Each time education professor Kathy Hibbert visits Cambodia, one thing stands out.
“I immediately notice there are few people from my generation,” she said.
It’s a haunting reminder of a genocide that led to the deaths of about two million people—almost a quarter of the country’s population—and the destruction of key societal institutions and infrastructure.
Kathy Hibbert (Chris Kindratsky/Western Communications)
“The first time I visited, my seatmate on the plane had been charged with helping rebuild the judicial system. On his first visit, he was escorted to what remained of the previous system; a filing cabinet in a back yard.”
The purpose of Hibbert’s first trip was to help train medical professionals in medical imaging techniques, alongside Western colleague and Cambodian refugee Rethy Chhem.
But as people learned of Hibbert’s breadth of experience “teaching teachers,” her role expanded to help a country keen to restore its fledgling education system.
In her seven visits since, Hibbert’s been sharing her expertise in curriculum design, graduate student support and critical narrative research. Throughout, “the Cambodian people have wrapped themselves firmly around my heart,” she said.
Now, other Western faculty will have the chance to foster similar connections, thanks to a memo of understanding (MOU) Hibbert helped secure during her most recent trip this past January. The MOU will cultivate future collaborations with Cambodia University of Technology and Science (CamTech), where Hibbert is a Distinguished Visiting Professor of education and vice chair of its advisory board. CamTech is also where Chhem, Western’s former chair of imaging in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, now serves as a Distinguished Professor of technology and humanities.
“I’m so proud of Western for working to establish this partnership with CamTech, creating opportunities to help a community in need,” Hibbert said. “It aligns with our strategic plan to engage with the world to do what we can to create a more just society. It’s not just about strengthening Western, it’s about strengthening our community, locally and globally.”
She also helped formalize an agreement with Jay Pritzker Academy, a school dedicated to educating talented and motivated students from families in rural Cambodia. There, Western’s teaching candidates from the Faculty of Education will complete alternative field placements, applying and gaining knowledge in a country determined to restore human capacity and an education system ravaged 50 years ago.
The Cambodian Genocide and a lost generation of educators
Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia endured a genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, a totalitarian regime led by communist dictator Pol Pot. In the regime’s catastrophic pursuit of a classless agrarian society, it targeted intellectuals and professionals, focusing deliberately on teachers.
With the eradication of education, schools were closed, textbooks destroyed and as many as 80 to 90 per cent of the country’s educators were killed or forced into labour.
When schools reopened in 1979, teachers were often former students who lacked skills as educators. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, more structural reforms came, and today, school enrolment has improved, particularly at the primary level.
But challenges remain, including underqualified teachers, poor infrastructure in rural areas, high dropout rates and systemic issues such as corruption and underfunding. Instruction is inconsistent, leaving students without stable access to quality education.
“Try to imagine rebuilding not only the institutions, policies and resources, but the human capital from virtually nothing,” said Hibbert, who’s awed by the unwavering resilience and determination she sees in the Cambodian people.
“They have no choice but to rebuild from the resources available to them. What’s striking is how hungry they are for education. When we have access to education here, we may take it for granted and view it as a chore. They see education as a gift.”
“In teaching, it can take decades to see the results of your efforts. When you’ve devoted your life to education and are partnering with a country striving to rebuild an entire education system and the human capacity to do the work, the reward is deeply meaningful, immediately felt and energizing.” – Professor Kathy Hibbert
Professor Kathy Hibbert has been helping to develop graduate programs at CamTech, with a focus on supporting students. (Submitted)
At CamTech, Hibbert’s helping to create graduate programs, focusing specifically on the effective supervision and support of students.
“The people currently preparing the programs are not necessarily from a teaching background,” Hibbert said. “They’re looking for our guidance on how to develop a curriculum, how to teach and how to understand student dynamics.”
She shares this knowledge with an underlying caveat.
“Just because I’ve done it in Ontario, Canada, at Western, does not mean it’s going to be the right fit for them, because there’s a different cultural context,” Hibbert said. “When I work with any group, I first draw on their experience, having them share their knowledge on the needs and experiences of their students, so we can collaboratively look at what might work best. I can have suggestions, examples and handbooks of how to be a good graduate student supervisor, but you can’t just transplant that into another culture. We build it together through a lot of discussion.”
Expanding Western’s collaborations for restoring education in Cambodia
Hibbert’s knowledge of Cambodia’s history and culture prompted her to invite education professor and psychologist Susan Rodger on her most recent trip.
Rodger is a professor in the graduate program in counselling psychology at the Faculty of Education and a research associate at Western’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children and Centre for School Mental Health.
After working with Rodger and health sciences professor Nadine Wathen to understand the importance of applying trauma- and violence-informed care (TVIC) in an educational setting, Hibbert recognized an opportunity.
“As I learned more about TVIC, I couldn’t stop thinking about the generational trauma Cambodian people carry and what Susan could bring,” she said.
Her CamTech colleagues welcomed Rodger’s expertise.
“Susan introduced them to trauma- and violence-informed education and did some one-on-one counselling. She also collaborated with a CamTech psychologist, helping him apply for a grant to continue this type of work.”
Hibbert is excited more Western faculty will now have the chance to partner with her CamTech peers as mentors and collaborators.
“This is not a one-way partnership; it’s a two-way learning opportunity. I think people here would be pleasantly surprised, for example, to see how advanced technology is there and what we can learn.”
She’s also pleased knowing that starting next year, Western teacher candidates will have the chance to gain experience at Jay Pritzker Academy, working with students who otherwise could not access an education.
“These students are fully funded. When they graduate, the goal is they will be ready to function at a level that will prepare them to attend any university in the world,” Hibbert said.
The academy’s kindergarten to Grade 12 campus offers Western students the chance to see a breadth of learning at one site. Working in a developing country brings lessons that last a lifetime.
“Being immersed in a different culture leads to improved cultural sensitivity and humility,” Hibbert said. “Students learn how to respectfully enter a co-teaching relationship, in which they learn how to innovate and work with limited resources.”
Hibbert hopes more members of the Western community will contemplate what they can contribute—and gain—by joining an international effort to help Cambodia rebuild and reclaim its culture.
“This is a lifetime commitment for me,” she said. “And I would invite any of my retired teacher colleagues seeking a meaningful pursuit to consider offering their services. It’s an incredibly fulfilling way to spend your time.”
