A Synthesis of Learning Model through Community-based Research for Driving Bottom-Up Educational Policy

Abstract

This project studied 41 selected villages from 16 provinces in Thailand to derive a theory and policy for improving villagers’ education quality. Our goal is to use the acquired knowledge to help improve the
existing top-down education reform policy, where the central government forms a policy with few inputs from localities. With their idiosyncrasies,especially in the localities' distinct cultural backgrounds and comparative advantages, our synthesis identified the flexibility in the design of a local-specific education policy as the key to the education-reform success. In addition, the study found that these villages could develop a bottom-up policy -- suitable to their localities while still met central policy's criteria -- without relying much on the central government. Thus, we suggest a mix of 20:80 where the central government allows for 80% of the policy to be shaped by the localities as a way to develop a more effective national education-reform policy.