Something of our own

A percussion team much like the one in ancient days which accompanied Lanna warriors into battle.

Lanna swordfighters were often women.

Friends teach friends, an integral part of the class, an integral part of the class.

First came the percussion section, consisting of four northern Thai gongs and a king-sized “victory” drum set. The gongs laid down a slow, steady, throbbing rhythm for the drummer as he carried out elaborate martial-arts-like steps while pounding his drum.

Next came the two sword fighters who, like the drummer, followed a ritualised and carefully practiced routine. A good thing too, since the swords were very sharp.

Finally, it was the turn of the Thai boxers. There was no boxing this day, just the pre-fight dance honouring the master teacher.

Nothing particularly unusual here: Thai students are used to performing from the earliest ages. What is interesting, however, is that this was a Thai language class and the activity was student initiated and student planned. Furthermore, it was specifically designed as a learning experience for the whole class, not just the students who did the performing.

This is a good example of the flexibility built into the new national curriculum. Seventy percent of the content taught by schools within the national system must follow ministry guidelines, but schools are free to choose their own content for the remaining thirty percent. The idea is to allow schools to develop programmes to suit the needs of their local communities.

The faculty and students of The Prince Royal’s College are devoting their thirty percent to the understanding and preservation of the northern Lanna culture and traditions. The student presentations described above were part of this project. While the art forms involved are all found elsewhere in Thailand, the students were keen to show off renditions which were unique to the Lanna region.

The Prince Royal’s College is a large school by Thai standards, encompassing all levels from kindergarten to 12^th grade (Mathayom 6). Altogether the school has about 6,000 students and 300 teachers.

Acharn Sirilak Fungkarn, vice principal of academic affairs at the Prince Royal’s College.

In just over one year’s time the school is set to celebrate its 100^th anniversary. But that is a bit misleading, says Acharn Sirilak Fungkarn, vice principal of academic affairs.

The school was actually founded 120 years ago by American missionaries at a different site, she explains. The celebrations taking place on January 2, 2006 will be in commemoration of a visit to the present site by King Rama VI during which he bestowed the school with its name.

The school is administered as a series of small schools within a large school. Each level – kindergarten, lower and upper primary and lower and upper secondary – has a head teacher to oversee it and whose function is similar to that of a principal. Each level also has an academic assistant to ensure quality and to see that national standards are met.

Last year, The Prince Royal’s College was one of about 2,000 schools to pilot the new curriculum in years one and four of both primary and secondary school. “Initially, we were allowed to design the curriculum in its entirety,” Acharn Sirilak explains. “However, the government has made adjustments and we are now limited to thirty percent. We have decided that ours will be a curriculum based on our own northern community and culture. This is a clear policy of our school director Acharn Pong Tananon.”

According to Acharn Sirilak, the ministry has stipulated that locally-designed content can take several forms. It can, for example, be a unit within an existing course or it can be a separate course altogether. Alternatively it may take the form of special student activities or students may go off-site to do research and gather information.

At The Prince Royal’s College, each level of the school has taken a different approach. The faculty of lower secondary, for example, developed a special course for each of the three years.

In year one, says head teacher Acharn Dusit Phromchana, the course is ‘Our Chiang Mai’. “We cover the province as a whole, its geography and climate, its living conditions, its culture and its problems.”

The remaining two courses (Lanna 1 and 2) deal with the eight northern provinces. “In Lanna 1, we cover geography, climate, living conditions and the natural resources found in the area. In Lanna 2, we look at community problems and how to solve them – the migration problem, for example.”

Here, adds Acharn Sirilak, the school asked for help from the Chiang Mai municipality which has been very accommodating. “This has helped our teachers understand what problems the municipality is confronting – traffic congestion, for example. Sitting here at school, we were lacking such data. We then discuss among ourselves what ‘hot topics’ our students might become involved with.”

In upper secondary, the approach has been to include local content within the context of a regular core course. The student presentation in the Thai language course, for example, was a spin-off a standard story-telling unit that deals with famous historical figures in Thailand.

One group of students, explains teacher Chanoknan Chanpreuk, elected to focus on Luang Pho Chaem, the revered abbot of Wat Chalong in Phuket during the reign of King Rama V. The abbot was famous for his good deeds and the manner in which he inspired his villagers to defend themselves against assaults by rebelling Chinese tin miners.

One of his morale-building devices was to provide each village fighter with a piece of cloth containing religious inscriptions (pha prajian). This bit of information provided Acharn Chanoknan and her colleagues an opportunity to develop linkages with the local culture.

Was there anything similar to pha prajian in the local Lanna culture? Were there any other aspects of the Luang Pho Chaem story with Lanna counterparts?

Making such connections is an important element in the type of teaching fostered by the new curriculum. The Thai term is buranagan and it is something you hear constantly in educational circles.

In this case, a group of students became motivated to look for linkages. They found out Lanna culture does indeed have its own pha prajian, known locally as pha yan. Lanna armies also had their own distinctive way of going to war and the students were interesting in learning more, especially the martial arts forms of drumming, sword fighting and the local form of Thai boxing.

To do so, they sought training at the house of a local master teacher of Lanna martial arts forms. Time was limited, so none of the students were able to reach a high level of proficiency, but the experience did whet their appetites for more.

Secondary student Kiattichai Patankijaluck

“I was somewhat interested in Lanna culture before, but after seeing the real thing, my interest has increased considerably,” says drummer Kiattichai Patanakijaluck “When I began, I had no experience in drumming, but after trying it out I felt it was an impressive art form.

“Some people may think that it is easy, but in reality it is quite difficult. Learning in a short time is very difficult. You need to learn gradually for a long time until the performance is pleasing. I have been learning for two weeks – practicing for two hours a day. That is not adequate. I hope to continue and I fortunately do have the opportunity,” Kiattichai says.

Secondary student Nareerat Oun-muang

In Lanna culture, sword fighting was typically the domain of woman and the class maintained this tradition. “We only had one full week of training, but I tried my very best to be as good as I possibly could,” explains Nareerat Oun-muang, one of the two girls who volunteered for this art form.

“I wasn’t afraid even though the swords are extremely sharp. If we learn to use them properly, there is no reason to be afraid. And if we just think about our fear, we’ll never be able to perform,” she says.

It is definitely a skill she wants to pursue further. “I’ve really developed a love for it,” Nareerat remarks.

During the classroom performance, the non-performers do not sit idly by. “They have worksheets to fill out,” says Thai teacher Wipasri Joisoongnearn. “They have to indicate what they have learned and they also evaluate the performers. Under our new system of evaluation, it is not only the teachers who evaluate. Friends evaluate friends.”

Eksiam Steger clearly took his role seriously. “While I was watching I had to make notes on the things I observed and the things I learned,” he says. “I had to analyse the quality of the performances and how useful they were to the audience.”

Eksiam was particularly interested in the muay Thai dance. “Normally, we only see the dance from central Thailand which is quite unlike the Lanna version. The music and the instruments aren’t the same either,” he explains.

In the upper primary level, the focus is geared towards local wisdom, particularly the crafts native to the area. According to teacher Saowanee Kulphetprasit, teachers in all subject areas meet together to determine how to integrate their treatment of local wisdom during the two-week period local wisdom is covered in class.

Primary students are also encouraged to carry out projects throughout the year which take them into the community.

Primary 6 student Siwaporn Thephawan, Pataradanai Pakdee, Kawissara Krasaewes

“We interviewed elderly people with knowledge of native foods and foods of the ancient people – curries, for example, or sweet desserts,” explains primary six student Siwaporn Thephawan. “They taught us how to prepare easy dishes.”

Kawissara Krasaewes sought out an aunt who had knowledge of fruit drinks common to the region. “I wanted to know which type of fruit drinks were the most nutritious. She was able to answer to some extent, but in cases where she couldn’t answer, I had to get information elsewhere. I like this way of learning. It is learning by myself,” Kawissara recounts.

Not all the community projects had to do with crafts. Young Pataradanai Pakdee wanted to find out something altogether different.

“I was interested in the conditions of sick people, so I did interviews in the hospital,” he explains. “I was interested in finding out what was the major cause of illness of the patients there. It turns out respiratory problems topped the list. There is a lot of dust in the area and most people suffer from allergies.”

Students are encouraged to seek out contacts on their own, but they also receive assistance from teachers. Social studies teacher Wattana Sutena, for example, has extensive contacts among local musicians as well as artisans in other fields.

“I make suggestions about people that students might want to visit. Then they make the choice according to their interests and their skills,” he says.

Acharn Poonchai Akanitin

Head teacher Poonchai Akanitin is an enthusiastic backer of the programme, saying it is particularly suited for conditions at The Prince Royal’s College.

“We have a problem because our students come in through a lottery system. We have students who come from other provinces. Acharn Pong has observed that many of the students tend to speak central Thai and they do not always take an interest in the local wisdom and culture which is an important part of our identity. Thus, there was a worry that the culture was not being preserved,” Acharn Poonchai relates.

For Acharn Sirilak, the opportunity to include local content is a big step forward from the former rigidly centralised curriculum.

“It’s good to have part of the curriculum applicable to all of Thailand,” she says. “We have to have standards. But being able to design part of the curriculum according to the needs of the community is a significant improvement.”

| Comments to Terry F. at terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |
|© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd.
All rights reserved 2003 |
Last modified: August 25, 2003