The Agile Manifesto for Education
We are uncovering better ways of developing people by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Functional, useful capabilities over comprehensive documentation
Collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
Executive Summary
Bubble Language School strives to provide equal opportunities for education to all students, regardless of their family’s income level, socioeconomic bracket, or geographical location.
Providing and facilitating these opportunities requires a multifaceted approach which includes, but is not limited to, long-term coaching and mentoring, in-person English programs at the temple and non-tuition-based community schools, and practical, skills-based digital literacy to inspire curiosity, creativity, and autodidactism.
This document will serve as:
(a) a memorandum of understanding,
(b) a historical record of accomplishments towards these goals,
(c) accounting and allocation reporting, and (d) scope.
Our Values
International Bubble Education (IBE) is committed to building better students.
We teach the top to teach the rest. If the right person is given the right opportunities and guidance, there’s no limit to what they can achieve.
We aim to coach and mentor people in any skill through interaction and tutorship with our teachers. There are many who can learn on their own, and then there is a larger group who will always need a little help.
We teach English, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese.
We are accredited by the Ministry of Education of Thailand as a language institute.
Our goal is to build better students by:
- Teaching them how to learn smarter
- Teaching necessary skills and enabling practice
- Aiding in goal setting/achieving
- Creating accountability
Better students = better global citizens = better people
Who Do We Teach?
We teach individuals or groups who desire to learn more, improve their skills, and have a better life.
- Young learners
- Elementary Grade 1-5
- Middle Grades 6-8
- High School Grades 9-12
- College/University students (Bachelor’s / Master’s / Doctorate)
- Industry professionals: business, science, law, the arts, and medicine
- Individuals or groups who want to improve any mental or physical skills
Anyone.
“Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
-Albert Einstein
Philanthropic Efforts and a Little History
In Bangkok 15′, with 4 students we noticed a certain trend, the students didn’t know how to help themselves.
They were hiring private tutors to help them develop skills that could quite honestly, be built with simple Google searches and a little dedication.
It’s 2022 now and over the years, we’ve identified one part of the root cause: students in public schools weren’t and aren’t being taught how to use free online tools.
In January of 2018, our team began searching for and contacting schools in the local area to propose a regular weekly program focused on English communication, Google tools, and team-building. We were successful and entered into working relationships with two schools: Wat Rat Satthatham School and Wat Pak Bor Foundation School.
The first is a public school on government funding and the latter was started by a monk with 10 students.
After roughly ten years, there are now 1,001 students.
These students pay little to nothing to attend school.
The English teachers there do have a hard time communicating in English and ICT (Information, Communications, and Technology) program doesn’t exist.
As of May 2018, we have been teaching weekly programs in our now 2nd rotation of 20 students at each school. The first group now studies on a weekly basis at our language institute, International Bubble Education (IBE). We have impacted over 60 lives.
As of 2022, our language institute has adopted the following model: teach the top to teach the rest. 95% of our working hours are dedicated to helping people customize their learning. The remaining 5% of our time is spent volunteering.
We develop new and improved rationale/methodology, and set up programs to teach the students
(a) basic English communication skills,
(b) learning how to learn, and
(c) how to find information.
Ideally, we would like to work with experienced, international, and well-educated individuals who are interested in making a difference.
With this approach, a few key points are addressed. People rarely volunteer on their own accord. It’s only when a person can witness a student exclaim in wonder at a simple satellite image shown on Google Maps that the person realizes what’s taken for granted by us, is sometimes unknown to others. In building the network, it is our dream and mission to create sustainable, long-term programs. The short-term scope is that in Thailand, an international school teacher will teach a private class for less than 20 USD/hour. We’ll raise the funds, pitch the teacher, set up the programs, and create impact. Long term, these students can hopefully one day learn faster than their environment permits, and local teachers collaborate with us to build better programs and methodologies.
All funds received are updated on an open-link Google Sheet form.
First, we cover the schools that are currently working with us. Afterward, we branch out to other local schools in the area and hopefully spread the idea.
Week-by-week, we track lesson plans and the program via Google Docs (open-link as well).
In 2019, IBE began teaching six hours a week to 180 students at Wat Bak Por Foundation School, a temple school located in the On Nut area. Each class comprises of 30 students; three classes are for first graders and three classes are for fourth graders.
Our teachers teach the fundamentals of English communication, Google tools, and positive reinforcement to the students once a week for an hour at a time.
At first, we had to curb negative reinforcement diplomatically until the teachers at WBPFS realized that through truly engaging with the students in the target language and offering real rewards in terms of human compassion and understanding, the students performed significantly better.
As our teachers come from a variety of backgrounds, as they teach a wide range of students throughout Bangkok from every walk of life, they improve themselves by perceiving insights into the minds of the young, old, the rich, the poor, and the artists, and the logicians.
When a person can catch a glimpse into how people live their day-to-day lives, and build frames of reference by interacting, engaging with, and analyzing how people function, wisdom is gained.
A teacher who walks into a room filled with 30 students is presented with a clean slate: a chance to do good in this world through creating memories in the minds of their students. These memories and this impact have truly unknown implications throughout the rest of their lives.
In the third quarter of 2019, IBE will begin teaching the teachers of WBPFS in hopes of increasing collaboration between the upper echelons of society and the rest of the population. Citizens can be aware of what is happening in their countries, but until they see it with their own eyes, action is limited. Even once that is achieved, there are plenty of milestones to pass.
Bubble Language School
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of schools nationwide between the months of March 2020 to July 2020.
In April of 2020, IBE in collaboration with WPB began weekly one-hour, online English tutoring classes for four WPB students on a scholarship basis funded by CKE Engineering Co. LTD (weekly one-hour tutoring classes for 52 weeks). As of July 12th, 2020 the weekly sessions continue, focused on English articulation, knowledge from sources in English, and digital literacy with the prospect of two more students added to the scholarship group.
As of 2022, the time this article is published, a Bubble Language School teacher devotes five percent of their workweek to both scholarship students and English classes for WPB students in the English homeroom in addition to any administrative or preparatory work.