Yvonne Defour, Mathieu Fontaine and Éric D. Savage
What’s your wildest dream? To be a movie star? A stunt double, bullfighter or butler? How about spending a year on a sailing ship or breaking-in Spanish thoroughbreds? If you had to choose fame, fortune or passion, which would you pick?
In this documentary series, we look into the lives of people who are doing what it takes to succeed. In each episode, host reveals the essence of two schools through the eyes of their students, parents, teachers and founders.
It's impressive to see how cultural traditions can span the centuries, and continue to thrive to this day. Astonishingly, they also continue to inspire new generations to embark on this demanding path. In Japan, these future sumo wrestlers need to build up their stamina, observe a high-calorie diet, and do muscle-building exercises. And in Spain, we'll meet youths who dream of becoming matadors. These novice bullfighters learn to manipulate their capes and to train with a bull on wheels. But they'll have to confront real bulls too, risking life and limb. Day in, day out, it's in Schools Like No Other that students can achieve their goals and simultaneously perpetuate cultural traditions.
Not putting your elbows on the table, knowing how to serve champagne, mastering the art of conversation... There are rules to know and follow when it comes to proper conduct or simply serving a meal. These rules are also known as "good manners." They're sometimes as logical as they are simple, but they can also be intricate and precise. I'll be sitting down at the table, and I hope I don't embarrass myself, with future butlers in the Netherlands. We'll see how these novice maître d's go about serving their wealthy bosses in the utmost elegance in all circumstances. We'll also get etiquette lessons from young, well-bred women, as well as from businesswomen, in Switzerland. We'll see how these young women learn how to display impeccable manners in social situations, whether in the company of princes, statesmen or business world personalities. Day in, day out, it's in Schools Like No Others that the future custodians of good taste and good manners get their training.
What would be the best method to teach children and teenagers about the future that awaits them? Some schools have turned their backs on traditional education models by offering classes that are better adapted to the 21st century. Such is the concept behind Class Afloat, which teaches the ropes to students aged 16 to 19 on a tall ship for an entire school year. Besides learning how to navigate this majestic sailboat school, these kids also develop a great sense of independence as they sail the seven seas. And in Fairfield, Iowa, Maharishi School has integrated transcendental meditation into its regular curriculum. Besides helping students get better grades, this practice presumably allows them to reach their full mental potential by giving them access to the pure consciousness that resides in all of us. Day in, day out, it's in Schools Like No Other that we're readying students for the 21st century, students who'll be both self-fulfilled and sensitive to the common good.
Today we're going to England to see how future jockeys learn to ride their purebreds all the way to the finish line. During their training, they'll have to work hard and clean their expensive mounts' stables while learning to tame and ride giant fiery purebreds. A tall order for lightweight students. We'll also go to Belgium to see how wannabe dealers learn to master the gaming tables, cards and chips while becoming experts at mental calculations.
Since forever, or at least for a very long time, warriors have been considered to be heroes, whether they be knights, martial art masters, samurais or soldiers. At the Royal Military Academy in Belgium, 200 recruits out of 800 applicants make the cut every year. But getting admitted is no guarantee of success. The institution demands that its recruits display nerves of steel on a daily basis. We'll see how future officers of the king of Belgium train to become the military elite of their nation, and how nearly 100,000 youths have left their families to come live and train near Shaolin Temple, the Chinese cradle of kung fu. The extremely rigorous training regimen of these young warrior monks starts at a tender age. Here, they test the limits of their stamina, both physical and mental. The best performers will enter the annals of Shaolin Temple warrior monk legend, where the art of war has been practiced for nearly 1,500 years. Day in, day out, it's in Schools Like No Others that students must fight a great number of battles before becoming true warriors.
When schools draw inspiration from scientific progress to reinvent themselves, and to approach teaching in creative new ways, the results can sometimes be astonishing. In Paris, these gifted students benefit from a made-to-measure teaching program, geared towards continuously stimulating their brains, which are wired differently. And in New York, autistic kids embark on the road to success. Behaviour-modification techniques help these special needs children come out of their shells, enabling them to learn, communicate, and lead nearly normal lives. Day in, day out, it's in Schools Like No Other that we bear witness to the little miracles of life!
When schools draw inspiration from scientific progress to reinvent themselves, and to approach teaching in creative new ways, the results can sometimes be astonishing.
In 1972, UNESCO created the World Heritage List to encourage states to protect nature as well as their cultural property and practices. Spain answered the call by setting up a school to carry on the tradition of Spanish equestrian dressage. Student riders learn how to train Andalusian horses according to ancestral traditions to perform dressage movements and airs above the ground, which they perform in their school's internationally renowned shows. And South Africa is trying to preserve its wildlife by fighting against poaching, which is a particular threat to rhinos. The trainee field rangers learn to track down and apprehend poachers, but also to live in the savanna to better protect its inhabitants. Day in, day out, Schools Like No Other train the new guardians of humanity's natural and cultural heritage.
We use our senses every day without really thinking about it. But some people develop them to the extent that it becomes their profession. We'll see that, with a little effort, we can considerably enhance our sense memory. Here in Italy, students work on their sense of taste to become specialists in gastronomy. The apprentice gastronomists are introduced to edible wild plants, discover industrial as well as human-scale production and help prepare some rather unusual dishes. And in Grasse, France, others refine and train their sense of smell to become perfumers. The future perfumers smell and memorize hundreds of odours. they discover the distillation of unique flowers and train themselves to combine extracts to make perfumes. Day after day, in schools like no other, people develop their sense of smell… and taste.
Behaviour-modification techniques help these special needs children come out of their shells, enabling them to learn, communicate, and lead nearly normal lives.
There's nothing exceptional about dreaming of becoming a stage performer whose star shines bright; one might say it's a universal aspiration. All over the globe, young people follow their dream and hope to make it big by going to some of the best performing art schools. It's the case for these budding Chinese actors who need to go through extensive training in order to one day join a Beijing opera troupe. And they also need to learn how to sing! Just like these young Mumbai students who dream of becoming big Bollywood stars. The Actor Prepares Studio not only trains budding Bollywood actors to dance, but it teaches the next generations of movie stars valuable acting skills. Day after day, it's in schools like no others that future stars are born.
The art of illusion has been around for a long time. It's often used nowadays to wow crowds. We'll see how future stuntmen learn to bend our minds so we'll think actors are performing their own stunts. These daredevils will need to face their fears in order to be able to perform the most dangerous tricks. We'll also go to Mexico to meet with some budding wrestlers who are not only learning all sorts of fighting moves but also how too fake horrible pain. To compete in lucha libre, novices need to be able to throw and receive punches, do acrobatic figures and fly out of the ring. Day after day, it's in schools unlike any other that the best stunt performers are trained to mesmerize and entertain thrill seekers.
Environmentalism isn't about fighting progress, far from it, and the two schools we'll be exploring today are proof of that. They teach a lifestyle that is in sync with nature and involves very dynamic and creative fields of work. We'll go to Nicaragua to meet students who are learning agriculture practices that are both sustainable and economically viable. Youngsters will need to work very hard, during both the theory and the practice portions of the class, to run the farm that doubles as a classroom. And in Indonesia, on the island of Bali, international students are taught to respect nature as well as the cultures and people that surround them. At the Greenschool, students share their time between brain work in class and manual labour on the field. The school fosters both creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit. Day after day, it's in schools like no other that kids learn true ecology that goes beyond simply respecting nature.
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