Moo Baan Dek is a living alternative education. Its environment is arranged to help children from even the most difficult backgrounds to learn to love themselves and society. The children learn from nature and their immediate environment. They grow up in a warm and loving atmosphere in which they find understanding and freedom plentiful. Their learning can take place at any corner of this natural school, 70% of which is covered with cultivable land and forest, and is not confined to small classrooms. They learn amongst themselves, with their teachers and with Mother Nature, and gain sufficient self-confidence and awareness before re-entering the wider community.
The school's underlying philosophy is very close to that of A.S. Neill's Summerhill School in England, although Buddhist elements are incorporated at Moo Ban Dek. Opposite to the prevailing thesis of Christianity in that time, Neill believed that children are born with good nature. Their behaviors are deviated as a result of their upbringing. Thus, their behavioral problems are not incurable, and the environment can be arranged in such a way that their suffering can be eased. The emphasis is given to creating a living atmosphere that nurtures the spirit, the creativity of children.
At Moo Baan Dek, children can choose whether or not to attend class or any activities. It is up to their readiness of which we believe is varied among different children. On the contrary, conventional education holds that every child is universal, and provides just a single competitive learning process. We do not force the children to attend class as we holds that it is their personal matter, and we do not punish them for the class absence because we interpret that learning can take place in every corner of the community including their play, not just in the classrooms. The communal way of living enables them to learn interactively their lives, and to solve problems in their daily living nonviolently. This is life education for children.
Teachers do not play a dominant role here. They are not authorized to force children to attend class, nor to threaten them in some other way. Their role is to increase learning motivation for children, and to let them decide on their own the subjects or the activities they like to pursue. This is based on the Buddhist teaching of "good friend" (Kalayanamitra). The teachers behave as good companions for children, and assist them without feeling the urge to suppress them.
But the freedom the students are provided should not infringe upon others' rights. This is what they learn through the system of School Council.
Another example of self-government is the assignment of children and adults of different ages and backgrounds to share the same houses. Both have to learn to adapt to each other, and collectively decide on domestic matters such the disbursement of monthly budget for food, house cleaning, making food, going to the garden, or even planting flowers around the houses. Altogether, there are 13 houses in the community.
Buddhism, besides giving an emphasis on self-training, mentions the importance of external environment (Paratokhosa). Moo Baan Dek tries to arrange for children to be exposed to good companions, and thus books, films, other kind of media are screened before the children's viewing.
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