A study of state and problems of instructional management in elementary schools in hill tribe communities under the jurisdiction of the Office of the National Primary Education Commission, educational region eight
Abstract:
This objective of this research was to study the state and problems of instructional management in elementary schools in hill tribe communities under the jurisdiction of the Office of the National Primary Education Commission, educational region eight. The subjects of the study were 106 school management personnel and 321 school teachers. The study tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, survey forms and observations. The findings revealed that 1) In terms of educational management, the schools received policy from the Office of the Primary Education at an amphur level. According to policy, hill tribe children were to be given opportunity to receive adequate and proper education. However, there was a lack of budget. 2) In terms of syllabi, school management allocated teaching loads according to teachers' teaching experience. The teachers were also encouraged to learn about the hill tribes' culture and traditions. The teachers, therefore, adapted the content as well as integrate different subjects, with an aim to make the syllabi relate to the hill tribes' local and social conditions. The teachers also adjusted the teaching schedule to suit the students' situation and add more time when particular content needed special attention. They made lesson plans or set teaching objectives for some subjects. The teachers did not use the hill tribes' dialects as they did not wish to encourage the use of dialects in class. The peer-teaching technique had been used so students who did not understand the Thai language could have assistance from their friends. The teaching method was a demonstrative one, using self-made media. The testing and evaluation system was based on whether the students had achieved the objectives set in the testing and evaluation manual. Physical education was added as a co-curriculum activity. Problems in the implementation of the syllabi were the lack of budget to obtain materials for the course, the purchase and making of the media, and the organization of co-curriculum activities as well as lack of documents and information sources to be used in the improvement of the content. Also, the new, adjusted schedule did not suit the situation of the students, and the learning process was slow as the students were more familiar with their local language than Thai. 3) Regarding the conditions of teachers and students, it was imperative that teachers be knowledgeable about the hill tribes' culture and tradition. Teachers understood and could speak some of the hill tribes' dialects. Student belonged to low-income families and score low in the Thai language subject. The problem discovered in the study is that the number of teachers was not enough thus putting too much of a loac and too many responsibilities on them and students did not receive much care and attention from their parents. 4) Regarding the general condition of the schools they were located on the slope of a hill or mountain, and did not have enough facilities. The problem found was the lack of drinking water during the summer season. 5) In terms of the relationship between school and community, the management had set a special day on which the students may wear their tribal costume to management had set a special day on which the students may wear their tribal costume to school. The communities cooperated with the schools when asked for assistance. The problem found was communication, as hill tribe people did not understand Thai.