The Down Sides of Local Fixation Mentality in Thai Education

The Down Sides of  Local Fixation Mentality in Thai Education 

Janpha Thadphoothon


The article discusses one of the issues pressing or happening in Thailand's education --- the widespread practice allowing (encouraging) of having teachers work and stay in their hometown.

Photo credit: https://gse.berkeley.edu/cognition-development

On the superficial look, things look fine. Commonsense tells us that we should love our village and town. What could go wrong? When teachers know their towns or districts well, they should be able to  contribute positively to the progress and well-being of the local. This is perhaps the main rationale.

Upon reflection, however, this rationale may be counter-productive.

There are, however, several down sides or disadvantages. The first of which is the stagnation of ideas and creativity. Innovative ideas and creativity often come from the comparison, comparing, and contesting. Old ideas are challenged and contested. When teachers work and live only in their own villages, they may lack incentives to change.

In the 21st century, changes are everywhere. Teachers should be able to deal with those challenges and seek new ways to teach and improve Thailand's education.

                                               Photo credit: www.csicop.org


Carl Sagan explained the factors leading to the birth of civilization in the Ionian region, about 500 B.C. Many scientists wonder why that particular region or area bred the new and innovative ideas. Carl Sagan discovered one fact and he had made it known to the world. The simple answer is that the context where people could have freedom to express their beliefs and opinions and the location. Off the coast of Turkey and the many islands lie the trade routes and people from different races and belief systems came to trade and discuss rumors and even gossip their gods. They were away from the central authority, so they had more freedom to negate their beliefs or customs.

In short, diversity and creative collaboration provide the condition for new and innovative ideas. If you simply repeat the same experience under the confined of locality, it is harder to generate fresh new ideas and ways of doing things.

Photo credit: By Paul August at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1278277

The second point is the spirit of exploration, which might be less sturdy when confined or framed by the mantra of localism. I once was told a story about two families, equally poor. The first family held on to the tradition and the love of the village,. They decided to remain living under the harsh ship. They loved their turf. The other decided to migrate to somewhere else. Ten and so years later the migrated family manged to live in a much better situation. The family that did not migrate remained impoverished.


Localism, then, seems to provide less in terms of idea generation and innovation.



Hence, any policy regarding migration and movement of people should take the two scenarios (facts) into consideration. Under the context of the 21st century, what best should we do to make Thai education relevant, effective  and sustainable?