'I want to be a farmer," says a little girl character in a primary school textbook from the series "Tales With A Hundred Lines". "But my social class doesn't allow it. My mother has asked me to stay home, so she no longer has to worry about taking care of the household."
Photo by Patipat Janthong
The book was first published and used during Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat's government in the late 1950s. The sentences are simple and at times they rhyme, but its underlying purpose is not just about educating young kids how to read and write.
The need for patriotism was intense during that period and much emphasis was given to agriculture, which was seen as key to the development of the country. The little girl in the parable "misses out" on the opportunity to be in farming because, unfortunately, she's too well off.
How much have school textbooks — the official agenda of what children should learn — contributed to the current state we're in? An exhibition "Recalling Past Lives/Nation Through Textbook", which kicked off last week as part of the 19th Book Expo Thailand at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center and will continue until Oct 26, traces the history of primary level textbooks from 1868 up to present day. Those who visit the exhibition will learn that the finessing of curriculum for the government's benefit is nothing new. Questionable inclusion of politically-motivated content like Prayut Chan-o-cha's push to reinforce 12 national core values into the education system or a rumoured removal of Thaksin Shinawatra's name from upcoming Thai textbooks has been going on for a very long time.
As the exhibition suggests, school education has always been key in shaping the mindset of society into the state's ideal type of citizen.
"I'm not saying anything against this government," said Charan Homtienthong, president of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat), which helped organise the exhibition. "This show is not political, it's pure facts and information. In looking at the past, we realised that almost every politician has held students hostage and devised their own textbooks to let them stay in power as long as possible."
Photo by Patipat Janthong
The son of King Mongkut and half-brother of King Chulalongkorn, Prince Damrong is commonly referred to as the founder of the modern Thai education system, as well as the modern provincial administration. He once wrote that the state had the power to shape the character of the citizen through the content of school textbooks: a concept that has certainly seemed to ring true in the use of educational materials from past to present.
"Textbooks have always been the victim," said exhibition curator Thanapol Eawsakul. "Every time society is in a bad state, people believe that fixing textbooks is going to fix everything. Kids don't love their country? Kids don't have discipline? Go fix the textbooks. This is funny. Instead of preserving an old set of ideas, students who have studied these textbooks should get to know what the real world is really like. This exhibition is questioning whether the textbooks which have been used since the late 19th century can still really function now that we're already in the 21st century."
The exhibition timeline traces as far back as Jindamanee, a textbook from the Ayutthaya period, and recounts how the curriculum gradually developed in order to hold people together as a nation against colonisation from the West in the 19th century. Standard textbooks were first used in King Rama IV's reign when he established Phra Tamnak Suan Kularb school. Literacy was initially the main focus, but later on, characters that represented good and bad traits began to be used in stories that taught morals.
Photo by Patipat Janthong
After the 1932 revolution which saw the system of government change from absolute to constitutional monarchy, one of the key reforms was to allow all to have access to education. The curriculum placed emphasis on the roles and rights of the citizen under the constitution and also Thai values, such as good manners, honesty and gratitude.
One major change in the course of textbook development was when Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat came to power in 1948. Political parties, parliamentary systems and elections were wiped out and freedom of expression for people, especially for thinkers and journalists, were limited.
It's interesting to note that during this military dictatorship, chapters in the book "Permanent Democracy" that feature in the Tales With A Hundred Lines textbook series, feature very little about what democracy really is. In another chapter, students are taught to be "good" and "study hard". In another chapter, students are taught to be "content with their fate".
Charan said the exhibition is an analysis on how school textbooks have succeeded and failed in the past and also pointing out how the result of writing textbooks in favour of certain political parties in the past could affect the future of the country in the long run. Looking back at past mistakes allows us to look ahead with hope because it's the responsibility for all to reflect on old problems and fix them together.
"I suppose that some of the textbooks used during that period indirectly taught me to hate communists and that communists destroyed the nation, religion and monarchy. At that time, the atmosphere was ripe with hatred for communists because there was a revolution in China and there was war in Vietnam," said Charan. "Only when there was a change after the Oct 14, 1976, uprising did I realise that things weren't the way I was taught. Students were accused of being communists, of destroying the nation."
One of the most memorable series of textbooks is "Mana Manee Piti Chujai", which was used in the 90s. Despite the fact that the country had just witnessed two of the most violent incidents in Thai modern history like the Oct 14 uprising and the Oct 6 massacre, the exhibition suggests that according to Thai textbooks, the country was represented as a small, orderly and peaceful village. At this point in the evolution of the Thai textbook, the threat of communism was now directly taught as something that would destroy the nation and monarchy.
Values of the ideal Thai mindset that have always featured in Thai textbooks from the past to present include love for the nation, religion and monarchy, gratitude to parents, guardians and teachers, discipline and respect for the elders.
"These textbooks don't teach you to think, they teach you rote learning," said Charan. "They teach you to just obey teachers. There are grades for being good, so obedience is good. That's why Thai kids don't have the courage to think for themselves."
Charan compared bad primary textbooks to buttoning one's shirt in the wrong hole, in that things can only get worse after that. He said that this exhibition was for all to see that everyone can plan what their future would be like when the time comes.
"It's an open society these days," said Charan. "We don't know what textbooks the government will come up with in the future. Are these textbooks going to return happiness to people? And if so, how? We all have to take part in this education reform so if they come up with something that isn't right, the people can say no and argue with them."
