Adventure High Philosophy

Our experiential program is based in research and current affairs that provide evidence that Western ways of living have lost the core skills that enable people to contribute actively to their communities, or even to support themselves as individuals. Increasingly, university programs in the West are having to add classes on basic skills like doing laundry and basic household repairs and maintenance as young adults have less and less knowledge about living independently. Increasingly, too, students in the west are unable to participate in activities related to living in families and communities, and unable to cook, sew, or attend to minor injuries in the home. Westerners are no longer able to read maps or navigate without assistance from Google. Young people in the West don’t possess the basic social skills to participate in a community and are more comfortable in a world with no human interaction. During the COVID and many environmental crises, individuals and families found themselves without the knowledge to find food locally, keep themselves warm, or make or fix things needed to keep their homes functional. As people know less about how to take care of themselves, they are also unable to provide services that are important to their communities. Westerners are primarily focused on getting jobs in service-related organizations that make profits for corporate shareholders by exploiting others, rather than creating value or supporting their communities and ensuring the well-being of society.

Bali continues to ensure that individuals learn and develop skills that contribute to individuals’ well-being and the welfare of communities, but that are also embedded in spirituality and culture that require individuals to respect and honour the environment, the community, and the spiritual world.

We therefore have an opportunity to teach Western (and remind local) students about the skills that provide the foundation for Balinese life that will: Enable Western (and local) students to gain skills that prepare them to contribute meaningfully in society (in Bali and abroad); Support the continuation of Balinese skills that maintain the culture of Bali and the identity and welfare of communities.

We identify 2 main categories of experiential learning that we focus on in BDS Adventure High: Life skills - including preparing for trips, navigation and orienteering, survival skills, endurance, trekking, camping, swimming, finding water and food, using plants as medicine, preserving and rehabilitating the local environment, disaster response, and respecting nature and cultural sites; and Vocational skills - including, but not limited to:

• Farming
• Building
• Sewing
• Cooking
• and preserving food
• Organizing and managing events
• Carving
• Painting/ drawing
• Dancing
• Music
• Weaving
• Metalwork
• Governance, community planning, and community decision-making

Bali Dharmada School philosophy

Bali Dharmada School is a land-based, experiential school. This means that we are fundamentally grounded in Bali and the ways of living and being in Bali. We learn from and learn to support and give back to Bali in everything we do. We don’t just learn about Bali, but we actively learn through practical, hands-on activities.

At Bali Dharmada School we believe that each student needs to be engaged and supported in ways that make them competent and needed. Research shows that children and adults who feel needed and know that they are accepted and belong experience less anxiety and feel a greater sense of confidence and happiness. This means that we keep our class sizes small (maximum 12 students per grade/class) to ensure that each child’s interests and strengths have a chance to be seen and given space to grow and shine. Where possible, we mix classes and ages to ensure that students are able to work with, listen to and help community members, no matter how young or old. We seek and admit students who wish to actively participate in a community of caring and enthusiastic learners, who are excited to get involved with and to commit to supporting each other’s learning.

At Bali Dharmada School students help grow their own food sustainably and use the ingredients we harvest to prepare delicious meals. We learn to farm, cook, build, sew, and fix. We learn not only about the world-leading technological irrigation and water sharing system that is the Subak, but work with the Kelian Subak (the head of all farming activities in the village) to ensure that we use water responsibly and plant crops that help support others in the village. We learn math by working with master builders to measure building materials that we use to build learning and play structures. We learn physics and design by working with community leaders to build ogoh-ogoh with the other children in the village. We learn chemistry by working with master cooks to prepare delicious meals. Working with experts and using appropriate tools, getting our hands and feet dirty every day, and working up a sweat, we put learning into action; respectfully, responsibly and sustainably.

We learn to sing and dance. We learn to help and to take other people’s needs into account, and to be kind, considerate and respectful. We learn to play, laugh and take care of one another. We are plastic-free and plant-based. We constantly seek to learn and grow, and are willing to change our behaviour to make the world better. Every day, we aim to lower our environmental footprint and to increase our positive social and environmental impact. We fundamentally respect diversity, and actively work to lift up all people who have been disadvantaged, overlooked, ignored and oppressed. We learn about creating a better world by actually creating a better way of living in everything we do.