Interview with Rod Zwirner, March 3, 2022

Interview Summary

Rod Zwirner was raised in New Jersey and attended Princeton University for a degree in history and religion. He served in the army and taught Junior High science before joining the Peace Corps assigned to East Malaysia. He trained in Hilo, Hawaii as a secondary school teacher. His was with one of the last groups that went through the physical fitness, cold war preparation, and deselection process model of pre-service training! Rod’s project was part of the establishment of a public school system, including assistance from volunteers from several countries. Rod taught English, science, history and geography. He worked with students on gardening and coached basketball and a track team. He also organized jungle expeditions on weekends. His most important conversations with students came after classes. He taught at a new boarding school in his third year focused on graduation exams! Rod talked about challenges, accomplishments, perspectives on development processes, and cultural influence. East Malaysia, Dec. 1964 – Jan. 1968, Education Sector

Interview Keyword

East Malaysia education Sarawak Borneo New Jersey Princeton history religion army teacher Pre-Service Training Hilo, Hawaii cold war Mao’s Red book practicum health deselection Malaya Sabah Sarawak Brunei decolonization nation building nutcracker theory Sarawak Kuching Colombo Plan Commonwealth curfew hash house harrier international volunteers English dialects Chunghua Chinese feeder schools teaching rock and roll emergency barbed wire villages coaching Lee Kwan Yew Harry Lee Central Sarawak Rejang river Dayaks Ibans Sultanate Brunei expeditions indigenous knowledge brain drain from villages green revolution exams leadership Alfred Wallace Konfrontasi Communist insurgency attacks food corruption grassroots common good local decisions Facebook

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