"How is it that the Forest Elementary School isn't the least bit 'forested'?" That's the first reaction of many when they arrive at the Forest school. Indeed, one U-shaped steelsided building standing alone on a muddy, rocky slope comprises the total hardware of the school. There are no shady groves, as one might imagine, though the awn grass on the nearby hillsides adds a dash of color.

Some of the kids walking around the grounds wear slippers, others have bare feet or go bare-chested, and their bodies are covered in mud picked up playing in mud puddles. The students show no special courtesy to the teachers, and just call them by their names or nicknames, or even "hit" them. During class the kids climb on the desks or lie on the floor, and the teachers don't take any notice of it. What a bizarre school!

The Forest Elementary School is very special. There's no school gate or wall around the grounds; the students don't wear uniforms or carry book bags. The whole school only has 23 students, but twelve teachers. Add on the principal, the director, the janitors, and the cook, and that's the whole population of the place.

Since it opened in March of this year, the Forest school has been an unlicensed "private school." The monthly tuition of NT$25,000 is shockingly expensive. So why are parents still willing to send their kids here? What kind of dynamism does it have to allow children to be so delighted that they don't even want to go home on weekends?

"It's really fun here, and there are lots of kids."

"The teachers here aren't harsh, not like my teachers before who would punish us by making us hold a chair in the air while half crouching down."

"Before we had a pile of homework every day, we couldn't finish it all!" responds one child briefly, before running off to play.

The Forest School shouldn't be special--it's just trying to put into practice ideals repeatedly stressed by Chinese and foreign educators. "No cramming; no corporal punishment; balanced education in ethics, knowledge, physical education, social skills, and arts; allowing the children to become the lead actors in the study process" and other concepts all have their chance to be realized here. Because it is highly experimental, it has become the focus of broad attention.

In fact, many nations have been long undertaking introspection and reflection about modern educational systems. Several experimental methods breaking the old regulated methods have come forth. One well-known example is Britain's Summerhill school.

As to most people mentioning Forest and Summerhill in the same breath, principal Chu Tai-hsiang doesn't agree: "Maybe the basic concepts are similar, but the two can't be identical, because a lot of things we do have been produced by actual practice. The people are different and the setting is different; this can't but bring different results."

For example, this semester they want the kids in principle to attend standard classes every morning. Last semester there was no fixed requirement, and almost no one went to class. Of course this is connected to the circumstances of that time: kids who had just come to such an open environment from traditional education naturally would let themselves go as much as possible. The students would play around until eleven or twelve at night, becoming jaundiced and thin.

"At that time the school was like an artillery duel. There'd be a bomb over here, then an explosion over there, and it wouldn't stop all day," recalls Chu Tai-hsiang. "Now the children have calmed down. Some who used to cause trouble everywhere, now you almost forget they're around!"

Also, last semester teachers tended to do "fire brigade" guidance. This semester there is a new attempt-- "praise period." Every morning at breakfast, teachers will discuss the better performances of the previous day, with even such little things as picking up a milk bottle cap being virtues.

The result has been unexpectedly good. Several children have shown radically improved behavior, and have changed a great deal overnight.

Take for example Yi-hsin. To see him chattering all day, it's hard to imagine he has a hearing impairment. He even couldn't speak clearly at first, and was overly defensive. He had set himself against the whole school, but now says he wants to study there until he's twenty. Teh-hong, from a single parent Family, was very much a loner. If others said black, he said white. Today he's put down his shield and made many good friends. Wen-wen used to be teacher's pet, but had no friends. Though she had authority, she was not happy. Today she has switched to an open, happy character, and has learned how to look after others.

Rather than say Forest has changed the children, it's better to say the children have found themselves, because to a certain extent all of these children are undergoing "rehabilitation." This proves what the American educator Adler once said: "There are no children who can't be educated, there are only failed parents, failed teachers, and failed schools which have not fulfilled their responsibilities."

Therefore, to get to the root of problems, "Parental Growth Class," and "Teacher Development Class" have both been required courses from before Forest opened up to the present.

In fact, most of the parents willing to send their children to Forest are faced with children who have not adapted well to the standard education methods; at the very least they wish to relearn how to deal with their children. Thus their motivation for participating is strong.

Forest demands that after the child enters the school the parents continually adjust themselves to meet the changes in the child, and at least must immediately stop bawling them out or punishing them severely; otherwise the child will follow nothing. Facts prove that the transformation of the attitudes of the parents is often the key to the child "turning over a new leaf."

Chu-yun is a good example. Because he was raised by his grandmother from a young age, and his mom and the grandmother did not see eye to eye, Chu-yun became disobedient growing up in a conflict setting. This caused him to be often hit, further worsening family relations.

From the time the boy was sent to Forest and she began to attend the Parental Growth Class, says Chu-yun's mother, "I began to remind myself not to hit or scream at the child. If I really can't control myself, I'll frankly ask him to help me out. Now Chu-yun is not like a wired explosive at home, but is able to take the initiative to talk about his feelings with us. He says, 'I like the mom I have now better,'" she says, laughing.

As for the teachers on the front lines, most people have both profound hopes and concerns towards them. Most of them are not educated as teachers, and have not undergone specialized training, so how can they teach kids? Most of them grew up under the traditional education system, so how can they break through their own restraints to give the students a new outlook?

As for this aspect, besides lectures and answers to questions provided by the Jen Pen (literally, "taking the individual as the root") Education Foundation, the teachers have organized study groups and research committees for mutual support. They constantly run across problems in teaching, but gradually muddle through to principles and methods to cope.

"I hope that I can be a living, breathing person in front of the kids. Sometimes I'll screw up, but I'll learn from my mistakes, and won't make the same mistake again," says teacher Tsui Ching-lung.

This spirit of exploration is one of the key values at Forest. Here there is no established authority, and no unchangeable rules. Children have free space to do what they like.

"I rarely bother the kids, even if I see them doing something that's a little less than ideal, like playing in the mud," says teacher Tsai Hsin-yu.

Thus, outside visitors can clearly see the independence of Forest children. Even if they're playing, everybody has their own focus of attention. It's quite natural to have them scattered all over--it would be almost impossible to get everybody together for a group photo!

"They mostly know what it is each wants to do, and they're brave enough to express their own views," laughs teacher Chen Chu fang. Once a mainland playwright visited the school, but the children wouldn't let him go along to roast yams. The reason was, "he's too old." The writer had to talk it over with the kids before he got permission to go.

But for such young children, won't all semblance of respect be buried under permissiveness?

"It's still necessary to have an appropriate degree of guiding restraint," say teachers quite unanimously.

You can't hit, and you can't scream--talk is the only weapon teachers have.

As for basic life rules, Tsui Ching-lung just relies on reason to get the children "within the norm." As for kids swearing, "in fact often they don't know what they are doing, and are just mimicking for fun, but if it's to let them express some negative feelings, before finding some better method of expression, we let them vent their anger to an appropriate extent," says Tsui.

In the unlikely event a conflict occurs, the teachers don't immediately decide right and wrong or just chill everyone out, but pull the children aside to talk, to let them understand each other's feelings.

The impact of talking has already gradually affected the children's psychology. In the weekly self-governed meeting, one child said he saw so-and-so hitting someone else. Then the child-chairman set the central question as, "What should we do about hitting people?"

"Let the one who was hit say what he feels," said the chairman. Another proposed, "He's not permitted to hit anybody for a week, but nobody can hit him either." Thus the "hitting people crisis" came to a close.

There are also restraints besides those on daily living habits. Forest doesn't take class work lightly. The curriculum is divided into three parts: standard class in the morning, elective teaching in the afternoon, and one outside class each week.

"The children still need basic reading, ‘writing, and ‘arithmetic skills; you can't let them study however they want," teacher Chen Pei-ying explains. "Of course this is because some of the kids want to go back to their original schools to test for accreditation, so we still use the texts of the Ministry of Education."

As for how to make the kids interested in learning, that depends on how the teacher can get into their minds. For example when the fifth-grade science class gets to the leverage principle, the children do experiments with stones and broom handles. For mathematics in sixth grade, they use chess as a teaching device.

The evaluation method is also special, with written tests just one part. First graders test their phonetic alphabet in the sandbox. On another side second graders have a contest making the longest string of phrases. The report card has no scores; it describes the course objective in detail, and explains the degree the child has achieved item by item. Elective classes are open, including art, drama, construction, and gardening.

For the outside class this semester, the school asked someone from the National Taiwan University Environmental Protection Society to serve as an advisor, and arranged a trip to study the ecology of the Tamshui River, including letting them test water quality with litmus paper. "This way the children will naturally possess the concept of environmental protection," says teacher Chiang Yu-hua.

Unlike other primary schools, it is required that children live on campus Monday through Friday. Because it is in the countryside near Linkou, the natural setting has become the favorite "classroom." There are always kids building forts in the holes, or making mud pies in the water. Others are in the woods nearby playing with the beetles and mantises, or heading off to their "secret base" to slide in the grass or chase dogs. With few toys around, the children are still able to play to their hearts' content in this environment. This semester, to show educational videos, the school bought a TV. There were worries the children would fight over it, but "TV fever" lasted only two days. How could the kaleidoscopic little box compete with the joys of playing around with friends?

In the little society the kids constitute, the influence they have on each other far exceeds that of the adults. Mixed-age studying is a special feature of the school. Aside from standard class, the others are open for any student to choose, regardless of age. While some cases of the older kids playing tricks on the younger can't be avoided, the older ones also help translate what the teacher says into Lilliputian language for the smallest children. The younger children, meanwhile, with the stimulus of interacting with the older, seem to have developed their thinking faster than outside children of similar age.

Even more interesting is interaction between boys and girls. The boys love to help make breakfast; the girls really like wood shop. Co-education has become reality, though there are some differences that can't be bridged. This is most obvious in drama and gym. In drama the boys most like free-wheeling it, and often mess things up by resorting to scenes of mass fighting and violence; the girls generally prefer going by the script, playing out all of "Cinderella" or stories in the text. Teacher Lin Chuan-hui, a graduate in drama, is still searching for a better teaching method.

This is a problem all the teachers face-- they are not experienced enough. They just grope their way through to learn how to design a curriculum and create teaching units. Lin Chuan-hui believes that civics textbooks are not ideal, but his own knowledge is too spotty and can't be tied together in a whole.

Time for continued training is limited. Add to this that this semester half the teachers will be sent down the mountain and assigned to weekend classes and after-school classes, and teachers' burdens will be even heavier.

Moreover, there are often new challenges in interacting with the children.

"Because every teacher's personality and background is different, there will be differences in concepts and methods. The clever kids will find loopholes among the different levels of strictness," says a frustrated Tsui Ching-long. Thus, coordination among teachers is an important topic.

Besides the existing difficulties, the limits to Forest are hard to transcend. This, after all, is a very carefully crafted educational test tube. Will the children who pass through here be able to handle the intense competition once they return to the normal structure?

"This depends on whether or not Forest has given the children a way to make judgments. If so, their adaptation shouldn't be any problem," says a primary school principal. "A strong, well rooted tree does not fear stormy weather."

Vis-a-vis this point, Chu Tai-hsiang says with confidence, "We have followed several who have returned to the system, and up to now all are doing fine."

Although there are still many problems to be overcome, the methods that Forest has been courageously trying out have already made a great impact on the educational environment.

Recently, the principals of eight Taipei suburban primary schools met to discuss the feasibility of a "Forest elementary school within the system."

"In fact, using the individual as the foundation of education has always been our ideal, and there are definitely places that need to be reformed in the national education system," notes Yang Tsong-hsien, principal of the Yangmingshan Ping-teng Primary School. Their eight schools hope to gain approval to be experimental schools, with major changes in curriculum and teaching method. After talks with educational authorities, he believes the possibility of realization is great.

"Even reforms outside the system can get so much support," says principal Yang, "Forest Elementary school really gives me confidence."

In fact, Forest is itself in the process of expansion. Director Luo Chu-min stresses that the goal of Forest is not limited to these 23 students; even more important is to extol its spirit of experimentation, and to put into practice the fruits of the experiments. Recruiting ordinary students into the after-school and weekend classes is a first step. They have also gone to different primary schools to lecture, have held discussions and exchanged ideas with students at teachers' colleges, and have invited interested persons to sign on.

There are still no woody groves in this Forest, but the newly planted grass has already grown to a lush green. Making something out of nothing, and growing from a tiny few to a large amount--just like the impact Forest has had.

(The names of the children in this article have been changed.)

[Picture Caption]

Despite lacking for woody areas, the Forest School has undertaken an experiment "growing mighty oaks from little acorns."

(Left) Children are like little sprouts; you just have to give them a little sunlight, fresh air, and water, and they'll grow up strong and healthy.

If they had a vote, the mud puddle would definitely be at the top of the hit parade.

Teachers and students sit on the tables to attend class; this is a common sight at the Forest elementary school.

The students are able to reveal their creativity to the maximum given free space.

Letting children understand respect for life from nature.

The swimming pool in the Forest playground, situated in the great outdoors near Linkou, is the most loved part of gym class.

The children of the Forest School must live on campus Monday through Friday.

A "do what you wanna do" mentality has created an atmosphere of independence and autonomy.

(Left) In what looks like a disorganized game, older and younger children learn how to grow up from each other.

"All those who approve of the motion to have 'no hitting for one week,' please raise your hands." At the self governing meeting, students and teachers alike get one vote each.

(Left) Sliding on the slope and letting it all hang out; this is one of the games Forest children like most.

Despite lacking for woody areas, the Forest School has undertaken an experiment "growing mighty oaks from little acorns.".

If they had a vote, the mud puddle would definitely be at the top of the hit parade.

Teachers and students sit on the tables to attend class; this is a common sight at the Forest elementary school.

The students are able to reveal their creativity to the maximum given free space.

Letting children understand respect for life from nature.

The swimming pool in the Forest playground, situated in the great outdoors near Linkou, is the most loved part of gym class.

The children of the Forest School must live on campus Monday through Friday.