TONG-LEN
School
The Tong-Len school is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Himachal Pradesh. It first opened in August 2017 and is semi-residential. It provides education to about 300 students, both boarders and day students. The school offers classes ranging from Kindergarten to Secondary education.
Our aim is to enable our students achieve their full potential
5 Dimensions
— EDUCATION IN 5 DIMENSIONS
Holistic
Child Development
Since its inception, Tong-Len has focused on improving the lives of slum communities by educating the younger generation. Holistic teaching philosophy is that education is not complete if it is purely academic. While academic education is vital, the Tong-Len School also focuses on other aspects of child development through its 5 dimensional programme
methods of Learning
In addition to learning through direct instruction from teachers, our students are given opportunities for exploration, creativity and innovation.
Exploration involved practical, hand-on learning. Children have an innate curiosity that explorative learning can nurture. This leads to better understanding and sharpens critical thinking. Through self-exploration studetns discover their own strengths and weaknesses.
Giving the children the opportunities to put their own knowledge into practice develops creativity and leads to innovation. It also improves their outlook on the world and the approaches they take to problem solving. Children have great imagination and easily form new conceptions. They are taught about the principles of maximisation, a style of decision making characterised by seeking the best option through a search of alternatives. This is of particular importance in times of scarce resources and is a key skill in making choices.
The older students learn about the use of social media and videography. They are also given experience in interviewing, writing and editing skills.
— pedagogical model
our
Teaching Model
A model for teaching
The pedagogical model recognises that teaching practice is the main contributor to improved student learning outcomes. It describes what effective teachers do in their classrooms to engage students in intellectually challenging work. It helps teachers, students and guardians to work together in strong, effective learning communities that create and sustain better outcomes for students. It opens discussions in order to find out what children do and do not like in their teaching experience, and logical reasons are chosen. It welcomes feedback and encourages teachers to continually strive to improve.
At the Tong-Len School, this model is used in three key ways:
- Received Knowledge: from teaching, experience and exploration
- Critical Insight: research and investigation of knowledge, analysis
- Embodied Understanding: in practical application
1
Received Knowledge
In 5th Class, a cultivation project was used to teach children about kindness. Teachers drew parallels between the cultivation of a seed and the cultivation of kindness. This symbolism was used to explain that just as a seed does not grow without efforts to cultivate it, neither does kindness.
2
Critical Insight
Children learn better by exploring things, rather than solely being instructed. So a trip was taken to the greenhouse to plant seeds in order to make the concept of cultivation tangible and visible to them. Children explored the needs of the flower to flourish and were then taught about what they can do in order to cultivate kindness within their lives. This included being having selfless motives, good intentions and understanding the needs of others.
3
Embodied Understanding
Through continued assessment the re-visiting of concepts, teachers can understand if knowledge has been embodied. Learning evaluations are carried out at the Tong-Len School, and results have found that most students showed clarity of concepts as well as depth of understanding. Children were able to recall the concepts taught to them in class, and reflect upon the application of lessons in their daily lives.
Developing Career and Life Skills
Through developing expertise in STEM area, our studetns develop life skills that are essential in their future careers and in their day to day lives. They engage in hands-on activities in the science laboratory where they have the opportunity to use small machines, power motors and other equpment. They also learn about robotics through lessons on computer coding.
A key area of focus is on the environmental re-use of materials, particularly recycling and upcycling. The students observe the different stages of the production process and see how assembly from different sources can produce a single useful product. This type of learning benefits both academic students and those with a more practical aptitude. They are all given the opportunity to develop and apply skills useful in their individual situations.
A Message from Tong-Len’s Founder and Director
The name Tong-Len comes from the Tibetan words meaning ‘give’ and ‘take’, the idea being that through compassion, one shares the suffering and pain of others whilst simultaneously given our love and kindness. Tong-Len’s guiding principle is ‘Compassion in Action’.
Through our educational and other projects, we work towards the alleviation of poverty and suffering. As part of this vision, we want to give every child from poor and disadvantaged communities the opportunity to benefit from the education provided at the Tong-Len School.
Jamyang
Refugee Tibetan Monk
ADMISSIONS
— becoming a student at tong len school
Enrolment
We have many years of educational experience. We offer children from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to learn. The school is fully registered by the Department of Elementary Education.
We have a policy of no tuition fees for children of disadvantaged backgrounds. Applications can be made by completing an admission form. For more information contact school@tong-len.org or info@tong-len.org.
Office
Tong-Len School
C/o Tong-Len Charitable Trust,
Upmuhal, Dharamshala,
Himachal Pradesh
176215, India
Office
Tong-Len School
C/o Tong-Len Charitable Trust,
Upmuhal, Dharamshala,
Himachal Pradesh
176215, India