Papers by Thithimadee Arphattananon
MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities
At the dawn of the 1990s, Thailand began to accept migrant workers from neighboring countries, na... more At the dawn of the 1990s, Thailand began to accept migrant workers from neighboring countries, namely Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia to work in labor sectors to meet with the high demand for manpower due to rapid economic development. Thirty years since the early batches of migrant workers entered the country, the number of migrant workers steadily increased and reached 3.9 million in 2018. Among this number, approximately 390,015 were children. Around thirty-five percent of these children were enrolled in Thai government schools. As the government school is a place where government policy and national ideology are manifested, this paper explores the forms and effects of education provided in government schools to children of migrant workers from Myanmar. These issues are examined through the lens of how nation-states integrate migrants into their societies.
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The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas
Abstract Multicultural education aims for social justice and a democratic society in that educati... more Abstract Multicultural education aims for social justice and a democratic society in that education should eradicate structural inequality and unequal power among majority and minority groups. These critical aims of multicultural education have been toned down when it comes to practice. In many parts of the world, multicultural education is often implemented in the form of recognition of visible elements of culture. Similar to other countries, schools in Thailand prefer the liberal form of multicultural education over the radical and critical ones. This study originated from dissatisfaction with how multicultural education has been implemented in Thailand and concern with its effects on students and the society at large. As part of the study, five social studies lessons were redesigned to challenge the liberal form of multicultural education. The lessons were taught in 5th and 6th grade classrooms in six participating schools. This article describes how the lessons were designed and delivered in the actual classrooms. The conceptual framework underpinning this study is critical multicultural education which views education as a hegemonic tool. In order to balance power among majority and minority groups, education should help students discern distorted power structures in society. In these lessons, “culture” was not regarded as static practices or artifacts but, rather, as the lived experiences of students and their families. In all the lessons, inquiry-based instructional methods were used. The instructional techniques used were cooperative learning, role playing and collaborative problem-solving.
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In recent years, the migration of people from Myanmar into Thailand has increased tremendously. S... more In recent years, the migration of people from Myanmar into Thailand has increased tremendously. Since 2005, when the Thai government officially allowed migrant children to enroll in Thai government schools, there has been a steady increase in the number of migrant students. In such a context, it is imperative that teachers develop multicultural competence, or the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to work with culturally diverse students. However, teachers in Thailand reported that they have not been trained in the knowledge and skills to teach in multicultural classrooms. The study has two main objectives. Firstly, it attempts to design a multicultural education training program that incorporates modules that will lead to building and strengthening teachers' multicultural competence. Secondly, it implements the training program, and measures the level of multicultural competence of teachers who received the training by comparing them to those who do not receive the train...
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Myanmar is home to over 54.8 million people, consisting of over 100 ethnolinguistic groups with d... more Myanmar is home to over 54.8 million people, consisting of over 100 ethnolinguistic groups with distinct linguistic, cultural, and historical backgrounds. Since Myanmar gained independence from Great Britain, education has been used as the main political tool for Bamar national assimilation, neglecting this rich ethnic and cultural diversity. Myanmar opted for the assimilationist approach in which non-dominant ethnolinguistic nationalities are vanquished through the use of educational instruction, materials, and teachers' education, all of which are 'Bamarcentric', centered around a single ethnolinguistic identity and language in Myanmar, Bamar. Other, non-dominant ethnolinguistic groups in Myanmar have long desired to incorporate their own languages, cultures, and histories into the educational system. In this vein, the National Education Law (NEL), which took effect in 2014, provides the integration of non-dominant ethnic languages and cultural identities into the main...
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Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts, 2021
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Religious Education in Asia, 2020
In Thailand, Buddhism has played a significant role in people’s lives: as a guiding principle, ph... more In Thailand, Buddhism has played a significant role in people’s lives: as a guiding principle, philosophy, code of ethics and spiritual resort. Although Buddhism is not the national religion, and the constitution stipulates that all Thais have religious freedom, around 94 percent of the total population identify themselves as Buddhists. Buddhism operates as an overarching ideology in Thai culture. It is one of the three national pillars of Thailand along with the monarch and the nation. During the nation building period, education was used as a tool for assimilating people of different cultural backgrounds to be under one unified territory. Buddhism was intervolved as part of that mechanism in education. Even in modernized society like today, although education is no longer offered in temples, professional teachers have replaced monks and subject matters are secular, Buddhism still plays a significant role in shaping the social world of Thai people. So much so that it marginalizes people of other religious faiths through its control of meaning and its selection, distribution and perpetuation of teachings about Buddhism and Buddhist values. In this chapter, I begin by tracing the history of education in Thailand from pre-modern time to the present to show how Buddhist values and belief systems have become one of the overarching ideologies in Thai peoples’ lives. I pay specific attention to the process through which public education plays a role in sustaining and perpetuating Buddhist teachings and Buddhist values as a national value. Examples of practices in schools are used to show how Buddhist values permeate every corner and are the keystone in shaping students’ worldview. The end of the chapter illustrates how Buddhist values and belief systems can alienate those of other religious beliefs, especially Muslims.
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With the approach of 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community or AEC has gradually moved from being a b... more With the approach of 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community or AEC has gradually moved from being a buzzword to becoming a reality that Thailand has to face. Thailand has been preparing for this for quite some time now. In curriculum and instruction, some changes have already occurred. The content of the curriculum were changed in order for schools to equip students with knowledge and skills to become part of the ASEAN community and to function well in the bigger economic community of AEC. This paper will delineate how the curriculum of social studies in Thailand has been changed as Thailand prepares to enter the AEC and ASEAN community. In this paper, I seek to demonstrate how the current wave of globalization—the ASEAN regional integration and the AEC—affects the core process of education—the teaching and learning, not only the system of education as earlier scholars of globalization and education have suggested. I will do so by using the case of social studies curriculum as an examp...
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ICERI2018 Proceedings, 2018
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Intercultural Education, 2018
Abstract This study examines multicultural education policy in Thailand. The researcher used the ... more Abstract This study examines multicultural education policy in Thailand. The researcher used the qualitative research methods of interviewing, observation and document examination to obtain data. Theory about multicultural education was used as a theoretical framework. The sites of study were eight primary schools that served students from diverse cultures – Muslim, Buddhist, Burmese, Cambodian and Thai – in the southern provinces of Thailand. Results showed that current educational policies do provide opportunity for migrant students to access public education. The Ministry of Education has allowed schools to apply their own rules and regulations that reflect the diverse cultures of their students. The results also show that the curriculum includes references to various cultures, that textbooks contain content that encourages students to live in harmony with people from different cultures and that some schools have implemented bilingual education programs. However, deeper analysis of school practices made it clear that what seems to be an acceptance of cultural diversity is just another form of assimilation. The well-established features that define Thainess remain intact and the inclusion of culturally specific content is insufficient to change the unequal power relations among dominant and minority groups in Thailand.
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IAFOR Journal of Education, 2018
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Journal of Mekong Societies, 2013
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ABSTRACT
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ABSTRACT
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International Journal of Multicultural Education, 2012
In July 2005, the Thai cabinet passed the resolution that allows migrant children access to free ... more In July 2005, the Thai cabinet passed the resolution that allows migrant children access to free public education. This paper uncovers education experiences of children of migrant workers who study in Thai public schools, concentrating on the Thai government’s education policy towards these children. Data are drawn from an ethnographic study conducted between 2010 and 2011 in two provinces of Thailand—Ranong Province and Pattani Province. Qualitative research methods such as interview, observation and document examination are used to obtain data. School practices such as the admission process, the placement of children into classes, classroom instruction, and supporting systems are examined. Interactions between teachers and migrant children as well as between migrant children and local children are observed. The results show that while allowing migrant children to access public education, the Thai government does not have a policy to promote or to persuade migrant paren...
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Papers by Thithimadee Arphattananon