space is used for sharing of ideas, practices, and resources, and is a gathering place for local principals and teachers from schools across the district. Seeing how difficult it was for the teaching community to meet and network, outside of occasional meetings in Phnom Penh, SeeBeyondBorders established these Communities of Practice in early 2024. This idea is considered quite radical for Cambodia, and is now in its seventh month of use in both districts.
In the Teacher Development Centre, the Connect teachers took part in workshops with teachers from Grades 1-3 in Kralanh, focusing on ‘Interactive Lesson Plans for Every Child’s Learning’ and ‘School Self Evaluation’. The workshops also focused on numeracy, and how to help all learners access the resources to improve learning, as well as how to assess each child is reaching their potential. The feedback from Cambodian and Irish teachers, translated both ways with the kind assistance of SeeBeyondBorders staff, was very positive.
"I was struck by how busy teacher’s days are. They work six days a week, with children are in school from 7am to 11am every morning. This is because the days are so hot during the midday period, and children are often required to help at home with farming or other chores."
Over the Connect visit, I was struck by how busy teacher’s days are. They work six days a week, with children are in school from 7am to 11am every morning. This is because the days are so hot during the midday period, and children are often required to help at home with farming or other chores. School then reopens for afternoons, where children have additional classes, but attendance can often be lower than the mornings. It has been really interesting seeing how factors like climate and economic circumstances can have a direct impact on education.
Engaging Local Leadership for Change
On Wednesday, the Connect group was joined in Srei Snam COP Centre by a member of the Ministry of Education from Phnom Penh. The objective of the day was to promote Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and to establish SeeBeyondBorders’ CDP training as a quality accredited course.
The session was delivered to principals from across Srei Snam District, and was focused on School Self Evaluation. This session was repeated on Friday for principals in Kralanh District.
After each workshop, we were invited by the local District Governors to join them for a reception in their offices. Both Governors had visited Dublin in April 2024 as part of the Connect to Ireland programme, and were delighted to welcome visitors from Ireland. We were so warmly received, and it was great to hear SBB staff and the local leaders discuss their ambition for improving education in the region.
Back to Where It All Began: Battambang
On Thursday, we went to a lotus and silk farm, which is a social enterprise just outside of Siem Reap. The lotus flower is sacred, and used for rituals in Buddhist temples and sacred spaces. The Lotus Farm have pioneered use of the product, to make sustainable textiles and crafts while also providing employment to vulnerable women in Cambodia for over twenty years. We took a boat tour through the lotus fields and had a workshop in cultivation of the flower, to make textiles and other crafts, which we got to take home with us.
Our second week was capped off with a trip to Battambang, where SeeBeyondBorders operations began in 2009, for the weekend. As I have been on the Connect programme last year, I was very excited to see the place I spent most of last summer, and to reconnect with the SeeBeyondBorders staff I met in Battambang.
A cultural weekend awaited, us as well as some more workshops with SeeBeyondBorders on Monday, but for the moment we were enjoying our time in this epic country.
