Abhisiree Charanjavanaphet

Founder and Co-Owner, Baanrak Kindergarten and Duangtawan Baansuan

Industry : Advocacy

Abhisiree is a Waldorf teacher trainer, a holistic education philosophy where learning happens in a natural way, where play time, arts and craft activities help to develop the soul. The Waldorf system helps children learn and develop by encouraging their sensory interactions with natural elements, and teachers are more like earth mothers. Her Baanrak Kindergarten has been recognised by the Office of the Education Council as a model Waldorf kindergarten. Learning does not only happen in a classroom, so she took over a 17 rai plot of land in Nong Chok district and transformed it into an organic farm called Duangtawan Baansuan. Here, she grows chemical-free Hom Patum rice, vegetables, and raises chicken for eggs, following the concept “eat what you grow, and grow what you eat”. This has become another knowledge centre, not only for her young pupils, but for visitors to have a hands-on learning experience of the entire cycle of down-to-earth housekeeping, gardening and cooking. Her love of nature was instilled since childhood, accompanying her geologist father on expeditions into forests around the country, and she feels the need to share this experience with others in her own way.