Some lessons aren't in the curriculum.
Some growth can't be measured by scores.
And our teachers—they're learning how to plant a seed that knows how to wait.
This time, four of us teachers left the classroom for two weeks.
Not for a vacation,
not to earn a certificate.
But to walk a path where we could relearn how to teach.
Week One: We went to National Chengchi University.
The classes there were unlike any we’d had before—no exams, no standard answers.
A lecturer from the Netherlands, speaking slow and gentle English, shared the spirit of the Jena Plan.
What is “dialogue”? What is “collaboration”?
These weren’t just theories—we had to think for ourselves,
to figure them out together through conversation.
Sometimes, we fell into silence—
not because we didn’t understand,
but because we started to wonder:
In all these years of teaching… have we truly “seen” the children?
Week Two: We visited an elementary school in Miaoli.
The air felt different there. The children were different too.
In their camp, they ran, played, collaborated, and discussed.
We stood on the sidelines—observing, learning, and slowly, joining in.
We discovered that a classroom could be anywhere—
on a playground, under a tree, even while pitching a tent.
It wasn’t easy.
Lesson plans were revised again and again.
Activities were tested and practiced, over and over.
But we all shared a quiet belief:
Education shouldn’t just teach knowledge.
It should walk beside children,
helping them, step by step, learn how to live.
Some might ask: Does this really work?
All we can say is:
The children’s laughter didn’t lie.
They were joyful, focused, self-driven.
They were being exactly who they are.
And in that process,
we teachers found ourselves again—
and remembered why we chose to become teachers.
