Team
Members
Hadrian Pollard
SEA Chief Executive Officer, Hadrian Pollard, is an elementary educator living in North Carolina. He has taught in diverse educational settings: public and charter, traditional and progressive, urban and semi-rural. In his time as a teacher he has developed literacy, science, and social-emotional curricula, and built out-of-school learning experiences for students through film-making, theatre, cross-country, STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics), and music clubs. He is currently in pursuit of his PhD in the Teacher Education and Development program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Rasunah Marsden
Currently Chair, Subud Education Association. Opened 1969, helper from 1981, now honorary helper. Former Subud Canada Chair & Subud Writers International Chair. Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies for thesis, The World Pattern of Process, 2019, which articulates Bapak’s “Filsafat”/Cosmology. Teacher, program coordinator & Associate Dean in language schools, high schools & universities in Jakarta, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Penticton & Vancouver. Editor of Raúl Gatika’s Broken Man Hombre Roto (2015); Anthologized Indigenous Poet & author of Dancing the Rounds (2011); editor of Canada’s first collection of Indigenous creative non-fiction: Crisp Blue Edges (2000). Researcher & Publisher. Elder for Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. Resides in North Vancouver. 4 adult children, 3 grandchildren.
Faustina Ramos Coca-Pfeiffer
Faustina Ramos Coca-Pfeiffer worked as an elementary and secondary school teacher in public schools in Austria. In 1995 – inspired by her experiences in the U.S.A. visiting the ´School Without Walls’, and by her experiences in South America, where she travelled for 2 years getting insight into indigenous cultures and social circumstances – she founded the Erlebnisschule, a Montessori School in the south of Vienna.
In the early 90s she discovered the ‘Life Forces Model’ by Solihin Thom and accomplished its therapeutic and personal development training over the following years.
She adapted that model (now named the ‘Being Human Model’) for her education work. She has realized that the Montessori method in our days needs an additional tool to be efficient in facilitating the development of true human potential in students, parents, and teachers.
She has worked as principal and teacher in the Erlebnisschule for 25 years and as a facilitator.
She has two children; one is 31 the other 13 years old.
Salamah LeClaire
Salamah worked in education for over 40 years in all areas of the field. She was a teacher in the USA and in Indonesia (primary and secondary) and a counselor for international students in the community college system in California and Washington states (USA). She was the principal of two schools in Indonesia and was instrumental in creating three schools: two in Jakarta and one in Kalimantan. She developed the curriculum for grades one to ten in seven subject areas, wrote textbooks for English Primary one and two, Social Studies grades one to eight, and a book of supporting materials for a Christian school’s Character-Building curriculum for grades one to eight.
She is currently in the process of writing a book looking into Human-Centered Education for primary students.
Salamah has also held many positions in Subud, the latest being that of WSA Administrator from 2015-2019. She lives in Kalimantan with her husband Simon.
Halimah E. Polk, Ph.D.
Halimah Polk is a long time Subud member now living in South Florida. She has served as a committee member, as a local, regional and national helper. At the national and international levels she served as a co-coordinator for child care at the Spokane World Congress and as the head of the Subud Educators Association (SEA) for several years. She lived at Wisma Subud while teaching in Indonesia for three years. In 1999, she visited four Subud schools in Indonesia, Portugal, Colombia and Ecuador for her doctoral research. After the death of their
four -year old special needs child Mariama, Halimah and her then husband Rashid Butte established the Mariama Butte Memorial Fund under the auspices of Susila Dharma USA in 1988 (The fund continues to offer support to Subud children with special needs and their families.)
Halimah earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, her Master’s degree from Stanford University and her doctorate from Claremont Graduate University and San Diego State University. She has worked as classroom teacher in K-12, as a program director for low-income ethnically diverse high school students, and as a full-time college professor. A few years ago, Halimah launched her own company, Educational Concepts, which specializes in grant-writing
and development, evaluation and project and curriculum concepts for non-profit organizations.
Halimah is excited to be part of the working party to reinvent the Subud Education Association under the auspices of Susila Dharma International.
Harris Roberts
Harris is a strategic development practitioner with 57 years active service and extensive educational experience of working with schools in eight countries; as teacher in primary, secondary, tertiary education, and in youth organizations.
Harris’ 50 years in management encompass roles across private and public education sectors featuring activity from pioneer supplier of in-house training programs, to change management, human resources development, and professorial appointments. Harris has worked in developmental and related fields; in co-ordination of international study regimes; in cross-cultural, post-graduate programs; in workshops, consultancies, studies. Harris acted as lead for national youth and later as head of national reconciliation for the Government of East Timor.
Harris’ publications include: Development Following Natural Law.
Arnaud Delune
Finance, Fundraising, and Scholarships, Subud Education Association. Arnaud graduated in 1969 as an Aerospace Engineer with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, additional units in Applied Mathematics, and 3rd cycle Diplomas in Fluid Mechanics and High Temperatures from Poitiers University. At the end of 1971 he joined the aerospace industry, where he participated in the beginning of computational aerodynamics until 1975. Then he worked at modeling the thermal and aerodynamic ambiences of the propelled phase and in-flight behaviour of rockets. In addition to further studies of computer science and engineering work, he became a lecturer in the Heat and Energy Engineering Department of the University Technological Institute at the University of Paris-East Marne-la-Vallée and lectured in mathematics, heat transfer, acoustics and combustion, and was in charge of organizing internships.
As far as Subud work, Arnaud worked in Publications and also served as Treasurer and Committee Councillor. He also served for 4 years as National Chair of Subud France. Then he became a helper. He served as a National Helper and then as a Kejiwaan Councillor. He participated in the creation of Susila Dharma France in 1985. He was Chair for 10 years, and presently is Treasurer. He sat for 10 years as a SDIA Director and is still involved in SD African activities. He was in charge of the Subud Education Fund and then became Coordinator for WSA Care Support. HeI developed the Democratic Republic of the Congo activity until 2017. He is now doing MSF liaison work with Subud DRC, and also working with SEA.
Garrett Thomson
Garrett Thomson is Chief Executive Officer and Research Director of the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace. He is also Professor at the College of Wooster. He has taught at universities in the USA the U.K. and Colombia. He is the author or co-author/co-editor of 24 books. These include: Rethinking Secondary Education (2012); Human-Centred Education (2017); Understanding Peace Holistically (2019); Ethical Education (2020) and Happiness, Flourishing and the Good Life (2020) (all with Scherto Gill). He was the CEO of the WSA (2005-10), and secretary of the WSA (1995-2005) and WSA deputy chairperson (1990-93), as well as trustee and secretary of SBIF (1983-1989) and CEO of MSF (1991-93).
Contact details:
Rasunah Marsden, Chair: rasunah@shaw.ca
Hadrian Pollard, CEO: hadrian.pollard@gmail.com