Project on Research Study and Materials Development
for Ethnic Minority in Omkoi District,
1.
Background Information on
Socio-Economic Situation in the Country
Situated in the heart of the Southeast Asian mainland and covering an area of
513,115 sq.km.,
Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.2% (male 7,955,597 ; female 7,604,652)
(2003 est.) 15-64 years: 68.8% (male 21,819,445 ; female 22,362,085)
65 years and over: 7% (male 2,081,768 ; female 2,441,729)
Buddhism
is the dominant religion in
The main language is Thai, although Lao, Chinese, Malay and English are also spoken by significant numbers of people.
The economy is market-oriented with a strong tradition of private enterprise, although state enterprises plays a significant role in some sectors. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is estimated to approximately 6 percent for 2004. Annual per capita income is approximately $2,005. According to the National Statistical Office, approximately 41 percent of all employed workers are employed in the agricultural sector, although agriculture accounts for approximately 9 percent of the GDP.
2.
EFA Plan Focusing on NFE and
Literacy in the Country
At present,
the framework of education in
and the 1999 National Education Act. They provide principles and challenging guidelines for the provision and development of Thai education in order to prepare all Thai people for a learning society in a knowledge-based economy. Besides, it is provided in the Constitution for the first time that [1]all Thai people will have and equal rights to receive basic education for at least 12 years, of equal and free of charge(Section 43).The new Constitution ensures that all Thai people will have both the rights and duty to receive education and training (Section 30 and 69 ) as well as academic freedom (Section 42). It also includes the rights to receive care and education for children, youth, women, the elderly, the underprivileged and handicapped as provided in Section 53, 55 and 80. These provisions will protect the rights to education of all Thai people thereby moving forward towards a knowledge-based economy.
The National Education Plan (2002-2016) represents a major reform plan, bringing together the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the National Education Act. Besides, it is based on the government policy aimed at transforming Thai Society into a knowledge-based on the government policy aimed at transforming Thai society into a long learning and training, and being endowed with intellect, serving as a capital resource for income generating employment; thus, protecting the country form economic and social crisis.
Based on the principles and guidelines provided by the 1997 Constitution and the National Education Act, it is hoped the National Plan will 1) lead to a knowledge-based society; 2) promote continuous learning; 3) involve all segments of society in designing and decision-making concerning public activities. It is also expected that the National Education Plan will empower Thai empower Thai people so that they will be able to adjust to the world trends and events while maintaining their Thai identity as well as conducting themselves in happiness and self-reliance.
According to the National Education Act, (1999) it sets up a framework in which the people can embrace lifelong learning through all types and levels of education as well as the transfer of learning outcomes. Education provision will be based on 3 principles: 1) lifelong education for all; 2) participation by all segments of society; and 3) continuous development of the bodies of knowledge and the learning process. Education will be provided in three types: formal, non-formal, and informal education.
3.
Literacy and Education for the
Minority Policy
The National Statistics Bureau reports [2] the reading situation among 15-60 year old
20,585,731 population in 2000 as follows:
Total literacy rate 98.86%
Eastern Region 99.62%
Southern Region 98.99%
Central Region 98.98%
Northern Region 96.81%
The statistics reveal that Northern Region ranks lowest in terms of literacy rate. It is thus possible that the region has a number of minorities who have their own languages and cultures. Additionally, they live in remote, harsh and almost in accessible areas. Theirs chances to contact with outside people which enables them to use Thai is almost nil. The situation points to the fact that organization of literacy activities for them should be conducted differently.
The Non-Formal Education Commission (NFEC) which beans the brunt in supporting all groups of population in their literacy endeauvours. It has performed this duty since its perception up until the present. It therefore gives full support to UNESCO in the literacy bi-lingual approach. That is, promotion of literacy activities through mother tongue of the minorities, bridging them to learning Thai, or learning the two languages simultaneously. It is hoped that in effect the approach will lead to the literacy acquisition, The approach is a challenge and it is supported by a number of reasons:
· Article 46 of the Constitution stipulates the people’s right that individuals who have joint community or settlement have inherited rights to preserve or revive their traditions and customs, local wisdom, arts, and cultures which belong to them locally and traditionally, They can also participate in managing, preserving and using the natural resources and environment in a balanced and sustainable manner, and the State shall improve the education so as to make it congruent with social and economic changes.
· The 1999 National Education Act stresses organization of curriculum in a congruent way with the community’s situations; local wisdom; and desirable characteristics as good members of family, society, community and the nation. In addition, all sectors must have a share in organizing and distributing the power of education administration to the locality. This is to respond to the needs of the local people.
· The National Scheme of Education emphasizes the importance of quality of life development by stressing human-centred development and a student-centred approach in learning organization. The issue, thus, stresses interation of education, religions and cultures. Thai aim is to develop Thai people to become a complete total man; be it physical or mental aspects, health and intelligence. This is to enable them to live happily with others.
Based on the a fore-mentioned reason, the chances are, thus, open for educational
institutes and concerned organizations to set up their own policies and operational plans to support the learning and teaching of various hilltribes’ mother-tongue languages. Presently, a number of schools and educational organizations have been keen in organizing such classes.
PART TWO ; THE PROJECT ON RESEARCH STUDY AND MATERIALS DVELOPMENT OF LITERACY PROGRAMME FOR ETHNIC MINORITY IN OMKO, CHIANGMAI.
The project was initiated in a UNESCO ‘s regional meeting which aimed to organize
educational approaches that
promote the quality of life and are congruent with ways of life of the
minorities in various countries.
The project has been executed as action research piece, to enable application of
ideas into real practice and experiments and adjustment are made so as to ensure most suitability.
The general objective of project is to run in action research to develop curricular and
literacy materials through bilingual approach to promote literacy among the Karen people in Omkoi distric, Chiengmai province.
The specific objectives are to:
(1) study community and contexts of living of target group
(2) identify needs and problems of Karen in the target area
(3) develop curriculum grid and literacy materials through bilingual approach
(4) test bilingual literacy materials, publish and print for wider use
(5) review and report the research project
UNESCO has given us $ 2,000 to finance the project.
As organizing literacy activities through a bi-lingual approach is new to the
Non-Formal Education Office, it is thus inevitable that we have to seek help from a
language institution. For this reason, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) is chosen
because its linguists and experts have experiences in organization of education
activities for minorities in a number of countries.
As a result, we have accomplished the following activities:
(1) Studying
problems and needs in learning of the Karens in the
target areas which was conducted in a way of study tour and community survey,
in order to identify the target areas, during
(2) Organizing a workshop to identify body of knowledge of bi-lingualism and
planning
the project’s activities in literacy materials development during
(3) Constructing tools and collecting information of the community in target areas
during
(4) Checking and analyzing Phonetic system from the Pwo Karen words list during
(5) Conducting a workshop to check the language phonetic system with are Pwo
Karen people during March 17-19
in
(6)
Conducting a workshop on alphabet designs
system during
Omkoi Resort, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
(7) Conducting a workshop to develop curriculum media for bi-lingual literacy and
teaching plans during July 22-
(8) Conducting a workshop to develop bi-lingual reading supplementary books
during February 9 -13, 2004 at
Applied
(9) Conducting a workshop to develop bi-lingual reading supplementary books and
Collect field data during
(10)Conducting the
project follow-up seminar on April 27 and
District NFE Service Centre, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
The results of each activity undertaken are as follows:
Activity 1 : Studying problems and needs in learning
of the Karens in the Target
Areas; and study tour and Community survey (
(1) Taget Areas. The team selected
District, Omkoi, Chiangmai,
for a Significant reason that the villagers were Pwo
Karen who did not yet have their written language while the others (Skore Karen) already have. Therefore, the media production
would start from the most difficult point, i.e. building the writing system for
them which could be the most challenging task.
Nong Ung Tai was situated at
Moo 10 of Nakain Sub-district, Omkoi, Chiangmai. Its
history as having passed from generation to generation has been that,
200 years ago, Mr.Duayma settled here with other 10
households. The village site was set up according to their occupation. The
population have gradully increased to now 58
households of 70 families. It was in a valley. Their prominent believe were
animistic Buddhism and Christianity.
Presently Mr. Sampan Papo
was the village headman and had Mr.
Yaduay
Prayoonwieng as his deputy. The total
number of population was 280 ; 141 men and 139 women.
The majority of the
villagers were farmers. Most of them (60 families) undertook
highland rice farming while the others (10 families) opted for ordinary
rice farming. In some years, they do not have sufficient rice supplies; They
rely on rice they borrow from the community’s initiative.
They also raised
livestock such as chickens, pigs, cattles and
buffaloes for wale and
their own consumption.
They had no
economic plants. They only grew some vegetables such as lettuces,
pumkins,
gourds, chillis snake beans and so forth for house
hold consumption.
Their average
income was 2,500 baht (US$62.5) per
year per family.
Nong Ung Tai village was 37 kilometres from the town centre (District Centre). Only 5
kilometres of road were asphalt-sealed. The rest was made up of granule stone and
earth. The only accessible transport could be only by cars and motor-cycles
which took almost 2 hours from the town centre. The village was 217 kilometres from Chiangmai via
Highway 108.
The villagers used chllis and salt as main ingredients in food preparation in
addition
to vegetables. Their major sources of protien
were chickens and pork.
The health and
quality of life in general for both adults and children were of a fair
stage when compared to the National Health Standard. Their water supply
was from the mountains.
Educationwise, the people of
the NFE Mae Fa Luang
Community Learning Centre for the hilltribes which
was run by Omkoi NFE District Service Centre. The
services rendered were naturally in NFE native via the hilltribes
primary education (1981) curriculum, for children below 14 years of age;
functional education curriculum for general adults; and the media used in the
national campaign for literacy.
The Mae Fa Lung Community Learning Centre for the Hilltribes of the village was built
in 1993 by the villagers’ assistance. Its walls were made of bamboo,
and the roof was built of grass. Later on, the students from the Faculty of
Social Wellfares,
The centre was reinnovated and expanded in 2001 by having financial aids
from Her
Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn. As a
result, the main building was extended to a length of 6 metres,
making it more able to accommodate more learners. The construction was from May
to June 2001.
Educational Situations
1. The Data on the Learners
The following table
illustrates numbers of learners of various programs of the
community centre:
|
CURRICULUM |
Learners |
Graduates |
Remarks |
||||
|
M |
F |
total |
M |
F |
total |
||
|
1.Hilltribes Primary Education (1981) |
45 |
50 |
95 |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
2.Functional Education |
8 |
7 |
15 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
3.Vocation (Interest Groups) |
30 |
68 |
98 |
30 |
68 |
98 |
|
|
4.Literacy Promotion Activity |
24 |
35 |
59 |
- |
- |
- |
Still continuing |
2. There
were 3 NFE volunteer-teachers:
Miss. Sangduen Koontong, Miss.Upsorn Ta-pan and Ms.Rattikarn Sakinakiri, who was responsible for the teaching/learning in the bi-lingual project. They had one teacher supervisor: Mr.Nitipong Ngaewoe.
Activity 2: Organizing a Workshop
to Identily Body of Knowledge of Bi-lingualism and
Planning the Project’s Activities in Literacy Materials Development during January 15-17, at Lotus Hotel –Pang Suan Kaew, Chiangmai.
The people who attended the workshop were the concerned people who were
administrators academics,
teachers and support staff from the central office in
Additionally, the researchers and the people concerned with the project have analyzed the needs to study in depth in specific areas with regard to the project administration. They gained advice and assistance from SIL experts in selecting concerned articles and writings, e.g. organization of education for minorities; alphabet system design which were regarded as specialization works and would be done effectively by linguists only ; and related literature on research of cases which were based on community preservation of languages. The cases of song language preservation of Chanthaburi and a research work on Pwo Karen language of Kanchanaburi were chosen The documents were translated into Thai and made available to the workers of this project. They were also propagated through the website of NFE Northern Regional Centre for anyone interested in the topic.
Activity 3: Constructing Tools
and collecting Information of the Community in Target Areas
during
The workshop produced tools to be used in collecting information from the target areas. The study framework, however, consisted physical structure; the community history; population structure; basic factors in everyday life; economic, social, educational, health, cultural, political and environmental factors; and problems and needs of the people. The study means were observation, interviewing and informal questioning. As for the language survey the workshop participants viewed that in the aspects of listening, speaking, reading and writing Thai should be stressed more than their mother tongue. The reason was that all the Pwo Karen people could understand and speak their own language. A survey was also carried out in Nong Ung Tai village to determine at what level the people could read Thai. The survey also shed light on their abilities in vocations singing songs, folk plays, local wisdom and their community history which could be made into development of media for the purpose.
Also in the workshop, SIL experts gave advice on checking and analyzing of the Pwo Karen phonetic system which had to be done continually. The effort was a significant start of the media development process.
Activity 4 Checking and Analyzing the Phonetic
System from the Pwo Karen words list and
agerrd
to steps in checking and analyzing its phonetic system as follows:
The workshop produced a Pwo Karen words list and agreed to steps in checking and analyzing its phonetic system as follows:
(1) Comparing words, tones and meanings of the languages used by Pwo Karen in
Kanchanaburi, Pwo Karen in Hod, Chiangmai and Pwo Karen in Omkoi, Chiangmai.
(2) Checking and collecting words in spoken language, totalling 400 words, of Pwo
Karen in Omkoi, Chiangmai.
(3) Using a natural method to checking the sounds; analyzing alphabet, vowels,
clusters and tones by linguists and 3 teachers who were Pwo Karen themsleves. (Miss.Rattikan Boongee, Mr.Chuchart Sakunakiri and Mr.Akradej Ajtiparurk) The teachers also added more relevant words, including the overlooked clusters.
(4) Using the I.P.A. system to record all the listed words.
(5) The 3 teachers recorded the words to analyze the sounds by using a computer
checking program.
(6) Checking the 6 tonal sounds by comparing each word with a sample in the tonal
sounds.
(7) Pairing to check various phonemes of alphabets, vowels and tones by using
phonetic pairs representing each phoneme.
(8) Reporting the conclusion of the checking and analyzing the phonetic system of
the Pwo Karen in Omkoi in order to trial with a group (20-30 people) of the Pwo
Karen in Nong Ung Tai, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
Karen People during March
17-19, in Nong Ung Tai
Village, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
The activity was to trial the obtained word list phonetic system with the target population at Nong Ung Tai Village in order to check its reliability and correctness whether or not it was right to the way the people actually pronounced the words. The results were compiled in the Report of Pwo Karen Language Phonology which was prepared by the language specialists: Miss Audra Phillips, Miss.Prank Tiangburanatham and the teachers and villagers of Nong Ung Tai village. The report was subsquently used as foundation in this project.
Activity 6: Conducting a Workshop on and Alphabet
Designs System during May 12-23,
2003 at Omkoi Resort, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
The workshop participants were the Karen teachers in the project, children and youths in the target area, Karen community leaders and villagers in nearly areas, researchers and SIL linguists. The workshop yielded a number of media manuscripts which were subsequently published for the project. They were:
(1) Pwo Karen Writing Manual. The manual explains principles and means to use the
language, including how to write consonants vowels, tone indicators and clusters. At the time 30 copies of the manuals were produced.
(2) Charts of Pwo Karen Alphabets and their Pronunciations. They are a set of large-
size posters (16” X 22 1/2”). The Charts illustrate the consonants, vowels and their pronunciations which were synthesized in the project. For the workshop and later usage, 200 sets of the charts were produced.
(3) Pwo Karen Dictionary or Picture Book (Trial Edition). It was an A5, illustrated
dictionary which contained mainly words used in everyday life such as parts of body, utensils, farm and household equipment, vegetables, fruits, animals and numbers. It has 288 words. It was a Pwo Karen, Thai and English dictionary. Its first edition had 100 copies.
Activity 7: Conducting a
Workshop to Develop Curriculum, Media for Bi-Lingual Literacy and
Teaching Plans during July 22- August 1, 2003 at Rimdoi Resort, Chiangdao, Chiangmai.
The Participants of the workshop were the Pwo Karen teachers and the NFE
volunteer teachers, researchers, academics and SIL experts the workshop reviewed the Pwo Karen writing system, based on changes and observations of the teachers who had trialed the first edition of manuals and texts. The workshop produced the following results:
(1) Curriculum Framework. The framework was identified according to the target population way of life. The teamwork asked to Pwo Karen teachers to study the village situations, conditions and community setting. The data obtained then were used to draw up a cultural calendar or simply called the “village calendar”. The calendar record significant events and activities concerning the lives of people in the village in a year. The activities which were the community folk ways were classified in 4 areas:
a. Life Circle or Seasons. The seasons in the Pwo Karen words were collected in
order to learn how they saw climatic changes over a year. They might have names for sunny, windy, or rainy days. They might have terms for periods of flood, cold or hot wheather; or whatever they saw in a year.
Then the workshop analyzed the types of events in particular months when
compared to the Julian calendar (The elderly people may not know months in the Julian calendar. They know only periods of time called among them.) In each month, there were different occurances. For example, specific plants grew during specific periods; beautiful flowers were abundant; birds were resting; or specific time for certain insects to lay eggs. These events may be most significant events for the whole village. If the fieldwork team saw their importance, they would keep them in record with a view to formulate them into the curriculum.
b. Farming. The team was asked to record the time when the villagers ploughed
their crops, stocked or sold their products. They had to record every detail regarding the plants they grew. It could be in a month period and other related activities such as weeding should be added as well. The time of occurance must be specified, be it happened the whole year or once in certain period.
c. Fishing, hunting and forest product gathering. They also specified the times when
the villagers went out to fish, hunt or gather forest products (mushrooms, bee honey, etc.) which the could use as food or for other purposes, e.g. firewood. there might be times which they could get more firewood than other times; hunt more animals; and so forth. These events and statistics were recorded in terms of Julian calendar.
d. Culture and traditions. There were always significant events to mark important
occasions of the community. The events concerning beliefs, arts, plays or handicrafts had to be all recorded. Some villagers may have exceptional skills in not wearing, potery , rope spinning or making musical instruments. They also had to be recorded and their significance be noted. The community’s cultural events, cerebrations and holidays had to be also recorded.
The cultural calendar, when completed, by advice from such data compiled by NFE
volunteer teachers and the other teachers of Nong Ung Tai, is as the following:
January Greeting and blessing by tying one’s wrist with cotton thread; building a new house; and/or new house ceremony; firewood gathering; cloth wearing; bamboo draft making; and/or taking a rest.
February Building a house; repairing a house; living in the new house;
Firewood cutting; cleaning the land for farming; birds making nests-cloth wearing; bamboo craft making.
March Popular for wedding; living in the new house; cleaning the land for farming; finding pak warn (a kind of wild vegetable);Seedtime for farming; wedding; and/or bamboo craft making.
April It is time for burning shrubs (to pave the way for farming); seedtime for lowland rice farming; growing rice in highland areas; finding pak warn ; seedtime for vegetables (sweet potatoes; beans; etc.); wedding; and/or bamboo craft making.
May Highland rice farming; seedtime for beans, lettuce and cucumber); seedtime for lowland rice farming; wedding; ploughing the rice fields; food offerings for pee num (water spirit) and pee rai (farm spirit);weeding; and/or tamarinds bloom.
June Weeding for highland rich farm; growing rice in lowland farm; ploughing the rice farm; vegetables bloom (chillis, kalikale ginger, tamarind, etc); bamboo shooting; mushroom finding; animals (frogs, little lizards, etc) lay eggs; food offerings for fire, highland water and rice farming spirits.
July Weeding for highland farm; growing rice seedlings; ploughing the land; wild animals laying eggs; (turtles, big lizards; etc) vegetables bloom (tamarinds, chillis, etc.); orchids blooms; finding bamboo shoots; tying wrists (with cotton thread) ceremony after sowing the rice; and food offering for rice and highland farm and fire spirits.
August Weeding in rice paddies; finding bamboo shoots; finding crabs, fish and shells; orchids bloom; rice polination begins; food offering for rice farm spirits; and tying wrists ceremony after sowing the rice.
September Finding products from forest; finding bamboo shoots; finding crabs, fish, shells and frogs; food offering for rice farm spirits; and cloth wearing.
October Rice harvesting begins (by taking turn in helping each other); finding bamboo shoots; finding crabs, fish, shells and frogs; and time for food offering for rice farm spirits.
November Rice harvesting (cutting and separating the grains); and taking the grains to be kept in rice barns near the month’s end.
December Taking rice to the barns; hunting animals; cloth wearing; bamboo craft making; finding works outside the village.
All year round Finding forest products; hunting animals; cloth wearing;bamboo craft making; and finding works outside the village.
(2) The Teachers’ Plan. The teachers plan was prepared with A4 size. It explained means to teach in a bi-lingual approach, and entailed forms in preparing such a plan which the teachers were to use with the “small books” There are 10 texts (called “small books”) to be used in the teaching.
(3) Word cards. The cards were used in language drills. Sentences in the “big books” were chopped into words and made into word cards. There are 6 sets of them, according to the number of the “big books”.
(4) The “big books”. They were large-size illustrated books. The teachers used these 6 “big books” in classroom teaching. They were accompanied with colorful illustrations, and depicted life of people in the community. They used simple language in the system which had been deviced. The pictures were drawn and colored by the Pwo Karen teachers. The texts gave 2 styles of writing rice word separation and word continuity. The “big books” are on 6 topics (though there are 12 of them in a set). They are:
1. Uncle Joe Goes Hunting
2. Auntie Picks Mushroom
3. Rice Harvesting Season
4. A young Cattle Man
5. The Good Earth
6. Doggie : My Best Friend
Activity 8: Conducting a Workshop to Develop a Bi-lingual
Reading Supplementary Book
During February 9-13, 2004 at
Applied Linguistics Room, Payab University, Chiangmai.
The participants of the workshop were the teachers, project researchers. Based on
the experiences gained the SIL experts, a set of supplementary (15 topics) readings were accomplished. The Pwo Karen teachers inevitably helped in finalizing the stories and illustration. They were:
(1) The Births of Cattle and Buffaloes
(2) The Problemsome Parot
(3) The Jealous Duck
(4) Let us Count the Animals
(5) Preserve the Forest for the Water
(6) Sister Dum (My Little Black Cat)
(7) Keepao’s Dog
(8) Eating Fruits
(9) Sparrows
(10)The Child and the Hunter
(11)The Horse and the Cricket
(12)The Fairy and the Buffalo
(13)Who is the Best
(14)The Tortoise and the Snail
(15)Oh! Piggy
Activity 9: Conducting a Workshop to Develop a
Bi-lingual Reading Supplementary Book
and Collect Field Data during
February 5-26, 2004 at Nong Ung
Tai Village, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
The workshop participants were the village’s youths and adults who were plain
villagers and community leaders. Our 5 Pwo Karen teachers lead them to carry out the activity which resulted in having produced the following materials:
(1) Pwo Karen Reading supplementary Books. The stories and pictures were
produced by Pwo Karen NFE learners[3] who accomplished 14 following books:
1’ My Home
2. Two-Pair Person
3. Learning to Weave Cloth
4. Pwo Karen Calendar Poster
5.Where’s Uncle Dae Gone?
6.The Orphan Trapped an Animal
7.The Wolf and the Snake
8.Various Wild Birds
9.The Wolf: The Swirling Tree
10. The Orphans
11. Uncle Lar
12. Karen Months
13. Karen Reading Practice for Beginners
14. Karen writing Practice for Beginners
(2) Music Tape. One tape of Karen songs was produced. The songs were sung by
Karen male and female adults. They were old time songs, normally sung in courtship. There were also songs for children which were translated from Thai into Pwo Karen.
Activity 10: Conducting the Project Follow-up Seminar
on April 27 and June 4-9, 2004 at
District NFE service centre, Omkoi, Chiangmai.
1. The follow-up activity has the following details:
1.1 Community Learning
Centre for the Hilltribes at Nong
Ung Tai village.
Ms.Rattikarn Sakunakiri, the volunteer-teacher elaborates that she began teaching the language using the bi-lingual approach after she had joined the media production workshop (writer workshop).The teaching began in March 2004, during 1.00-3.00 p.m. There were approximately 30 learners who took turn in attending class. They were about 10-18 years old
Youths. The class was open everyday for anyone who was interested. She regarded the learning as part of the local curriculum in the “Life Experience Subject”. Besides, she also taught the subject to interested adults in their free time However, recently most of the adults had to go out to prepare for rice faming. They had no time to attend the class.
What is related to the learning is the villagers’ livelihood who always cut down the trees for farming. After falling the trees, they would wait until the trees are dry. Then the leaves and tree branches are burnt in the first round. The tree trunks will be burnt in the second round. Therefore, the smoke covers every thing for several days and nights.
At the time, a lot of people-including the teachers, are all ill. So, she theorizes that it must be caused by the poisoning smoke. Besides, she observes that there is less and less water over the years.
At this point, a member of the follow-up team takes the chance to tell other people in the seminar that from the study tour in Pa Sak Ngam village, Doi Saked, that the most important thing to after the villagers’ mentality. From seeing falling the trees and burning them is a normal practice and there is no harm in so doing to ponder long-length results. It has happened in the past, because the people did not see the relationship between forest and water. That is why we cannot solve the environmental problems. The villagers may argue that falling trees give more water and burning the fields makes the soil more fertile. That may be suddenly true for a few months; perhaps, in one year. But how about the future? How do their children live? The situation is also hampered by draining quality of rice farms. The water is scarce; not sufficient for a whole year supply. But the expence is on the increase in order to build a new house; buy a moter-cycles, clothes; send their children for further education; and so forth. The poverty circle is even stronger, as a result.
Forest, water, health and economy are all connected. The teachers should stress educational means as solutions. The next plan might be that we go to visit Pa Sak Ngam village, at least once. Then we would gradually convince the people to build a small dam and a corridor to prevent bush fire; decrease burning forest; and grow other plants between trees in the forest. Of course, this is an up-hill task; it needs time; and the teachers’ endurance. Knowing what the villagers think is not enough. The teachers must think further that what their thoughts might lead to; and what to do in order to alter their thoughts. If we can do as I have explained, our Mae Fa Luang Learner Community Centre for the Hilltribes will certainly be successful in playing the instrumental role in solving the problems and forging ahead the sustainable development; not just teaching literacy to children and some adults.
Ms.Rattikarn Sakunakiri tells us that sometime back she has prepared on “big book” which deals specifically on forests. She asked the children to help her draw a picture of a fertile forest to compare with a burnt one. Then, nice slogans about forest preservation and prevention from fire were written under the picture. The children already helped her making the “small books” The children really enjoyed reading them. Now they have produced 3 additional small books.
A sad story was that, Ms.Rattikarn Sakunakiri streeses “the children have to imagine for a fertile forest because a real on simply doesn’t exist. But the children don’t have to imagine for a burnt one. They see it everyday. Looking out from a school window, they will see one right away. Recently this year, they burnt the bush near the school’s small farm. They reasoned that it would be easy for them to pick mushroom. I tried to restrain them, but to no avail.”
If asked what to do to change the situation, a conclusive answer would be to let the villagers solve their own problems. They must under go change the attitudes themselves. We can only help them to find a way to that change of attitude. Let go on thinking about it. When we are successful, we will write about that story as a lesson for ourselves. The media we altogether help prepare will entail more meanings because of the “locally built knowledge” which should be the effective and sustainable solution.
Additionally, the teachers have listened to the speaker to tell them about “the School’s Botanical Park Project” The idea is that we do not have to start learning with alphabets, but we can start with a tree. We will ask students to observe all trees in the community in every detail; record them; draw the pictures of trees; ask the people in the vincinity who know about trees; or ask outsiders if necessary. If they understand the trees, they will love the trees and will not easily destroy them as before. This is to foster habits in nature conservation for children and youths continuously. Subsequently, they will seek their own means to preserve their own resources. We cannot do everything for them.
1.2 Huay Kwang
Village.
Mr. Choochart Sakunakiri, the bi-lingual teacher at Huay Kwang Village. Community
Learning Centre for the Hilltribes tells of his own account that he taught them a bi-lingual song he wrote up while attending the “writer workshop”: then, followed with consonants and vowels of the Pwo Karen language. He arranged the classroom in a way which might help bi-lingual learning since March 2004. There were a total number of 29 learners: comprising adults and children. The teaching session was 2 hours per day; one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon (11.00-12.00 and 15.00-16.00 hrs.).
A result was that older youths pay more attention than the young ones. Presently, he has introduced Thai songs which had been translated in Pwo Karen to accompany the teaching, including the lesson leading part. The adult learners though have not yet much participated. They were more keen in observation. However, their interest was visible.
1.3 Mae Hong Klang
Village
Mr. Akradej Ajaptiparuck, the volunteer-teacher at Mae Hong Klang Community Centre for the Hilltribes, initially was placed at Huay Kwang village. But he was transferred to Mae Hong Klang shortly after the bi-lingual project began. He arranged a bi-lingual class since March 2004. His method was to give few Pwo Karen words to his learners everyday. The total number of learners was 49. At the time he attended the seminar, he was teaching some Pwo Karen consonants and vowels. The words and alphabets were injected into the Thai language class, because he had no time to organize a separate bi-lingual class.
Akradej Ajatiparuek was teaching alone (unlike Rattikarn and Choochart). Later on, he might opt for a separate session like Huay Kwang and Nong Ung Tai Community Centres for the Hilltribes.
2.
The Information/data on the Bi-lingual Media Try-out.
In the process of bi-lingual literacy project implementation, a number of media have
been produced to pilot the effort. In order to give a clean picture of how they were developed and how the people concerned thought about them, for further development, the task force who runs the project would like to conclusively present how the media were utilized in the following table:
The Media Produced in the Bi-Lingual Project for the Minorities in Omkoi, Chiangmai
(ü =
the NFE community contres have used the media)
|
Media/Character/Suggestion for Improvement |
NFE CLC. Nong Ung Tai |
NFE CLC. Huay Kwang |
NFE CLC. Mae Hong Klang |
|
1. Pwo Karen Alphabet Chart · A large-size (16” X 22 ½”) poster showing Pwo Karen consonants, vowels and tone indicators (200 copies). The chart is used to facilitate learning. It can be hung in a room. All three NFE community centre for the hilltribes have them. The posters are also distributed to the learnets’ homes. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
Media/Character/Suggestion for Improvement |
NFE CLC. Nong Ung Tai |
NFE CLC. Huay Kwang |
NFE CLC. Mae Hong Klang |
|
· There were changes in the forms of consonants, vowels and tone indicators for the villagers disliked them. They want some new alphabets for more suitability and popularity. Also, the alphabets are printed larger. · The chart should be made in A4 size so it will be convenient for the learners to carry about. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
2. The Pwo Karen Writing Manual for Teachers. The manual explains how to read and write the language in detail. For the trial purpose, the manual was first produced for 30 copies, in A4 size. It is consistently improved. The manual is for teacher training and people interested in the language |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
3. Picture Dictionary, A small-size book in A5 standard. It contains vocabulary of 3 languages: Karen, Thai and English; 288 words. The first edition printed 300 copies. However, there have been corrections and additions of words concerning everyday usage, e.g. animals, house -hold utensils, etc. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
4.The Big Books. The original big books contained 6 stories in 6 books. They were later on expanded to have 12 books and contain 12 stories. They are illustrated, large-size. The stories depict life and situations in the community. They use simple language; using the language system synthesized in the project. The stories and pictures were the NFE teachers’ accomplishment. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
Media/Character/Suggestion for Improvement |
NFE CLC. Nong Ung Tai |
NFE CLC. Huay Kwang |
NFE CLC.Mae Hong Klang |
|
The 6 stories are Uncle Joe Goes Hunting: Aunte Picks Mushroom; Rice Harvest Season; A Young Cattle Man; The Good Earth; and Doggie: My Best friend. The new stories are written in separated and continuing word forms. The books were published more for the Mae Hong Klang NFE Community Centre. A suggestion has been to print only pictures as called “Shell Book”; allowing the learners to write up their own stories. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
5. The new big book. One ”big book” was produced by Nong Ung Tai NFE Community Centre. It is a topic on forest preservation. Each learner at Nong Ung Tai: NFE Community Learning Centre helped write one page of the stories. Then they were compiled to become a big book. |
ü |
ü |
- |
|
6. The Original Small Books. There are 30 topics of them. The books are used for supplementary reading. They were written up and produced by the teachers and the learners. A suggestion has been that they should improved to become “graded materials” |
ü |
- |
- |
|
7. The New Small Books. Nong Ung Tai NFE Community Learning Centre learners have produced 3 new small books. The credits, of course, belong to them. |
ü |
- |
- |
|
8. Wordcards. Based on the 6 big books, Key words are made into wordcards. The alphabets, however, have to be adapted according to the alphabet chart, and some of the teachers corrected them by themselves. |
ü |
- |
- |
|
Media/Character/Suggestion for Improvement |
NFE CLC. Nong Ung Tai |
NFE CLC. Huay Kwang |
NFE CLC. Mae Hong Klang |
|
9. Bi-lingual Song Tapes. The songs are in the Pwo Karen language. The songs for adults take the tune of Northern Saw which is essentially for courtship. There is not yet Thai translation. But the songs for children are both in Thai and Pwo Karen. They are used in the instruction. |
ü |
- |
- |
|
10. Reading Drills. They are reading drills which run from Kau(Kchang) to Han (Hai) and clusters. They were published in February 2004 at Nong Ung Tai village with the villagers’ participation. |
ü |
- |
- |
|
11. Pwo Karen Language Writing Drills. The drills run from writing the 25 alphabets (Kan Kchang-Hau Hai). Then, 150 copies of the drills were produced. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
|
12. Pwo Karen Calendar Poster. It was published in a large-size white-gray card paper. It illustrates various Pwo Karen’s activities, as told by them, in a year cycle. It was developed and produced by the teacher. |
ü |
ü |
ü |
2. The Project Expansion Plan. The project was piloted, during December 2003-
December 2004, by UNESCO’s financial support. The core objective was to produce the bi-lingual instructional media. It has been accomplished as planned. However, in the field, the organization of learning activities in the learning centres has been classified by time periods which can be explained as follows:
First Phase The project has been implemented at Nong Ung Tai NFE Community Learning Centre for the Hilltribes, Nakian Sub-District, Omkoi, Chiangmai, since January
2003. The learning/teaching activities were organized by Ms.Rattikarn
Sakunakiri.
Second Phase The experiment area was extended to
cover 2 more villages. They were Huay Kwang and Mae Hong Klang villages
which both had their community learning centres to
run the activities. The former has had Mr.Choochart Sakunakiri of Huay Kwang NFE Community Learning Centre for the Hilltribes and the latter has had Mr.Akradej Ajtiparuek of
Mae Hong Klang NFE Community Learning Centre for the Hilltribes to run the bi-lingual activities since March
2004.
Third Phase The project is being expanded to 6 more NFE community learning centres for the hilltribes. They will look after the new centres in a form of cluster. The teachers who are experienced with the project will look after the centres which have newly joined the project. With joint consideration and approval of Omkoi NFE Service Centre, the 6 new centres to join the project are:
Project Area and Its Expansion
Plan
|
NFE Community Learning Centres When Project
Started |
New NFE Community Learning Centres to Join
the Project |
Assisting Fellow-Teachers |
|
1. Nong Ung Tai NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
1.Huay Bong NFE CLC for the Hilltribes 2. Nong Ung Nua NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
Ms.Rattikarn Sakunakiri |
|
2. Huay Kwang NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
3. Huay Rok NFE CLC for the Hilltribes 4.Huay Som NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
Mr.Choochart Sasunakiri |
|
3. Mae Hong Klang NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
5. Mae Hong Ta NFE CLC for the Hilltribes 6. Mae Kerb NFE CLC for the Hilltribes |
Mr.Akradej Ajtiparnek |
The plan to expand the project to cover 6 more village certainly needs budget to support 6 more Pwo Karen teachers; produce more teaching materials/media; and to train them. The plan should be executed in a manner of action research which enables the people to work together; exchange ideas; and compile the knowledge in bi-lingualism for the minority. The knowledge gained certainly serves as a stepping stone for further learning.
……………………………….
[1] National Commission for Human Rights. The Constitution’s (1997) Ruling concerning the National Commission Human Rights, Act (1999). Bangkok: 2002, p.7.
[2]
National Statistics Bureau. 2000
Household Advance Survey Report. Bangkok: 2000, p.90.
[3] The method normally used in NFE and called “Learner-generated-materials” or LGMs.