Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand Oct / Nov 2017: The Travel Issue | Page 46

Kids & Education
assessments from leading agencies in
the field, such as Horizon Unlimited
and Clearpath. These are communi-
cated continually during safety brief-
ings, parent assemblies and other
regular communication.
Wilderness, of course, contains un-
scripted moments — that’s sort of the
point. And, when in Thailand, one rea-
sonable worry is the possibility of run-
ning into reptiles when the students
are out in the wild. But creatures and
critters such as snakes have not limit-
ed the development of ISB’s outdoor
program. On the contrary: They are a
natural part of the education.
After all, a crucial part of outdoor
education is learning how to be-
have in the ecosystems one visits.
“We know that snakes are general-
ly not attracted to people,” Bowyer
says. “So understanding how to
46 WANDERLUST
move around
in these ar-
eas is more
important
than wor-
rying about
the animals
themselves.”
ISB calibrates its
wilderness activities
to be vehicles for
transferable learning.
A FUN
COLLECTION
OF EXPERIENCES
Student groups have already visit-
ed the area near Petchaburi and re-
turned. They have brought with them
lots of positive feedback. Says Uno,
an eighth-grader at ISB: “I appreci-
ated a chance to be disconnected
from the world and to just enjoy the
surroundings — the mountains, the
wildlife and the lake.”
ISB Wild
Panthers
takes learners
through simple
navigation, hik-
ing on trails in
the areas, first-aid
and safety training,
wilderness commu-
nication, mapping and
compass navigations, GPS
navigation, rock-climbing and abseil-
ing, and kayaking and canoeing.
For eighth-graders, for example,
the school put into practice a search-
and-rescue scenario that required all
the outdoor skills to locate a person
who had “gone missing” from a ca-
noeing trip. Once the person is locat-
ed, students need to assess and solve
the problems presented and commu-
nicate those back to the rest of the