Looking back to the time when we were in the Thai education system, many of us, both students and educators, have been through the common experiences of fond memories as well as difficulties. For example, in terms of teaching and learning methods, the Thai education system is heavily influenced by the Asian seniority culture, which resulted in the top-down relationship between teachers and students. Moreover, although Western educational philosophy that values critical thinking, confidence, and curiosity, has increased its influence in the past decades, the students’ individualization throughout their learning years spent in schools and universities remain insufficient. Therefore, unique characters in Thai graduates are unfortunately currently quite rare.
In Thailand’s context, the added difficulty is the fact that there are not enough educators and students in smaller rural schools to make the schools operational according to the standard education system, leading to closures of many such schools all over Thailand. Therefore, students in hard-to-reach rural places are obliged to commute further away from their homes in order to be educated in bigger schools. Many of these daily travel routes are not only far, but sometimes can be dangerous for young kids. Some parents have to unwillingly resort to board their children away from home instead to avoid this commute issue.
These problems are multi-faceted and concern the deep-rooted Thai social, economic, and cultural structures. Unfortunately, such complexity means there is no single magic solution that can solve the issues once and for all. However, today the Matilda Foundation would like to suggest that “Alternative Schools” and the educational philosophies they adopt that promote awareness of diversity and flexibility, may be able to help ease some of the problems endemic in the Thai education system.
What is “Alternative School”? How is it an “Alternative”?
An alternative school is an educational institution whose operations are based on teaching and learning philosophies or innovations that differ from the mainstream standard education system. Around the world, currently there are a variety of educational philosophies that alternative schools can choose to adopt. For example, Montessori, Waldorf, Summer Hill, Multiple Intelligence, or Buddhist philosophies.
The curriculum and teaching methods vary from school to school depending on their philosophy of choice. However, one common theme among alternative schools is the belief that “humans are diverse” and the teaching and learning methods should also be diverse accordingly. Rather than being fixed to just one golden format, alternative schools take the student-centered approach and focus on educating each student according to their respective characteristics, needs, and interests through projects and learning-by-doing methods, unlike the usual focus heavily put on memorization that we are used to in standard classrooms.
It is this particular feature that makes alternative schools viable alternatives that can address some of the problems found in mainstream educational institutions, especially in terms of individualization. Alternative education is adjusted to suit the students’ needs and interests, rather than adjusting many students from various backgrounds, with varying interests and skill levels, to fit into one single curriculum. In this fashion, the educational process will not be at the cost of the student’s individuality and unique character.
Alternative schools can also address the shortage of personnel and students in small rural schools in Thailand. The National Education Act B.E. 2542 (1999) states that “Other than the State, private persons and local administration organizations, individuals, families, community organizations, private organizations, professional bodies, religious institutions, enterprises, and other social institutions shall have the right to provide basic education as prescribed in the ministerial regulations.” In this regard, small rural communities in Thailand can establish and operate their own learning center despite having low numbers of educators and students. Thus, the students will not be forced to travel great distances from their homes in order to be educated in bigger schools. “Baan Huay Paan” in Nan Province, a friend of the Matilda Foundation, is the real-life example of how alternative schools enable education where the mainstream educational system is unable.
An option that should not be overlooked
Alternative schools are not simply just additional alternatives to the standard education in Thailand, but they are viable solutions to the very real issues the students and teachers, and arguably the larger Thai society, are facing. Diversity in education comes in many forms. For instance, the diversity of the student’s backgrounds, interests, skills, the diversity of educators and their expertise or qualifications, or even the limitations and needs unique to each community around Thailand. Such diverse complexities make it impossible for a single educational model to complement everyone’s context. More flexible alternatives are therefore not just an added luxury, but a necessity.
Furthermore, the current world’s fast-paced social changes and unpredictabilities, as well as the rapid advancements in technology also raise concerns that the traditional education that stresses memorization without promoting individualization may no longer be sufficient in order for Thai students to be competitive in the either the current or future labour market upon their graduation.
The Matilda Foundation attaches great importance to “choices” and “flexibilities” without holding on to one fixed model to the point that it becomes a limitation not a solution. In our opinion, in order to be internationally competitive in the future world, the educational system needs heavier focus on individualization to nurture each student’s distinctive characteristics. We believe that in a globalized world where basic skills can be honed by the majority, the unique qualities will be the deciding factor. The philosophies that alternative schools adopt should therefore not be overlooked as an option to help the Thai educational system out of the quagmire and equip Thai graduates with the distinctive features they need for the challenges that the future world demands.
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