Criticism of Culture Learning in the Basic Education System of the Thai State

Abstract

This article would like to point out that culture learning in the core curriculum of basic education of the Ministry of Education reinforces the ideology of nationalism and makes the learners behave as good, virtuous people and be proud of the beautiful Thai culture. Such teaching and learning has long overlooked the diverse lifestyles of ethnic groups living in various localities. The author also points out the problem of the positivist paradigm that focuses on developing the cognitive capacities of student that regards culture as distant objects. It also proposes to apply the anthropological perspective as a guideline to adjust culture learning that focus on the changing lives of diverse groups of people in socio-political contexts.