History education at secondary school level in Thai socio-political context

Abstract

This thesis is designed to study the transition of history education in relation to the political and social conditions of Thailand. An historical approach was adopted in order to see how the form, structure, and contents of history education have changed. The research covers a time span starting from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present, divided into two periods, namely from early 1900 until the end of 1950s and from 1960 until 1990. For the first period, the study is limited to a study of how history education was placed in the whole structure of education, due to difficulty in obtaining enough sources (curricula and textbooks) to analyze the contents of history education deeply. For the same reason, history education is discussed generally as to the first period, rather than concentrating on the secondary school level. However for the latter period, a series of curricula and textbooks at the secondary school level is the subject of the study, for the purpose of analyzing the characteristics of history education of each stage. Political and social trends, related to the nature of history education, are discussed for both periods. Major findings are: 1.With regard to the first period (1902-1960), such factors as modernization and educational reform, formation of the nation state, and the rise of nationalism are regarded as background factors characterizing history education. 2.Concerning the latter period (1960-1990), internal and international tensions, including political unrest during the 1970s and unstable conditions in Indochina, were direct or indirect factors which led to the revision of the study course. 3.The nature of centralistic and linear traditional Thai historiography, the main concern of which was the activities of the political elites, has also affected history education to date. 4.History education was designed to foster the sense of unity among Thai people and has successfully fulfilled this goal.