About BTC

About Banyan Tree Consulting: Serving Students and Schools

Why Banyan Tree?

A magnificent banyan tree serves as the namesake for the building where I live, but that is not the only reason for selecting the banyan tree as the symbol for this company. Banyan trees are amazing examples of the richness of life. Left to their own devices and the influences of nature, banyan trees grow in remarkable ways. Giant redwoods reach majestically to the heavens and the hibiscus shares the beauty of its blossom, but the banyan tree celebrates its own life. It grows up and out and down. It grows around itself, encompasses itself, and branches often reach back down to the earth for nourishment, sometimes gaining that nourishment by growing back into itself. Look closely at a banyan tree. Be amazed at how complex and beautiful it is. Be amazed at how it seems to celebrate its own growth.

Why Consulting?

General Douglas MacArthur once said that “old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” My corollary to that would be “old principals never die, they just become consultants.”

After retirement, I initially found myself busy adjusting to life that wasn’t governed by the rhythms of the school year or the schedule of a school day. There was travel to be had, books to be read, places to be visited, and family to spend time with. But in my mind I kept hearing Tennyson’s Ulysses reminding me “Death closes all; but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done…”

When Maryknoll asked if I would help review their Chinese immersion program I realized it was time to take a step. While my contribution may not rise to noble levels of either MacArthur or Ulysses, it may be of benefit. Three very different schools (Maryknoll Schools, Honolulu; Chinese American International School, San Francisco; and American School in Taichung; Taiwan) with different schedules, different purposes, serving different communities provides me with a richness of experience. At each school I was there long enough to help navigate major changes, and to work through some difficult situations. I have learned from the complications and stresses of change and how to cope with challenges and mistakes.

In short, almost a half century of growth, exploration, and experience in education may still be of use. And Banyan Tree Consulting was born.

Why students?

Chau Thi Ky was about 15 years old when she worked as a “hootch girl” for me and three other junior officers in Chu Lai, Vietnam. By day she did our laundry and cleaned our little “hootches” (the small rooms where we lived) and by night she was a squad leader at a bunker in Long Phu 1, her village, where she was armed with an old M1 Carbine from the French war. One day Ky saw a Life magazine on my bunk with a picture of the moon landing on the cover. She asked me what that was. Ky became my first student.

When you see a student “get it,” especially after struggling to understand something, it is an amazing feeling. An even richer feeling comes when a student asks a question you can’t answer or a question you never even thought of. For half a century my life has been blessed with students like Ky. Although I am no longer in a school, I look forward to any opportunity to work with a student, whether it be a grandson, a friend’s daughter, or someone I haven’t met yet.

Why schools?

They are my “wheelhouse” as they say. Maryknoll, CAIS and AST were very different schools.

Twenty-five years at Maryknoll involved making major changes in program, schedule, curriculum and more. We were leaders in educational reform during those years. Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools(CES) and Robert Evans, author of The Human Side of School Change visited Maryknoll and the school joined CES. This involved shifting from a typical schedule of 7 unrelated classes to a trimester schedule, graduation portfolio and senior project for all students.

CAIS was the first Mandarin/English immersion school in the US. Students from preschool through grade 5 spent half the day immersed in English classes and half in Chinese classes (middle school the ratio changed to about 60% English 40% Chinese). This involved coordinating across programs, finding ways to meet standards in both languages, and helping Chinese teachers learn to work effectively with American students. The school was highlighted at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) convention in 2008 and I was named NAIS' first Global Citizen Awardee for our work. (“Under his leadership, CAIS has become a national model in the immersion teaching of Mandarin and the promotion of Chinese language and culture in the United States.“)

AST provided a new set of challenges and opportunities. For almost 80% of the students English was a second (or even third) language) while the language of instruction was English. In 2011, the year I joined AST, enrollment has shrunk to 139 students in grades 1-12, with only 19 students in grades 1-5. The only AP course was AP Chinese and the school was anticipating closing the elementary division. Fast forward 7 years. The enrollment was 240, the maximum the campus could hold, with 60 elementary students. Nineteen AP courses were offered in a high school with enrollment of about 80 students, 100+ AP exams taken with over 20 AP scholars and 8 AP International Diplomas. The school hosted a Model United Nations every year that was student run and involved every student from grades 8 to 12. All a testament to students and teachers willing to take on what seemed to be insurmountable challenges and succeeding, and a local staff that provided remarkable support.

Why doesn't BTC work with teachers?

Over my years in administration my philosophy for learning, education and schools began to coalesce around belief that the relationship between teachers and students was the most important thing that happened each day on campus. Whether I was a principal, head of school and director, it always boiled down to helping facilitate that relationship. I believe anyone in those positions should have the same focus. For that reason, it is not appropriate for an “outsider” to interrupt that relationship. Were a principal to invite me, I would be happy to work with her teachers.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has changed the dynamics of the student-teacher relationship and made realizing it more complicated, but it has not reduced its importance. It requires rethinking and reimagining.

What Else?

Economics remains an near obsession particularly economic pluralism AKA heterodox economics. I am committed to learning more with a goal of establishing standards for heterodox economics for high schools. I believe every citizen should have a basic understanding of economics. Economic policies should not be left to a relatively small group of individuals who represent one field of economic thought. The short version of my concern is that economics is not like physics and homo economicus needs to be replaced by an economics that meets goals of social justice and inclusion rather than efficiency. Perhaps here is that thing near the end, that “…work of noble note…”