|
Tibet
Education Network (TEN) at Global Source
is a unique, independent educational outreach project that
fosters and supports the study of Tibet in elementary, secondary
and community-based education. Since 1994, TEN has been building
bridges between the world of education and the world of Tibet
and between classrooms and communities.
TEN helps
educators and students frame the study of Tibet to meet their
teaching and learning objectives, and works across disciplines,
standards, and settings. TEN approaches the study of Tibet
as model for global, social and cultural education, bridging
community and classroom with authentic voices from broad base
of source material representing multiple perspectives and
curricular avenues.
Through
teacher education programs and development of curricular,
resource, and library materials, TEN has served thousands
of educators in North America. TEN
works with a wide range of organizations
and institutions to create authentic, inclusive, and educational
programs of the highest quality. Our programs feature a myriad
of leaders, scholars, experts, tradition bearers and members
of local Tibetan communities. They provide participants with
an integrated and interdisciplinary series of curricular ideas,
a starter library of teaching materials, and a broad network
of resources. The work of TEN has been acclaimed by leading
scholars, expert, and practitioners in the fields of education
and Tibet. In 1998, Tibet Education Network received the Human
Rights Day Award from the Seattle Chapter of the United Nations
Association.
What's New
Where is the study of Tibet in your curriculum?
Interested in guided and independent study opportunities to grow and deepen your professional repertoire around the study of Tibet this summer?
Tap into the comprehensive professional and curricular resources of Tibet Education Network, and have access the largest library on the study of Tibet in K-12 education, right here on Bainbridge Island. This is an opportunity to custom shape a program to meet your professional needs, build knowledge, and gather resources in a supportive setting and take your curriculum to the next stage of development.
If you would like to learn more about this program, please
contact us or call (206) 780-5797.
--------------------------------
Teaching and Learning about The Panchen Lama
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (Ge-duun Cho-kee Nee-ma), born in Tibet on April 25, 1989. At the age of six, he became the world’s youngest political prisoner, and has not been seen nor heard from in public by the since. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was not been imprisoned for anything he had done, but because of who people believe him to be: The Panchen Lama of Tibet. This story is not only about the human rights of this one Tibetan. The case of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is about the future leadership and survival of his religion, Tibetan Buddhism. It is also about the larger conflict between two countries, Tibet and China, which have been immersed in a tragic struggle since China occupied Tibet in 1950. Today, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima would be 18 years old, and the same questions persist about his whereabouts and well being as did over a dozen years ago when he disappeared.
For those educators who would like to discuss the situation of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima with their students, attached is a short story about the life of Panchen Lama, originally written for FACES magazine in 1999, but hopefully still timely today. It was written for a middle school audience, but is age appropriate for late elementary and high school students. The story includes discussion questions and resources to learn more about the situation of the Panchen Lama’s and how to get involved.
The World's Youngest Political Prisoner (PDF)
--------------------------------
In Fall 2006, Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama, visited the University of Buffalo (NY). The school’s education department contacted Global Source to reprint some materials from the course handbook we developed for our 2001 National Summer Institute on “Tibet in K-12 Education: Landscapes and Lessons of Cultural Survival.” They connected our curricular frameworks to NY State Standards and posted the curricular materials on-line at NYLearns.org. (Make sure to search their site using key words: "Tibet", "Dalai Lama" or "Global Source".)
[Back to Top]
Special
Projects
North American Tibetan Community
Cultural Needs Assessment
Project
In 2001-2002, Tibet Education Network at Global Source partnered
with the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture (CTAC) on
a first of its kind research project titled
Cultural Survival: The Home-School Connection for Tibetan
Youth in North America: A Case Study on Education, Cultural
Identity and Community. Global Source Director,
Jon Garfunkel led the year long project and authored the report.
You will find the report on CTAC's website: www.TibetanCulture.org
[Back to Top]
Professional
Development
Since 1995, TEN has been developing a series of intensive
teacher education institutes and regional professional development
workshops across the US.
• Compassion
and Cultural Survival, TEN's First National Teacher
Institute on the Study of Tibet in K-12 Education, hosted
at the Year 2000 Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Tibetan Culture
Beyond the Land of Snows, Washington, DC
•
Landscapes
and Lessons of Cultural Survival, TEN's second Teacher
Institute on the Study of Tibet in K-12 Education, in New
York, NY
•
Tibet
and The Dalai Lama: Landscapes and Lessons of Cultural Survival,
A Special Workshop for Educators in Advance of the Dalai Lama's
visit to Portland, OR
•
Tibet
and The Dalai Lama: From the Real World to the Classroom,
A Special Workshop for Educators in Advance of the Dalai Lama's
visit to the Twin Cities, MN
•
Illuminating
the Buddhist Tradition, A Workshop for Educators on
Learning and Teaching about Buddhism.
Other TEN Programs
What Educators Are Saying About TEN
and Global Source Programs
[Back to Top]
Curriculum
and Resource Development
TEN has built a vast,
comprehensive collection of curricular, reference, and resource
materials for elementary and secondary study of Tibet, including
rare and out of print sources (the largest focused on K-12
education we know of).
TEN has also produced and published a number of handbooks,
starter libraries, lessons, and other curricular support material
for use in K-12 education.
•
Course Handbooks for TEN's Summer Teacher Institutes on
the Study of Tibet in K-12 Education.
Edited By Jon Garfunkel and Tibet Education Network. These
course handbooks have contained over 300 pages of material,
including curricular frameworks, suggested sources, age appropriate
readings, lessons, maps, and other support materials for developing
a unit of study on Tibet. This is TEN's most advanced curricular
resource, and has been called "...the
best resource for teaching about Tibet in existence!"
•
Approaching Tibetan Studies: A Resource Handbook
for Educators. Edited by Jon Garfunkel &
Tibet Education Network, 1998, 2001. Sixty pages of curricular
and resource materials produced to support K-12 educators.
Included in the Handbook: why teach & learn about Tibet, curricular
ideas for Tibetan studies, essential questions, maps, facts,
historical timeline, suggested bibliographies, videography,
resource information, on-line resources, and ideas for broadening
one's Tibetan experience.
•
Presenting Tibet: A Slide Package for Educators. By Jon
Garfunkel & Tibet Education Network, 1996, 2000. Fifty
slide images covering Tibet and the Tibetan Diaspora, with
over 150 pages of annotated descriptions, curricular ideas,
supporting materials, lessons, readings, and suggestions for
further study. This is the only multimedia educational introduction
to Tibet of its kind. Appropriate for all ages and interdisciplinary
study.
•
Faces
Magazine October 1999 Special issue on Tibet. TEN Director,
Jon Garfunkel, served as consulting editor and authored "The
World's Youngest Political Prisoner", an article on the
11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, commissioned by Faces.
"The
World's Youngest Political Prisoner" is also featured
in TEN course handbooks.
•
Suggested Source Material
for the Study of Tibet
•
Other
Curricular Materials Developed by Tibet Education Network
•
Why
Teach and Learn about Tibet?
•
Teaching
Ideas and Tools for the Study of Tibet
•
Global Source Catalog
[Back to Top]
Student Programs
and Projects
TEN
develops and leads interactive and experiential programs,
classroom presentations, student workshops, units of study,
and independent study projects for students in grades K-12.
•
The
Arts of Tibet, curricular & professional development
and design of children's activity center for the Seattle International
Children's Festival,
1997
•
Tibetan
Portrait, professional and curricular development for
the photographic exhibit by Phil Borges at the Museum of History
and Industry, Seattle, 1997
•
Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, educational tours
and programs for school groups
in greater Seattle
•
School and classroom presentations, tailored to setting,
grade level, focus of study.
•
Independent study projects with middle and high school students.
•
Schools
served by TEN and Global Source
[Back to Top]
Community Education
TEN works with Tibetan communities, cultural organizations,
and other Tibet-related organizations to design and produce
cultural programs, exhibitions, children's activities for
museums and festivals, and companion. TEN also presents educational
presentations for colleges and community groups on various
Tibet related subjects, including travel in Tibet.
•
North
American Tibetan Community Cultural Needs Assessment Project
In
2001-2002, Tibet Education Network at Global Source partnered
with the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture (CTAC) on
a first of its kind research project titled Cultural
Survival: The Home-School Connection for Tibetan Youth in
North America: A Case Study on Education, Cultural Identity
and Community. Global Source Director, Jon Garfunkel
led the year long project and authored the report. You will
find the report on CTAC's website: www.TibetanCulture.org
• Remembering
Free Tibet with Lowell Thomas, Jr., a program for
the general public featuring Lowell Thomas Jr. and a special
film screening of his documentary "Out of This World"
(Tibet in 1949), from the CBS Series "High Adventures
with Lowell Thomas".
•
The
Seattle Jewish-Buddhist Dialogue, a collaborative interfaith
and cross-cultural project presenting an 11part of series
between 1998-2000 of films, talks, community celebrations
and workshops for the greater Seattle community, including
a Seattle screening & dialogue of the documentary "The
Jew in the Lotus" and The Heart
of Healing: The Jewish-Buddhist Dialogue Continues. Co-sponsored
by Tibet Education Network, Bet Alef Meditational Synagogue
and Dharma Friendship Foundation, with support from Seattle
area community organizations.
•
Production and Presentation of Yungchen Lhamo in Concert,
Seattle, 1999
•
Presentation of Silent War in Tibet, an evening with
former CIA officer J. Kenneth Knaus, author of "Orphans
of the Cold War" and Sonam Rabgyey, Tibetan Resistance
Fighter, and screening of the documentary "Shadow Circus:
The CIA in Tibet", 1999
•
Consultant for Tibet Arts and Culture Festival, Phinney
Neighborhood Center, 1998
•
Consultant for Visions of Tibet Exhibit, Northwest
Folklife Festival, 1997
•
An Educational Forum on Tibet: A series of 34 community
education programs featuring Seattle area scholars, tradition
bearers, and other experts. Presented from 1994-1997, produced
by Tibet Education Network and The Sakya Monastery of Tibet
Buddhism.
[Back to Top]
Founder and Director of Tibet
Education Network, Jonathan Garfunkel, M.A.Ed. |
