IK Monitor Articles (9-3)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, November 2001

Contents IK Monitor (9-3) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2001.

Focus on: schools in Thailand

Preserving local knowledge through discovery learning

Recent legislation in Thailand has opened up the process of curriculum development to allow for decentralization to the local level. The 1999 revision of the National Education Law makes local educational institutions responsible for tailoring the content of the national curriculum to the social needs of each community and, most importantly, for teaching 'local wisdom' as part of the coursework in public schools. Curriculum content can now be developed at the local level. PLAN International, a child-centered community development organization, has supported schools and communities in northeastern Thailand in their efforts to develop local curricula.

Two schools are brought into focus here: the primary schools of Ban Narai and of Ban Daeng in northeastern Thailand. Their efforts to integrate traditional local wisdom into the curricula have yielded impressive results. Developing local curricula has also helped the schools to preserve local knowledge for younger generations and has opened up the classroom to student-centered learning approaches. As an employee of PLAN International, I worked in programme development for the Thailand office. I was developing a programme to promote the use of information technologies in the rural schools with which PLAN works. I wrote this article because we realized that this would make an excellent case study from which other schools and NGOs could learn.

Curricula developed from local wisdom
When given the opportunity to develop a localized curriculum, the community and school must take a collective look at their unique history, culture and social issues. In the village of Ban Narai in Nong Bua Lampu province, the priority issue is the forest, and this has become the basis of the local curriculum. There are three learning modules:

Exploration of the ecosystem
Consciousness-raising
Reforestation

In the first module, 'Exploration of the ecosystem,' the children explore the geography of the forest, learning about its current condition and about its various plants and animals and how they contribute to a healthy ecosystem. The children learn about the benefits of the forest plants from a team of traditional herbalists called the Local Wisdom Group. The herbalists explain which plants and roots are used to treat infections, and which are boiled and drunk to cure ulcers, diarrhea or constipation. The elders show the children the spiritual side of herbal medicine as well. Before a herb doctor can cure a patient properly, he has to understand the nature of his patient and the relative strengths of the four elements - fire, water, air and earth - in that person. This learning module has created a way for future generations to preserve knowledge about the value of locally available herbs and to pass on the spiritual beliefs central to the practice of herbal medicine.

As the children's appreciation of the forest grows, the local herbalists teach them how the forest is indispensable. This is the consciousness-raising module, which aims to inspire the children to a sense of activism regarding deforestation near their village. Some of the children have returned from fieldtrips with the herbalists to demand of their parents: 'Why are you destroying our forest? It is our natural supermarket!'

During the reforestation module, the pupils organize community activities and invite their parents and other interested community members to replant trees and help to re-establish biodiversity in the local forest. The children also learn about local methods of forest management. Indigenous practices draw upon the Buddhist religion and animism to protect the forest. The community members believe that the spirits help protect the forest from destruction. Buddhist monks place Buddha images around the forest to denote the sacred nature of the land. Certain trees are 'ordained' by tying colorful ribbons around the trunk.

Generations of knowledge-sharing
To the southwest of Ban Narai in the Yang district of Mahasarakham province, Ban Daeng Primary School has also developed a local curriculum. At Ban Daeng, the local curriculum emphasizes indigenous vocations rather than environmental issues. The teachers link education to local wisdom by inviting community experts into the classroom to teach the pupils their trade. The curriculum trains schoolchildren in practical skills which they can use to generate income later in life, such as hair-styling, chicken-raising, herbal medicine, and silk-weaving. Although most of these skills have been passed on informally for generations, the difference is that now they are recognized as educational content. Whereas in the past, daughters would have learned the arts of silk-weaving from their mothers, now both girls and boys study the craft as a part of their required course curriculum.

More than an exercise in local knowledge preservation, the teachers at Ban Daeng School see the local curriculum as a student-centered teaching methodology. Their local curriculum is fully integrated into all subjects. The children learn the fundamentals of mathematics by calculating percentages related to wildlife diversity in the local forest. They learn the Thai and English names of medicinal herbs. The children practise writing skills by composing essays about the forest, and they study science by mixing herbal shampoos and teas. They have even begun learning how to use computer applications such as PaintshopPro by designing traditional Thai 'mutmee' silk patterns on the computer.

Challenges with the local curriculum
The process of developing and using a curriculum based on local wisdom is not without its difficulties. One initial hurdle in Ban Narai was the lack of confidence among teachers and members of the Local Wisdom Group in their abilities to develop a course curriculum. Having always received complete lesson plans from the central education authorities in Bangkok, it was a momentous task for the rural teachers and elders to begin designing a curriculum from scratch. Even now that the curriculum has been developed, the job of updating and improving it poses a constant challenge as these rural villages lack access to the educational materials available in urban libraries and via technologies such as the Internet.

Another challenge for Ban Daeng Primary School is that few students are fortunate enough to continue their education past grade six. Many children must take on farming or other occupations as a way to contribute to their family's income. This can prevent them from studying at the secondary level. But even if the children do have the luxury of continuing their education past primary school, there is no guarantee that the secondary schools in Ban Daeng's vicinity will teach localized curricula, which has been designed only for the primary school level. Thus, the benefits of a curriculum based on community knowledge may remain limited to students in grades 1-6.

Additional challenges can be seen in the delicate balance between indigenous traditions and social change. In the case of Ban Narai, there is only one woman who is a member of the Local Wisdom Group, since traditional herb doctors are almost always men. With an all-male team of teachers, will the children learn the same segregated gender practices of their elders? How will the developments of modern society, such as equality between men and women, be taught to the children via a localized curriculum?

Future balance
Ajaarn Samai of Ban Daeng School also has reservations about using localized curricula. 'Will this curriculum prepare my students to compete in today's global economy?' he asks. How will knowledge of traditional practices be integrated with advances in technology? Building upon local knowledge in the 21st century will require a change in mindset to allow for a balance in education between indigenous and modern knowledge. The Thai Ministry of Education recognizes this need and has developed an electronic network of schools that can be used as a forum for promoting good examples of localized curricula among schools. With access to the Internet, children in rural areas such as Ban Narai and Ban Daeng would be able to design their own websites to promote awareness about their local forests and indigenous knowledge. The challenge for educators and practitioners is to develop ways to preserve local knowledge, build upon it, and connect it to modern advances in teaching and technology. Ban Narai and Ban Daeng Primary Schools have done so by creating curricula that preserve local wisdom and involve children through participatory learning activities.

Gina Lucarelli
500 Riverside Drive
Apt 408
New York, New York 10027
USA
E-mail: gina_lucarelli@hotmail.com

References
Office of the National Education Commission (1999) National Education Act. Office of the Prime Minister, Kingdom of Thailand. Publishing Company of National Education Commission, Lad Phrao

Ajaarn Samai
Ban Daeng School
Moo 2 Tambon Yang, Amphur Borabue
Mahasarakam, Thailand 44130

The author also conducted interviews with Banphot Tachasri and Seela Seewongjan and children of the 5th grade class Ban Narai School, and with Pawpong Gaewsoowun and Pawrak Taweejan of the Local Wisdom Group. They are located in Ban Narai Dong Ma Fai Sub-District, Suwanakuha District, Nong Bua Lam Phu Province, Thailand.

Photographs and Websites that may interest readers of this article.