IVS boarding school “special medication” to treat problemed students

IVS boarding school (under management of institute of Vovinam and sport development - IVS) is a special boarding grade school particularly for problemed students, game addicts, hyperactive kids or those who have grown up in the modern society, with plenty of materialistic  satisfaction but little spiritual care.

This is the first elementary school in Vietnam that has educated, trained and transformed successfully many generations of students who were game addicts, hyperactive, having very strong character.

For more knowledge about the special school, Saigon New Day had a talk with Mr. Dang Le Anh, Vice president of IVS - educationist-psychologist cum translator of the book named “The leader in me” by Stephen Covey, Ph. D."

Would you share with us the reason for IVS Boarding school’s foundation?

We think students who were game addicts, hyperactive, strong charactered, fun loving, lazy to study are not completely ruined. The cause may be parent’s over indulgence or their wrong way of education, or else, it’s the negative influence from out-of-home society. There has not been any environmental and training method that suited them. However, if they themselves are well trained, encouraged and given a proper orientation, they will get very good progress, develop their aptitude and render unexpected achievements.

That’s why Mr. Pham Quang Long, MA of Education, who has got many years’ teaching experience in the former Soviet Union invited me and other coaches to found IVS Boarding School - where such students would find their own value and get their talent glow, becoming new people in modern life with : good health, good thinking and sharing, and a good living cause.

Will you explain the activity model of IVS Boarding School?

Board of directors of IVS and Scientific council of the Institute mostly used to have the training and graduated from the Soviet Union. On the realistic basis of the child’s soldiers’ school for Russian children, with the boarding environment, army principles, simultaneously, combination of the viewpoint of the great educationist Makarenco, we built up a special course syllabuss aiming at developing students’ mind, knowledge, morality, skills and physical health.

The school adopted the child soldiers’ school model, with regulated activities, and physical exercise to help get students healthier and healthier; a professional educational management process with classroom system, dormitory, sport complex, and parks adjacent to it…

It’s an open environment and the students are fairly treated, with great care. When receiving students, the school staff exchange carefully with parents to have a good understanding of educational level and student’s conduct. Each student has a personal training record with suited teaching method to help them change in awareness, to transform from negative attitude to gradual progress.

Is the course syllabus any different from that of other schools, please?

We have studied and put into use many different teaching methods derived from home educational experiences and abroad to create the balance and proper development in physical health, mind and intellectual power of the student. IVS school has cooperated with the global educational group of Franklin Covey (the US) and FCE Vietnam company to apply the system The Leader in Me to teach leadership skills to each student. IVS is also the first school on Vietnam to teach “7 habits of Highly Effective people” by Dr. Stephen, Ph.D to high school students, which has resulted in lots of success in teching and learning.

The school syllabus has the 4 key components: General knowledge, personality education and skills, arts, sports. Besides grade school training for students from class 6 to class 12 pursuant to education and training ministry, IVS school considers English the most important subject, which is used in all internal interactions, and students are encouraged to join the clubs and interactions with foreign volunteers so that they have a specific practical environment how to use it.

Particularly, the school puts a stress on developing soft skills with the project “Looking for the special character of problemed students” via their in-depth training on sports (Vovinam martial arts, football, badminton, swimming…) and arts (vocals, dancing, hiphop, popping, painting, fashion…) to help form in students new good habits, to gradually leave bad ones (like being lazy, passive, reliant, selfish…).

They will learn the active way of living, how to dominate themselves, work effectively with others around them and know how to orient themselves for their own future.  We have also organized many cultural interactive activites, martial arts performances, and sent students to national events so they have opportunites to show their talents and many of them have won high prizes at talent contests.

Looking back at the last six years’ operation, IVS school has overcome difficulties, what are they, and their achievements?

We have chosen our own pathway, a new specific short-cut way of development to catch up with the modern trend of education in Vietnam. We have tried a new teaching method not yet applied in other schools to embody our mission and share the new values to the community. It’s the education, training and transformation of special students to give birth to the new person for future.

At first, many different methods proved to have met with failure, which have been corrected to suit. We also met with lost of difficulties looking for teachers who were committed to the school, particularly supervision teachers who would be living with students every day and take care, manage them on behalf of their parents at the school. They don’t need only sound methodology, strict care, sympathy but also a real character and smartness - to resolve all student’s “tricks” apart from perseverance in the face of teaching slow-moving students.

Very luckily we could invite passionate teachers to take care of problemed students so far. With their effective education, they’ve helped IVS to get good result 99% in the leaving school exam many successive years. Lots of students passed entrance exam to university, and famous colleges or won many medals at Vovinam contests, also become professional coaches of sports or arts in provinces and the country over…

We have currently two premises, one in Hanoi and the other in HCMC. Every year we receive over 250 students. The number isn’t a great achievement yet. However it’s a success to see parents’ tears shed when seeing the kids who used to be so disappointing to them now healthy, handsome, grateful to parents, exposing new aptitude of arts. These are the most precious gifts given to parents from our enduring effort at the school.

Would you share the secrets that have made the effective teaching quality at IVS?

Our society is now in need of people who have both qualification and real practice of their learning. I think teaching methods shouldn’t be rigid, but should integrate personality training with all subjects. Each student is an analogy of a treasure and the educator has the responsibility to file, shape and encourage the student to expose and develop their talent.

We never say IVS is the best school in town, but it’s a creative model suited to problemed students with our teaching materials, modern but compatible with Vietnamese tradition and culture. Our secret is how to manage problem students like in an enterprise with four levels. Level 1: Students do it without questioning; level 2: Directions; level 3: Work parallel with students; level 4: Empowerment, self-control.

Thanks for your sharing.

Saigon New Day - Thanh Nien Publishing House

Từ khóa : Trường nội trú IVS,Đặng Lê Anh