Our approach to education

Dharma School Bali 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 Dharma School Bali we believe that each student needs to be engaged and supported in ways that make them competent and needed. 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 Dharma School Bali 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.