On schools

Krabi Anuban School

So I'm a teacher now. They gave me a desk in the teachers room and introduced me to the other teachers, most of whom are middle aged women who take delight in feeding me and asking me personal questions.

If you're curious, thought I'd take you through a typical day at the school. I arrive around 7:30. My first class isn't until 8:45, but if I arrive early I can watch the opening ceremony. It is unlike anything that I have seen in the states. At 8:00, the PA plays the national anthem and students are corralled into formation according to grade. Students then stand at attention while the director offers some words of encouragement (at least I assume that's what he's talking about, he could be telling the students and staff about a crazy dream he had last night for all I know) After the director's words, the marching band plays a song and the students march in place. The flag is then raised and the students sing the national anthem (again) while the marching band plays. The ceremony is concluded and the students march off the parade ground to the tune of “Its a small world”, “Doe a deer” and the theme song from Barney and Friends

The morning's ritual of indoctrination is but one manifestation of the Thai Education System's wholehearted endorsement of discipline, structure and hierarchy. The hierarchy of the school is not left to anybody's imagination or dispute. There is a poster hanging outside the office denoting who is in charge and who is beneath who.

Mr. Big has expressed his concern that people do not take initiative. They shrug, “Its not my job.” He also told me that the hierarchy in place stifles the innovative ideas of the bottom members. If somebody has a good idea, it must be approved by the upper echelons in order to be realized. At this point, credit for the idea is attributed to the high ups. In other words, the hierarchy is a system where innovative ideas are not necessarily rewarded and plurality of opinion is not encouraged.

As bizarre and disturbing as these the early military training is, I found the mandatory religious exercises to be more so. Students spend the two days before school begins at the local Buddhist temple, listening to the monk, chanting, singing, watching videos, making donations. All well and good except that 30% of the student body practice Islam, not Buddhism. I asked Mr. Big if maybe the Muslim students went to the mosque instead. No. All the students go to the temple. Why? This seemed to be a harder idea to communicate. From what I understood of Mr. Big's answer, the students go to the temple now, because they might not go to temple later. It did not see odd to Mr. Big that Muslim students should have to attend a Buddhist function or that a public school sponsor a religious ceremony. I found this a little inconsistent because the school makes other accommodation for Muslim students such as not serving pork in the school cafeteria.

This is what I have gathered about religion in Thai culture so far. Thailand is a Buddhist country. Not only in the sense that most of the people who live here are Buddhists, but that the state itself practices Buddhism. Federal decisions are guided by the tenets of Buddhism. Everything from foreign policy to school organization. The students attend a Buddhist ceremony because they attend a public school not in spite of it. Thailand is a theocracy. But I haven't found this to be a bad thing. If anything, Thailand demonstrates that a state, founded on religious principles, can be a peaceful and tolerant despite some idiosyncratic laws like it being illegal to send the image of the Buddha or the King in the mail.

But this is an entry about the Thai Education System and Krabi Anuban. The countries that are going to be successful in the coming decades are those that train their students in critical thinking and creative problem solving. This has been said before with in greater detail and eloquence by the likes of Noam Chomsky and Ken Robinson, but I don't think that the importance of these principles can be understated. An education system that mandates obedience to authority without critical perspective and problem solving amounts to rote memorization fails the future of its country.

It is not my intention to pass judgment (though I am only human). Instead of asking, “What is the matter with this system and how can I change it?” I hope that I can maintain the perspective of objectivity and ask, “Why is this the way it is and what can I learn from it.” Certainly, there are some benefits of a system that encourages order and conformity. For one thing, people who can be made to obey make excellent workers. There are also benefits of living within the hierarchy. There is comfort of knowing one's place in a community and there is value in feeling needed. The system demands a high amount of integrity and responsibility of those member in the upper echelons of society and a title alone make one worthy of the position.

Ok. I'm done with this post. I could probably tell you more about Krabi Anuban, Thailand and schools in general, but I've set this piece aside for too long and am now not sure what my original intent was, maybe making a cross cultural comparison? Anyway, have some pictures. I can't decide if they are cute or disturbing.

Hi remember those pictures I just told you about.  Well the blogowebs doesn't upload them like it should.  sorry ---- management------