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POLITI L

SO I LIZ TION

OF

ETHNI

MINORITIES

IN

TH IL ND ND T IW N

t:harles

P.

Beaupre

Department of

Educational

Psychology and

Counselling

McGill University, Montreal

July, 1995

th sis

submitted

to

the

Faculty

of

Graduate

Studies and

Research in

p r t i l fulf i lment

of

the requirements for

the

degree

of

Doctorate

in Educational

Psychology.

c

Charles

P . Beauprê,

1995



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S N 0-612-08080-3

n d



•

•

POLITlC L SOCI LIZ TION

OF

ETHNI MINORITIES

IN

TH l

L ND ND T IW N

by

Charles P

Beaupre

STR CT

Thailand

and

Taiwan have

indiqenous

m in or ity p op ul ati on s which

e ntr l u th or it ie s

have souqht to assimila te

into

th e n atio nal

m i n s t r e ~

In both c ou nt ri es p ub li c edu cation has serv ed

as

an

important too l of assimila t ion

This

study examines the pol i t i l

ideoloqy

of the moral education

curr icula

as

applied

to s t te

primary schools

servinq

indiqenous

populations in

three lo l i t i es

in

each

country

The di re t

and

ind ire t

implementation

of

moral

education was observed and interviews were

rr ied

out with

teachers students parents and community leaders

The

r esu l t s

show

th t

as

the

indiqenous minority children become more

famil iar

with the n atio n al c u lt ur e

and

i t s

value

system they

become

more

aware

o f e th nic

discrimination

aqa ins t them

which in turn

leads to

a

heiqhtened

sense o f m a rq in alit y and

enqenders

antipathy

toward

members

of the

dominant

ethnic

group •



•

•

L SOCI LIZ T ON POLITIQUE

ES

MINORITES ETHNIQUES

EN

TH IL NDE ET T IW N

p a r

C harl es P. Beaupré

R SU

La Thaïlande e t

Taiwan s o n t

deux

pays oïl h a b i t e n t de s groupes

au to ch to n es

l e s montagnards e t

dont

l e s

a u t o r i t é s c e n t r a l e s

ch er ch en t

à a s s i m i l e r dans l a x e de l a s o c i é t é

n a t i o n a l e .

L é duc a t i on

publ i que e s t reconnue

comme é t a n t l i n s t r u m e n t p r i n c i -

p a l u t i l i s é

à c e t t e

f i n

C e t t e

d i s s e r t a t i o n

examine

l i d é o l o g i e

p o l i t i q u e

contenu€ dans

le s

programmes d é t u d e s morales t e l s

q u e n s e i g n é s aux é t u d i a n t s montagnards

du

niveau p r i m a i r e . T r o i s

é co le s p rim air es montagnardes f u r e n t

observées

dans chaque

pays

a f i n

de

n o te r l ex é cu ti on

d i r e c t e

e t

i n d i r e c t e

des

étu d es

morales.

e p l u s

p l u s i e u r s

s u j e t s f u r e n t

in ter v iewés

y compris de s

p r o f e s s e u r s d es é t u d i a n t s e t l e u r s

p a r e n t s

e t

d e s

c he fs de

v i l l a g e Les r é s u l t a t s de c e t t e e nquê t e

démontrent

que l e s

jeu n es

montagnards a c q u i è r e n t

un m e i l l e u r sen s

de s mœurs e t de

l i d é o l o g i e

p o l i t i q u e provenant

de l a

c u l t u r e

dominante.

Paradoxalement i l s

devi ennent a u s s i p lu s c o nsc ie nts de l a

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

eth n iq u e

ex er cée

c o n t r e eux a i n s i que de

l e u r

s t a t u s en t a n t q ue m a rg in au x.

Finalement i l s

r e s s e n t e n t de

l a n t i p a t h i e

pour

l e s

membres

du

groupe

eth n iq u e dominant

•



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

l

wish

t o

acknowledge

th e contr ibutions

of

Dr.

Thomas

O.

Eisemon Dr . ary H. M ag ui re an d D r. Christopher

Milligan.

My appr eciation

to

them fo r the i r excellent c r i t i q u e s o f th e

study an d their constant support. l

also thank th e

Social

Sciences

an d Humanities Research

Council

o f anada SSSRC fo r

i t s

f i n a n c i a l

assistance.

l am

indebted

t o th e

T r ibal R es ea rc h C e nt e r

t

Chiang ai

University and th e Mountain People s CUlture a nd D ev el op me nt

an d

Education

Foundation for th e se rv ic es provided

in

f i l i -

t a t i n g my r esear ch

in

Thailand. The same

g r a t i t u d e i s fe l t

for th e Center

f o r Aboriginal Education t

th e Hualien

Teachers

college fo r i t s assistance

i n

Taiwan.

Special thanks

to

Shir ley Packer M.Ed. Centre f o r

Medical

Education

McGill

Uni ve rsi t y

f o r

proofreading

and

e d i t i n g f i n a l dr fts •



•

INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

1

CH PTEB

l

REVIEW OF THE

LITER TURE

Schooling

and

ol i t ic l Socialization 6

The School

and

the State 8

Moral Education

and

Poli t ical Socialization 10

The School

and

Ethnic Minority Groups 14

The School

and

Involuntary Minorities 15

The School ~

Indigenous

Minorities in

Thailand

and

Taiwan

18

CH \pTER

METHODOLOGY 20

Preliminary

Field

Research

20

Selection

of

s i t e s an

Observations

22

Interviews

24

•

CHAfTER

TH IL N

Education

Moral Education

Northern Thailand

Three

Ethnic

Groups the

Akkha the Karen

and

the

Hmong

27

31

32

37



Offic ia l

Highland Policy

CHAPT ER

IV

M O ~ ~

EDUCATION

IN

T H A I ~ ~ D

PRlMARY

SCHOOL

Ethnic

Thai School

Hil l

Tribe

Schools

Discussion

CHAPTER V

TAIWAN

Education

Moral Education

MajoritY Minority Ethnic

Relations

Two Ethnic Groups the mei and the Paiwan

Official Highland Policy

Highland Educational Policy

CHAPTER Y

MORAL

EDUCATION

N TAIWAN S

PRlMARY

SCHOOLS

Ethnic Chinese School

l l Tribe

Schools

Discussion

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

55

68

69

75

103

108

110

114

120

128

132

142

144

144

151

171

173

179



INTRO U TION

Moral education

has

long been a feature

of

secular schooling

in

both

Western

and

Asian

societ ies .

Foremost is

the

concern

by

central governments to socialize students as moral beings that

accept majority

Le . national

social ,

pol i t ical and

ethical

values

ha, Wong, Meyer, 1988; Giroux Purpel, 1983; Torney

Purta,

1985 .

Poli t ica l

social izat ion

within

national

school

systems

has

long been recognized

as

an important

function

of formal

education Clausen, 1968; Easton Dennis,

1969;

Hasta Torney

Purta, 1992; Hess Torney, 1967; stevens, 1982 . For children who

are members

of

an

ethnic

minority the pol i t ica l social izat ion that

takes

place in

moral

education classes

aims

primarily

to

foster

compliance

with

the central government Burger, 1987 .

In many countries there are indigenous

minority

groups whose

ethnic characterist ics

and cultural

t radi t ions distinguish them

from

the

majority

of

the

people

in

the nation-state .

TYpically,

the i r cul tural dist inctness and

the i r

re la t ively weak

posit ion

vis

à-vis

the

dominant

society

make these peoples vulnerable to

discrimination,

exploitation

and

oppression Beauclerk, Narby,

Townsend,

1988;

Burger, 1987 . Many central governments of modern

nation-states commonly

adopt

policies toward

indigenous

minori t ies

tha t

aim to

assimilate them into

the dominant

society. Unfortu

nately,

the

exchange of

an

indigenous

identi ty

for

a national one

often

represents

a deterioration

of the

quality

of

l i fe

of

these

indigenous

minori t ies Vienne, 1989) •



The countr ies of

Thailand

and Taiwan have such

indigenous

populations. Hi st or ic a ll y, n ei th er coun try h as

considered

ethnic

or c u ltu ra l d ive rs it y as an a sp ec t o f nat ional wealth. Rather, the

rul ing

e l i t e s

in

both

countries

have

tended

to

view

e thno-cul tura l

divers i ty as a

pro l m

to be

rect i f ied through asser t ive nat ional

pol ic ies of assilDilation. In

Thailand,

where the indigenous

peoples are re la t ively remote from the nat ional socie ty , such

assimila t ive

pol ic ies have had

a

strong impact on t rad i t iona l

indigenous

cul ture

Tapp, .1989 . In Taiwan,

the

indigenous peoples

have

been vir tual ly assimilated

into

the Chinese mainstream Sun,

1991 .

The

nat iona l education

programs of Thailand and Taiwan ~ v

been used by

th e c en tr al

governments as

a too l

fo r

the

assimilat ion

of the indigenous minori t ies ,

aiming to

promote nat iona l

values

a t

the

expense

of indigenous

bel i e fs customs

and

sense

of

ident i ty

Anti-Slavery socie ty , 1988 .

The

education

systems

of Thailand

and

Taiwan

are

closely l inked

to d is tin c ti ve p o li ti co e th ic a l

ideologies--Buddhism

in Thailand and Confucianism in Taiwan--which

place

grea t

s t ress

on

the legit imacy of the cent ra l government.

These ideologies

form an

in tegra l

pa r t

of the

nat iona l

moral

education curriculUIII

of both c ountr ie s, in cu lc atin g in school

chi ldren

socio pol i t ical

values such

a s pa tr io t ism ,

nationalism and

loyal ty G.B.

Lee 1990; Meyer,

1989;

National

Ins t i t u t e

fo r Educa

t iona l

Research,

1981, 1990 .

hen

applied to the

e thnic

minority

chi ldren of

t he s e coun tr ie s,

the teaching of

these

values takes

on

manifestly

assimilat ive object ives Sun, 1991; Tapp, 1989

•



unt i l

recently,

th e pol i t ical s o c i a l

and c ul tu ra l r ig ht s

of

the ind ige nous pe ople s

were

largely ignored by th e c e n t r a l

au th o rit ies

of

Thailand an d Taiwan.

These fundamental rig h ts were

delineated

in

1984

by

th e

General

Assembly

of

th e

World

Council

of

In di gen ou s P eo ple s A nt i- Sl av er y

Society,

1988--see Appendix

I .

ow

an

indigenous pol i t ica l

movement has emerged

in th e

tw o

countries which

is supported

by

various

non-governmental agencies,

bOT h

domestic

and i n t e r n a t i o n a l , which

seek

to moderate th e e f f e c t s

of n a t i o n a l

p o l i c i e s

toward these

peoples.

This d i s s e r t a t i o n

investigates moral

education in th e primary

sc hool s

of th e highlands of Thailand an d

Taiwan

tha t serve

indigenous

populations.

The focus is on

how

state education in

highland

areas a c t i v e l y promotes th e

c h i l d r e n s

acquisit ion

of

n a t i o n a l

values an d behaviors conducive to

conformity

with

th e

n a t i o n a l ideology,

i t s

impact on th e

c h i l d r e n s

sense of ethnie

i d e n t i t y , an d

i t s

contribution to

assimilating

th e children i n t o

th e n a t i o n a l

mainstream.

I n th e following chapters, a t t e n t i o n w i l l be

given

to : 1)

reviewing

each c o u n t r y s

moral education curriculum a t th e primary

l e v e l ;

2) examining

th e

r o l e of moral

education v i s - à - v i s n a t i o n a l

p o l i c i e s towards

indigenous

populations;

3)

descr ibing th e

implementation o f th e moral c u r r i c u l a in public primary

schools

o f

s e l e c t e d communities in th e highlands

of

North

Thailand and

Taiwan;

and

4)

analyzing th e

views of key

s ta ke ho ld er s w ith in

these

communities,

including school children,

p a r e n t s ,

community leaders

and teachers

•

3



Five communities were studied. The

fieldwork

in Thailand was

conducted

between October 1992 and February 1993, whereas the

fieldwork in Taiwan took place between March and June 1993. Three

study

s i t e s

were

chosen

in

North

Thailand:

Saen

Charoen

l .kha

t r iba l ; Tunq

Phrao

Karen

t r ibe ;

and Khunq Klaanq Hmonq t r ibe .

wo

addi t ional

study

s i t e s were selected in Taiwan: Ma-Jia Paiwan

t r i be ;

and Fenq-Bin

Amei

t r ibe .

The

student

subjects in te r -

viewed

a t these

s i t e s were chosen

from

the

three upper grade levels

of primary school. This was done

to

ensure correspondence in the

levels of schoolinq between the students in each

country.

In

Taiwan

moral education i s formally tauqht only

from

the fourth

grade to

the sixth grade . The process of

subject

se lec t ion

was

based

on preliminary interviews to ascertain

t ha t

th e s ub je cts had

l ived in

or

near

the study s i t e s

a l l t he i r

l ives tha t they

belonqed

to

the respect ive t r ibes found a t

those

s i t e s

and

t ha t

they had been at tendinq the t a rqe t schools

from

the f i r s t

grade

on.

The

object ive

of

th is

disser ta t ion

i s

to

examine

the

impact

of

qovernment educational pol ic ies

on indiqenous

populations.

Althouqh

the context in which th i s

object ive

i s

invest iqated

i s

primari ly

educational,

i s important to

rea l i ze tha t

in Asian

countr ies

l ike

Thailand and Taiwan

s ta te

education i s in t r ica te ly

interwoven

in to th e

nat ional

f ibre .

Accordinqly, another

equally

important object ive i s

to con sid er e du ca tio na l

policy as

in te r re la tes with the soc ia l pol i t ica l economic and qeoqraphic

aspects of each country•

4



he issues

addressed

in

th is d issertatio n have important

c r o s s - c u l t u r a l

implications in terms of educational

policy

fo r

indigenous

ethnie

minorities.

state- sponsor ed education through

d i r e c t

and

i n d i r e c t

forms

of

assimilative

pol i t ica l

s o c i a l i z a t i o n

c o n t r i b u t e s to th e

indigenous

minority

s t u d e n t s l o s s of ident i f i -

cation

with the i r

t r a d i t i o n a l

t r iba l

ethos

and aggravates th e

s o c i o -c u l tu r a l d e t e ri o r a ti o n of

native

communities. Furthermore

a s s ta te s ch o ol s a tt em p t to s o c i a l i z e indigenous minority

children

i n t o i d e n t i f y i n g with th e national c u l t u r e an d i t s value system

th e

l a t t e r a c t u a l l y become more aware of e t h n i e

discrimination

~ i n s t

them which

in tu r n

leads to a

heightened

sense

of

marginality from th e

n a t i o n a l mainstream.

Thus

a strong case

is

made

f o r

th e promotion of a p ol ic y o f m u lt ic ul tu ra li sm in countries

l ike Thailand and

Taiwan tha t a ll o w i nd ig en ou s minority students to

receive th e b en ef its o f a modern e du ca ti on w i th o ut

having

t deny

the i r ethnic

ident i t ies

Th e

contribution

o f

th is

d i s s e r t a t i o n

is

i t s

focus

on

Thalland

and Taiwan two countries whose indigenous populations have been

subjected

to

assimilation

p o l i c i e s

fo r

many years.

O r i g i n a l i t y

may

be

claimed in

th e f a c t

tha t

education as an i n t e g r a l p a r t

of each

c o u n t r y s

n atio na l p olic y serves a s th e locus of

analysis

in

determininq

th e impact

such p o l i c i e s

a re having

on future qener

a t i o n s

o f indiqenous

minority members•



CEAPTER l:

REVl:EW OF TE E Ll:TE.UT1JRE

Schoo1inq

an d

Po1itica1

socia1ization

Easton an d

Dennis

1969) definepoli t i l

so i liz tion as th e

learninq process by w hic h th e po1itica1

norms

and behaviors

accep

t a b l e to an estab1ished

po1itica1

system a re

transmitted from

qeneration to ge ne ra t i on.

stevens 1982) broader

d e f i n i t i o n

of

p o l i t i c a 1 socia1ization

s t r e s s e s

th e

deve10pmental proc e ss

b y w hi ch

chi1dren acquire th e behaviors, p e rc e pt io n s, v a lu e s, and a t t i t u d e s

of

a

c o l l e c t i o n of

people who

s ee

themselves as shar ing a

ommon

p o 1 i t i c a l ideoloqy. Most often, th i s c o l l e c t i o n

o f

p eo pl e u su a1 ly

r e f e r s

to an ethni

roup

A

group o f

people

who conceive

o f

themselves as a l i k e by

v i r t u e o f

the i r

ommon ancestr y,

race,

r e l i g i o n ,

o r

national

o r i g i n ;

includes

group

p atte rn s o f

values,

s o c i a l customs, perceptions, behavior? .

r o l e s ,

language

usage,

and r u l e s o f s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n

that group members

shar e Rotheram

Phinney,

1987, p.11).

The

ethnic

dimension o f

p o li ti ca 1 s oc ia li za ti on i s

q u i t e

important. I f a n a t i o n - s t a t e has a population tha t i s r e l a t i v e l y

e t h n i c a l l y homogeneous, th e

p o 1 it ic a l s o ci al iz a ti on

o f children

usually

occurs in

a

developmentally conqruous fashion within th e

c ont e xt

o f

a

n a t i o n a l

cul ture

s t a r t i n g

within

th e

family,

th e

schoo1, and within th e g r e a t e r so cie ty as 3. whole. n th e

other

hand, i f a n a t i o n - s t a t e has a multi-ethnic

popul a t i on, d i s t i n c t i o n s

between ethnic

groups

c ul tu ra l, r el ig io us , s o c i a l , pol i t ica l

6



demographic, o r ot he r wi se ) o f t e n a c t a s t h e b a s i s f o r ethnie eat

egories

A c l a s s o f

people

o r g ro up s, based on r e a l

o r

presumed

c u l t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s with t h e i mpl i c a t i on t h a t a

c a t e g o r i z a t i o n

i s

a

more

o r

l e s s

sy stematic

a p p l i c a t i o n

o f some

k in d s

o f r u l e s t o

th e v a r i e t y

o f known

i n d i v i d

u a l s o r groups,

an d

t h a t behavi or toward members o f a

categ o r y

w i l l

ten d t o

be

s i m i l a r unde r some ci rcum s t ances

Kuns t adt er,

1979,

p . 119) .

T y p i c a l l y , t h e s e

e th nic c ate g or ie s

a r e

th e b a s i s

f o r

a

h i e r a r c h i c a l

frame o f re fe re nc e f o r

th e

s t a t u s o f a

c e r t a i n

e t h n i c

group

w i t h i n

a n a t i o n a l

s o c ie ty . I n

a

n a t i o n a l system founded

on

th e c a t e g o r i z a t i o n

o f e th n ic groups , c h i l d r e n - - e s p e c i a l l y th o se

belonging t o d i l f e r e n t e t hn i c c a te g o ri e s- -d o

n o t

u s u a l l y

e x p e r i

ence p o l i t i c a l


a s

a congruous proc e ss.

For t h e s e

c h i l d r e n t h e p o l i t i c a l

ideology

o f

th e

dom i nant e t h n i c group i s

superimposed on e a r l i e r b e l i e f systems

acq u ir ed

a t home.

According

t o Rotheram

Phinney 1987),

th e

p o l i t i c a l

s o c i a l i z a t i o n o f c h i l d r e n belonging t o a su b o r d in ate e t h n i c group

by

members

o f

t h e

dominant

e t h n i c

group

i s

t y p i c a l l y

framed

wi t hi n

one o f t h r e e models;

a s si m il at io n , a c cu lt ur at io n ,

o r p lu r alisme

Of th e

t h r e e models,

assimilation

a s

t h e most

i n i m i c a l t o

th e

c h i l d r e n s se nse o f e t h n i c i d e n t i t y :

A s s i m il a ti o n d e s c ri b e s a s i t u a t i o n

i n which th e

mi nori t y

e t h n i c group

gra dua l l y l o s e s i t s d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s and

becomes p a r t o f

th e

ma j ori t y gr oup. Thi s can r e s u l t from

e i t h e r a r e j e c t i o n o f th e min o r ity group by th e dominant

group which i n

t u r n f o r c e s

th e

min o r ity group t o

a c q u i r e

m a j o r i t y

normal

o r

an

accept ance

by

th e

min o r ity

group

o f

th e

dominant g r o u p s

norma

and a

r e j e c t i o n o f

i t s own

group norms R ot he ra m Phinney,

1987,

p . 1 2 ) .

Rotheram a n d Phinney 1987) c l o s e l y examine i s s u e s c t e t h n i e

i d e n t i t y and

a s s i m i l a t i o n

among e t h n i c a l l y di sa dva nt a ge d groups ,



describing

an

age-related progression i n the a b i l i t y t o

perceive,

process,

and i n t e r p r e t

r a c i a l o r e th nic

s t i m u l i .

They suggest

t h a t

c h i l d r e n s

ethnic

i d e n t i t y i s most

susceptible t o

fundamental

change a t

a

young

age. This

i s

p a rt ic u la rl y t ru e

a t

school,

where

minority

children are exposed t o learning s it ua ti on s i n

which t h e i r

sense of

s e l f - i d e n t i f i c a t i o n

i s

overwhelmed by continuous

e x a l t a

t i o n of

the

dominant

ethnic

group a t

t h e

expense of

t h e i r own

Through constant

aff irmation,

the

children

may learn

t o become

more aware

of, and

more

knowledgeable about

the

dominant

e thnic

group than about t h e i r

own

Gradually they learn

t o

i d e n t i f y more

c lose ly

with

th e

c r i t i c a l a t t r i b u t e s ,

h i s t o r y ,

customs,

and

p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n

of

the

dom inant g roup u n t i l f i n a l l y they

acquire a conception of themselves as belonging more t o th e

dominant

ethnic

group

than

t h e i r

native

group

Rotheram

Phinney,

1987 .

The

School

and

the

s t a t e

Research

in to th e

development

of p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n s

i nd ic at es t he se

are

formed early

and

usually

between

th e ages

of

t h r e e and t h i r t e e n Easton

Dennis, 1969 .

I t

i s

s i q n i f i c a n t

t h a t ,

fo r the g r e a t e r

p a r t of these te n formative years,

children

a r e exposed t o

primary leve l

education. Many educat ional

researchers have

c lose ly examined elementary school p rograms and

t h e i r r o le i n th e

p o l i t i c a l

c o c i a l i z a t i o n

of

children e . g . , Giroux

Purpel, 1983; Goldstein,

1972; Karabel

Halsey,

1977

•

8



A signif icant study on the

subject

was carried out

by Hess

(1962), who drew attention to the emphasis on law, government, and

cit izenship in primary schools. Hess and

Torney

1967

described

the

pol i t ica l

at t i tudes

acquired

by

students

during

elementary

school

as including strong posit ive

attachments to the country,

fai th

in

pol i t ica l

a uth ority , p os itiv e affect toward national

leaders, and the dasire to be good ci t izens. Easton and

Dennis

1969

have

shown

tha t p rimary schoo ling has

a central and

vi ta l

ro le in

pol i t ica l

social izat ion. They described four socializing

processes tha t act

as

the

fundamental means

through

which

pol i t ica l

ideology i s perpetuated, namely pol i t ic izat ioni personalizationi

inst i tut ional izat ioni and ideal izat ion.

Massalias (1972,

p.5) ,

carr ied out extensive observations wi th in ethnically heterogeneous

North American primary schools. concluded tha t :

h ~

major

po11tical

function

of the elementary school

i s

to foster compliance with

governmental rules

and a u t ~ o r -

i ty The formaI curriculum and instruct ional programs

general ly over-emphasize compliance with the government

and

uncr i t ica l

loyalty

toward

the

system.

SUch conclus ions about

pol i t ical

social izat ion in

elementary

schools

have

been confirmed by others . For example,

Jankowski

(1992,

p.

219

affirms, the school stands out as the central ,

sa l ient ~ d

dominant

force

in the

pol i t ica l

soci al iz a ti on o f

the

younq child . Emler (1992,

p.

76

s ta te s th at

by

the

end

of

the i r

elementary education, children

have

extensive and

well

developed representat ions

of ins t i tu t ional authority,

and

i s

la rq ely th e experience

of formaI

education

tha t

has provided the

context

of

these developments.

9



Moral Education and Poli t ica l Socialization

u h

of

th e North

American research on school

pol i t ica l

s o c i a l i z a t i o n has

focused

on

cU .Ticulum in th e

s o c i a l

science

courses designed

t o

promote

national pol i t ica l

ideology such a s

geggraphy,

h i s t o r y ,

a s

well

a s

th e

teacl .ing

of th e n a t i o n a l

language.

t seeks

t o

i n cu l ca t e p o s i ti v e

a t t i t u d e s

toward

n a t i o n a l

figures, depicting

them

as

powerful, competent, benign,

and

in fa l l ib le

Adjunct

v a l u e s promoted through moral education

include compliance to g ov er nm en t l aw s

an d

a u t h o r i t i e s Jankowski,

1992).

The

h id d en c Ur ri cu lu m.

Pol i t ica l ideology i s

formally

taught,

and

i s

a l s o

informally tr ansmitted through th e ways i n s t r u c t i o n i s s o c i a l l y

organized

and

p r a c t i s e d . Pol i t ica l ideology i s embedded

wi t hi n

th e

hidden

curriculum,

which can be defined as :

The nonacademic

b ut ed uc atio nally s i g n i f i c a n t

conse

quences

of schooling tha t occur

s ys te m at ic al ly b ut a re

no t

made

expl ic i t

a t any

l e v e l

of

th e

p u b l i c

r a t i o n a l e s

f o r education •••

r e f e r s

broadly

to th e

s o c i a l - c o n t r o l

func t i on

of

schooling

Vallance, 1983, p. 11 ).

Generally

th e

hidden

curriculum

can be

conceived

in t h r e e

dimensions : 1) teacher - student

i n t e r a c t i o n ;

2) classroom

s t r u c t u r e s ; and, 3)

th e

s o c i a l expectations

tha t

promote a c q u i s i

t i o n

o f

pol i t ica l

values

through

p a r t i c i p a t i o n in school events

Giroux,

1983). In

th e United S t a t e s , some examples o f

th e

ways

public

schools pol i t ica l ly s o c i a l i z e young childr en i nc l ude

pledgïng

allegiance to

th e f la g ,

si ngi ng

th e national

anthem,

celebrating th e bir th o f his torica l figures,

and

observing national

10



holidays. As

well,

daily \rule-keeping act iv i t ies imposed by

teachers on

the i r

students to maintain

order

in the classroom

foster a strong

attachment

to the idea of respect for authority

stevens, 1982).

At the primary level , school

teachers

pol i t ical ly social ize

tha i r students through the

establishment

of

power

relat ionships

with them Giroux,

1983).

he

teachers abi l i ty to

convey a sense

of power

and

control

is

crucial to fostering respect fo r figures of

authori ty.

t

i s important for children to empathise with the i r

teachers

so

t ha t they learn to

rpspond

to figures of

authority

with

posit ive affect

Posi t ive

response

to f igures of authority

i s especially

important

for pol i t ica l

social izat ion

of ethnic minority children.

There i s

a c r i t i ca l l ink

between teacher-student

rapport and

the

degree to

which

ethnic minority children

feel at t racted

to the

pol i t ica l ideology or

social

ethos

espoused

in the school.

f

the

teacher

i s

not

successful

in

establishing

a

posit ive

rapport

with

the minority child,

then

th e c hild may

feel al ienated

and

engage in

disrupt ive behavior Clausen,

1968;

stevens, 1982).

outsi

ctors

There are important factors outside

the

immediate context

of

the school t ha t

affect

the pol i t ica l

social izat ion

of children.

Within

th e lo cal community t radi t ional

norms, bel ief systems,

and

the

a t t i tudes

of signif icant

community members

can a l l have

an

ideological impact on

school-children.

For children in primary

11



school,

two f a c t o r s seem

p a r t i c u l a r l y

i n f l u e n t i a l

in th e

t r a n s

mission o f v alu es; th e family especially

parents),

and th e mass

media

Jankowski, 1992).

Stevens

1982)

believes

th t

parental

influence

on

c h i l d r e n s

p o l i t i c l


l i e s in

how

par ents

i n t e r p r e t

information

an d

events

from

th e p o l i t i c l world. Jankowski 1992)

argues

t h t

parental impact on c h i l d r e n s p o l i t i c l consciousness i s not

usually the r e s u l t o f s p ec if ie i ns tr u ct io n . Rather, c h i l d r e n s

development o f an

understanding

o f

th e p o l i t i c l

system ensues

from

p a r e n t s

ge ne ra l

a t t i t u d e s to ward and

involvement

in

th e n at io na l

c u l t u r e . For

example,

p a r e n t s

comments

about

a

p o l i t i c l party

can i n d i r e c t l y influence t h e i r

own

c h i l d r e n s t t i t u d e s

towards

t h t

party.

In th e e a r l y elementary grades, th e s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l values

emphasized t sch oel te nd t o overlap .:ith

those

f o s t e r e d

by

par ents, sUch

as r e s p e c t f o r

a u t h o r i t y . h n t h e s e

tw o s o c i a l i z i n g

fo rc es s ha re

th e

same

dominant

c u l t u r a l

v alu es, th ey

r e i n f o r c e

and

e xte nd e ac h o th er s e ff or ts

i n

making

values c l e a r

and

r e l e v a n t

t o

children. For example,

wi t hi n

th e

dominant c u l t u r a l

group, th e

policeman i s o f t e n viewed as someone who maintains

la w

and or der ,

whereas f o r some

minority

group members th e policeman i s seen a s an

oppressor o f equal r i g h t s .

Thus,

when

p a r e n t s

do not belong

t o

th e

dominant

c u l t u r e

th e transmission o f

va l ue s

may diverge from, an d

even

c o n t r a d i c t , th os e ta ug ht t sc hool Bradley, 1983; Clausen,

1968) •

12



E th ni c m in or it y

p aren ts

tend to be l e s s

involved

in

school

matters

than

parents th t belong to th e majority group. ow l e v e l s

o f p a r e n t a l involvement in school ff irs

m y be

construed by

th e

c h i l d

as

a

lack

o f

p a r e n t a l

support

fo r th e

school,

in

general.

This i s p a rt ic u la rl y t ru e

i f

th e c h i l d

is

unhappy o r

unsuccessful

in

sc hool.

Such ch ild ren

a re

lik e ly to

develop

d issen tin g

a t t i t u d e s towards school authority an d

r u l e s

Hess

Torney,

1967;

Jennings

Niemi,

1974).

The media.

The

inf luence

o f th e

media

on c h i l d r e n s pol i t i l development

i s

a l s o important. Television, above

l l o th er

forms

o f

mass

media, is an

i n f l u e n t i a l

f a c to r in

pol i t i l s o c i a l i z a t i o n

fo r many

children. However, r e c e n t

findings stro n g ly suggest

th t

th e media

p lay l e s s o f a d i r e c t

r o l e in

e s t a b l i s h i n g pol i t i l

a tt i tu de s in

children

than they do in rein fo rcin g a t t i t u d e s

th t

alr eady

exis t

Jankowski,

1992).

For example, th e

concept

of

r e s p e c t

f o r

a u t h o r i t y

i s

rein fo rced

when

ch ild ren

watch

a news

program th t

r i t i izes an

in stan ce o f

ivi l

disobedience,

such

as

an i l leq l

demonstration.

Jankowski

1992) ex p lain s, what

th e media does

do

i s teach children to identify acceptable

an d

unacceptable

pol i t i l

a t t i t u d e s an d behaviors. The

media

provides examples o f,

and

a

r a tio na le fo r, th e punisbments

th t th e s t te

administers f o r

unacceptable a t t i t u d e s and behavior. In th i s manner, th e media

serv es to l r i fy

pol i t i l p aram eter s q o ver nin q

c i t i z e n t t i tudes

and behavior and th e values underlying

a pol i t i l system •

13



The

Scbool and Ethnic Minori ty Groups

Accordinq to

Borrie

1959), schoolinq plays an important

role

in

ass imi la ti ng e thni c minor it ie s

in

two ways:

1 by

requirinq

minority

students to

accept

the pre-eminence

of

the majority

communitYi and, 2 by

makinq

minority students feel

the

presence

of st te authori ty

through the school

administration and the

teacher. However, Young 1969 observed th t the effect iveness of

the school as a pol i t i l socializing agency for minority students

depends on

several

key factors. These include: a)

the

qualif ica

t ion

and

at t i tudes

o f t eacher s and

administratorsi

b

the

at t i tudes

and

behavior

of the dominant cultural group members regarding

minority

studentsi and,

c)

the

minority

students self-concepts,

goals, motivation

and

general readiness to be assimilated.

The social

con text o f

schools for minority groups i s

important

and

deserves closer attention. As Clausen 1968 explains, in

schools

where

minority

students

feel

antagonism

against

them

by

the

dominant ethnic group, they y react by remaining ethnically

dist in t

and rejecting the

ideology

th t

aims

to assimilate

them.

Minority

students

who

fee l

they are excluded from the

mainstream

often

experience a r e s tr i ted po l i ti l social izat ion experience t

school--one

th t

wil l

l imi t the extent to

which

they adbere to the

values

espoused

by the

dominant

ethnic

group

•

14



The School and

Involuntary

Minorit ies

s

noted ear l ie r the

major

objective

of th i s study

i s

to look

a t

the

process of assimilat ion of

indigenous

ethnie

minority

chi ldren

in

Thailand and Taiwan through po l i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion in

the school .

In

order to meet th i s

objective, however,

i s

important to

consider

s ev er al f ea tu re s which mark

the typica l

re la t ionship

t ha t

exis ts between

indigenous e thn ie minor it ie s and

the

dominant ethnic

group.

Firs t

the

term minority i t s e l f

connotes a fundamental imbalance

in

th i s

re la t ionship,

as Gibson

1991, p.358) describes:

The term minority re fe rs to

a

group

occupying a subordi-

nate p osit io n in a ~ u l t i t h n i society,

suffer ing

from

the d isab i l i t i e s of prejudice and discrimination, and

maintaining

a separate

group ident i

ty Even

though

individual

members of

the

group may

improve

the i r

soc ia l

s ta tus the group i t se l f

remains

in a

subordinate

posi t ion in

terms of

i t s

power

to

shape the

dominant

value

system of the

society

or

to share

ful ly

in i t s

rewards.

Second,

indigenous

ethnic

minority

members

fa l l under

a

d is t inc t category,

t ha t of nonimmigrant

minority

on

immigrant

minor i t ies re fe r to ethnic

groups

incorporated in to the

dominant

socie ty involuntarily by means o f co lo niza tion ,

conquest,

or

slavery, and

assigned a

subordinate

posi t ion within

n

Gibson,

1991, p.358). Gibson explains , the

sta tus

of non immigrant

minori t ies di f fe rs

from

immigrant minorities

tha t i s

nthose who

are l inguis t ica l ly

cul tural ly and

physically

dis t inc t for the

majori ty

populat ion

and who have

migrated

to

the

new

country

voluntar i lyand

in

search

of

economic

opportunit ies

p.359) •

15



Because of th i s dis t inc t ion

Ogbu

1991,

1993)

re fe rs to non

immigrant

and immigrant

groups as

involunt ry

minor i t i es

and

vo lunt ry minor i

t i es

respec t i

vely.

ogbu f ur th er d is ti ngu is he s

between

these

two

types of

minori t ies

in terms

of

the i r cu l tu r l

di f fe rences with the

o ~ i n n t

society. argues t ha t immigrant

minori t ies have pr imary

cu l tu r l

dif : ferences with

the dominant

population: pr imary

cu l tu r l and

language

di:f:ferences

ar i se

from the

fac t

t ha t members

of

two

populations

had t he i r own ways

of

behaving, thinking,

and feeling, e tc .

be:fore

they

came

into

continuous

contact

with

each

other Ogbu 1993,

p.488).

Non

immigrant

minor i t ies , on the

other

hand, are seen to

have

secondary

cu l t u r l

di f fe rences

The

cul tura l differences and

qu l i t t i ve ly

di: f : ferent and

l i e in the nature of

the

relat ionship between the

dominant-group

cul ture

and t he c u lt ur e of the

minor i t ies .

The relat ionship between the cul tures of

the

minor i t ies

and th e c ultu re

of

the dominant group i s d i f fe ren t

fo r

voluntary and involuntary

minor i t ies . This

difference in

the

relat ionship i s due to

the

fac t t ha t

t he d i ff er ences

between

the

cul tures of involuntary minori t ies

and the

cul ture of

the

dominant

group

arose

fter

the

dominant

g roup and the minorit i e s came in to th e continuous contact

tha t

keeps the minori t ies

in

a

subordinate

pos i t ion.

The

cul tura l differences arose as

par t

of

the coping mechan

isma used

by

the minori t ies to deal with

the

problems

they face in

t he i r

relat ionship with the

dominant-group

members and the

socie ta l inst i tut ions

controlled by the

l a t t e r Ogbu,

1993,

p.488).

This

dis t inc t ion i s

a crucia l one because

the

cu l tu r l

f rame

o f

reference

of

bearers

of

secondary cul tura l

dif fe rence

i s

diss imila r

to

bearers of

primary

cul tura l

difference. A

cu l tu ra l

frame

of d if fe rence

refers

to the cor rec t or ideal

way

of behavinq

within

a

cul ture a t t i tudes

bel iefs preferences,

and pract ices

considered

appropriate

fo r

members

the

culture

Oqbu,

1993,

16



p.490). The

cul tura l

frame of reference of immigrant minorities

predates the i r emigration so they do

not perceive

i t

as

oppositional

to

th t

of

the

dominant group of

the i r

host society.

The

cul tural

frame

of

reference of

non

immigrant

minorit ies ,

however,

oppositional

to the

dominant group

because

was

developed in the context of confl ict and opposition. Moreover,

nthe oppositional

cultural frame

of

reference i nc ludes dev ices

to

pro tect the socia l or collective

identi ty

of the minorities and

protect

and maintain the i r

sense

of

self-worth

p.491).

Most

relevant

to

th is present

study

i s the

fact th t the

oppositional cul tural

frame

of

reference and identi ty ascribed to

involuntary minorit ies llso

manifest

themselves in the

school.

The

international

and

comparative

l i ter ture on the school

as an agent

of

assimilation

of involuntary ethnic minority students

confirms

the

presence

of opposi tional atti tudes among these

students

toward

the dominant group. For example, Kramer 1991, p.301) reports such

a phenomenon

in

American

public

schools

serving

children

of

American Indian

t r ibes Kramer

describes

how st te

schools a ttempt

to

nemancipate

n

American Indian children from

the i r

families and

t r ibes in

order

to

neducate

n

them.

Kramer

argues

th t the

schools

have inst i tu t ional ized alienation for these indigenous students.

The

classroom

becomes the battleground where American Indian

children

protect

the i r

in tegri ty

and

identity

by opposing

the

school

system.

Barrington

1991 describes a

similar si tuat ion

for

Maori

children

in w Zealand, where the

typical

Maori resp:mse to

17



assimilat ion educational pol ic ies has

been

one of withdrawal and

resistance.

The School and Indigenous

Minorities

in Thailand and

Taiwan

The

indigenous

pd pulations t ha t serve as

the

focus of th i s

study can be considered

as

involuntary

minori t ies .

Their

ethnic

charac ter is t ics and c ultu ra l t ra dit io n s c le ar ly dis t inguish them

from

the

majori ty society and

renders

them vulnerable to discrimi-

nation, exploi tat ion and oppressior. (Beauclerk, Narby, Townsend,

1988).

Burger

(1987) points out t ha t in Asia, nat ional governments

have

typica l ly responded

to

the presence of

indigenous

peoples

imposing assimilat ive development

programs on them:

The

most

common

pol ic ies adopted to overcome

conf l ic t s

of

in te res t s between

the s ta te

and

indigenous peoples

re ly

on varyi ng deg re es of assimila t ion o r in te gra tio n into

the dominant society and i t s economy. In

prac t ice

di f fe ren t

peoples

cannot

be amalgamated without prejudice

to the

pol i t i ca l ly

and economically weaker. All too

often

the

exchange of an

indigenous

id en ti ty fo r

nat ional one

represents

not development , but de te r io-

ra t ion

on

the

condi t ions

and

qua li ty o f

l i fe

of

indigen-

ous

peoples (p.7) .

As Burger

(1987)

explains,

one

of the

most important too ls

of

assimila t ion in Asian countr ies i s

s ta te

education. Compulsory

education for indigenous minori t ies

i s

often

author i ta r ian and

unsympathetic to

the

local indigenous ethos. The content and mode

of del ivery of s ta te

education

i s

often cul tura l ly

unacceptable

to

the

nat ive

peoples ,

al ienat ing

them

from the i r

t radi t ions

and

undermining exis t ing

knowledge transmission prac t ices

onde r such circumstances,

i s

not

surpr ising to

l earn t ha t

the

cul tura l frame of

reference

of indigenous communities in Asia

18



shows

i s t k b l e

signs

of being

oppositional to the dominant

national

society.

A

recognition

has

grown among

indigenous peoples

th t

they are par t

both of

an exploited class and an oppressed

people.

For

example

the

Asia Indigenous

Peoples Pact

1988

has

documented increasing

accounts

of

organized indigenous

opposition

to th e pol ic ie s including educa tion

forced upon them by

centra l

authorit ies. Indigenous communities are now

forming

grassroots

groups to f ight for issues of

o on

interest

and

formulate

united

policies .

There

i s l i t t l e doubt th t the indigenous

peoples

organizations are growing in both numerical

and

oppositional

strength

•

19



CHAPTER :Il:

XE l llO OLOGY

l he s ty le of

inquiry

adopted for th is study i s

qual i ta t ive

in

nature ,

following

the methodological

or ientat ion

establ ished

within

the

disc ipl ine

of

natura l i s t i c research

(Burgess,

1985;

Lincoln

Guba, 1985; Wolcott,

1988). As

such, the methodology adopted

featured the

following

aspects: ho li st ic f ie ld

research,

observa

t ion purposive

sampling, ut i l i za t ion of subjec t

ins ight and

induct ive

data analysis

(Borg

Gall, 1989;

Lecompte Goetz,

1982).

reliminary ie l esearch

l conducted a comprehensive f ie ld research in Taiwan

and

l hailand.

This

s tage

involved

ident i fying

key

organizations ,

governmental or

otherwise,

concerned

with education fo r

indigenous

minority members. Prominent ind iv idua l s wi th in these organizat ions

were contacted and interviewed. l heir views served as usefu l

information in forming a general

understanding

of

the

educat ional

condit ions in the highlands of

Taiwan

and Thailand.

n

Taiwan, representat ive organizat ions included

the

Center

for Indigenous Educat ion, the Department of Anthropology a t Taiwan

National Univers i ty, the Early

Childhood

Education

Department a t

the

National Ping-Tung

Teachers Co ll ege, members o f Leg is la tiv e

20



Yuan the Ministry of Education and the Center for Aboriginal

CUlture in Ping Tung County.

In Thailand the l i s t included the Tribal Research Center at

Chiang

ai

University

the

Department

of

Education

the

Department

of Poli t ical

Science and

the Asian

Studies

Center

a t Chiang

ai

University the

Department

of Nonformal Education

for

Chiang ai

Province the Social Research nst i tute a t Chulalongkorn Univer-

s i ty the Inter Mountain Peoples Education and CUlture

Association

the Worldview Internat ional Foundation and directors for education

for several missionary groups. ediapersonnel knowledgeable

about

education

in

the highlands were con su lted as

well.

Preliminary

research also

involved examination of

the

national

curricula

a t

the primary level and relevant

teaching

material . In

Taiwan

the

moral education textbooks were closely scrut inized

and

analyzed

fo r

the i r

pol i t ica l

content. In Thailand

where

no se t

moral

education

textbooks

are

used

analytical

ef for t focused on

teacher

manuals

tha t

deal t

specif ically

with

the

teaching

of

values

a t

the

primary

level .

Field research further

entailed

frequent stays in

highland

villages and

vis i ts

to th e ir

respective

schools. Personal

interaction

with indigenous members

and observation

of

daily l i fe

allowed

fo r greater contextualization of the data and a more

hol is t ic

apprec ia tion of the socio cu ltu ra l

system

exist ing in the

highlands. In addition to the t r ips made to highland communities

several vis i t s were made to lowland schools. The

purpose

of these

vis i ta

was to

assess

the overal l educational environment within the

21



mainstream which could the n s erv e a s a b a s i s o f comparison wi t h

e x i s t i n q condi t i ons in hi qhl a nd s chool s . Fi e l d not es from t h e s e

precurs ory

v is i t s pr ovi de d

i n s i q h t

h e l p f u l in qenerat i nq

hypotheses

ab o u t

th e

proces s

o f

a s s i m i l a t i o n o f

indiqenous

popul at i ons

into


cul ture

and to focus

o b ser v atio n s

o f in s ta n c e s o f

po l i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion with in

th e sc hool

set t inqs.

S e l e c t i o n o f s i tes

and

Obse r va t i ons

Based on

the p r ep ar ato r y

f ie ld re se a rc h f i v e

spec i f i c

obs ervat i on s i t e s were c ho sen in Tha i l a nd and Taiwan.

The

three

s t udy s i t e s chosen in North Thailand were: Saen

Charoen

kha

t r ibe ;

Tunq Phrao Karen

t r i be ; and Khunq

Klaanq

Hmonq t r ibe .

The tw o s t udy

s i t e s

s e l e c t e d in Taiwan were: Ma-Jia Paiwan

t r ibe ; a nd F en q- Bi n

mei

t r ibe .

Fieldwork

a t th e

Tha i l a nd

s i t e s

was conducted between October 1992 and

February

1993, whereas the

f i e l dwor k

in

Taiwan

took

p l a c e

between

March

and Juna 1993.

S e le c tio n o f

t h e s e

s t udy s i t e s was

based

on two

b a s i c

cr i t e r i a . C ons i derat i on

wa s f i r s t

qi ve n to the

d eq ree

o f remote

n es s, p h ys ic al and cul tura l o f a s i t e from the dominant cul tura l

m i l i e u .

Th e

varyi nq deqree o f

remoteness wa s

i m port ant fo r

comparative

pur pose s in

t erm s

o f th e impact o f

ass imi la t ive

p r e s s u r e s cominq

from

the

n a t i o n a l mainstream. T h i s

cr i te r ion

c oul d De more

easi ly

determined

in Thai l and

fo r tw o

r e a s o n s :

1)

T h a i l a n d s hi qhl ands are much

more

e xpa nsi ve th an Ta i wa n s s o tha t

to

t h i s day certa in hi ghl and v il la ges a re q uite iso la te d from

the

22



•

•

Thai lowland

society; 2

the

process

of

assimilat ion of

the

highland

population in

North Thailand

i s less

evident than in

Taiwan. Thus, in order

of

decreasing i solat ion

the

study s i t e s in

North

Thailand were Saen Charoen

Akkha , Tung

Phrao

Karen , and

Khun Klaang Hnmong . In Taiwan

the

study s i t e more geographical-

ly is ola te d was

Feng

Bin Amei . As fa r

as

cul tura l

remoteness was

concerned, both stu dy s i t e s were comparable.

A

second cr i te r ion perta ined

to

the

population size of

each

t r i ba l

group. Numerically, the Karen, mon

and Akkha

are the more

numerous

of the

highland t r ibe s .

The same applies

for

the

Amei and

the Paiwan

in

Taiwan. The re la t ively la rger

population size

of

these t r i ba l

groups

was assumed to influence

the

degree to which

they

f e l t

the assimi la t ive pressures stemming from the national

mainstream;

la rger

t r i ba l

groups are normally less

vulnerable

to

such

pressures

Burger, 1987 .

Observation a t

the

various

school

s i t e s was observer

pa r t i c i -

pant .

The

protocols derived

from

on s i te

observations

converged on

two

themes, di rec t po l i t i c a l soc ia l iza t ion

and indi rect

po l i t i c a l

social izat ion. The

former

arose

from

moral education lessons as

they

were

being taught . The l a t t e r came

primari ly from

dai ly

Schee l experi ences and events •

23



Interviews

Following

the

recommendation of Pelto

and

Pel to 1978),

the

protocols

obtained

by

nonpart ic ipant observation

were

substant ia ted

using in teract ive

research methods, namely key-informant in te r -

viewing. The development

of

interview

items

was based on

two main

sources

of

information: analysis

of

per t inent teaching materia1

combined with

school

s i t e observations. The

rules

used fo r

conducting

these interviews corresponded to those l i s ted

by

Patton

1980),

namely:

1) questions were posed in language tha t i s

c lear

and

meaningful to

the

subject ; 2) questions were open-ended;

3)

probes were used fo r

gett ing

fu.. ther elaborat ion, explanation,

c la r i f ica t ion

and

completion of

de ta i l and

4) a o n v ~ r s t i o n l

mode was used to conduct the interview.

At each research s i t e semistructured

interviews

using

descr ip t ive questions were

conducted

with

s tudents ,

teachers,

parents ,

and

community

leaders . In

order

to

establ ish

rapport

and

to put

the

respondents a t ease, loca l ass is tan t

researchers

who

were

able

communicate

in

both

native

and national

languages

were

employed to conduct the interviews. A small tape recorder was used

to record

the

interviews.

The

se t t ing

fo r conducting

the

interviews was casual .

For

the

s tudents ,

the

set t ing was

within

the

school qrounds, usual ly a

shady spot in

the

play qround

or

a bench in th e school yard.

saturday afternoon af t e r school was

chosen

as

a favorable

time

because the students

schedules

were less

constra ined.

Conducted

24



on one-to-one

basis , th e stu den ts were encouraged to

express

themselves f ree ly.

Simi la r considerat ion was given to the

set t ings

in

which adul t

subjects

were

interviewed.

Care

was

taken

in

finding locat ions

and

time frames

t ha t

were

conducive to

r el axed int er vi ew ,

unencum

bered by immediate concerns

or

disturbances. Teachers were

interviewed a f te r

regular

school days, usually in

locat ion

reserved

fo r

teaching pP.rsonnel.

Parents and community leaders

were interviewed

in

the evening when dai ly chores

and

obl igat ions

were

mostly completed.

S election of su bjects fo r

interviewing

was purposive.

The

student subjects

interviewed a t

the

di f fe ren t s i t e s were chosen

from th e th re e

upper

grade leve ls of

primary

school . This was done

to

ensure

correspondence

in the leve ls

of

schooling between

the

students

in

each country. In Taiwan moral education i s formally

taught only from the fourth grade

to

the

sixth

grade .

The

process

of

subject

se lec t ion

was

based

on

p re lim in ary in te rv iews

to

ascer ta in

tha t

the subjects had

l ived in or

near the

study

s i t e s

a l l t he i r l ives

tha t

they

belonged to

the

respect ive t r i bes

found

a t

those

s i t e s and

t ha t

they

had been attending the t a rge t schools

from the f i r s t grade

on.

Select ion

of parents

respondents was

largely determined by the

previous se lec t ion of the i r chi ldren as student

subjec ts .

cr i t e r i a

fo r the se lec tion of community

leaders

converged

on

the

time

of

residence a t

vi l lage

s i t e the

longer

the bet te r and

recog

nized

pos i t ion of au thor itY/re spec t wi th in the community leaders

2S



based

on

the recolDlllendation of other adults within the cOl lllunity •

The

se lec t ion

o f te ache rs was largely determined by the small

population from which they

could

be

drawn.

In

Taiwan,

specia l

e f fo r t

was

made

to

include

indigenous

teachers

among

the teacher

respondents. The

re l t ively

low

p ropo rt ion o f

indigenous teachers

in

Thailand

precluded

th i s select ion process from

being

effec t ive ly

applied t the

given research

s i t e s

The

interview

data obtained from the purposive

sample

of

respondents

were

t ranscribed in to English. The

t ranscr ibed

informat ion provided by each informants

was

examined and excerpts

were selected fo r

t he i r

relevance to the research

objec t ives .

I nf er ence s der iv ed from the observa ti onal d a ta col lec ted t

each

highland s i t e

were

compared

to and corroborated

by the

interview data . Both these primary

sources

of data

were t r i ngu-

l ted with

secondary

sources, namely renowned experts in the f ie ld

of

indigenous

education in Thailand and Taiwan

e .g.

the

Triba l

Research

Center

t

Chiang

Mai

Universi ty ,

Thailand,

the

Center

fo r

Ind igenous Education in Hualien, Taiwan . Most of

the

inferences

derived from the

primary

data

was

confirmed by these experts .

F ina l ly ,

the

primary

data

was

shared

with

educational

researchers

who were themselves members of the

indigenous

t r i b l groups

investigated in

t h i s

study •

26



lI PTER

Thi s

ch ap ter examines

th e r e l a t i o n s h i p s

between

th e Thai

g ov er nm en t a nd

hi ghl and

m i nori t y

p o p u latio n s.

Th e role o f moral

educat i on i s

d iscu ssed

w i t h i n th i s c o n t e x t ,

part icular ly

a s

means

fo r the

po l i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion

o f

min o r ity

c h i l d r e n . Schooling

in

the hi ghl ands i s an i ns t rum ent f or t ra ns m it ti ng

t h e

government s

po l i t i c a l ideology. aims to a s s i m i l a t e h i g h l a n d e r

c h i l d r e n

in to

mainstream s o c i e t y

and a l iena tes them

from the i r

t rad i t iona l t r iba l

e t h o s .

H i s t o r i c a l

Overview

Buddhism,

t he p ri nc ip a l

re l igion

o f

the

Thai p eo pl e, p la ye d

an im portant

role his tor ical ly in

th e

formation

o f

the

Thai

monarchy

and th e n atio n s ta te P ayut t o,

1984;

Seekins, 1987).

During th e

19th cen tu r y ,

King

Chulalongkorn

was t h e d riv in g fo rc e

be hi nd

the socio pol i t ical tr an sf o r matio n o f Thailand in to modern

nat ion sta te

s e e

map,

Appendix I I .

e

i s

c r e d i t e d wi t h res t ruc-

tur ing th e bureaucracy o f Tha i l a nd, a bo li sh in g s la v er y, c r e a t i n g

s ta te control led Buddhism,

and

i n i t i a t i n g m o d e r n Thai

n atio n alism.

e

e s t a b l i s h e d the monarchy a s the

sYmbolic

embodiment o f the

Thai

n a t i o n Keyes, 1987a).

King

C hul a l ongkor n s

son

and

s u c c e s s o r ,

V a ji ra vu d h, r es ha pe d

the

role o f

the

monarchy

by

provi di ng

more

2 7



di rec t

relat ionship

with

the populace. This was important in

assuring

place for

the

monarchy

when

the style

of

governance

changed from an absolute

monarchy

to

const i tu t ional

monarchy in

1932.

Since the reign of King

Chulalongkorn,

the s ta te has

construed

the

cul tural t radi t ions

of the

diverse

pasts of the peoples l iving

within

the

s ta te as single

t r ad i t ion

common to

unif ied nation

Keyes, 1987a, p. 50). Over the following decades the centra l

government managed to reinforce

i t s

posi t ion

by:

systematical ly

exercis ing

greater

contro l over the Buddhist

clergy, ins t i tu t ing

s tate-wide system of mass education; manipulating the mass

media,

and, creat ing

nat ional

holidays tha t celebrate the nat ion. Nation,

re l igion and king, the t h ree p i l l a r s of the Thai na t ion

represent the ideology of the ru ling e l i t e of

Thai

socie ty .

Because

these

inst i tu t ions are

so cruc ia l

fo r

the crea tion and

maintenance of the Thai soc io-pol i t ica l

sta tus

quo,

i s useful to

consider

the i r

individual

ro le s .

he ing

In

pre-modern t imes, the king assumed the sanct i f ied posi t ion

of

supreme

pol i t i ca l

and

re l ig ious leader of the land.

s

such, he

was godlike being a t the center of

Buddh is t cosmolog ical

system. In

1932, Thai centra l leadership was redefined

as

one of

shared control

between

the

prime

minis ter , the

mili tary and the

king. Royal pres t ige and power waned considerably in the per iod

following

the i nt roduc tion o f th is

new

po l i t i c a l

system

•

28



The monarchy re-emerged as a force in the

1950s

with

the

re turn of

King

Bhumiphol, who had been overseas

during the

Second

World

War

King

Bhumiphol

began touring

the

country

t o

es tabl ish

a greater

r o l e

for the

monarchy.

In

re qu la r ra dio broadcasts

he

made a

consc ious a tt emp t

t o

encourage people outs ide

the Central

Thai

ethnic enclave

t o

f e e l t h a t they were equally v i t a l t o

the

n a t i o n s

well-being Keyes, 1987a . By the l a t e 1960s, King

Bhumiphol had succeeded i n r es to r ing

the monarchy

to an independent

powerful, legi t imate posit ion

i n

the Thai p o l i tY Shinn, 1987 .

Tbe

Sangha

Buddhism has always

been closely associated

with the rul ing

e l i t e

in

Thailand.

King

Chulalongkorn

i n s t i t u t e d

Buddhism as

the

nat ional

r e l i g i o n in 1902.

This

meant t h a t

the

Sangha, or monastic

order ,

was u nif ied in to a

nat ional

i n s t i t u t i o n p a r a l l e l i n g the

provincial

admin is tr a tive h iera rchy .

bringing th e Sangha

under

i t s

control ,

t h e

King

and

r u l i n g

e l i t e were

able

to

fur ther

extend

t h e i r

author i ty

over

the nation Kunstadter, 1967 . Growing s t a t e

cont ro l

o f th e

clergy was

reinforced

by

the

sangha

Administration

Act

of 1963

Tapp, 1989 .

The contemporary

Sangha e s s e n t i a l l y

perpetuates an out look on

l i f e t h a t r a t i o n a l i z e s

differences among humans. The

ideology

i s

based

on

Buddhist

t e n e t s

suggesting t h a t

i n e q u a l i t i e s

are the

consequences

of p a r t i c u l a r morally

s i g n i f i c a n t

act ions , t h a t

i s

as

consequences of karma inher i ted from a previous l i f e

and

endowing

a future one Payutto, 1984 . The Sangha,

as

a facto instrument

9



o f th e

sta te

now performs i t s d u t i e s

a s

th e moral s e n t i n e l o f t h e

masses. onks o f appropri at e rank a r e re g ula rly and p u b l i c l y

i n v i t e d

to perform

r i t ua l s

a t formaI

s ta te

funct i ons and

on s ta te

hol i days .

onks a r e a ls o

r e c r u i t e d

to

preach m oral i t y t hr oughout

t h e

l an d e s p e c i a l l y

in

s e c u r i t y

sens i t ive a r e a s such as in rura l

n o r th easter n Thailand

and e s p e c i a l l y among th e t r iba l pe opl e s

o f

th e

hi ghl ands .

h

ut aucracy and

the

i l i t ry

Reforms under King Chulalongkorn extended beyond t h e monarchy

and

th e

cler g y

to the bureaucracy

and

th e m i lita ry . Semi-auton

omous

l o c a l

pol i t i ca l

inst i tu t ions

were repl aced

by

uniform s ta te -

cent ered

ins t i tu t ions

s taffed wi t h off ic ia Is known

a s

servants o f

th e

c r own .

E s s e n t i a l l y t h e bureaucracy

became

the

e:nbodiment o f

th e

Thai s ta te . n a t i o n a l army wa s

e s t a b l i s h e d to e nsur e c o n t r o l

t hr oughout

t h e

c ount r y.

Together

t h e s e

tw o

groups

became

the

major

power-holders

in Thailand

par t icular ly

a f te r

t h e new

c o n s t i t u t i o n in 1932 which effec t ive ly changed

the

n a t u r e

o f

monarchial

ru le .

Th e

following

s e c t i o n

examines

the

in flu en ce o f

t h e s e two power groups on n a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a l p o l i c y •

30



Education

Tt.e primary objective

of

the national system

of education

in Thailand has

been,

and continues to be, to prepare

chi ldren

throughout

the

country

to

enter

into

a Thai

nat ional world, a world structured with reference

to

the

Thai

s ta te .

Sl:cil an

objective was

enshrined in

the

f i r s t

cons t i tu t ion

;)f

modern

Thailand, the Constitution

of

1932. Keyes,

1991b, p.112)

The his tory of

the Thai

education system can be organized into

three major per iods: up to 1870; between 1870-1960; and from

1970

to

the present . Before 1870

t ~ r was

no

formal

Western type

of

schooling,

r se . Education was in the hands of Buddhist monks

who taught male) s tudents

l i teracy

ari thmetic , and Buddhist

philosophy.

As

such,

the primary

function

of

education

was

to

inculcate

r el ig io u s r at he r than

secular

knowledge.

By t he end of the 19th

century

a small

number

of

Western-style

schools were

estab lished . In

1895 the f i r s t nationwide education

program was promulgated

by

King Chulalongkorn. Buddhist monks were

replaced

by

secular

s ta te

school

teachers.

The

object

of

the new

educational

program

was to

prepare

the Thai

population

for

modernization. The major

landmarks

of th i s per iod up

to

1970,

include

the

crea tion of national

universi t ies

enforcement of a

mandatory elementary

education, and

t he con tr ol of a l l schooling

by

the

Ministry

of

Education Tuchrello, 1987).

National

educat ional object ives were c la r i f ied and a

Thai

educational philosophy was formulated. A compulsory curriculum was

developed to ensure tha t school c hild re n le ar n about the basic

elements

of Thai

nat ional cul ture the nat ional language, his tory

31



an d

th e symbols

o f monarchy, Buddhism, and n a t i o n . Four

b a s i c

ty p es o f

e duc a tion

formed

th e

co re curriculum f o r

elementary

an d

secondary s ch o o l s ;

in te l lectual pract ical

p h y s i c a l , and

moral

ed u cat i o n .

In 1977, th e

Nat i o n al

Assembly pa sse d th e Nat i o n al Education

Act, revamping th e co re curriculum and c r e a t i n g

a

6-3-3

q r ad e/y ear

system. Th e curriculum a t th e primary leve l

now

i s comprised o f

s u b j e c t s

qrouped

in to

f our

c a t e g o r i e s : 1) Learning ki l ls f o r

mathematics

and language; 2)

or

ducation f o r h a n d i c r a f t s and

b a s i c

v o c a t i o n a l sk i l l s ;

3) Life

xperiences

f o r

th e s c i e n c e s

and

soc ia l

s t u d i e s ;

and,

4) haracter ducation f o r

moral ed u cat i o n ,

ar ts

and

p h y sical ed u cat i o n

Buripakdi Mahakhan, 1980).

s ta te primary

ed u cat i o n remains h ig h ly c e n t r a l i z e d . A ll

s ch o o l s in

Tha ila nd,

p u b l i c o r pr iva te a r e ad m i n i s t ered and

s u p erv i s ed by the

powerful M i n i s t ry o f Education. I n

fact

a u t h o r i t y

and responsibi l i ty a r e v ested in

one

man--the

M i n i s t e r o f

Education,

in

a

hierarchically

s t r u c t u r e d

ed u catio n al

system

Gregorio Gr e gor io, 1980).

oral ducation

Moral ed u cat i o n in Thailand i s

based

on

Buddhist

moral

ide oloqy. Primary sc hool c h i l d r e n a r e t a u g h t t ha t

m o r a l i t y i s

a t t a i n e d thr ough three l e v e l s o f prac t ice ; namely, s i l

eschewing

wrongdoinq, embracinq qood d eed s ), sa llat ll p u r if y in q o n e s

mind

and

sp i r i t and punya

p ercei v i n q

the ephemeral

n a t u r e o f

the

32



physical world). These th re e le vels of

practice

embody the

Four

Holy Truths;

dukkha mortal

imperfection),

samodaya

individualis

t i c

desire) , niro h cessation of desire), and magga the way

pioneered

by

Buddha to a

pure

s ta te

of

being).

In terms of moral

thoughts

and

actions,

magga i s considered

most

relevant.

gg i t se l f

is threefold,

consisting

o f moral ity ,

meditation,

and

wisdom Of these l a s t

three concepts, morality

i s

primordial--without an earnest effort to pursue a higher moral

sta te

there

i s no

attainment of

wisdom

Payutto,

1984). In

everyday

application of

these

principles,

students

have

to

refrain

from

causing injury to

l iving

things,

from stealing,

sexual

immorality, prevaricating, and from using substances tha t tend to

cloud the

mind

such as

alcohol

and

drugs.

Students are also expected

to

conform

to

recognized

social

obligations. nown as

the

sig lov sut ta , these

sets of

social

duties are designed

to

re gu late th e h ie ra rc hic al re la t ions that

ex is t

between

parents

and

children,

husbands

and

wives,

employers

and servants, and teachers and pupils.

oli t ica l Ideology and Moral Education

Until

the

middle of th is century, moral eduo:ation in Thailand

was

t he r esponsibi li ty of

monks

in local

m o n ~ s t r i s

Children

learned to read and

write

and received instruction

in the

Buddhist

way of l i fe Parrinder, 1983). y the la te 1950s, as the Thai

royalty became more famil iar with Western education, decisions were

taken to remove moral education

from the

monasteries and

the

monks•



Moral

education became incorporated into the primary

school

curriculum, and was expanded to include ins t ruc t ion in civ ic

responsibi l i t ies and

proper

behaviors toward officialdom.

In

the 1960s, moral education was subordinated to academic

core courses such as mathematics and science. However,

the

attempts

the

cent ra l educational author i t ies to lessen

the

importance

of moral education did not go uncontested. The Sangha

voiced

i t s

concern

tha t

moral education

was

becoming

superf ic ia l ,

and t ha t children were

merely

memr,rizing school- taught

moral

princ ip les without actually internal izing

them.

In the

1970s, the

cen t ra l

government responded to th i s concern

and

mandated the

Ministry

of

Education to

revamp

the

nat iona l

moral

educa ti on cur ri cu lum . The resu l t was

the

National Scheme of

Education see Appendix I I I .

The

revised curr iculum attempted to

in tegra te

moral

education into the en

t r s hoolin

experience,

ra ther than

mere ly hav ing

taught as a

subjec t .

For

primary

education,

approximately

106

twenty-minute

periods

or

2,120

minutes per

year of

character education were merged with other

subjects p a rt ic ula rly s oc ia l s tu die s , while

a

mere

44

periods

were

a llo tte d to

spec if ic moral

ins t ruc t ion per

year .

In order to

re inforce

the moral t ra ining taking place in the school, the

Ministry

of

Education

also

prescr ibed a wide var ie ty of ext ra-

curr icular

ac t iv i t i es ,

i nc luding s cout ing , spor ts events,

games,

and numerous

clubs

Ins t i tu te

fo r In ternat ional Education, 1991

•



Materials fQr

Cbaracter EducatiQn

There

are

n

se t textbQQks fQr

mQral educatiQn

in

the

primary

public schools of Thailand. Instead, the Ministry Qf

EducatiQn

distr ibutes

manuals

tQ

teachers

tha t

suggest

h

different

mQral

themes and cQncepts

are

tQ be taught see Appendix VI . The

manuals are quite cQmprehensive, cQvering specific Qbjectives,

learning

act iv i t ies materials

and evaluatiQn

prQcedures.

Teachers

are then l e f t

tQ select

and

ut i l ize

supplementary

ks as

they see

f i t .

Signif icantly,

these manuals remind teachers that the cQntent

Qf moral educatiQn i s

less

important than the prQcess Qf

character

building Inst i tute for InternatiQnal Research, 1981; 1991 .

nstruct ion l s tr te ies

In the 1970s,

PrQject

RIT Reduced Instruction Time was

started to determine the best teaching st ra tegies for character

education a t the

primary

level .

Research

indicated tha t the most

effective

s t ra tegies

were

story-tel l inq

usinq

i l lust ra t iQns,

dis

cussions and

role modellinq.

Project

RIT also

prQvided

useful

insiqht on

character-buildinq

ac t iv i t ies

that

could

be effectively

incorporated

into other subjects.

These

include

self-Iearninq

ac t iv i t ies

group-Iearninq

ac t iv i t ies and student

hQmework

correction. Accordinq to RIT, such

act ivi t ies

stronqly enCQuraqe

basic

moral

values

includinq honesty, cooperation, respect

for

others, empathy,

punctuality, and

conscientiousness Ins t i tute

for

International Research, 1991 •

35



In

a ddition

to th e RIT p ro je ct, t he Ministry of Education also

mandated

th e Department of Religious Affairs to determine

ge ne ra l

goals

fo r

moral

education.

After much d e li b er a ti o n t he Department

came

out

with

a

l i s t

of ten groups of d esirab le personal

c ha ra c

t e r i s t i c s which

they considered a l l

Thai

people

should

possess:

1 s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e ; 2 honesty,

t r u t h f u l n e s s , an d jus t ice

3

diligence,

f r u g a l i t y

and r i g h t

careers;

4 consciousness o f d u tY

and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y fo r

s o c i e t y

an d nation; 5

c r e a t i v i t y ,

cr i t ica l

thinking, and r a t i o n a l decision-making;

6 r e s p e c t fo r

th e

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l monarchy an d

th e

system of democracy;

7

mainten

ance of

physic a l

an d mental

h e a l t h ;

9 p r i d e in Thai c u l t u r e ; and,

10

p i e t y ,

bravery,

cooperation,

an d

love

o f other s Ins t i tu te f o r

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

R es ea rc h, 1 99 1) .

From th e input received from th e RIT p r o j e c t an d

th e Depart

ment of Religious A ffa irs, th e

Ministry

o f

Education was able

to

pUblish comprehensive t e a c h e r s

manual

f o r moral education,

focusing

on

i n s t r u c t i o n a l s t r a t e g i e s

Ministry

of

Education,

Thailand,

1980).

mplementationo f

th

oral urr ulum in s t t Primary Schools

Thailand s moral education program wa s developed to be applied

u nif or ml y t hr ou gh ou t th e country. However, in th e highla nds,

education gener al,

and

moral education in p a r t i c u l a r , i s par t o f

a

l a r g e r

effor t by th e

c e n t r a l

government to assimilate

th e

e t h n i e

m i n o r i t i e s .

ny

bur eaucr atie

re sourc e s a r e

used

to br ing th e

36



ethnically

divergent h i l l t r i b e

population into

the

fold

of

dominant Thai

society.

Northern

Thailand

Northern Thailand, bordered by Burma

and

Laos,

i s

characterised by forested mountains--the

lower

ex trem ities of the

Himalayan foothills--and

f e r t i l e r i v e r valleys

see map

Appendix

V .

The region encompasses par t of the Golden Triangle, so called

because of

i t s

i l l e g a l

production

of opium This was th e c radle of

Thai c i v i l i s a t i o n where, for several centuries,

small

independent

kingdoms held sway Tuchrello, 1987 .

I t

was in northern Thailand t h a t Sukhotai, the

f i r s t

t r u l y

independent Thai kingdom was established in 1238. A second

kingdom, Lan

Thai, was

founded

in 1296 further north of

Sukhotai, with Chiang Mai

as

i t s capi ta l . Chiang Mai flourished

as

a

major

rel igious,

cul tural

and

trading

center

u n t i l

1556 when

became a Burmese

vassal s t a t e

The Burmese were expelled in 1775

when Lan Thai

once

more became par t of

northern Thailand.

However the entire area remained largely

isolated

from celltral

Thailand

u n t i l

th e early 1900s.

The Dominant Ethnic

Grgup--tbe Nortbern

Thai

The population in the North i s approximately 11.5 million.

The dominant ethnic group

are

Northern,

or Lanna

ThaL Tradi-

37



t i o n a l l y ,

th e Lanna Thai,

in

terms of customs and language,

are

closer to th e peoples of Laos than

to

th e Central Thai of

th e

Bangkok ar ea.

Although

r e l a t i v e newcomers t o th e n or th er n a re a,

the C e nt ra l

Thai

have

assumed

a

c e r t a i n

pol i t ica l

s o c i a l

an d

c u l t u r a l dominance

over th e Lanna Thai,

which

i s s t i l l an i r r i tant

in r e l a t i o n s

between these two T ha i g ro up s.

th is day, th e highly i ndepe nde nt Nor the rn

Thai

r e t a i n some

of

the i r former c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s through d i s t i n c t i v e

customs,

h an di cr af ts , c ul tu re ,

and

d i a l e c t . However, c e n t r a l government

pressure f o r va ri ous Thai

peoples

to forsake r egional c ust om s a nd

d i a l e c t s

f o r

modern Central Thai c u l t u r e , and

th e g re a tly

improved means of communication,

acceler ated th e

trend toward

homogenization o f dr ess,

language,

and forms of entertainment

Tuchrello,

1987).

Non-Thai

M inorities--tbe H i l l People

The e t h n i c minority

people

l i v i n g in

th e

northern mountain

re gi ons

and

along th e

western

boundary of

Thailand belong

to

va ri ous

h i l l

t r ibes

They

include

s ix

major

t r ibes Akha, Karen,

Lahu, Lisu, Hmong,

an d

Yao), and s ev era l s ma lle r t r ibes

H ti n ,

Khamu, Lua, and

Mrabri).

Altogether,

t r iba l

popul a t i on was

thought

to b e

approximately 700,000 in

th e

e a r l y 1990s

or

about

one

per cent o f th e to ta l population). They r e s i d e

e s s e n t i a l l y

in 19

provinces, f ro m C hi an g Rai in th e

nort h

to Pachuabkirikhan toward

th e south Cody, 1992 •

38



Owing

to

the wide publ ic i ty given to

the opium t rade

as well

as the promotion of tourism, highlander t r ibes are probably

the

most

well known

ethnic groups in Thailand. They or igina l ly

migrated

from

southern

China

hundreds

of years

ago,

the

grea tes t

number se t t l ing

in urma Laos, and vietnam.

The reasons

why

the

highland minori t ies

found

themselves

in northern Thailand

are

varied.

Many

are

within

Thai

boundaries as a consequence of

his tor ica l conf l i c t s between Thailand and i t s neighbors which

shi f ted bordera.

Others arr ived re la t ive ly recently from economi

cal ly

impoverished southern

China

or from pol i t ica l ly turbulent

areas

in urma and

the Indo-Chinese Peninsula.

Each

t r ibe has i t s own bel i e fs t rad i t ions

language,

and

dress.

The t r i bes

have no indigenous writ ten language, therefore,

t ransmission of

r i tua l s and

customs i s mainly ora l Daily l i f e i s

s imilar

to

rura l Thai l i f e e lsewhere , a lth ough more d i f f i cu l t

This

i s

because of lower standards of communication, sani ta t ion

nutr i t ion

heal th

and

education.

Because of

differences

between

the highlands

and

the

lowlands,

t r i ba l people have tended

to

fee l in fe rio r

to

the ethnic Thais .

certa in

misconceptions of the

mountain

peoples

by

Thai

lowlanders

exacerbate

the

problem. The

h i l l

t r i bes

are

looked

down upon

by

lowland

Thais

because

of

t he i r supposed primi t ivi ty sexually

unbridled behaviour, crue l ty and

lack of

personal hygiene Alting

von

Gesau. 1989a •

39



General C b a r a c t e r i s t i c s

o f T h a i l a n d s

H i l l

Tri bes

In

o r d e r

t o b e t t e r

understand t h e

e th n ic d if fe re n ce s

between

hi ghl a nd and lowland s o c i e t y ,

i s u s e f u l t o r e c ogni se

some

o f th e

more s ig n if ic a nt c u lt ur al and s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l

f e a tu r e s o f

t r i b a l

communities.

amilv

and

qenealogy

mon a l l

t r i b a l pe opl e ,

th e

f a m i l y, whether extended o r

n u c l e a r , i s

s t i l l t h e most i m p o rt an t

s oc ia l u n it .

Th e

m a jo ri ty o f

t r i b a l

f amilies

a r e

mainly

monogamous owever

polygamy

i s

accepted

among

a l l

o f t h e

t r i b e s e xc e pt

t h e

Karen.

Each

t r i b a l

group us es s p e c i a l i z e d ki ns hi p t e r m s.

When

speaking t o

o r ab o u t a

r e l a t i v e t hey u s u a l l y do n o t

u se

t h e p e r s o n s

name,

b u t i ns te ad th e

c o r r e c t k in sh ip t e r m . These

t erm s r e f l e c t

r e l a t i v e

a ge ,

t h e

sex

o f th e spe a ke r , t h e se x o r th e pe r son ad d res s ed o r r e f e r r e d t o

g e n e r a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s , and

whether

t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p

i s

t h ro u g h

th e

f a t h e r s o r m o t h e r s l in eag e.

Highland

t r i b a l

people

have

t r a d i t i o n a l l y

f e l t

ve r y

s t r o n g l y

ab o u t t h e i r

g e n e a l o g i c a l systems and

t h e i r

a n c e s t o r s .

They a r e

k een l y

aware o f

who

gave them l i f e knowledge, wisdom, v a l u e s , and

eustomary

law.

T h i s

reverence

i s

e xpr e sse d i n a n c e s t r a l

s e r v i c e s

on

i m p o rt an t oc c a si ons

t o

r e i n f o r c e

l o y a l t y t o and

remembrance

o f

where t hey

came from.

h

vi l l ge

s po l i t i c l u n i t

t Jnt i l

r e c e n t l y

t h e r e were no p a n - v i l l a g e

o r

p a n - t r i b a l

o r g a n i z a t i o n s . The v i l l a g e i s n o t

a

s t a b l e u n i t

and

t r i b a l

f a m i l i e s

do

n o t show

str o n g

l o y a l t y

t o

Tapp,

1989). I f j o i n i n g

4 0



kinsmen

elsewhere

improves

t h e i r economic s ta tus ,

they

will move

even a t the cost of breaking relationships with others in

the

vil lage.

In

most

vil lages,

a

leader

functions

as the

ceremonial

headman

or p r i e s t .

Elders

choose for t h i s office a

m n

they consider t o

have the most

knowledge

of the

mythology and

r i t u a l s of

the

t r i b e

and

who i s conversant

with

t h e i r codes of conduct. Each village

must also have a

p o l i t i c a l

headman w o

serves as

i t s

representative

in

relat ions with the

national s t a t e .

Moral and

leqal

codes.

Hil l t r i b e s have

no

written laws. Traditional

codes of

conduct prescribe

certain social ly binding

patterns t h a t

function

as l a w . nyone whobreaks these codes may be fined, or in the

case of

serious

misdemeanours,

banned from the village. In clear

contrast with the

individualistic

eth ic

of

modern

society,

h i l l

t r i b e leqal and moral principles

are

group oriented. CUstoms of

in te ra ctio n are

based

on

a

policy

of

give

and

take;

kindness,

genero sity, consideration, affection, honesty,

hospital i ty ,

compass ion and

chari ty

are

typical

virtues found among the h i l l

t r i b e s

Renard e t a l .

1988 .

Proper

moral

behavior i s

t r a d it ionally a great

source

of

e thnic p rid e among the h i l l t r i b e s . In fact , t r i b a l peoples often

imagine

themselves as

mor lly sup rior t o the residents of

lowland

society.

They point t o

lax sexual behavior

among the lowland Thai,

the pervasive corruption of

government

o f f i c i a l s

and

the

unscrupu-

lous practices of Thai businessmen•

41



Trad i t i Qn al educatiQn

.

The t r a d i t i Q n a l

educatiQnal system

Qf mQuntain peQple i s q u i t e

s Q p h i s t i c a t e d .

I t i n cl u d es

in str u ctiQn

in language, e t ique t te ,

s Qci al r e l a t i Q n s , h i s t Qry ,

eCQnQmics

a r i t h m e t i c ,

a g r i c u l t u r e ,

eCQ1Qgy medicine, n u t r i t i Q n , a r t i s a n s h i p , sQngs, dance, music, and

r i tua l s

Alting

VQn

Gesau,

1989b). Th e family assumes a

primary

r Qle i n

t r a n s m i t t i n g

knQwledge and

sk i l l s :

Par en ts and re la t ives

a r e th e f i r s t peQple

tQ

t r ans fe r

the i r knQwledge tQ th e YQung Qnes ••••

The

f a m ily i s th e

most important ins t i tu t ion ; whether c h i l d r e n grow up

to

le good o r b ad d ep en ds

direct ly

on how th ey a r e t a u g h t in

the

family

• • • •

Family

i s th e most i n d i s p e n s a b l e

i n s t i t u -

t ion

in

t r iba l

s o c i e t y .

Mountain

P e o p l e s

cul ture

and

Development E d uc a ti o n F o un d at io n , 1991, p . 6 )

A b s t r a c t

c onc e pts, such

a s

v a l u e s ,

a r e

normally

tau g h t e i ther

by d i rec t ins t ruc t ion o r thr ough th e t e l l ing o f s tor ies . V i l l a g e

e l d e r s

r e i n f o r c e

what

the

c hil dr en l ea rn a t home by ex h o rt i n g

them

to follow th e col lec t ive p r i n c i p le s o f

t r iba l

s o c i e t y .

Storyte l le rs with in the

community

t e l l o r c h a n t v ar io u s t a l e s

d u ri n g

im por ta nt

fes t iva l s .

At such

t i m es

de l i ca t e

t o p i c s

e .g . ,

a p p r o p r i a t e s ex u al

re la t ions) a re

a l s o

b ro ach ed . Such

m a t t e r s a r e

n o t

u s u a l l y

d i s cu s s ed w i t h i n th e

f a m ily.

O r a l l y t r a n s m i t t e d abs trac t c onc e pts are fu rth er r e i n f o r c e d

thr ough o b s erv at i o n and par t ic ipa t ion.

Children

observe the i r

e l d e r s a c t i n g o u t moral princ ip les . Th i s i s

part icular ly

s o when

b u sin ess t r a n s a c t i o n s

a r e

conducted, when

soc ia l

s a n c t i o n s are

:leing

a p p l i e d , o r

when

c e re m o ni es a n d

r i tua l s a r e performed

Al t i n g

v on G esau ,

1989b) •

42



Assimilativ e

ebal l engçs

Faced

by T h a i l a n d s

Hil l Tri be

Peoples

Mass m i grat i ons towards towns and urban c e n t e r s a s

cheap

lab o u r ,

uncont rol l ed development o f

tourism,

t r ad i

t ional

ac t iv i t i e s t urned into

dance

and cul tura l shows, pros t i -

tu t ion and b eggary. Only a sm a l l p ro po rtio n o f th e

h ig h lan d er s

who

ever

completed

hi gh

sc hool

have

become

g o ve r nm e nt e m pl o ye e s, O pers onnel , monks, o r m i s s i on

ar ies . T r a d i t i o n a l vi l lages

have been

le f t behind

wi t h

a

p o p u latio n

o f i l l i t e ra t e cul t iva tors who can h ar d ly

feed

t h e i r f a m i l i e s , drug a d d i c t s

tha t

a r e a

burden

f o r

the

group,

e l d e r l y pe opl e and c h i l d r e n marred wi t h

h e a l t h

problems. Thus

ei ther

in c i t i e s o r in vi l l ages th e

h ig h lan d er s have

become a ssi mi l a t e d in to th e

Thai

n a t i o n ,

wi t h

most

o f them knowing l i t t l e o f the i r or igina l

cul t ures --W ongs pras ert 1992b,

p.3 .

Th e t rad i t iona l ways o f t r iba l groups

a r e

be i ng s e r i o u s l y

a f f e c t e d

by

the

proces s

o f a ss im il at io n

into

modern

Thai

s o c i e t y .

Some o f the

more

ominous

th rea t s

to th e e t h n i c

s u r v i v a l

o f th e

t r i ba l

p o p u latio n i ncl ude

th e lo s s o f

t r iba l

agr icu l tura l

l and,

d ef or es ta ti on o f hunt i ng grounds, displacement o f

ent i re

commun-

i t i e s and the c ol l a pse o f t rad i t iona l economic systems.

E hnic

Exoaamy

Tradi t ional ly t h e r e

was

a marked p r e f e r e n c e among h i l l t r ibes

f o r e th n ic

endogamy in

m a r r i a ge .

I n

r ec en t y ea rs , however, t h e r e

h a s been

an

i nc re a si ng

number

o f c a s e s o f

e t h n i c exogamy Wongs-

praser t

1992b).

Two key

f a c t o r s a re behind

t h i s

t r e n d .

The f i r s t ha s

to

do wi t h t he d iv is io n o f l a b o r between genders

in t r i ba l

s o c i e t y . i s w id el y r ec og n iz ed t ha t h i l l t r ibe women

work

h a rd e r th a n

the

men.

Thi s

in clu d es

the

main

burden

o f

p a r e n t i n g . ens i t around, c h a t , smoke opium, and g e n e r a l l y lead

i n c r e a s i n g

number

o f young h i l l t r ibe women s eek to marry o u t

43

a

l ess

arduous l i f e

wongsprasert,

1991). C onsequently, an



s iders . w ith inc rea se d c o n t a c t s between th e hi ghl ands

and

th e

lowlands, th i s opt i on

i s

becoming more v i a b l e and many h i l l t r ibe

women a re

choosing e t h n i c

Thai men a s husbands

Boyes

P i raban,

1989).

A second

c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r i s th e scarc i ty in

h i l l

t r ibe

communities o f el igible marriage p a rt ne rs , e sp ec ia ll y men. Many

young t r iba l pe opl e

go to

th e lowlands

to f i n d

work. As th ey

se t t l e

in

th e

lowlands,

t he se young

h ig h lan d er s

t ry to f i n d

a

loca l

spouse

i . e .

e t h n i c

Th ai) . a resu l t some t r iba l

vi l lages

have

become vir tual ly

devoid o f

anyone between

th e a ge s o f

ten and

sixty . Thi s t r e n d

i s

h ig h ly probl em at i c

f o r th e maintenance o f

h i l l t r ibe communities, a s

k in sh ip

bonds a r e

r a p i d l y

being

eroded

and ent i re

family

l i n e a g e s a r e on the verge

o f

d isap p ear in g Wongs-

praser t p er so n al communication,

Ja nua r y

20,

1993).

Rampant onsum rism

Perhaps

the zos t

p er n icio u s

ef fec t

of

t h e sp r ead T h a i l a n d s

market

economy in to th e hi ghl ands i s the c o n s u m e r i s t f e v e r among

th e

t r iba l communities

Moohtoo,

1991). E th nic T ha is

t ry to se l l

a l l sor t s o f

o b j e c t s to

th e vi l l agers ; product s tha t t h e y had

managed perfec t ly

w e l l

wi t hout in the pa st o T r i b a l vi l l agers

q u ick ly

l e a r n

how

to

spend

th e l i t t l e

money th ey have. Men smoke

and dri nk more;

c h i l d r e n

ask

p a r e n t s to

buy them c a n d i e s ; women

desi re cos m et i cs ra ther th an

b a s i c

household commodities. Many

vi l l agers are sel l ing away family heirlooms, l e g a l p r o p e r t y r igh ts

and even t he i r

c h i l d r e n

to buy

modern goods. Once th ey run o u t o f

44



money

the

vil lagers are vulnerable to

usury

from

lowland

busir.ess

men.

ny h i l l t r i b e

members have

resorted

to s te alin g

or begging

to t r y t o

pay

off

debts

(Wongsprasert, 1992a).

The Breakdown

o f Tradi ti onal

Morality

A pleasure-seeking mentality as so cia ted with unchecked

materialism,

coupled

with

grea te r accessabil ity to the

mass

media,

has seriously

upset

a l l

aspects

of

t radi t ional

morality. This

i s

evidenced by the

increased

prevalence

of

pornography,

prosti tut ion,

and gambl ing Cody 1992; Moohtoo 1991; Sanitsuda,

1993).

Amidst

these

worrisome

trends

i s a widening generation

gap

between

h i l l

t r i b e youngsters and t h e i r elders. More than ever

young t r i b a l people are aware

of

the

socio-economic discrepancies

between

themselves

and lowland Thais. The contras t heightens

the

t h e i r

sense

of i n f e r i o r i t y .

Youngsters have come to disdain

t h e i r

own vil lages,

regard

t h e i r

peers as uncouth, and

aspire only

to

l i v e

the

c i t y

l i f e .

Today, younger generations

care

less and less about h i l l t r i b e

t r a d i t i o n .

As

a r e s u l t they are becoming unfamiliar with long

establ ished

t r i b a l values. ny t r i b a l youths

seem

to think t h a t

they

know

more

than

t h e i r elders

in

a l l matters,

including what

i s

r i g h t

or

wrong (Mountain People s

CUlture and

Development Education

Foundation, Thailand, 1991; Wongsprasert,

1992a)

•

4S



cit izenship and Land

Rights

Of deepest

concern

to most t r iba l people i s

the

fact tha t

they

are

not sure

where

th ey s tand

in

relat ion

to the

government.

As

of

the early

19905,

more

than

half

of

the

t r iba l population

did not

have

cit izenship

papers.

At the beginning

of

th i s century, a l l

lowland

residents

of

Thailand were

el igible

to

obtain

Thai cit izenship. the 19505,

when

the

central

government finally

extended th i s

policy to h i l l

t r ibe members very few

of

them bothered to r eg is te r because

they

could

not easily prove tha t they were el igible for cit izenship.

Furthermore, because

of

the i r re la t ive isolat ion from the national

mainstream,

most

h i l l t r ibe people cou ld

not see

the advantages

of

obtaining

a Thai cit izenship.

Today,

the

si tuat ion i s radically

different . Citizenship

has

been made a

requisi te

for land r ights . As the property

value of

the highlands

increases and

more

lowland speculators

are

buying up

huge

t rac ts

of

land,

most

h i l l

people

find

themselves

with

no

legal

r ights to the land they occupy

Thongtham

1992 .

Moreover, the

Royal

Forest Acts place

severe l imi ts on land

ownership

in

watersheds,

forest

reserves,

and

national

parks, which

are

inhabited

by the

different

t r ibes Renard

e t

a l 1988 .

Nevertheless,

the

government

allows exploitation

of

watershed areas

and forest reserves by lumber

companies whose pract ices

are

no

less

destructive

than thos e followed by t r iba l peoples Keyes, 1979a .

Laws such as the Royal Forest Acts are based less on ecological

considerations

than

on the

desire

of

the Thai

government to have

46



t r iba l peoples l ive in set t led communities where they can be

controlled by s ta te inst i tu t ions

Tapp,

1390).

Tourism

Thousands of touris ts chiefly W esterners, pour into

the

northern hi l l s on trekking tours each

year. These tour is ts

are

causing

many

changes to t r iba l l i festyles

The more pervasi

ve

trends are indiscriminate

commercialism, drug use,

health r isks

especially

AIDS), and begging Boyes

Piraban,

1989;

Tapp,

1990).

Tour companies have been

quick

to

exploit the

novelty of

highlander

culture,

suggesting tha t t r iba l people are

far

removed

f rom modern Thai society

Cohen,

1983). Here

is

w the area

is

described in a rece., t t ravel brochure issued

by the

Tourism

Authority

of Thailand

1990, p.7):

The region

i s

most

strongly

coloured by the

various

hi l l

t r ibes who make

the i r

homes

in

the

highlands.

Comprising

seven major

t r ibes •••

these people

maintain

independent

l i fes ty les

They

are

nonetheless

hospitable

and welcome

vis i tors to thei r

vil lages

where

the i r

singular

cultures

are

mostly

untouched by

the

20th

century.

Keyes

1987b, p. 130) believes

tha t th is sor t

of tourism

has

served

to fur ther

subordinate

the t r iba l peoples to the Thai:

Thai

middlemen

present t r iba l

dances,

handicrafts, and even whole

communities as Deing

primitive in

comparison

to similar

aspects

of

Thai culture

and society •

47



Three Ethnic

Groups--The

Akha, the

Karen, and

the mon

There

are important

differences

in

the

way a

t r ibe responds

to

assimilat ing

p re ssu re s o f

the

Thai

s ta te

These

d if fe re nc es a re

t ied closely

to

cul tura l

character i s t ics

associated with the t r ibe

The following sect ion considers the dis t inc t

si tuat ions

of the

three

l a rges t

h i l l t r ibes the Akha, the

Karen,

and the

Hmong

The Alsha

The Akha a re e th nic ally l inked to

the

Lolo

t r ibes of

south

Yunnan province in China. Their or igins are in the

Tibetan

Highlands. They

then

migrated

south

to Yunnan,

north

Burma Laos,

and

north

Thailand. The Akha are more geographically contained

than other

highlander

groups, l iving mostly

in

the region

bordering

Burma

north of the

Mae Kok r iver Akha immigrations in to Thailand

date

from

the

early

par t

of

t h i s

century.

U ntil the

1950s,

the

number of Akha in northern Thailand

remained

in the few thousands.

However,

t h i s si tuat ion

dramatical ly

changed

in

the 1960s

as

a

l a rge

number

of

Akha refugees

f led

the pol i t ica l

turmoil

and soc ia l

chaos

in

nelghboring Burma In the ear ly 1960s there were under

7,000

Akha in Thailand. By the

la te

1980s the Akha population

had

grown

to approximately

33,000, and newcomers from Burma are

constant ly arr iving Tapp,

1989 .

The main soc ia l uni t

i s

the

extended

family.

Pat r i l inea l

clans mediate

a I l

so cia l in te ra ctio n concerning

kinship

t i e s



marriage,

resident ial

patterns and

r ights

of

succession. Auton

omous

vil lages

are

comprised of multi-clan units , varying in

size

in from 30 to 600

persons.

Within the

vil lage,

autonomous house

holds

have

equal access

to

land,

swidden

fields,

and

the forest .

Formai pol i t ica l authority

i s

based on sex only males , age, and

access to

khazan

the

knowledge of

rules, ceremonies, and

genealogical systems handed down from the ancestors .

Leadership

roles

are

usually divided

between

the vil lage

founder who

i s

responsible

for

in te rn ai v illa ge affairs

and a

second off ic ia l who i s

responsible off ic ia l

r l ~ i o n s

with Thai

authori t ies . Another man of

authority

in

the

Akha village

is

the

phima the spi r i t pr ies t teacher, and

healer.

His authority is

firmly

centered on h is personal knowledge of numerous and lengthy

archaic songs and reci tat ions,

which

contain most of

khazan

e

is

the main teacher

and

adviser in

zan

Alting von Gesau, 1983 .

Ethnic

Self-Identif ication

Ethnic

sel f - ident i f icat ion

for

the

Akha focuses: 1 on

lineaqe t h r ~ the clan--the Akha believe themselves to be l ineal

descendants.

single ap ica l ances to r; and 2 through

accepting

t r ad i t iona l

customs.

These

two poin ts o f

reference

are

crucial

for

cul tural

maintenance. They allow

the

Akha

to

maintain

t r ad i t iona l

knowledqe,

wisdom, and customary law.

The

t radi t ional

value

system

prescribing the Akha way of l i fe

i s

called Akhazan ome

of

the

more

notable

features of khazan

include

non-violsnce,

eqalitarianism

and

autonomy.

khazan

49



requlates

the

whole

of

Akha l i fe

a t

a l l levels . I t

describes

agr icul tura l pract ices , archi tecture, rhe management

of t ransac

t ions marriage, penal

and

judiciary rules and chi ld-rear ing .

The Karen

The Karen are the la rges t highland group in

Thailand.

The

Karen population i s estimated a t 280,000, which accounts for

hal f

of

the to ta l h i l l t r ibe population in the country. Their coming to

Thailand i s largely

a ttr ibu tab le to interminable

po l i t i c a l

persecution

in

Burma s ta r t ing

in

the eighteenth

century. This

continues

to

th e presen t.

Karen communities

l i e mostly

in the

provinces t ha t make

up the mountainous

areas

along the

Thai-Burmese

border.

The Karen

in Thailand

are

divided in to

two

pr incipal

groups-

the

Sgaw and Pwo The Sgaw are much more numerous

than the

Pwo and

tend

to l ive

more

to

the

north.

Both subgroups have

se t t l ed in

areas of

re la t ively

lower

al t i tude

approximately 5

meters above

sea

l eve l

Tr ibal

Research

Ins t i tu te 1989 . Living

in

val leys a t

much

lower

and l ess i sola ted elevat ions,

th e

Karen

often

adopt

aspects of the lowland

Thai cul ture ,

including Thai

agricul tural

methods,

house design, and

dresSe

Kinship i s

t raced through

a monoqamous maternal

l ine

and

residence i s matri local . Unlike other t r i bes the household i s

usually

a nuclear family. I t i s

also

an independent economic uni t

with

r iqh t s

to land ownership, se l f suf f ic ien t and autonomous. The

50



effect ive

leader of a Karen vil lage i s the

vil lage

pr ies t , a

hereditary office.

All

important decisions

are

made by

the

p r i e s t

or

the

p r i e s t

in consultation with

vil lage

elders (Hinton, 1983).

Ethnic Self-Identif icat ion

The Karen have

lived

in

Thailand for

many generations, and

t r a d i t i o n a l l y considered

themselves

different , more

sedentary

than

other t r i b a l minority groups, such as the mong or

the Akha

Marlowe

1979).

They see t h e i r language as dist inct ive and

foremost among t h e i r cul tural t r a i t s . Karen distinctiveness i s

also found i n t radi t ional bel iefs in the ancestral

s p i r i t s

of kin

groups (Ijima,

1979). Kunstadter (1979, p. 140 describes Karen

ethnic ident i ty as a isposition

Proper

Karenness, seems to l i e

in the

observance

of Karen etiquette, such

as

the obligation to

speak

the Karen language,

t o of

f er hosp it al it y, as well

as

ommon

knowledge

of t radi t ional

Karen

folk t a l e s and

songs .

raditi nal

values

Karen values can

be

understood

by

examining t h e i r folklore.

a consequence of

t h e i r

unfortunate history in Burma, the Karen

harber

a t t i t u d e s of resentment and d i s t r u s t of

(lowland)

ethnic

groups.

Many s t o r i e s

r e la te t o the

Karen missing out on

g i f t s of

wealth

and knowledge t h a t were

handed

out to mankind

by

beneficent

s p i r i t s reminding the Karen of t h e i r precarious position vis-A-vis

lowland

peoples

(Hinton, 1979). Within

Karen

folklore th ere a ls o

recurs

a

self-deprecatory

theme

of

the born

l o s e r ; emphasizing

51



tha t i n s e c u r i t y and ~ p r i v t i o n i s simply

th e

fate al lot ted

to

th e

Karen p eo p l e. Thus, i s n o t

unusual

fo r some Karen to express

de fe a tis t a tt it ud e s towards

th e

many

di f f icu l t ies

the y face in

Thailand t o d ay .

D es p i t e such negativism, th e

Karen

p o s s es s many a f f i r m a t i o n s

w ithin the i r v al u e

system.

For example,

th e

sanct i ty

o f th e

nuc le a r family i s

a v er y i m po rt an t

va lue ;

c h i l d r e n

a r e cu s t o mari l y

reared a lmo st ent i re ly

ly

t he i r own p a r e n t s .

The n u c l e a r family i s

p res erv ed

ly s tr on g s an ct io n s

a g a i n s t

d i v o rce and in f ide l i ty

pervading s en s e o f e g a li ta r ia n is m can

also le found

in th e K aren s

ge ne r a l at t i tude towards wealth

and

po l i t i ca l

affa i rs Other

r e s e a r c h e r s have h i q h l i g h t e d cer ta in Karen

character i s t ics

such a s

conservatism

Renard

e t a l

1988),

age d eferen ce Lewis Lewis,

1984),

non-violence

K u n sta d te r , 1979),

and pragm atism Keyes,

1979a).

h

mon

The Hmong a r e one o f the most

widespread

minor ity groups o f

T h a i l a n d s nor the r n h i g h l an d s . A s an e t h n i c group, t h e y

o r i g i n a t e d

in

southe r n China.

F or

c e n t u r i e s

th e Hmong

c he r ishe d the i r

independence

and l iber ty le a ding

to many

conf l i c t s w ith the

Chinese ru le rs who t r ie d to

subjuga te

them. Due to

the

southward

expansion

o f

the

Han

Chinese p eo p l e, the

Hmong

f led pe r se c ution ly

se tt11ng

1 n t o th e

nor the r n

r e g i o n s o f

Vietnam,

Laos,

and the

nor the r n mountains

o f

Thailand. Th e

number

l iv ing in Thailand i s

52



around

82,000, con s ti tu ti ng t he second l a r g e s t t r i b a l

group

a f t e r

the

Karen,

or about 15 perc en t o f the

t r i b a l population.

The mon

l iv ing

in Thailand are divided i n t o

two

groups--the Blue mon and

the

White

mong

The mong family

s t r u c t u r e

i s p a t r i l i n e a l

and

extended.

Whereas

the family

i s the most

important basic

u n i t of social

organizat ion, clans serve t o

uni te mon

communities. polygamy

i s

prac t i sed t o some

e r t e l t

and the

s e l l i n g

of women

i s

i n s t i t u -

t i o n a l i z e d i n t h e

form of bride-pr iees

Cooper, 1983

Geddes,

1976).

mon

se t t lements

are

a t

high

a l t i t u d e s

1,000 t o 1,200

meters) . Although subsistence crops are

grown, the mon

are the

t r i b a l people who produce the

most

opium as a cash crop.

According

t o Tapp

1986),

t h e mon have

borne the

brunt

of the anti-opium

campaign

launched

by the Thai

government. Part ly

for t h i s

reason, some mongjoined forces with insurgents, most notably

the

Communist

Par ty

of

Thailand.

Such

p a s t

a f f i l i a t i o n s

produce

a

popular image

of

them

today as opium-producing

communists

Tapp,

1989).

mong

b e l i e f s and

prac t ices

are

heavi ly

influenced

by Chinese

ancestor worship,

which i s combined with nat ive

shamanism

and

pantheisme

According t o

Chindarsi

1983, p. 187),

t h e shaman, male

or

female, i s

th e

only

person who

can

communicate

e f f e c t i v e l y

with

supernatural beings. The shaman, therefore , plays a very impor tant

r o l e in society:

very

v i l l a g e must have

a t l e a s t

one

shamani

53



o t h erwi s e, people

wil l

n o t

f e e l

secu r e, and

th e

vi l lage

might n o t

continue to e xis t .

Ethnic Self - Ident i f ica t ion

The

mong s en s e o f t r iba l in tegri ty

i s

suppor te d by s imilar

i t i e s o f language,

custom, s o c i a l

s t ruc ture

and cul tural

e x p r e s s

ions

such

a s myths,

r e l i g i o u s

bel i e fs r i tua ls

f o l k

his tory

f o l k l o r e ,

and a r t .

De spite

d i f f e r e n c e s

in

d ia lec t

and

o t h e r

cul tural

f e a t u r e s

among

th e major s u b - d i v i s i o n s , the

mong

demonstrate an

o v e r a l l sense o f cul tural u n i tY

Geddes, 1976).

A s

t h e r e i s

no t rad i t iona l form

o f w r i t i n g f o r

the mong

language,

ora l t rad i t ions s t i l l p l a y an

im por ta nt

role in th e

tr an sm issio n

o f Hmongness from one g en er atio n to the n ex t.

The

absence o f w ri tin g encouraged o t h e r forms o f

cul tural

tr an sm issio n

among

th e

mong such a s music and

h a n d i c r a f t s .

Through

such

cul tural

act ivi ty th e Hmong s

complex socio-pol i t ical

system

s u rv i v ed

a g a i n s t

a

long

h i s t o r y

o f p er se cu ti on

and

s e g r e g a t i o n

a t

th e

hands

o f s t r o n g e r

and more dominant p o p u latio n s.

r dit ional v lu s

T r a d i t i o n a l

mong

i d e a l s

in clu d e

l o y a l t y ,

r e s p e c t

f o r

age,

c o u r t e s y , h o n es t y , hard work, the accUlllulation

o f

wealth , and

p eaceab l e

c o-e xiste nc e

with

the i r n ei g h b o rs . O rder and a u t h o r i t y

in th e household are maintained by r e s p ec t f o r a ge , tempered

by

re c ognition o f c a p a c i t y .

mong

s o c i e t y , however, i s n o t

o v er ly

a u t o c r a t i c ;

the

bas is o f mong

social

orga niz a tion i s communal and

S



egal i tar ian

The

absence

o f permanent

o r p r i v a t e

ownership

a c c o u n ts fo r

th e

re la t ive la c k o f confl ic t between

themselves

and

n e ig h b o r in g members

o f

o t h e r e t h i c groups Geddes,

1976;

Tapp,

1986).

Offic ia l Highland Polic y

There a re tw o fundamental

notions

c h a r a c t e r i z i n g

th e

way Thai

off ic ia ls r e ga r d

e t h n i e mi n o ri t y people o f th e n o r th e rn h i gh l a nd s .

One d e r i v e s from

Thai pre-modern

s o c i e t y , th e o th e r

from

th e

Western powers

t ha t

c o lo n iz e d S o ut he a st

A sia .

In many

ways th e

Thai s oc ia l s tr u ct u re h a s remained vi r tua l ly

i n t ac t s in ce th e

days

o f

King

Chulalongkorn.

Unlike

i t s n ei g h b o r

in g

s ta te s th at

underwent

c o lo n ia l t ak e -o v er s, Thailand d id

n o t

ex p eri en ce much d i s r u p t i o n to i t s hier rchic l division society

co n s eq u en t l y ,

Thai

s o c i e t y

remains

d iv i d ed vert ical ly

by

c lass

d i v i s i o n s ,

and

h o r i z o n t a l l y

into

i n t i m a t e

ce l lu la r

groups

o rg an i s ed

around

fam ily , neigh bors and

l o c a l

community.

Older

s o c i o

po l i t i c a l s t ruc tures

have

adapted

to T h a i l a n d s i n t e r n a t i o n a l i z e d

economy

and t e c h n o c r a t i e

s o c i e t y McKinnon 1989). w i t h i n

the

t rad i t iona l h ie ra rc h ic al s tr u ct ur e

o f Thai s o c i e t y ,

h i l l t r ibe

m i n o r i t y p eo pl e b el on g to the lowest

t i e r o f

th e so cial pyramid.

The second

i n f l u e n c e on

Thai

government s pol ic ies

toward

i t s

t r i ba l m i n o r i t i e s i s

coloni lism

Although

T h a ila n d managed

to

av o i d becoming a

c o l o n i a l

dependency,

was n o n et h el es s c o n

s t ra ined

to become

a

modern

nat ion s ta te

to

w i t h s t an d e x p a n s i o n i s t

55



p ressu res by th e Br i t i s h

and

French.

Thailand

had t o define i t s e l f

v i t h referen ce t o t e r r i t o r i a l boundaries. I t

began

t o

see i t s e l f

as rep resen tin g a

p a r t i c u l a r

n a t i o n a l c u l t u r e , constructed

p rimarily

through

s t a t e

promotion

of

a

n a t i o n a l

language,

r e l i g i o n ,

and h i s t o r y Keyes, 1987a).

Within

t h i s modern n a t i o n a l c u l t u r e ,

th e h i l l

t r i b e s found no

b a s i s

t o

claim

membership. Nor

has th e

Thai p o l i t

Y shown an y r ea l in te re st

in

th e well-being of a l i e n s

outside

th e national

society.

Due to

factors of

s o c i a l h ierarch y and c o l o n i a l

t e r r i t o r i a l i t y Thai

a u t h o r i t i e s have come to view

th e

highlanders

a s

s o c i a l

c u t c a s t s

o r

i n t r u d e r s . The o f f i c i a l a t t i t u d e toward th e

h i l l t r i b e s i s t o t r e a t them

a s p ro b lems , an d

n o t

a s a

people

:facing problems Vienne 1989). The attempt to r i d

Thailand o f

t h e s e

s o - c a l l e d

problems i s seen as

th e

o v errid in g concern

shaping

h i l l

t r i b e

p o licy t o t h i s day.

Highland

PolicY--1800s

t o

th e

1950s

Before th e Thai

government i n angkok

established

r u l e over

north Thailand, h i l l people paid t r i b u t e along with

lowland

peasantry, to th e lo c a l Prince o f C hi an g Mai . The highland t r i b e s

v ere w i l l i n g

t o

give

a l l e g i a n c e t o

l o c a l

lowland a u t h o r i t i e s

in

re co g n itio n o f th e l a t t e r s superior technology

and m i l i t a r y

s t r e n g t b .

However was

expected t h a t

in re tu rn , th e

lowlanders

would r e s p e c t th e h i l l t r i b e s s o c i a l , c u l t u r a l

and

p o l i t i c a l

autonomy•

56



The lowland

leaders,

for

the i r part ,

were

quite

content

with

no

more

than

symbolic authority

over the

h i l l t r ibes Such a

lenient policy was not the resu l t of

benevolence.

t was

because

the local

Thai

people,

as

a

lowland-loving

folk,

consistently

avoided the

mountains.

Local

Thai leaders

had

n eith er th e

people

nor the will to colonize

what

they regarded as inhospitable

country. Under such circumstances, relationships

between

Thai

lowlanders and

the

t r iba l

highlanders were re la t ively harmonious

Wongspraser t, 1992b).

The

h i l l t r ibes continued

to

enjoy

a

high degree of pol i t ical

autonomy unt i l the middle

of th i s

century. Although the central

government had usurped

power

in northern Thailand from

local

princes ear l i e r

th i s

century, authori t ies

in

Bangkok had l i t t l e

in te res t in the h i l l peoples. During th i s period the central

government simply exercised

a

policy of

benign

neglect Keyes,

1987ai Manndroff , 1967).

Highland PolicY--Late 1950s. 1960s

the

mid-century,

Thailand

developed

into a modern nation

s ta te Thai

authority

was transformed to redefine off ic ia l

re la t ions

between

the lowlands

and

highlands. The

establishment of

a

modern

Thai

bureaucracy

and a highly

centralized

government

widened ra ther

than narrowed the

gulf

between the

h i l l

people and

the representatives of lowland authority

•



By

th e

la te

1950s Thai lead ers f i n a l l y

s t a r t e d

to pay g r e a t e r

a t t e n t i o n t o

th e

i s o l a t e d northern regions

o f

Thailand. The

government s change o f

policy from

tha t o f benign neglect

to

one o f

i nv ol ve me nt h ad

mostly

t o

do

with

th e

growing

problems

in

th e

highlands.

A major reason f o r increased off ic ia l a t t e n t i o n was th e

perceived t h re at to n a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y . Neighboring c o u n t r i e s , such

as

Burma China and

Vietnam were

u n stab le

o r h o s t i l e .

The

hi l l

t r ibe

region came to

seen

a s both s t r a t e g i e and v u ln erab le.

Thai a u t h o r i t i e s

became

worried because

Communists were

i n f i l t r a t -

ing th e highlands

and

training h i l l t r ibe

members

in

s ubvers ive

act iv i t ies

a g a i n s t th e s ta te The h i l l

t r ibes

were now regarded a s

a s e c u r i t y

r isk

to

th e Thai

n atio n

Lewis

Lewis, 1984).

Iro n ic a lly , th e

v a s t

majo rity

o f

highlanders l i v i n g

in

Thailand

were no t Communist

sympathizers.

They

were erroneously

labelled

by

central autborit ies w stereotyped al highland tr ibal

groups

according

to

one

tr ibe tbe

mon

Kunstadter

Kunstadter,

1992;

Tapp,

1990).

Throughout th e warring in Indochina,

some

H I ong

l i v i n g

in

Thailand r e t a i n e d c l o s e

r e l a t i o n s

with pol i t ical ly

a c t i v e kinsmen

in the i r n a t i v e settlements in North

V ie tn am a nd Laos. The

H I ong

s

l i n k to t h e s e

s e c u r i t y - s e n s i t i v e zones

made

th e Thai

m i l i t a r y

q u i t e

nervous about

Communist subversion among

h i l l t r ibe

members.

This ,

p lu s th e f a c t t ha t an

unprecedented

number

o f H I ong refugees

were streaming into Thai t e r r i tory placed them irrev o cab ly a t th e

c e n t e r o f th e Thai

Royal

f o r c e s anti-Communist

campaign•

58



To

worsen matters,

armed

confl ict erupted on several occasions

between mong

and government

forces, resulting in sw ift and brutal

reprisals against mong

vil lages

thought

to be harboring

insur

gents.

ome

of

the

more

heavy-handed measures

taken

by

the

mili tary

included ar t i l le ry

and

a ir bombardment, massive troop

assaul ts , and forced resettlement (Girling, 1981; Keyes, 1987b).

A strateqy of containment was then

formulated

by the General

Praphat Charusathien, the Minister

of the

Inter ior , who declared

tha t hi l l people had

to

set t le down permanently in big

villages and abandon

the

nomadic l i fe

they have

beerl accustomed

to

in the past Tapp, 1990, p. 155). This led, in turn , to the

policy

of

treating

the

ent i re highland

t r iba l

population as

i l legal

immigrants (Lewis Lewis, 1984; Renard

e t

a l . 1988).

Central

authori t ies established

a

Hill

Tribe Welfare

Division

now

called

the

Central Hil l Tribe committee) under

the aegis of

the

Public Welfare Department and gave the

mandate to rec t ify

the

highland

problems .

Four

principal

objectives

were

set :

1)

to prevent the destruction of public

lands

by

subst i tut ing

sedentary

ag ri cu lture for

t rad i tiona l sh i ft ing cult ivat ion; 2 to

end opium poppy

growing; 3

to promote community development (in

government-built

sett lements); and, 4)

to

ins t i l l in the h i l l

t r ibes a

sense

of belonging and

national

loyalty Tapp, 1989).

These four

objectives became

the

underpinning

fo r

the government s

so-called Long

Term Triba l Po li cy

(Bhruksasri,

1989a) •

59



Resettlement P ro ;ects

Perhaps th e

most

o n ~ r o v e r s i l

ini t ia t ive

was t he r el oc atio n

of th e hi l l t r ibes Policy

makers reasoned

tha t s in ce t ne se people

were

th e source of

50

many problems in

th e highlands, th e

q u ick est

way

to r e c t i f y th e

matter was to

simply

move them

o u t of th e

h i l l s

to

th e

more

secure lowlands.

The

Department o f Public Welfare

was

given

th e ta s k o f

creating Se lf- H e lp Re settle me nt Areas,

equipped

with s t o r e s ,

d isp en saries,

schools,

and

supervisors.

The

se t t l e -

ments were

Gupposed

to

become

th e

highlanders

su rro g ate homes.

From

i t s

inception,

th is program o f a c c e l e r a t e d i n t e g r a t i o n

was

n o t s u cc e ss f ul . In

th e

end, th e c e n t r a l government had

no recours e

but to

l e t

th e

p r o j e c t s

f a i l Bradley, 1983; Renard e t a l 1988).

Çr

s u s ti tu t ion ro ie c ts

A

second program

was in i t ia ted

in an attempt

to

address th e

highlands most egregious p ro b lem --th e c u l t i v a t i o n and consump

t i o n

o f

opium

P olicy

makers

devised

crop

s u b s t i t u t i o n

programs

aimed to encourage h i l l tr ib es to abandon th e c u l t i v a t i o n o f

opium

poppies an d

to

p r o t e c t highland f o r e s t s from

s h i f t i n g

a g r i c u l t u r e .

From

th e beginning, th e implementation o f

th is

p o licy

was

impeded

by inconsistent

messages

s e n t

by

th e government Tapp,

1989).

O f fic ia ll y, th e production an d s a l e o f

opium

in Thailand

was made

unlawful

in

la te 1950s.

However

th e Thai government

d id

n o t s t r ic t ly enforce

this

p o licy . Local

highland

a u t h o r i t i e s

turned a

blind

eye to

th e

opium

t r a d e r s

w exploited

th e h i l l

60



t r ibe producers.

ny

l o c a l

Thai bure a uc ra ts

were

g u i l t y

of

g r a f t

a s they exacted heavy tax es from individual poppy

c u l t i v a t o r s .

The

confused st te o f drug co n tro l enforcement forced th e

c e n t r a l

government

to

e s t a b l i s h p r o j e c t s

to

eradicate

opium

production

thro ugh crop

s u b s t i t u t i o n . The

b e s t

known

of these

p r o j e c t s included th e

King s

Pro ject, th e Ag ricu ltu ral an d Social

Development

Project,

and

th e

UN/Thai

Program

fo r Drug Abuse

Control

Kesmanee 1989 .

Even with such a multitude

o f

agencies

applying their

e x p e r t i s e

to th e ta sk , crop

s u b s t i t u t i o n was n ot

very su ccessfu l.

The

primary

reason

fo r

f a i l u r e can be traced

to

th e government s

m is gu id ed a ss um pt io n th t

l l highla nde rs

grew

opium and,

th u s,

should

made

s u b j e c t to government production

d i r e c t i v e s .

Also,

th e

government

never

made any

serio u s

a tte mpt

to find economically

v i a b l e

s u b s t i t u t e s fo r poppies.

t

did not

c r e a te th e

market

conditions

to

f c i l i t te th e s a le o f o th e r highlander produce.

Moreover,

c e n t r a l

p o licy

ma ke rs were

p rimarily

o n e r n ~

with

th e

e ra d ic a tio n o f opium, n o t th e improvement o f th e h i l l

t r ibe

p e o p l e s standard o f

l i v i n g . The

c ro p r ep la ce m en t

policy f a i l e d ,

and

created

g r e a t economic, s o c i a l an d

pol i t ic l

problems

in

th e

process

Tapp 1989; T uc hre llo,

1987 .

The hammacarik bikkbu roje t

Buddhism in

Thailand

has been o ften

used

a s an instrument

o f

n a t i o n a l

p o l i c y .

t

was

n a t u r a l

th t

th e

c e n t r a l government

use

th is so r t

o f T h ai- ce ntr is t

Buddhism

in

th e highlands

a s a means

61



of

accelerat ing

t r i b a l

peop le 's a ss im i la ti on i n t o

the

nat ional

cul ture .

The Dhammacarik projec t

was founded

i n 1965 by the

Public

Welfare Depar tment

i n

consultat ion

with

the

sangha

i n

Bangkok.

Lowland Thai monks

(bhikkhus),

usually from

poor

r u r a l backgrounds,

were

sent

i n t o

the

h i l l s

t o convert

the t r i b a l

people to

the

Buddhist

way

of

l i f e . In

addit ion

t o

prose ly t iza t ion ,

th e monks

were

qiven

o th er d utie s.

These i 1cluded

promotinq h i l l t r i b e

people ' s

coopera tion wi th var ious qovernment development p r o j e c t s ;

providinq primary heal th

care ; report inq

s o c i a l problems t o

a u t h o r i t i e s ; e.nd, in v i l l a g e s where qovernment schools had not y e t

been establ ished, teachinq Thai t o h i l l trii:le chi ldren (Keyes,

1971, 1979b).

Wonqspxasert (1988,

p. 127)

r e l a t e s t h e

p r o j e c t s

primary

mission was t o

s tr enq then sen timen ta l t i e s with t h e mountain

people and

c r e a t e

loyal ty

to th e

nat ion by encouraqinq Buddhism .

n f o r t u n ~ t e l y

t h e

number

of

h i l l

t r i b e

people

the

ikk us

monks

were

able

t o convert

t o Buddhism

was

not

q r e a t .

The

p r o j e c t did

ttl e t o win the h e a r t s of

th e people

(Keyes 1987b;

Renard e t a l .

1988; Tapp,

1986).

Poor

r e s u l t s stemmed from

t h e f a c t

t h a t

Dhammacarik Buddhism

was simply

too closely associa ted

with

the

ideoloqy of the s t a t e . The

p ro je ct a ctu al ly accentuated

the

d i s t i n c t i o n

between the Buddhist

Thai

and non-Buddhist

t r i b a l

peoples •

62



Royal

Projects

Since the

mid-1960s,

the royal family has

been

patrons

of

t r iba l

peoples. Royal

family

members attempt

to convey

a

sense

of

concern

for

improving

the

lo t

of

the

highlanders.

There have

been

many wel l-publ ic ized royal vis i t s to t r iba l vil lages and

schools,

sponsorship

of

r ice

banks

and hand ic ra ft center s, re l ie f funds for

calamities, to

name some of

the i r

efforts Thus, Thailand s

monarchy

has

t r ied to

serve as the symbolic tribune for the

highland

minorit ies

(Tapp, 1989).

The personal s tyle of

patronage adopted by the Thai

royalty

has been surprisingly successful

in

contrast with most

other

development proqrams. Various royal projects have earned the

genuine respect

and

affect ion

of

the

h i l l

t r ibes

toward

the royal

family H Happy Birthday , 1992; Tapp, 1989). Moreover,

the

King

conveyed

to the h i l l people the

clear message

tha t

they are

equal

to

lowland

Thais.

The

King

i s a very popular figure, and a picture

may

be

found

in

many

t r iba l

households

of

the

King

talking

to

a

headman

as an equal.

Keyes

(1987b, p.

13

s ta tes tha t there

is

l i t t l e

question

but tha t the

patronage role played

by the

royal

family

has

enhanced

the image of t r iba l

people in Thai society .

Although the role

of

the king and ~ family helped sol idify

l inks between themselves and highlander

t r ibes th is

posi t ive

relat ionship has not

been

automatically extended to

other

represen

ta t ives of

centra l authori ty .

Highlanders

reason

tha t

i f his

Majesty can ta lk to them on an equal

basis , then Thai

bureaucrats

cer ta in ly

ought

to do

the

same.

That

th i s i s not the

case

i s often

63



a source of

resentment.

As

the Anti-slavery

Society 1986

puts

i t :

The personal

patronage being

forged between members

of

the ruling e l i t e and

select leaders of

the

ethnic

minorit ies

cannot

overcome

the

insuperable

constraints

bui l t in to the Thai

commercial

and administrative

structures

against

any

real

part icipat ion on

the par t of

the

minorities

in decision-m3king processes affecting

the i r own futures.

p.

61

Highland Po1icy

in the 1970s

Hil l

t r ibe po1icy

in the

1970s

had the same objectives

as

in

the previous

decade;

namely

to solve

the

problems re la t ing

to

destruction

of watershed and forests, opium

poppy

cult ivation

and

to lessen the

s ecur ity th re at. Despite the off ic ia l

rhetoric

concerning

the welfare and development of

h i l l t r ibe

peop1es,

these

objectives

were never given

top

priori ty Tapp,

1986 .

o reasons

may

be

offered for

th i s

s ta te of affa irs

Firs t

of

a l l

offic ia ls

from

various

government

organizations

were

never

keen

about

working in

the bi l l s

and

demonstrated

l i t t l e in te res t

in

the hi l l people.

Most

government off ic ia l s

stayed in the hi l l s

for only

short periods,

w i ~ i n

for

better positions

back in the

lowlands

Wongsprasert,

1992a .

secondly, the large number of

government

agencies involved

in

highland

development

projects

created

much confusion

and duplica

t ion of

responsibil i t ies

Renard

e t

a l 1988 . In an attempt to

disentangle

the

bureaucratie disarray,

the

centra l government made

the

Public Welfare Department the primary agency for highland

64



policy

actualization.

Notwithstanding such d m i n i s t r ~ i v e

reshuffling, overlapping

realms

of

authority

persis ted.

Lack

of

coordination among the

government

agencies

and

general confusion

within

each

agency

ensued.

This

meant

t h t

by

the

end

of

the

1970s

s t t e intervention

in the highlands to

develop

the

h i l l t r i b e s

l iving standards and

enhance

t h e i r sense of belonging

to the

Thai

nation was pract ical ly f r u i t l e s s (Wongsprasert, 1992b).

Highland

Policy in the 1980s

In

the

1980s, the government s policy o f integration for the

highlands

remained v i r t u l l y unchanged. The one important

difference between highland policy in the 1980s and in

the

previous

decade was the government s decision to

allow greater

involvement

by

Non-Governmental organizations

NGOs . The

Thai-Australia

Highland

Agricultural and Social Development Project

and

the

Mountain

People s

CUlture and

Development

Educational

Program

were

prominent among

the

NGO-assisted

development

projects .

The Thai

government

started t o

request

more

assistance from

t he se externa l

sources

t o

address problems related to

h i l l t r i b e

land use and

opium

production (Bhruksasri,

1989b).

Although the Os believed

they

were engaging

in

humanitarian

undertakings aimed

t

improving the overal l

l iving

conditions of

the

mountain

people,

they nonetheless had t o f i t t h e i r c t i v i t i e s

within the framework of

Thai national

planning

and

policy

guidelines

(Alting

von Gesau, 1989a). Consequently, nearly

l l

the

65



development programs

focused on cash crop development and

opium

eradication.

Along

with incr eas ed development assistance, the government

sol ici ted

the

financial

support

of

private

entrepreneurs,

mostly

agri-business

investors to expand

the market

economy

in

North

Thailand

and

bet ter integrate into t he n at io na l economy This

often caused great ecological

damage

to the highlands through the

uncontrolled

use of

chemical pest icides

and

fe r t i l i ze rs (Keyes,

1987b). Hill t r ibe vil lagers were easi ly

exploited

for cheap

labor. ny ended up becoming indentured servants to commercial

farms. The highlanders were forced to

sh i f t from

a se l f suff ic ien t

agricultural l i festyle to

increased dependence

on

the

market

economy

dominated by lowlanders.

Present

Highland Policy

The

present

hi l l

t r ibe

policy

continues

to

be

framed

by

the

accumulated intentions

of

preceding policies. ck of

coordination

among the many responsible ministries and

departments

pers is ts .

Moreover,

the government s intent ion i s s t i l l to

transform

highland

society and assimilate

the indigenous

populations. According

to

the Anti-slavery

Society

(1988,

-p.61), discrimination

against

non-Thai sectors of the

population

marks perhaps

the

point

of

greates t weakness

the Thai state .

Bighlanders are s t i l l denied ci t izenship and land r ights .

Tradi t ional

swidden agricul ture

i s

discouraged and crop subst i tu-



t ion programs

have

been expanded without attention

to developing

al ternat ive markets.

Re-settlement

programs also continue. Such

measures represent

a perpetuation of

e r l ier

policies

toward the

highlands.

As

such

they

imply

the

fai lure

of

the

long-term

effor ts

of the

Thai

government and international agencies to raise

the

standard

of

l iving

in the

hi

l is Tapp, 1990

p.

161 .

67



Chapter V

Koral

Education

in T h a i l a n d s

P ri ma ry S ch oo ls

A

p r i n c i p a l

lIlechanism o f

a s s i m i l a t i o n o f

t r i b a l

p eo p l es i s th e

estab lish m en t

o f Thai

government s ch o o l s in

th e

h i g h l an d s Keyes,

1966, 1987b). Th e foremost o b j e c t i v e o f

s t a t e r u n

s ch o o l s i s

t o

te a c h h i l l t r i b e

c h i l d r e n

what

means

t o be Thai Chankrachang,

1976;

Kesmanee, 1989).

The s t a t e s

a b i l i t y

t o

s y s t e m a t i c a l l y promote

a

m o n o l i t h i c

c u l t u r a l

i d e n t i t y w i t h i n

highland

primary

s ch o o l s

i s

s t e a d i l y being

co n so lid ated . Government

primary

s ch o o l s

a r e

ser v in g

more h i l l

t r i b e c hi ld re n w it hi n th e b o rd ers o f

Thailand.

The

g o al

i s t o

educate a l l h i l l t r i b e c h i l d r e n in Thailand in

\ r e q u l a r

s t a t e

primary sch o o ls.

The

most

r e c e n t

f i v e - y e a r Nat i o n al Economie and

S o c i a l Development

P l an

1992-1996) emphasizes t h a t

a l l

h i l l t r i b e

c h i l d r e n

o f

primary

school

age

be

exposed

to

th e

Nat i o n al

Primary

Education curriculum a s adapted f o r u se i n

n o r th er n

Thailand by th e

H i n i s t r y o f Education.

To g ain

g r e a t e r

i n s i g h t

i n t o

t h e

p o l i t i c a l


t a k i n g

p l a c e in s t a t e - s p o n s o r e d primary sch o o ls,

t h r e e

stu d y s i t e s

were

chosen w i t h i n Akha,

Karen, and Hmong communities. Dai l y

s ch o o l

l i f e

a t t h e s e school s i t e s was observed, and p a r t i c u l a r

a t t e n t i o n

wa s

g i v en

t o moral ed u cat i o n c l a s s e s . I n a dd itio n t o

t h e s e

o b s e r v a t i o n s , open-ended i n t e r v i e w s were

conducted

with

s t u d e n t s ,

t e a c h e r s ,

v i l l a g e

l e a d e r s , e l d e r s

and o t h e r s i n t h e



communities. P r i o r to th e

investigations

conducted a t th e

three

highland

s i tes observations

were

carried o u t a t a public primary

school in th e lowlands serving eth n ic Thai

children.

Presentation

o f

d ata c olle cte d

a t

a l l

four

lo catio n s

begins with

th e

lowland

study s i te .

Ethnic T hai Schoo l

Sri Pina Yang

The study s i te chosen in th e

lowlands i s

a primary p u b lic

sc hool

in S ri Ping Muang S ri Ping Muang l ies o u tsid e

Chiang

Mai

ci ty . U n t i l

r e c e n t l y , th i s area was a t th e

f r i n g e

of urban l i fe .

With

th e rapid sprawl o f th e megalopolis tha t Chiang Mai has

become

has

been

r a p i d l y transformed

i n t o

an

appendix to th e

ci ty

r e t a i n i n g

l i t t l e

o f i t s former

r u r a l

ambience.

h sch9 1

The

s ta te

primary school

of

S ri

Ping

Muang

en ro ls

around

600

s t u d e n t s , almost a l l o f

them

e t h n i c

T h a i .

The o v e r a l l atmosphere

a t th e

school

i s one o f conformity. The s tu de nt d re ss code i s

s t r ic t ly enforced: stu d en t uniforms a re n eat and clean ; male

s t u d e n t s h a i r s t y l e s

closely

conform

to

th e

p rescribe d len gth

i . e .

very s h o r t ,

an d female s t u d e n t s

a t t i re

is f r e e o f f r ivol-

ous

objects, p a r t i c u l a r l y jeweller y such

a s e a rrin gs ,

necklaces,

etc .

Only c e n t r a l

Thai i s

heard in th i s school.

The

use

o f

th e

anna d i a l e c t ,

th e

t r a d i t i o n a l language o f th e northern Thai, is

frowned upon•

69



Appl i cat i on

o f th e Moral EducaT ion curriculum

s des cri bed i n an e a r l i e r

ch ap ter ,

p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n

w ith in T ha ila nd s moral educat i on program

i s

de l i ve re d in tw o

p r i n c i p a l

ways. F i r s t ,

i s

pres ent ed

t hr ough d i r e c t i n s t r u c t i o n

dur i ng moral e duc a t i on c l a s s .

Secondly,

occurs

i n d i r e c t l y

through d a i l y school experi ences .

bra edu tion c l s s es

Moral

educat i on

c l a s s e s t h a t

were observed a t S r i

Ping Muang

were conducted in

a

manner

t h a t seemed

to c l o s e l y follow t h e

p re sc ri be d n a ti on a l

curri cul um .

Th e

t o p i c s

o f th e

moral l e s sons

i ncl ude b a s i c v a l u e s such a s keeping

good manners,

re spe c t i ng

pe opl e a t s chool , developing good s e l f - d i s c i p l e , and p u b l i c

s p i r i t e d n e s s .

more i de olo g ic all y o rie nte d

lesso n

was observed

which

f e a t u r e d

t h e

d utie s o f t h e

T h ai

p e o p l e f i f t h - g r a d e c l a s s ) . The

t e a c h e r

emphasized to

th e s t u d e n t s th e

need

t o obey th e law. A f t e r

t a l k i n g

a bout

t h i s

s u b j e c t f o r a

few

m i nut e s,

th e

te a c h e r th en

as k ed

t h e

s t u d e n t s t o name some o f th e laws

which th ey cons i dered

i m port ant .

mon

t h e res pons es

gi ve n

by

s t u d e n t s were

l i s t e n i n g

t o

t h e policeman, r e p o r t i n q c rim es , av oid in q b a d p l a c e s , obeyinq

t r a f f i c

r u l e s ,

and

r e t u r n i n q

l o s t o b j e c t s .

Another

i d eo l o q ic a ll y o r ie n te d

l e s s o n d e a l t w i t h t h e need f o r

T h ai

c i t i z e n s t o s u p p o r t th e n a t i o n

f o u r tb - g r ad e

c l a s s ) . The

t e a c h e r

t a l k e d

t o

h er s tu de n ts a bout t h e

importance

o f makinq

th e

count ry s t r o n q and

asked

them how pe opl e

should

c o n t r i b u t e t e t h is

e f f o r t .

S t u d e n t s res pons es

i nc l ude d

doi nq

m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e ,

70



measures, p a r t i c u l a r l y co r p o r al

punishment, a re p ~ r t o f th e

c h i l d r e n s school experi ence.

Th e s tu de nts le ar n

t o r e s p e c t and

f e a r th e a u th o r ity o f th e t e a c h e r

and

o t h e r school pers onnel .

P o l i t i c a l


i s

a l s o

in co r p o r ated

i n t o

many

s chool

s u b je c ts , e s p e cia lly s o cia l s tu die s. Su b tle forms o f p o l i t i c a l

s o c i a l i z a t i o n a r e found in such cours es a s

music and

a r t a s w e l l .

D ur in g m u si c c l a s s

th e c hi l dre n

l e a r n

n a t i o n a l songs. In

a r t c l a s s

~ y

l e a r n t o draw t h e

n a t i o n a l

f l a g and

o t h e r

n a t i o n a l / B u d d h i s t

symbols such a s t h e l o t u s flower,

and

th e r o y a l p alace c f .

Keyes,

1991a).

In a d d iti o n , c h ild re n

p a r t i c i p a t e

in

e x t r a - c u r r i c u l a r

a c t i v i t i e s t h a t

emphasize

conformity

and

obedience. For

example,

many

young

boys j o i n a

l o c a l

c h a p t e r

o f

t h e T h a i

Youth

C o r p s ,

an

or ga ni z a t \ on somewhat s i m i l a r t o th e bo y s c o u t s .

s

f o r th e g i r l s ,

many

o f

them

t r a i n

i n c la ss ic a l Thai

da nc i ng,

an a r t which

r e q u i r e s

much s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e and

f id e li t y t o

B uddhi st c u l t u r a l t r a d i t i o n s .

Aoalysis o f I n ter v iew R e sponse s- - S t ude nt s

Four

primary s t u d e n t s

were

i nt ervi ewed

i n d i v i d u a l l y a t S r i

Ping Huang s e e Appendix VI). o ens ure c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y , th e names

o f t he se s tu d en ts as a l l i nf or m a nt s

in

t h i s study) were

changed

t o

f i c t i o n a l ones .

The two

g i r l s

i nt ervi ewed

were

Noshala age 9 ,

f o u r t h grade)

and

J a n t a

age

11,

f i f t h

g r a d e ) ,

and two b o y s-

S a n g l i t age 11,

f i f t h

grade)

and

P r a n a t age 12, s i x t h g r a d e ) .

The s u b j e c t s

p a r e n t s

were

p r o f e s s i o n a l l y employed a s a c i v i l

s e r v a n t

S a n g l i t s

f a t h e r ) ,

a shop keeper J a nt a s f a th e r) , a

c i t y -

72



government d r i v e r Pranat), an d a

construction

worker Noshala s

f a t h e r ) . Only Pranat mentioned

an occupation fo r

h is mother, as a

h a i r s ty l i s t A ll four informants reported

t h a t

their families

were

Buddhists.

Schooling.

moral education. an d future ambitions.

The Thai students

interviewed were

generally p o s i t i v e about

going to school. They

l iked the i r

teachers, and thought

that

th e

teachers

served

a s good

examples

of

moral behavior.

The moral

value to which

th e students tended

to a t t a c h th e g r e a t e s t import-

Ance was manner s .

The answers given by

S a n g lit are

fai r ly

i l lus t ra t ive o f

th is

response p a t t e r n :

I nter viewer :

ow

do you f e e l

about going to

school?

S a n g l i t : I

f e e l

good, I l ik e to go to school to

study.

Interviewer:

o

yo u

l i ke

your

teachers?

S a n g l i t : I do, because th e teachers

teach

well.

Interviewer: Ar e your teachers s t r ic t

S a n g l i t : No no t r e a l l y .

I f

yo u

l is ten

to what they

say, then they d o n t

scold

you.

I nter viewer : Ar e

your teachers

f a i r ?

S a n q l i t : Yes,

they a r e .

I nter viewer :

What sor t o f moral

v i r t u e s

can yo u learn a t

school?

S a n g l i t : Manners an d correctness in everyday

l i fe

You

can

l e a r n

about being on

time

and trying har d.

I nter viewer : Which do you think

is

th e most important

v i r t u e ?

Sangl i t : Learninq

manners

is th e most

important.

S i q n i f i c a n t l y ,

none

o f th e informants saw a difference in th e

v i r t u e s

learned a t

school and those

learned a t home Asked to

qive

examples

o f

qood behavior, th e

in fo r mants f o cu sed on th e

followinq:

beinq

d i l i q e n t ,

beinq

t r u t h f u l ,

showinq

r e s p e c t

to

e l d e r s ,

an d

performinq o n e s

d u t i e s .

Asked about the i r

choice

of future

vocations, a l l

th e

students s e l e c t e d ambitious professions such as

73



teaching

(Sanglit

and Janta) ,

nursing (Noshala) and management

(i ranat) .

EXemplars of bravery. g ~ t n s s and obedience.

Tt.e

~ h i

school

children

were also

requested to

name brave

and

g r e a t people. All th e

students

mentioned

the King

of Thailand.

S a n g l i t s explanation was typical :

Interviewer: o do

you

th ink i s a

brave

person?

Sangl i t : I think t s th e King.

Interyiewer:

y

do you th ink so?

Sangl i t :

I t s

the

King

t h a t makes th e

country strong and

takes <:are of

the

people. Whenever something bad happens

to

the country, the

King i s

there

t o correct i

t .

Pranat

chose

the

Prime

Minister

as

a great

person

as well ,

because

when he speak > a

l o t

of

people

obey him . Noshala nominated

th e

s o l d i e r

as a brave person, because

he

protects the

country .

s t o r i e s of

courage focused

on

various

topics

drawn from Thai

folklore

and

h i s t o r y . Noshala s story was about a magical

g i r l

who

f l i e s down

from

th e skyand f a l l s i n love with a

human--the

heroine

i s imprisoned

by

an e v i l

s p i r i t

and i s rescued

by

th e brave hero.

Sang

l t preferred a m i l it a ry s to r y li n e

r ela tin g t o

a

brave

king of

bygone days who had a magic bow t o

defea t h i s

enemies. P r a n a t s

s tory

was about

King Mengrai,

the founder

of

Chiang

Mai and

th e

s t a t e of Lanna

Thai ,

recounting

how t h i s p a r t i c u l a r King protected

h i s kingdom from many

enemies.

s t o r i e s of

obedience also

r e f l e c t e d

t h e c h i l d r e n s tendency t o

use

themes

from

Thai

folklore as

i l l u s t r a t e d

i n P r a n a t s

s t o r y :

There

was

a prince who had made a vow t o accept t h e

request

of anyone

who

asked

something from

u

One

day

h i s f a t h e r

t h e

king, had to go away and

asked the p:dnce

t o watch

over h i s

kingdom. The king s enemies

came when

he was gone

and

asked t h e

prince f o r

th e

k i n g s powe=ful

74



elephant.

The

prince aqreed b ut

when th e

king

found out

he was very angry. The prince and h i s family had

t o

leave

th e kingdom

t o l i v e in th e mountains.

The

p rin ce

had tw o children. One da y an old man asked

fo r

che

children

an d so he

gave them

away. Then another m n

came

t o

ask fo r h is w ife an d he gave h er away t o o . But

t h i s

man was

n o t

a human

he

was a good

s p i r i t an d

he

rewarded th e prince fo r h is obedience

by

giving him back

h is family and l e t t i n g him return to

h i s

f a t h e r s

kingdom.

J a n t a opted fo r a s t o r y

about

a s p i r i t who transforms i t s e l f

i n t o

a wom n i n o rd er t o help a

poor

farmer and h i s c h i l d r e n .

S a n g l i t s

concerned a

young boy

who

by obeying

h is

parents and

tea ch ers le ar ns th e

importance o f

c o ntro llin g o n e s

temper.

Noshala s

s t o r y

was

about

a

prince

who

s a c r i f i c e s

h is

wealth

to a

healing s p i r i t so t h a t

h is

a i l i n g father

can

regain

h is

health.

H i l l Tribe Sçhools

kba

Stydy

s i te aen haroe» Vil lage

The Akha v i l l a g e o f Saen Charoen

i s located

in e Sruay

d i s t r i c t high in th e

mountains

o f northern Chiang Rai province.

I t

i s

a remote v i l l a g e with a single narrow road

linking

t o th e

o u t s i d e world.

Like

most Akha v i l l a g e s

i s

s i t u a t e d

on th e

c r e s t o f a mountain with

an

expansive view o f th e neighboring

range. Judging from i t s appearance

S ae n C ha ro en

i s n o t a very

wealthy v i l l a g e .

The homes

are unpretentious b u i l t o f l o c a l

m a t e r i a l s

such

as

s p l i t

bamboo

an d

thatch

q r a s s

fo r

th e

r o o f s .

Because

o f

i t s

r e l a t i v e remoteness

th e

v i l l a g e s t i l l

r e t a i n s some

75

p a r t i c u l a r l y th e o l d e r

women

wear th e customary ornate headdress

o f

i t s t r a d i t i o n a l ambience.

A

large

number o f

v i l l a g e r s



and sarong.


v i l l a g e

g a t e s a re e r e c t e d t o keep e v i l

s p i r i t s o u t .

ceremonial swing can

be

s een ,

w he re y ou ng

women

a r e

swung

t e b ri n g good fo rt u n e t o themselves ~ t h e i r f a m i l i e s .

Nearly

everyone

a t S ae n C ha ro en p r a c ti c e s a g r i cu l tu r e . During

th e day

th e a d ul ts

go o u t

t o th e

f i e l d s

leavir.g t h e

v il l a g e t o

t h e

e l d e r l y

and t h e very young.

s t h er e a r e

n o t

m ny

v e h i c l e s coming

i n t o t h i s v i l l a g e t r i p s t o

th e

lowlands a re i n f r e q u e n t . Whenever

v i l l a g e members

do

go

t o th e lowlands,

i s

u s u a l l y t o s e l l

produce

o r

h a n d i c r a f t s .

Saen

C h aro en s

i n a c c e s s i b i l i t y a l s o means t h a t

t h e r e

a re fe w

Thai lowlanders i n th e a re a. Oc c a siona lly government workers

come

t o pr ovide

h ea lth s erv ic es .

Regular c o n t a c t between th e

kh

v i l l a g e r s and Thai n a t i o n a l s

oc c ur s

wi t h

th e

sc hool t e a c h e r s and

some pe r sonne l

o f non-governmental

o r g a n i z a t i o n s , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e

kh

J .ssociation

f o r

Education and CUlture. Sometimes one

m y

s ee

r ng f o r e i q n e r s ) t o u r i s t s in

Saen

Charoen.

Us u al l y t h e y

v i s i t

f o r

one

o r

two

days

when

popula r

kh

f e s t i v i t i e s

a r e

being

h e l d .

h

sch o l

Th e government

school

t h a t ser v es

S ae n C ha ro en

i s annexed t o

th e

v i l l a g e .

I t h a s been s e r v i n g

Saen Charoen and ne ighbor ing Akha

v i l l a g e s

f o r

o v er

seven y e a r s .

A r c h i t e c t u r a l l y

i s

more

impressive and more s o l i d l y

b u i l t

t h an

t h e

v i l l a g e r s homes.

u t ~ a r d l y i s o r n a t e ,

with p o s t e r s ,

s i q n s and c h i l d r e n s

art wo rk

a f f i x e d

t o th e w a l l s .

n a t i o n a l

f l a g

f l i e s

above t h e

s c h o o l

y a r d .

Near

th e

f lag p o le

some space h a s

been

r e s e r v e d

f o r

s t a t u e o f

s e a t e d Buddha, draped i n

yellow

r obe , th e t r a d i t i o n a l c o l o r worn

7 6



by Buddhist monks in Thailand.

There

are a few other

buildings

within the school

compound

such as the headmaster s

home

and

a

teacher s

residence. The res t of the school

grounds

are

fa i r ly

stark,

with

a

few

benches

placed

a t

the

per ip he ry o f

the

wide

d i r t

courtyard.

The school s main classrooms

are

sombre,

due

primari ly

to

the

extensive use

of

dark

wood

a s b uild in g

materia l

and

an inadequate

l ight ing

system. Classroom equipment i s

rudimentarYi

the only

br ight ly

colored

objects are

wall

poste rs with slogans (e .g . ,

s tu dy h ard , be a good spo rtsman, b e discipl ined and

righteous )

and paper

garlands

hung

over

the

doorways.

The

students

attending

th i s school are considered

p r imary

students , though some

of them

are

already

in the i r ear ly teens

and

beyond.

Many students end up repeat ing

grades

before

they

complete

the i r primary education, i f

a t

a l .

Although

the school

i s

supposed

to

follow

na tiona l gu ide lines , the requirements of farming

sometimes

prevent

th i s .

most

days

between

3

and

40

students

attend the

school.

Some of the chi ldren do

not

l ive

in Saen

Charoen,

and

come from neighboring Akha vi l lages .

Normally,

there

are

three

teachers

serving

th i s school-- the headmaster and

two

r egu l a r teachers.

aren subjects Tung PbraQ y i l l

Also located in

the northern

mountains of Chiang Rai province

i8 the Karen vi l l age

of

Tung

Phrao. Tung

Phrao

i s considered a

Christ ian

(Baptist) vi l lage,

with

over eighty

percent of

the



v i l l a g e population belonging to th is denomination. Access t o

Tung

Phrao from th e lowlands

is

e a s i e r

than

Saen

Charoen.

This means

tha t a

g r e a t e r

number o f Thai offic ia ls and

government

w or ke rs c an

come

to th e

v i l l a g e .

Other o u t s i d e r s also vi s i t th is area more

frequently

including

Western tour is ts and mi ssi ona ri e s.

Though lower in elevation than Sa en C ha ro en Tung Phrao i s

nonetheless

a

Karen

mountain vi l lage

I t has

been a bl e to r eta in

more o f i t s ethnic

distinctiveness

than

Karen

v i l l a g e s located in

lowland v a lle y s. V illa ge rs continue to wear

th e Karen dress

a lbe i t

combined

with

modern

apparel such a s

j e a ns

sports shoes

and

T - s h i r t s .

The a r c h i t e c t u r e in

th i s

v i l l a g e

follows

t radi t ional

p a t t e r n s b ut l o c a l

bui l di ng

mater ials

h av e b ee n s up pl em en te d

with

imported ones such a s

corrugated

t in fo r r o o fs .

The

C h r is t ia n c h a ra c te r o f

Tung Phrao i s

apparent.

ne o f th e

more prominent

s t r u c t u r e s

in

the

v i l l a g e

i s

a la rg e b ric k church.

l a r g e blue p l a s t i c - s h e e t canopy has

been

er ected in fro n t

o f

th e

church allowing

v i l l a g e r s

to

ga t he r

an d

c h a t

while

childr en

play

about.

h

schoo

The

other hu b

o f a c t i v i t y

in

Tung Phrao

i s the government

sch o o l which

was e s t a b l i s h e d more than

te n

ye a rs ago.

There a re

over on e hu nd re d students

attending

th e

Tung Phrao

s ta te primary

school which

has

four te a ch e rs. In appearance this school i s

q u i t e

s i m i l a r

to th e

qovernment

school in Saen

Charoen

•

78



m ng

Subiects--Khun Klaang

Village

Located

nQrth

f Chiang

Mai city Khun

Klaang vil lage

i s

rapidly becQming a

s a t e l l i t e

f the ever-expanding Chiang Mai

metrQPQlis.

A

large

par t

Qf

the

v i l l a g e s

labQr

fQrce

has

already

gQne d wn

tQ Chiang

Mai tQ wQrk in cQnstructiQn Qr

in tQurist

related

businesses.

ThQse

wh remain

in

the

vil lage

Qften g

tQ

Chiang

Hai

ei ther

to

s e l l t h e i r produce or

t o

buy consumer

gOQds

The proximity of t h i s vil lage to the lowland economic mainstream i s

manifest.

Of a l l

three h ighland s tudy

s i t e s

t h i s m ng vil lage

has the

greates t

a;uount of imported

manufactured

gQods The

wearing

of t radi t ional a t t i r e

has

been

reduced

t o

token

caps and

leggings. Western-style clothes t h a t replace

them

are more

s t y l i s h .

I t i s

also

here

t h a t

vil lagers own the greates:t nUmber of

vehicles motorcycles and

pickup

trucks.

As

well the

influence of the lowland

culture

i s evident

in

the

buildings in

the

vil lage.

More homes make

use of

corrugated

metal

sheets

for

t h e i r

roofing

and

concrete

i s used

for S me

buildings. Calendars with

pictures

of the royal

family

and

posters

of lowland c e l e b r i t i e s adorn the walls of many hOmes

Although t radi t ional rel igious

pract ices

s t i l l exist in the

vil lage Buddhist emblems

are

also conspicuous.

Images

of the

Buddha and/or important monks are to be found

in

many houses and

a number of the vil lagers

wear Buddhist

paraphernalia

such

as

medallions or prayer beadi>

During

the t o u r i s t season

Khun Klaang

and

i t s

neighboring

t r i b a l cOlDlllunities primarily

Karen

and Lahu are frequently

79



visi ted by bus

loads of

foreign

touris ts who come

to

experience

hi l l t r ib culture. Most of these ~ r n vis i to rs have only

superf ic ia l contact with

vi l lagers

who t ry to se l l local handi-

cr f ts to them.

Thus,

the

inh abitan ts of

th i s

vil lage

are

relat ively used to the

presence

of outsiders,

both

Thai and

foreigners.

he schoo l

The government school

of

Khun Klaang

serves

a

majority of

Hmong children and a handful of Nor thern Tha i children. Estab-

lished in the early 1980 s, the

school

now

has approximately 1

students. The comparative wealth of Khun Klaang and the

presence

of ethnic Thai students

has

assured th t th i s primary

school

is

bet ter

equipped than

th e

other two school s i tes

Classrooms

are

re la t ively neat

and

clean

with lonq desks

and

benches,

and larqe

blackboards.

A collection of children r t and cr f ts i s

to

be

found on the walls and shelves. There is a play area

for

team

sports

such

as

soccer,

basketball

and

volleyball .

There

are

shady

t rees

with

banches underneath,

and

plent) 1: space

in the court-

yard.

Moral Education

in the Tbree Highland Schools

or l

educ tion c l s ses

Because teachers

follow the

qeneral quidelines found

in the

teachers

manuals

provided

by

the Ministry of Education, the moral

education

curriculum

t

the three hiqhland

schools i s similar to

the lowland

school

t s r i Pinq Muanq Teachinq focuses on such

8



topics

as the sp i r i t of

nation

building Saen Charoen), love of

country Tung Phrao), and a sense o f belonging to the national

s o c i e t y

hun

Klaang).

Nevertheless,

the

r e l a t i v e l y

heavy

teaching load

a t

these

highland schools

meant

tha t

th e

moral

education c l a s s e s

tended

to be taught

in

an a b b r e v i a t e d form.

That is , teachers

would

speak on a

p a r t i c u l a r

t o p i c

an d forego th e

question

and

answer period

so tha t they could

move

on to other

more

important

s u b j e c t s such

as

th e

national language i . e . , Thai) o r

mathematics.

Moral education, r a t h e r than

being

t r e a t e d as an i n t e g r a l p a r t

o f th e r e g u l a r

teaching

c u r r i c u l a ,

seemed to be

t r e a t e d

as an

addendum

to t he c ur ri cu la . For

example, when

th e to pic the

sp i r i t

o f nation b u i l d i n g

was being taught,

th e

t e a c h e r s

l e c t u r e

was

reduced to a few minutes elaboration about

th e

rapid pace with

which Thailand was

progressing--how

within a few decades the

country

was

transformed

from

a predominantly

agr ar ian

society to a

modern

i n d u s t r i a l i z e d

nation.

The

teacher

spoke

o f

th e

b e n e f i t s

of

th is

proc e ss

o f modernization,

i nc lu d in g i nc re as ed

wealth, g r e a t e r

c r e a t u r e comforts

e . g . ,

c a r s ,

t e l e v i s i o n s , nice

clothes

e tc . ) , and

better

t r a n s p o r t a t i o n e. g . ,

more highways,

a ir t r a v e l , etc . ) .

That done, th e

teacher

the n quickly switched

to

a not he r

school

s u b j e c t , mathematics,

and

in str u cte d th e

c l a s s

to sp l i t into

abi l i ty groups to do the i r exercises.

At

Tung Phrao, moral education

c l a s s e s

seemed to be taught a t

a s l ight ly l e s s

hurried pace, as t h e r e

was

time a ll ott ed t o

discuss

moral

i s s u e s .

Of th e

several

t o p i c s

tha t

were covered duri ng th e

81



time o f o bserv atio n, l o v e

of

country o as probably th e most

p o l i t i c l t o p i c . The

e s s e n t i a l message

was

t h a t

students should

lear n t o place th e

n a t i o n s

i n t e r e s t s be fore t h e i r own pe rsona l

i n t e r e s t s . The

teacher

referred to

King

Chulalongkorn, th e

famous

Thai h i s t o r i c a l

figure,

as a model

fo r

th e childr en to emulate.

The King was

lauded for h is s e l f l e s s n e s s and enterprising s p i r i t in

building

T hailand s modern

i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .

The

discussion t h t

e ns ue d f oc us ed

on

naming other i ~ i v i u l s who were of comparable

merit. ome o f th e names t h t came up

included, King

Bhumiphol

th e p r e s e n t

King o f Thailand),

Je sus

C h r i s t ,

Chuan

Leek P ai

th e

Prime Minister o f

Thailand),

King

Mengrai

the

l s t king

t o r u l e

th e ancient kingdom of Chiang Mai), and th e Royal Princesse

I n t e r e s t i n g l y , no r ef er ence

was made to

Buddhist

figures.

This m y

b e p r t i l l y

explained

by

th e f a c t

th t a

large

number of

th e s t u ~ t s t t h i s

h ig hl an d s ch oo l

were Christians. Buddhist

images

were l e s s in

evidence t

Tung

Phrao

than t th e two

other

highland sc hool s.

Teachers

t

Tung

Phrao

t r i e d

to

avoid

reference

t o Buddhism nor did they encourage t h e i r students

to

p a r t i c i p a t e

in

Buddhist r i t u l s such as

bowing to

th e

image of

th e

Buddha).

At Khun Klaang, moral education

c l a s s e s

were

conducted

much

l i k e

th e other tw o highlands sc hool s. t y p i c a l

le s

son

d e a l t

with

t h e sense

of

belonging

t o

th e n atio na l s o c i e t y .

The

main

idea

behind

t h i s

lesson was th t young people, i f they

were

t o have a

t r u e

senae o f national belonging, should

p ar tic ip at e in

var ious

c t i v i t i e s

t h t express

national

values. A c t i v i t i e s recommended by

th e

t e a c h e r

included attending Buddhist r e l i g i o u s f e s t i v a l s ,

82



jo in in g s p o r ts

teams,

and becoming members o f lowland

youth

o r g a n i z a t i o n s . Th e

mess \ge

wa s t h a t

highland

s t u d e n t s

should

i n t e g r a t e

more

i n t o th e

dominant

h i s o c i e t y .

I n d i r e c t

moral

ed u catio n .

Many o f th e

i n d i r e c t

forms o f p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n

d escr ib ed f o r

th e

lowland

primary sc hool

S r i

Ping

Muang were

p r e s e n t a t

t h e t h r e e

highland

primary

sch o o ls

a s

weIl :

f l a g

r a i s i n g and

l ow e ri ng c er em on ie s;

sin g in g o f


hymn

showing r e s p e c t to

t e a c h e r s

e . g . , t hr ough

p o l i t e g r e e t i n g s

and

by

pe r f or m i ng

wai

and, bei ng d e f e r e n t i a l i n fr o nt o f p i c t u r e s o f th e

r o y a l fam i l y.

Th e

c h i l d r e n

were a l s o as s i gned

v ar io u s

menial

ta s k s , o r

c l e a n i n g

d u t i e s , which were meant t o r e in fo rc e th e

v a l u e s

o f hard work,

keeping o n e s e l f n e a t and t i d y , l i v i n g

i n

an

o r d e r l y manner, and, most i m port ant l y, complying with d i r e c t i v e s

from f i g u r e s o f a u t h o r i t y .

Stu d en ts

Twelve primary l e v e l

s t u d e n t s ,

s i x boys and s ix g i r l s ,

were

in ter v iewed a t

th e

t h r e e hi ghl and sch o o ls, a I l

o f

them between

th e

f o u r t h and

s i x t h

grades

see

Appendix V I I ) . The four kha s t u d e n t

i nform ant s were Namanee

fem ale, age 11,

s i x t h g r ad e) , Neelana

f e m a l e , ag e

l a ,

f o u r t h

g r a d e ) , sanlong male,

age 10, f i f t h

g r ad e,

and Ransim male,

age 12,

s i x t h

g r a d e ) .

A lI had s t a r t e d

t h e i r

formaI

s chool i ng

a t Saen

C haroen , an d

e x c e p t

f o r

Ransim,

grew up i n

t h i s

~ i l l g e They ap p ar en tly a t t e n d c l a s s

f a i r l y r e g u l a r l y

e xc e pt d u ri ng t he p la nt in g

and

h a r v e s t

season)

and have n o t

had t o

83



repeat grades. The boys ment ioned t h e i r passion fo r top

playing and

cards

as ou t-of -schoo l

a c t i v i t i e s . Namalee

and

Neelana

reported

t h a t , when

not

i n

school ,

most

of t h e i r

t ime was spent

helping

t h e i r

parents

a t

home

or

in

the

f i e l d s .

The four Karen children interviewed were Athee rn female, age

11,

f i f t h - g r a d e , Sashan

female,

age

10,

fourth

grade) ,

Somja

male, age 13, s i x t h grade) , and Tarang male, age 9, fourth

grade) •

All

of

these

students a re Chris tian and at tend church

services

and p ar ti c ip at e i n church-organized

a c t i v i t i e s

such as

Sunday school. Atheern and Sashan men tioned t h e i r p a rt ic ip a ti on i n

a c h i l d r e n s choir , and Somja i s a member of a soccar team.

The mong children informants werei Naramnee female, age

12,

f i f t h grade),

Kanthee female,

age 9, fourth

grade) , Jomang

male,

age 14,

s i x t h

grade) , and Tenjak male, age 11,

f i f t h grade).

Naramnee and

Jomang

are nat ives of Khun

Klaang,

Kanthee moved t o

t h i s

v i l l a g e with her

family when

she

was

very young, and Tenjak

walks

t o

school

from

a

earby

v i l l a g e .

All

four

students

s t a t e d

they attended school reqular ly. Jomang, however, mentioned

t h a t

he

accompanied

h is

parents on t h e i r frequent

t r i p s

t o town, and t h a t

t h i s sometimes

interrupted

h i s school at tendance. Kanthee also

reported going t o town frequently, and er.joys c o l l e c t i n g audio

c a s s e t t _ of popular Thai

bands .

The

two boys

are

avid

soccer

players and Thai

kick-boxing

enthusiasts .

tt i tu es tow rd schoolinq nd mor l educ t ion

Most

highland

children were

posi t ive about going t o

school.

They

thought

well

of

t h e i r

teachers . nd

they

considered

th e

84



l ea rn ing o f manners Le . proper behavior and rule-keeping) as the

most important moral virtue to be ~ i r e d

a t

school. In

o n ~ r s t

to

the

lowland

Thai students, however, some of the highland

children

f e l t

tha t the ir

teachers

were

sometimes

unfair

towards

them because

of

the i r ethnic status.

Ransim the Akha

sixth-grade

boy, drew

attention

to h is

teacher s negative

views of the

abi l i ty

of t r iba l students:

Interviewer:

o

you l ike your

teacher?

Ransim: Yes, my teacher gives us much knowledge about

speaking and writing

[Thai],

about count ing and things

l ike tha t .

Interviewe:r.: Is your teacher s t r ic t?

Ransim:

The

teacher

t e l l s

us about

many

rules

and

gets

angry

i f we don t l i s ten .

e have

to be quiet and not

play

around,

and not speak Akha in the

classroom.

Interviewer: Is your teacher fair?

Ransim: Sometimes

the

teacher looks

down

on us, tha t we

have

less

knowledge, less

good

heads [than lowland Thai

children] •

hen

asked about the correspondence

between the values

taught

a t school and those

learned

a t home student responses

varied

according to the i r ethnicity . The Akha children most readily

differentiated between school- and home-taught

values. For

example, Neelana

explained

the

difference

th is

way:

During moral education class

we

learn

how

to

speak Thai

poli te ly

to

be neat and clean, and show respect

to

the

outside

people

who

come

to

our

vi l lage. hen

l

go

home

we don t think so much about

these

th ings •••

my

parents

teach me

how

to tak e care of my brothers, the importance

of making offerings to the spi r i t s and how to make new

things l ike clothes.

The

Karen

students

also

perceived

a

difference

in the

moral

values taught a t school compared

to

those taught a t home Somja,

the sixth-grade boy,

talked

about how borrowing things was t reated

a t home compared to school: At home l can take

something

from

85



th e people ne xt d o o r, and

t h ey

know l

wil l g i v e

back.

At

sc hool

yo u

a r e n t supposed

to

t ak e

o t h e r

p e o p l e s t h i n g s

One Karen

gi r l ,

Atheern,

mentioned

t ha t

h er

p a r e n t s d id n o t

re so r t to

co r p o r al

punishQent

as

th e

teach er s d id

a t

s ch o o l .

The mon

c h i l d r e n were less aware o f d i f f e r e n c e s between

mainstream and

t rad i t iona l t r iba l

v a l u e s .

R eferen ces to Hmong

d eri v ed mores were

conspicuously

a b s e n t from the i r answers.

T e n j a k s response

was

typica l o f th i s group o f

inf or m a nts.

In t erv i ewer:

Are

th e vir tues

you l e a r n

a t

s c h o o l

di f fe ren t from

th o se

you

l e a r n

a t home?

Tenjak: T h e r e s no

d i f f e r e n c e .

In t erv i ewer:

None?

Tenjak:

No there i s

nothing t ha t

i s

r e a ll y d i ff e ren t

in

the

t h i n g s

the

t e a c h e r sa ys should do and

the

t h i n g s my

p a r e n t s

say

should do.

mon s t u d e n t s ident i f ied t he i r p a r e n t s ,

g ran d p aren t s , and

ne ighbor s a s

s o u rces

o f

moral

l ea rn in g o u ts id e th e s ch o o l , b u t d id

n o t mention th e shaman. Th e Akha c h i l d r e n n o t only mentioned the i r

p a r e n t s ,

g ran d p aren t s ,

e l d e r s ,

th ey a l s o

inc lude d

the v il lage

pr i e s t

and

r i tua l

l e a d e r s .

The

l a t t e r

a r e

signi f icant

a s a u t h o r -

i t i e s and t ra n sm i tt er s o f

kh z n Alting

von Gesau, 1 9 9 1 ) . The

Karen c h i l d r e n

Were

a l s o a b l e

to

nominate

sour c e s

o f

moral

e duc a tion

with in the i r vi l lage . These i n cl u d ed

p a r e n t s

and

vi l l age

elders . However, no Karen

i n fo rm an t

named the t rad i t iona l vi l l age

pr ie s t L e . ,

a

prac t i t ione r and t e a c h e r o f Karen re l igious

bel i e fs

and e th ica l

codes

who

c ustom a r ily enjoyed

a grea t

d e a l

o f pres-

t ige .

R a the r , th ree o f th e informants·

mentioned

the i r loca l

C h r is ti an p a st o r •

86



Insofar as the i r concept

of

good

behavior i s concerned, most

of the students mentioned deference

toward

figures of

authority,

decorum

i . e . ,

lowland social

conventions), and

especially

proper

speech

in

the national

language:

Interviewer:

What

i s

the best

way

for you to

show

that

you are

a good gir l?

Sashan: l y to be careful

in my s tyle

of

ta lking.

Interviewer:

o

you

mean when you speak in Thai?

Sashan:

Yes,

when

we speak in

Thai,

is important to

know

the pol i te

manner to show respect to older

people,

to

the

teacher,

and to strangers

[e.

g. , ethnie ' 'hai

government

personnel).

This i s

something

the teachers

t e l l s us

a l l

the time.

Some of the Akha students

spoke

of heeding

interdict ions

typical ly associated

with

kh z n as instances of

good

behavior.

For

example,

Sanlong, a

f if th-grade

boy, mentioned avoiding

fores t

sp i r i t s when going

hunting, and

Namalee

stressed the

need to

observe Akha ceremonies

announced

by the village priest .

Some

Hmong students considered scholast ic

performance as

another

way to show good

behavior.

This

view

was expressed by

Naramnee,

the f if th-grade

gi r l :

The

best

way

to

show

you

are

a

good

student is to

learn intentionally,

to l is ten

and

to believe

the teacher, and

ask questions

when

you don t

understand the

teacher .

Tenjak,

the f if th-grade Hmong boy, referred

to a fundamental

Buddhist mer it -making

principle ,

giving food to monks, as an

example

good behavior:

Interviewer: 50, Tenjak, what do you

think is a

good

way

for you

to show tha t

you are

a

good boy?

Tenia}ç:

There are

many

ways,

but

one

way i s to

give food

to

the

monks in

the morning.

Interviewer: ow do

you

know th is i s good behavior?

87



T e n j ~ k

Before,

our teachers took

us

to vi s i t a [Bud-

dhist] temple,

the

monks there showed us how to bow

to

the Buddha now to

s i t

and

think [meditate],

and told us

th t

we could make good

actions

by

giving

food to

the

monks

l ike

so

many people [lowland Thais] do.

Exemplars

of bravery,

greatness

and

obedience.

When the highland students nominated brave and great people,

the majority chose the King of Thailand, much l ike the students

t

Sri

Ping

~ ~ u a n g The Icha

and Karen

students

explained the i r

choice

by focusing

on

the King s governing powers

and h is

bi l i ty

to

f ight

for

th e n atio n. Other authority figures selected by the children

from l l three groups

included

Chuan Leek Pai,

the

Prime Minister

of

Thailand ( because he

can administer the

country

and i s able to

f ight

for

the

nation --Ransim),

and

the policeman

( because he

do

es

good things, such as arrest ing the thief--no one

is

as brave as

the

policeman --Tarang).

The only

notable

variat ions were two

Karen

gir ls

who selected

Chris t ian f igures,

Jesus

Christ

and King David.

The mong

children

seemed to re l te more to the

King s

personal

in te res t

and

patronage

of

the mong

than

to h is

pol i t ic l

a uth or ity o r

power par

se .

Interyiewer: Who

do

you think i s a

great

person?

Jomang: Oh l think th t would

have to

be the King.

Interviewer:

And why i s that?

Jomang: The King comes to our vil lages

to see

for

himself how we

are . e

stops to t lk to the

people,

and

i s

caring.

There is a

mong

vil lage not far from here

where the

King stopped.

e

actual ly s t down

and

talked

with

the

vil lage leader

for

a long time.

Naramnee

th e fifth -g ra de mong

gi r l

talked

about

the

King s

personal

concern over the

h i l l peoples welf ar e, s ay ing, He [the

King] comes

to see

us

and

finds o ut

what s

wrong . Kanthee proudly

stated th t a re l t ive of hers had made some r t i f c t s for the

88



King s

palace

located

near

Chiang Mai.

The

mong children

seemed

to attach

great significance

to

occasions

when

the King

t reated

mong

i nd iv idua ls a s important members of Thai society.

The

accounts

of

courage

offered

by

the

highland

children

were

interest ing,

especially

for

what

some

of the children regarded

as

courageous

behavior.

The responses suggested t h a t

the

students

were

intimidated by Thai

figures

of authori ty.

For

instance,

San

long considered acting

properly

in fron t of Thai o f f i c i a I s as an

a c t

of courage:

Before, we had to learn a Thai song for many days so t h a t

we

could

sing

when

the se nio r

pers

ons

of

our

country

came

to our vil lage. e had to

stand

in l ine

and

look

happy

to

show

them

welcome

I t s d i f f i c u l t to sing

the

song

now

but s t i l l

l

have

the

memory

in my heart .

Neelana was

also

impressed

by

a similar occasion: I

dared

to sing

in front of u ng

h i [Thai officiaIs]

and

received

f i r s t prize .

Severa

l

students chose t o r e t e l l personal

adventures

as

s tor ies

of courage. For

instance, Jomang

the mong sixth-grader,

provided

t h i s

anecdote:

Once l

borrowed my

f r iend s

motorcycle. While

l

was

d r i

vinq

on

the

way home the

motorcycle

broke down

and

i t

qot damaqed a l i t t l e

b i t .

At f i r s t l d i d n t dare t e l l

him because l was

afraid,

but l a t e r l made

the

decision

t o t e l l

him and

my friend d i d n t blame me

Ransim recounted

the followinq

incident:

One

day my l i t t l e s i s t e r was

b i t t e n

by

a

doq

and

was

cryinq

very

loudly, so my o ld er b ro th er and

l

went

out

and chased

the

doq out of th e v illa qe ,

was a

biq doq

but we

cursed

not

to

come

back.

Other

informants presented s t o r i e s in

the

form

of folk

t a l e s . Such

was

the

case for Somja,

the

sixth-qrade Karen boy,

whose

story was

89



about a

farmer

who outwits a

t iger

~ r o u llis

courage

and i n t e l l i

gence:

Once there was a

farmer

who was

working

in the

f i e ld

when a hungry

t ige r

came

up

to him.

The farmer

was not

afraid

and

he

sa

id to

the

t iger

You

are

the

king

of

the animals, but

l have something tha t

makes st ronger

than

you . The angry

t ige r told him to show

him

th i s

power, but

the

farmer refused un t i l

the

t ige r agreed to

be t ied

up.

Whe l the t ige r was t ied to a t ree

the

farmer ki l led the t ige r

with a big

s t ick.

Tarang's , the fourth-grade Karen boy. to ld a story about the

exploi ts of

a

young mountain t ravel ler :

In the p as t th ere was

a

young

man who wanted

to ge t good

learning from

a

mentor

fa r

away. The young

man had to

t rave l

through

the

mountains

for

many

days

to

g et th ere ,

but

on

the

way some robbers t r ied to s tea l h is food.

Inste3d

of

running

away, he ki l led the robbers

and

took

the loo t

they

had

s tolen

from

many vi l l ages . When he

reached the mentor,

he

real ized t ha t

he

[ the

mentor]

was

too

greedy. So before the mentor could cheat him out

of

h is t reasure

he quickly

returned to h is

vi l lage and

shared

with the ot lers.

The s tudents ' s to r i e s about

obedience

consis te d p rimarily o f

instances

of being dut i fu l to fig ure s o f a uth ority ,

part icular ly

parents

and

teachers.

For

example,

Neelana's

story

re la ted

to

Mother's D, -y,

and

how she did

a l l

the house chores fo r her

mother.

Other in fo rman ts l ike Ransim chose the teacher as

a f igure

of

authority

deserving

t he i r obedience:

Once

there was a boy who heard inportant

things from

the

teacher ,

but

he

did

n ot he ar ev ery th in g. When

the

boy

asked the teacher

to

t e l l him some more,

the

teacher

said, When l

f inish t e l l ing you, wi l l you run away? .

The

boy

promised

he

wouldn 't r un

away, and so

he

learned

much

from

the teacher

every

day.

Interest ingly

in these

anecdotes, many

children

focused

on showing

outward respect

to

persons of authori ty by o l lowing lowland Tnai

customs, such as performing wai (bowing of the head

and

c la sp ing o f

90



the hands

in

t r a d i t i o n a l Thai

s t y l e ,

an d speaking

Central

Thai

instead

o f t h e i r

na t i ve languages.

Attitudes.toward lowla,d

soc i e t y

an d ethnie i d e n t i t y .

Students

also

varied

according

to th e

t r i b e

to

which

they

belonged

in how

they

perceived

l i f e in th e

lowlands.

For

example,

in response to whether they

were

willing to liv e in th e

lowlands,

a l l o f

th e

Akha

and Karen childr en answered af f ir matively.

The

r ea so ns g iv en by

th es e s tu de nts

had mostly

t o

do with f ur ther ing

t h e i r

education,

making money o r

having th e opportunity

t o

s o c i a l i z e with

t h e i r lowland c ount e rpa rt s.

The

P mong

c hi l dre n,

on th e

ot he r

hand, expressed r eser vations

about

v i s i t i n g o r

living in

th e

lowlands.

Jomang drew a t t e n t i o n to

th e c ha otic environment found in

th e

lowlands.

Interyiewer:

ow do yo u f e e l

about th e lowlands?

Jomanq: I d o n t t h i n k I

l i k e

th e lowlands

very

much

because there

i s

so

much

t r a f f i c

an d noi se t h e r e .

The

a i r

i s bad and a lo t o f people a re r un ni ng a ro un d. I t s

easy

t o

c;et l o s t You

can

see

a

l o t

o f

expensive things

town but th e f e elin g i s

not very good.

Many

people

look a t yo u in an angry

way.

Kanthee

r 9 l a t e d

an unfort una t e

i nc i de nt

concerning

a

cousin

o f

he rs: l d r a t h e r

stay in

th e mountains, because i f

you go

t o th e

c i t y

you

can

g e t

s i c k . My

cousin

came back

l a s t

month,

an d

s h e s

very s i c k ...

Some people say she

has

AIDS .

A t h i r d

mong

informant, Naramnee responded

t h a t

since she d id n o t have

an y

family

in

th e c i t y ,

she

was a f r a i d o f b ein g v er y l one l y. In f a c t ,

Tenjak

was

th e

only

mong

informant

who was

w i l l i n g

to liv e in

th e

lowlands

t o

continue

h is

education

•

91



The

kha and Karen c h i l d r e n s r esponses d ivu lged a sense of

i nf e ri or it y v is -à -v is

lowland people.

Both

groups

of

students

emphasized t h e i r d i f f i c u l t i e s

using

the Thai language, d i s p a r i t i e s

between

th e

income

levels

of

t h e i r

families

and

those

of

Thai

people, and incidents when they

or

t h e i r family

members

were

t re a te d u n fa ir ly by

lowlanders:

Interviewer:

Do you think you are equal

to lowland

people?

Sanlonq: We

y

t o

learn

the

Thai

language

very hard

and

t o study th e many things about the Thais. But i t i s

d i f f i c u l t t o learn these th ings

well

in

the v i l l a g e .

When l go t o the

lowlands

l can

see

the Thais

have

more

of everything, t h a t l i f e i s

e a s i e r .

The chi ldren have

more

t ime

t o

play

and

t o

study. That s

why

they

are

b e t t e r a t schoel, they know more,

and

they

have

no

problem

understanding th e te ac he r.

I t s

hard f o r

me t o

understand

everything

the

teacher

says, and

when l speak

Thai

l know i s

not

as

good as the Thai

chi ldren.

Sometimes l f e e l

embarrassed about t h a t .

Karen boy, Somja, expressed

t h i s

opinion:

No we re

not

equal, because Thais

have

a

l o t

of money

••• t h e h i l l people ulways

al low

others

[ i . e . ethnie

Thais] t o take advantage of them, they [ the Karen] are

always cheated •••

we

do not

fol low the

lowland

people s

s t y l e

and

so

we

s t a y

poor.

The

Hmong students, however, had l e s s a

sense

of i n f e r i o r i t y

toward lowlanders. Jomang, f o r instance, said:

l

th ink

l am equal t o

lowlanders,

because we

a r e Thai .

We were

born

i n Thailand j u s t l i k e the

other

Thai people

••• r e a l l y shouldn t

matter

i f you come from the

highlands o r t h e

lowlands.

l hear Thai people

c a l l

us

h o cb o [a derogatory Thai term f o r h i l l t r i b e ] . But

i s

b e t t e r

not t o argue with

them

because

t h i s

i s not

somethLlg t h a t changes. . . . l d o n t

l ik e t o

f e e l t h a t l m

under

other

people because

of

t h a t .

One Hmong g i r l

Naramnee,

asser ted t h a t : We

a r e equal because

the

lowland

people

say i n t h e

l a

i f the law says t h i s then l

am

equal

•

92



The

f inal theme in the interviews with students related

to

students

perception

of their roles

within

the dominant national

society.

Here

too responses

varied

according to which t r iba l group

the student belonged.

The Akha

children attached

a

greater

prior i ty

to the i r t ri ba l a ff il ia ti on than to

a

sense

of national

ident i ty. This could

be ascertained from comments such as

Ransim s: 1

would

say f i r s t tha t l m a member

of the

Akha t r iba l

people, b c us ara proud ~ our

birth

and our

tr ibes [ i ta l ics

added] .

The

Karen

students

sense

of

e thnie

dis t inct ion was

also apparent. Three

out

of the four

students

stated

tha t was

more

important for them to

say

what t r iba l ~ u p they belonged to

t 1an

the

country

in which they l ived.

The

mong children, on the other hand, often

expressed

a

dual

sense of

cul tura l

ident i ty. For instance, in

informing a

stranger

of

h is

ident i ty, Tenjak replied without hesi tat ion

tha t

he would

f i r s t identify

himself

as Thai, then he would

disclose

h is

mong

ethnici ty.

Other

chi ldren s repl ies

corresponded

with Ten ja k s .

I f

someone

asks

you what

is

your national i ty ,

Naramnee

remarked,

you should

answer

which

country

you are from; i f

someone

asks you

which t r ibe you

belong to , then

you

should t e l l

him

which

t r ibe-

they re bath important .

Given the

Akha

and Karen students preference for identifying

themselves

according

to

the i r

t r ibes ,

was

not surprising tha t

they

expressed greater

indignation

a t

someone

maligning

the i r t r ibe

ra ther

than

the nation.

Namalee

was indignant

tha t

h i people

93



were

making

disparaging remarks

about her t r ibe to (Western)

foreigners:

l would be angry with the

ones

who don t behave well

front

of tl .e foreigners •• . the foreigners can

see

i f

the

people of

the

hi l l s

are

good

•••

no

one

should

dare

to

blame

the

t r iba l people

when they

are good.

Paradoxically,

although

the mon children expressed a bi-

cul tura l sense of identi ty, they nonetheless retai r:ed a strong

sense of

pride

in

the i r

t r ibe .

All mon informants

indicated

greater displeasure a t someone sl ighting the i r

t r iba l

group

compared

to the

nation.

Jomang was the most indignant:

l

would

say,

maybe you

think

our

t r ibe

is no good,

but

what

i s

so

good

about·

Y

ours? .

Parents

Twelve parents, s ix fathers and s ix mothers, were interviewed

a t the three s i tes (see ppendixVIII) . The kha parents were:

Tamanya (Neelana s mother), Banlaee (Sanlong s mother), Yonrun

(Ransim s father) ,

and

Laeksah

(Namalee s

father) . These parents

were

agricul tura l is ts had

lived

in or near Saen

Charoen for

many

years, and

had

never

gone

to

school.

The

Karen

informantt were: Namanee (Atheern s mother),

Tenea

(Sashan s

mother), Daneeshan (Tarang s father)

and Kangje

(Somja s

father) . Their backgrounds in terms of

occupation

and residence

were

qu ite s im i la r

to

the i r

kha

counterparts.

However

the

Karen

parents

had

received

some

schooling under

the

tutelage

of

Christian

missionaries •

94



The mon

parents interviewed

were: Longye (Jomang s

father) ,

Janla (Tenjak s mother),

Masee

(Naramnee s mother), and

Faon

(Kanthea s father) . Although

they

were a l l agricultura1ists . two,

Longye

and Faon,

specif ied

tha t

they

were

f lower

garrleners

,

signifying tha t

t h e i r occupations were closely linked

to

the market

economy

of ~ n e

lowlands. The

mon parents were

more

f inancially

well-off than t h e i r

Akha

and Karen counterparts. Moreover, t h i s

group of parents had a l l attended primary school

to

varying levels.

Qutl kS

school inq and moral

education

The importance of t h e i r children s education was emphasized by

a l l

the

parents. In addition, they were a l l concerned about

the

d if fi cu l ty t h ei r children were

having

going through school. This

concern

was

part icularly

acute

for the

Akha

and Karen parents such

as

Yonrun,

who

f e l t a heavy f inancial burden of

getting

h i s

children educated: I do think i t s important for my child to ge t

an education, but

the

problem

i s

most of

the

parents

cannot

support

t h e i r

children

because

they

don t

have

the

money .

Most of the parents

had

great

hopes

for

t h e i r children s

future through education. Indeed, many indicated t h a t they

would

not

b e

s a t i s f i e d unless t h e i r

children

obtained

a

university

degree.

The

p r e n ~ s high academic aspirations

for

t h e i r children

~ a l l the

more

remarkable

because

of t h e i r own re la t ively

10 01

levels of schoolinq.

Another concern voiced

by many

parents had t o

do with the type

of education t h e i r children were receivinq.

The

mon

parents

were

95



the

most

c r i t i c a l of

the

qual i ty of

the highland

public education

For

instance,

Longye commented:

l Wë l t

my

children t o

learn

more than t h i s . The teachers

d o n t

pay much a t t e n t i o n to

t h e i r

teaching. What

i s

going

t o

happen

when

our

children

t r y

t o

enter

the

[ lowland] secondary

schoolsi they won t be ready . • . t

would

be

b e t t e r i f

we

had

more

t r i b a l teachers here.

Other Hmong parents thought t h a t the ontent of the education t h e i r

children

were

receiving

was

not

comprehensive

enough. Accord ing t o

Masee:

Masee: I t i s important fo r

the

children t o

learn

more

things a t school

than

j u s t Thai or basic mathematics.

They need t o

learn

English as well as about other

c u l t u r e s

including

the

~ r n [ i . e .

Westerners]. In

t h e future,

the children

w i l l need English

t o

g e t good

work. t i s

the

~ r n

t h a t

bring in

the

most

money

Interviewer: o

you

think the children

want t o

study

English

and

the ~ r n

cultures?

Masee:

Oh yeso When ~ r n come

t o

a mountain v i l l a g e

they pay

t o see t h e

dance

and

the

music playing, and

they

buy our handicraf ts . Some children can already say some

words in

English.

The

children

l i k e the f r ng

The Hmong

parents were a l s o c r i t i c a l

of

the values to which

t h e i r chi ldren were being

exposed a t school.

Some

l i k e Faon, f e l t

t h a t th e school

did

not pay

enough

a t t e n t i o n

t o

t h e mong t r i b a l

ethos:

Our

children are

g e t t i n g

t o know much

more

about l i f e in

t h e

lowlands,

they

cannot study about the

h i s t o r y of

Hmong

people, t h e

way

of the

mong

••• The power of the

lowland learning i s

c l e a r l y

greater

than th e mountain

lea rning,

and

so the children look down

on

th e

mountain

l i f e • • • • Now the

children

see

many

more raasons t o use

the.

n a t i o n a l

langl.,age .

They speak Thai among

them-

s e l v a s .

These views

were

shared by many Akha

and

Karen parents as

welle For

example, one

Akha

f a t h e r Laeksah,

sa

i d

blunt ly : The

values a r e d i f f e r e n t

because

s ool t s important

only

t o

96



know about t e correc t e vior ta

dv nce

in town [ i . e . ,

lowland

society] . Daneeshan,

a

Karen

fa ther , made a s imi la r

observation:

The ~ h i l r n are learning

many

th ings [a t

school] , bcth good and bad . . . . But the knowledge the

children learn a t school i s

much

dif ferent from the

community. Their behavior changes

because they

learn the

r c w values

frol ll

the nell society . • . they

are

not

in te r

ested

in

the t r ad i t iona l values

• . •

the

children

should

learn

how

to respect

the elder ly-- the

headman,

parents ,

senior parsons.

Nowadays,

the

children lack

th i s

a t t i tude .

They don t think we are important .

In

the

past , the

children

were more pol i t e than th i s . They

l i s tened to what we taught and

did

not get

out

of

hand

l ike th i s .

Many

parents

echoed these

complaints:

In

the school the

children

gain

information

and

sk i l l s ,

while

in

the

vi l lage

the children

learn

how

to become

f u l l

persons

and develop [Karen] l i fe

habits --Kangje, Karen fa ther ; The school children

are

changing,

i s not as

important

for them to

know how why we are

so

careful

to keep

order [Le . ,

khazan

in

the

home

and in th e vi l l age - -

Yonrun,

kh a

fa ther .

Janla ,

a Hmong

mother, complained tha t

increased contac t

with

mainstream values

had made her

children

demand more

consumer goods,

saying her chi ldren

were

never

sa t i s f i ed

with

what they bad.

Community

leaders

community

leaders

from the Akha, Karen,

and

Hmong

vi l lages

were

interviewed as well (see Appendix IX).

In Saen Cbaroen a

prominent

vi l l age

e lder

named

Aklan

was

interviewed.

Aklan

i s

s ix t

y

years

old and has resided

in

th i s vi l lage

fo r

twenty-eight

years.

He

believes in loca l

sp i r i t s ,

but claims to be

a

Buddhist.

The community leader interviewed

a t

Tung Phrao

was

CbamseL His

97



posit ion within the vil lage

is

e ~ ~ i v l e n t to a s s is tan t headman .

Chamsei is

t h i r t y e ~ g h t

years o ld

and

was

brought up

in Tung

Phrao.

Like many of h is fellow vil lagers, he ls a

Christian.

The

community

leader

interviewed

in mong

vil lage

of

Khun

Klaang

was

Taeron, the headman. Taeron

has

li l. ed a l l his

l i fe in this

vicin i ty .

Unlike most of the

mong

vil lagers,

though,

Taeron

claims

to have a

closer

aff in i ty for

Christianity than

Buddhism.

outlooks on

Schoo1inq

and moral education.

The three community

leaders

were quite conscious of the need

for the

ycunger generations

in

the i r communities

to adapt to the

outside world,

to

learn the national

language,

and to function

effectively within

the

dominant

society. At

the same

time,

they

were quick to point out tha t schooling was distancing the children

from local knowledge and culture. This

general

sentiment was well

expressed

by Aklan:

Education

[ i . e .

state public

education]

organizes the

community

and

l e t s

the

community members

have enough

knowledge to

get

out

to

the outside

world

•••

Learning

the Thai language i s

important

to develop

ourselves

and

to

spread more widely

in

the country But

in

the

future

th is

modern

education

might

be

the biggest

cause

of damage. y

going to

school

the chi ld ren a re

learning

much more about the outside culture than the i r own.

The leaders

were

aware tha t the children s v lu s

were

being

t rans fo rmed through schoo ling

and

tha t ~ ~ i s was al ienat ing them

form the i r communities:

According

to Chamsei, the school changes

t he i r

manner

of

speaking

and

t he i r

behavior,

i

m k s

them

98

elaborated on th is

point :

Modern education i s making the children

more dis tant from

the i r

parents •••

Now

they

play

af ter

school

i f f r nt from the unedu ted people [ i ta l ics added] .

Taeron



instead

of

doing much learning from

the

people in

the

vil lage. The

children rarely

joln

in cc.mmunity

act ivi t ies .

All

three

leaders seemed to lay par t of the blame

for

the

children s

behavior

on their

teachers. Aklan s

cri t icism

of the

teachers was

forthright :

They do not always act as moral

models

for the

children, they

are

not

~ r r

of

t r iba l ways

[ i . e . ,

khazan

and

some

are

lazy . A similar

cri t icism

was made by Chamsei :

The teachers don t seem to be able to

understand

the

real

moral

problems the children have

in th is

vil lage •••

l ike not knowing

how

to behave

according

to the

Karen

way. . . . Some

teachers

are

not good role models.

The community

leaders associated

the

changing

value

system

of

the

younger

generations with t h ei r d is in t er es t in t r iba l culture.

Aklan had th is to say concerning how t r iba l society was

changing:

In

the Akha community in the former times,

we

grew

cotton

and wove t by ourselves. I t was a unique t radi t ion for

us. ow

t s rarely done, par t icular ly the hand

weaving.

We

mostly buy clothes from the market ••• the

senior persons who

knew everything do not give the i r

knowledge

to

the

children,

the

customs

are

disappearing.

In the past ,

a l l

the t r iba l people loved the i r identi ty,

and

they

would

not

qet

married with

other

t r ibes .

I t

i s

different now

the young ones are very independent

in

choosing their own

spouses,

never only from the i r own

group.

The community leaders were especially concerned over

the

fact

tha t so many youths were leavinq the highlands. As Aklan put i t ,

Most of the children l know they

never

come

back,

because there

i s n t

anythinq

to motivate

them

to come back.

Only

a few ideal-

i s t ic

people

think of

returning

•

99



Teachers

ne teacher a t

each of

the th ree h ighla nd s tudy

s i tes

was

i nt er vi ewed ( se e Appendix xl. The

teacher chosen

a t

Saen Charoen

was

Mr.

Praeser t ,

thirty-f:: .re

years of

age.

Mr.

Praeser t

also acts

as headmaster a t th i s school. e

has

been in Saen Charoen for

three years . Mr. Thanit , th i r ty on e years of age, was interviewed

a t the Karen study

s i t e .

Mr. Thanit

has

been teaching in Tung

Phrao for f ive years. Mr.

Saenthong,

who i s twenty -f ive years old,

has

th ree

years experience teaching

the

mon

chi ldren. All three

teachers are

ethnic

Thai.

Qutlooks on schoolinq and

moral

education.

The Thai

teachers

considered

moral

education as

a

c r i t i c a l

element

of the i r teaching re spons ib i l i t i e s .

They

viewed schooling

for

highland

as a nat ional duty. Mr. Praesert :

t i s th e

dut

Y of every teacher

to

rea l ize t ha t t i s h is

o r her responsibi l i ty

to

uild the people

o f the n tion

i t a l i c s added]. l fee l we need

to put

spec ia l

emphasis

on

morali ty

because

the environment

in the c i ty

L e .

the

lowlands]

i s

too

di f fe ren t from

the

mountain

areas.

Here,

l i f e

i s so smooth,

the

people are

not

i nvolved wi th

many th ings . People who

l ive

in

town have

the

chance to

l earn much more. So we should

emphasize th i s par t of

education and make t

more

in tense here on

the

mountain.

For instance, a l l three teachers thought

t ha t h i l l

t r ibe

students

were

mor lly l cking in ce rta in ways.

According to

Mr. Thanit ,

teaching

moral education was an

onerous task ,

because

the

highland

child re n la ck

the

chance to be

exposed to

normal moral ideas •••

The chi ldren

are taught

by

t he i r

parents before

coming

to

sChool,

and they

are if f i ul t

to

ch nge i t a l i c s added] •

100



The teachers were somewhat ambivalent

about

the

impact

of

moral

education on the i r

students

because of conf l ic ts with the

community.

r

Praesert observed tha t :

I t

i s not

so easy

to

adapt the kha people s

t rad i t iona l

culture to

the

school • . • In

Saen Charoen

vi l lage ,

we

have

some

problems,

because the

vi l lage leaders don t pay

much

at ten t ion

to

th e sch oo l s ac t iv i t i es ••••

One year

the school

managed to

make use

of

the kha

top playing

ceremony . I f we hadn t done t h i s , the children

wouldn t

have

come

to

school during

th is fest ival .

But when the

top-playing ceremony was held, there

were

also a lo t

of

people who

were

gambling,

drinking whisky and taking

drUgs [ i . e . , opium]. . . . Usually when such

fes t iv i t ie s

are held, many tour i s t s come to view

the

beauty and

the

go

th in gs o f

the kha

people.

This

l a s t t ime,

however,

they were

disappointed.

At Khun

Klaang,

r

Saenthong

also

f e l t

t ha t the

moral

education

program was

having a

l imited ef fec t

on

h is students

because of the

discrepancies between

the

practices espoused a t

school and

those valued

by

the mong people. s he explained:

Some

mainstream

pract ices are not important to them, such

as Thai ceremonial days. The children ra re ly oin. They

are more interested in going out and work ing fo r

t he i r

l i v ing . . . . There are other

[lowland

Thai] princ ip les

which

are

not

harmonious

with

mong

ideas.

Something

as

simple as

fores t conservation;

the

vi l l age rs

simply

don t

l i s ten .

Although

they

don t actual ly destroy

the

fores t ,

they

don t y

to

secure

[ for future generations]

e i ther .

For

fores t

conservation,

there

has to

be

a

sense

self -sacr i f ice

and

obl igat ion

[to

everyone who makes use

of

the

fo re s t s

r es ou rc es ], b ut th is t r ib e doesn t have

much a

sense of

sacr i f i ce ••• th is i s

because th e

mong

only work

for themselves.

When asked

which

moral values t hey thought were mos t important

to teach the children, the Thai

teachers

focused on showing respec t

for

author i ty .

According to r Thanit , th i s

part icular

value

was

the base

of

a l l

moral

princ ip les . Bis

chief

means

of teaching

th i s value to

h is

students was

by

requir ing them to sawadee the

101



teacher

i .e . , showing

respect

performing w i

before

th e te ache r ;

and to use

pol i te

speech

in ThaL r Praesert believed that I t

is especial ly important

to

ins t i l l

the notion

of respect in

the

minds

of

the

highland

children

because

there

s

no

f ix ed pr in ipl e

reg rding

t s

v lue

n the mount ins

[ i

t a l ics added]Il r

Praesert also believed teachers could make moral education more

effective by

sett ing good examples:

he

teacher

has

to avoid drinking

whisky

or becoming

addicted to opium. This way the children

can

then

compare between the good and the

bad.

heteacher should

help in reducing gamblïng and drug

addiction

••• the

vil lagers

have to part icipate more in school

ac t iv i t ies

and th is

wil l

reduce

the

chance

tha t

they

become

addicted

to drugs and

s ta r t

gambling ••• the teachers have to

teach

and protect the students so they do not to

follow

the

ways of

the

older people •

102



Discussion

Students

The

information derived

from

the

Akha,

Karen

and

mon

students

allow

us to

m ke

seve ra l i nf er ence s

about the

po l i t i c a l

socia l iza t ion

taking

place

in highland

s ta te primary

schools .

Fi rs t the vast majority the of the highland students were

posi t ive

about schooling. Second,

most expressed

fa i r ly posi t ive

a t t i tudes

toward

t he i r teachers . s basic

as

these two

fac tors

m y

be,

they

are nonetheless of great importance, fo r as Easton

and

Dennis

1969

poin t o ut, the formation

of

posi t ive

af fec t between

children

and th e school ,

especial ly

the teachers, i s key i n i t i a l step in

the

pol i t i ca l soc ia l iza t ion of primary school children.

Proper

conduct was

the

most important vi r tue learned a t

school.

Social

conventions

derived from the national cul ture tha t

conveyed deference to f igures of

author i ty

and

Thai-centr ic power

s t ruc tures

were

strongly

emphasized.

The

highland

students

had

posi t ive

at t i tudes toward

t he n atio na l

leadership ,

namely the

King

of Thailand,

th e

focal

pol i t i ca l f igure embodying

greatness and

bravery.

Although

moral education classes m y not have been

the

exclusive source

of po l i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion

the s tudents

esteem

fo r

the King was

enhanced

through

thA s ta te schools.

Within th i s

process

of

po l i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion however, i s

important

to note

tha t some of the

indigenous

students expressed

cer ta in sense of in fe r ior i ty

when they

engaged in the

cul tura l

pract ices or espoused the normative

a t t i tudes of

the dominant

103



society

e .g . ,

observing proper

Thai

etiquette, praising

the

King,

or speaking in the national language).

ogbu 1993)

refers to

s imilar feel ings of

inferiorityamong

involuntary minority students

in

the

United

States.

e

identif ied

t a rge t

areas

with in the

daily

school

experience

tha t

underscore the norms

and cultural

practices

of

the dominant society,

causing the students

special problems .

Of greatest

signif icance

i s t he t yp ic al at t i tudinal response these

involuntary

minority

students

had

toward such school experiences:

Their

special

problem arises

from

the

natu re o f

the i r own

responses

to

the i r in i t ia l terms of incorporation into a

dominating society and subsequent t reatment . . . . More

specif ical ly,

appears

that

the

oppositional

identi ty

and oppositional cultural frame

of

reference have

produced a cognitive

orientation

whereby the

minorities

consciously

and

unconsciously

perceive

and

interpret

learning certain

things or acting in

certain

ways

they

associate

with

the i r

oppressors , the i r

enemies

t o o ~ t they

equate

school rules n pract ices

with th e

norms nd cultur l pr ctices o ~

t ir

oppressors or

enemy [ i ta l ics added].

pp.

501-502)

Significantly,

evidence

of

sUch an at t i tudinal change was

evident in the response pattern obtained from the highland

students.

For instance, the Akha students--the group

most

remote

from the Thai mainst ream--were the ones who

could

most easily

distinguish

between

values taugh t

a t

school

and those

a t

home. t

was also the Akha children who

could

most r ead ily iden ti fy sources

of

moral education

within the

local

community,

including r i tua l

leaders.

Again

was

the Akha

children

who identif ied

the

leas t

with

the

dominant

ethnic

group.

This response

pattern

contrasted

most

clearly with

tha t of the

mong

children, who did not perceive

any r ea l differences between home- and school-taught v i ~ s and

could not r ead ily iden ti fy sources of moral education outside the

104



school. The response pat tern of

the

Karen

children

tended to f a l l

somewhere in

between.

With

such

a response pat te rn one would expect a grea ter

propensity

fo r

the mon s tudents to re la te to the ethnie group

with whom

~

share s tandard

at t i tudes and

behaviors,

t ha t

i s the

lowland

society.

nd

yet was

the

mon

who

expressed

the most

ant ipathy t oward lowland

society.

This

would seem to concur

with

Ogbu s (1993) argument t ha t increased contact

between

members of

an

involuntary

ethnie minority group and members of the dominant

ethnic group

leads

to the former developing a so cia l id en ti ty

system t h a t

i s opposi t ional

to the socia l ident i ty system

of

the

dominant major i ty.

The

f indings

of other researchers

e .g .

Bradley,

1983;

Clausen,

1968;

Jennings

and

Niemi, 1974)

support

Ogbu s a rgument.

The

interview

data also r ev ea ls th e process by which

indigen-

ous t r i ba l s tudents assume

the sta tus

of involuntary minori t ies .

ue

to

the

ra la t ively

grea ter

remoteness

of the

Akkha

and

Karen

s i t e s

s tudent respondents

a t

there did not

fee l the

same

ass imi la t ive pressures as the i r mon counterpart . The

a t t i tudes

expressed

by

the

kkha and Karen students

toward

members

of the

dominant

ethnic group were more

suggestive

of primary ul tur l

di t terences

i . e those of

volun ta ry mino ri ty

members),

showing

less

reluctance

to associate with members of the dominant host

socie ty .

The

responses

made

by

the

Hmong students,

on

à le other

hand,

re f lec ted viewpoints

akin

to secondary ul tur l di erences

usually

at t r ibuted

to involuntary minority members•

105



Response pat terns of th i s kind lend strength

to Ogbu s

1993

be l ie f t ha t involuntary minority students have a greater tendency

to

perce ive

acquiescence

to

the

cul tural

frame of reference of the

dominant

group,

including

the

school,

as

a

l inear

acculturation

process ,

an

assimila t ion process , or a displacement/replacement

process (p.S01);

th i s re inforces

the

s tudents

oppositional

cul tura l frame of re fe re nc e a s contact with the dominant society

increases .

Parents and Community Leaders

The parents responses

revealed

underlying conce rn s ove r the

qual i ty of education

and

the moral t ra ining t he i r children were

receiving a t the schools. Many of the parents comments indicated

t ha t t hey cons ide red t he i r chi ldren s education

in fe r ior

to lowland

s tandards

and reflected

a cer ta in dis t rus t fo r

the

schools s

attempts a t

soc ia l iz ing

t he i r children. Most

important ,

a majority

of

the

parents

saw

the

inst i tu t ional ized

process

of assimila t ion

taking

place

in the

schools as

in imical to the

overa l l

socio-

cul tura l wel l

being

of the i r family

within the

t r iba l community.

i s in te res t ing to note

t ha t

comparable scepticism i s common

among other indigenous involuntary minor i t ies regarding th i s issue,

such

as

Native

Americans

(Gibson

Ogbu, 1991;

Kramer

1991).

The

scepticism expressed by the parents

was l a rge ly echoed

the

community leaders . They too viewed the

transformation

of

the

chi ldren s th inking and behavior

brought

on by the school as

detr imental te the cul tural

surviva l

of

t he i r communities •

106



Ogbu 1991, 1993 notes t h a t

within

th e involuntary

minority,

family an d s i g n i f i c a n t cODllllunity members do

influence younger

members in

adopting

an

opposi t i ona l c u l t u r a l

frame

of

r ef er ence

toward

th e

dominant

society.

This

opposition

i s

cODllllunicated

pri ma ri l y through

family an d community

di sc ussi ons and

gossip.

Such

being

th e c a se ,

i s n o t unreasonable t o

assume

t h a t th e

general d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n expressed by many a d u l t t r i b a l members

c ont ri but e d

to some degree

to

th e c h i l d r e n s own oppositional

a t t i t u d e s .

The

f a c t

t h a t

th e

mon a d u l t s were th e

most

c r i t i c a l

o f th e th re e t r i b a l groups lends g r e a t e r p la us ib ili ty t o t h i s

assumption.

e cbers

The comments made by th e te ac he rs

interviewed

indicated t h a t

they viewed th e transmission o f n ati on al values t o th e indigenous

s tu de nts a s a

proc e ss

leading t o th e replacement o f th e s tu de nts

ethnic

c u l t u r e s

and

i d e n t i t i e s

Gibson

1991

noted

s i m i l a r

viewpoints amonq North American dominant

group

t e ac h e rs t e ac h in g in

schools with

involuntary

minority stu d en ts. In essence, th e Thai

teacher s saw

t h e i r

r o l e

as

disseminators o f c i v i l i z e d manners t o

th e uncouth; a

conformist

s o c i a l i z i n q process in

which

th e

r e c i p i e n t s n a t i v e

e t hos had no

value •

10 7



CRAPTER V

TAl W lH

H i s t o r i c a l

overview

Th e ear l ies t c o n t a c t between th e Chinese

and

th e

ab o r ig in es

o f

Taiwan occurred in the e a r l y

par t

o f

th e 1 6th c en tu ry .

t h e n ,

the

i s l a n d wa s

s een

by th e

Chinese a s a haven f o r th o se facin g

economic h ar d sh ip s

o r pol i t i ca l p e r s e c u t i o n

on

th e mainland

see

map, Appendix XI ) . Immigration

began and

by

th e

m i d -fo u rt een t h

cen tu r y the Chinese s ta r ted to come

to

Taiwan

by th e

thousands

smith,

1991).

Th e Chinese were

n o t

th e

only f o r e i g n e r s

in te re st e d in th e

i s l a n d o f Taiwan or Formosa,

a s

wa s c a l l e d

by Westerners.

S pa ni sh , P ort ug ue se and

Dutch

t raders

began to

sta k e o u t t e r r i -

t o r i a l cl ai m s on

Ta iwa n s c o a s t . Economie

and mil i ta ry r iva l ry

between

t h e s e

European

powers

wa s

evidenced

in

Taiwan,

wi t h

th e

Dutch f inal ly a ssu m in g p r ed o mi n an c e.

I n the p e r i o d

t ha t

Taiwan was being r a p i d l y p o p u l at ed

by

Chinese

m ig r an ts, the whole

o f mainland China

wa s in

po l i t i c a l

t u r m o i l .

The ea r l i e r Ming dynasty had been

r ep laced

by

a fo re ign

one from

M a nc hur ia - - the Ching

dynasty. Many members

o f th e Chinese

rul ing

c lass

s t i l l l o y a l to th e

deposed Ming

l e a d e r s ,

took up arms

a g a i n s t

the Manchurians. One o f them was Koxinga, a r e b e l

g e n e r a l ,

who

de c ide d to u s e

Taiwan

a s

h is m ilita ry b ase.

I n 1661

Koxinga

108



dislodged th e

Dutch, thereby

g r e a t l y diminishing th e

European

presence on

islan d Smith, 1991).

Taiwan s t a r t e d t o g r a v i t a t e toward th e Chinese

pol i t ica l

sphere.

irs t

was made a

prefecture o f

Fukien

Province.

Then,

in 1884,

was given th e

s t a t u s

of a separate province.

This

s t a t u s

d id

not

las t very

long,

however.

A f t e r being embroiled in

a c a t a s t r o p h i c m i l i t a r y

c o n f l i c t

with

Japan,

China was forced to

cede Taiwan in

1895. Thus,

Taiwan was made a

Japanese

colony and

remained

so

unt i l 1945, when Japan was defeated by th e A llied

Forces.

Although

th e Chinese

government

regained

c o n t r o l

o f

th e

i s l a n d , Taiwan s pol i t ica l

s t a t u s

was to undergo d r a s t i c changes

once

again.

y th e

time

recovered

Taiwan,

China

was a ravaged

country.

Warfare

a g a i n s t th e Japanese

and

an internecine c iv i l war

between

N a t i o n a l i s t

and

Communist fo rces had

le

f t th e mainland s

pol i t ica l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e

in

shambles. y 1949, th e Communists had

qained

th e

upp er hand, and

Chianq

Kai-shek,

th e N a t i o n a l i s t

l e a d e r ,

had

no

recourse bu t to escape to Taiwan.

There he

e s t a b l i s h e d

a

qovernment-in-exile in t h e

c a p i t a l

ci ty

o f Taip ei. Several

m i l l i o n

m a in la nd C hi ne se followed Chianq to Taiwan.

A fter many y ears

o f pol i t ica l

an d

m i l i t a r y

stalemate a q a i n s t

th e

Communists Chianq

Kai-shek

r e a l i z e d tha t th e

ba t t le

to

req ain

th e mainland would be a p r o t r a c t e d one.

e

then i n s t r u c t e d his

N a t i o n a l i s t reqime to

e mb ar k u po n

th e t a s k o f transforminq

Taiwan

i n t o

a

b a s t i o n o f democracy , on e

tha t

would serv e a s t h e

i d e o l o q i c a l

a l t e r n a t i v e to t h e Chinese

Communist

mainland

•

1 9



Education

Organized

education c me t o iw n

f i r s t by

w y

o f

th e Dutch,

w o

se t up

missionary

schools.

At

th t

time

th e

most

important

people l i v i n g in th e fer t i le

lowlands

were

th e

ab o rig in es. he

Dutch found them l i k e a b l e people an d m de

effor ts

to b efrien d

them. he Dutch

provided th e lo c a ls

w it h e du ca ti on

an d

promoted

new i n d u s t r i e s

amongst

them. Administrative

o f f i c e r s

were

instructed

to

supervise

each tr i e

in benign manner.

Under th e

r u l e

o f

Koxinga,

however, Chinese administrative

system rep laced

th e e r l ier

Dutch model Smith, 1991). Unlike th e

Dutch, th e Chinese

tt i tude

towards th e n a t i v e s w s h o s t i l e . he

ab o rig in es were considered

to

be

marginal

b arb arian s

an d

a s

such,

d id

n o t f i t

i n t o th e Chinese s o c i a l h ierarch y . Consequently, th e

Chinese

ed u catio n al system,

p u t in to place in Koxinga s tim e,

precluded any p a r t i c i p a t i o n by

th e

native peoples.

In

1895,

when

th e is la n d

w s

ceded

to

Japan, education

on

Taiwan underwent

fundamental

transformation. During th e in i t i l

s ta g e o f Japanese

o cc up at io n, e du ca ti on w s seen as t o o l t o

a s s i m i l a t e th e l o c a l

population,

Chinese

and ab o rig in es a lik e, in to

th e Japanese empire

Tsurumi,

1977).

Accordingly,

c o l o n i a l

education

p o l i c i e s

placed much em phasis on Japanese language an d

c u l t u r e .

During th is

period

s ma ll p er ce nt ag e o f Chinese and

a bo ri qi na l) s tu de nt s

were a c t u a l l y allowed

to

pursue

the i r formal

s t u d i e s beyond

th e e le me nta ry p ha se .

U nfortunately,

th is

more

l i er l educational p o l i c y

wa s

short-lived. y th e

l s t

decade o f

110



Japanese

c o l o n i a l r u l e th e e th nic t e n s i o n s brought on by World War

I I

r e s u l t e d in

a

more

co n s erv at i v e p o l i c y

fo r Taiwan,

which

denied

ed u cat i o n al o p p o r t u n i t i e s

to

th e indigenous p o p u l at i o n Smith,

1991).

When th e


regime e s t a b l i s h e d i t s e l f

on

Taiwan, th e

e d u c a t i o n a l system wa s ag ai n r a d i c a l l y changed. The

d e f e a t

o f

Japan

and th e r e tu r n o f Taiwan

t o

China in 1945

had c r e a t e d

enormous

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e

and

l o g i s t i c a l

problems

f o r th e

r e h a b i l i t a -

t i o n o f Taiwan s

ed u cat i o n al

i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .

Th e

r e p a t r i a t i o n o f

t e a c h e r s o f Japanese

a nc e str y

approximately 51 p e r c e n t o f a I l

te a c he r s)

c r e a t e d an

island-wide

t e a c h e r s h o rt ag e i n th e

schools

Smith,

1991).

Although Taiwan wa s once more

under

Chinese

c o n t r o l ,

i s

imp o r ta n t

t o

remember

t h a t th e m a j o r i t y o f th e Chinese who

followed

Chiang

Kai-shek

t o Taiwan came from th e n o r t h e a s t e r n p a r t o f

China.

These mainlanders d id n o t s h a r e th e same s o c i a l c u l t u r a l o r

p o l i t i c a l

background

a s

th e

Taiwanese

popula tion

which

had

emigrated

from so u th e r n

China i n

th e

18th and 19th

c e n t u r i e s .

ch

d i s c r e p a n c i e s were

very

ap p aren t i n 1949,

to

th e e x t e n t

t h a t many

l o c a l Taiwanese f i e r c e l y r e s i s t e d th e N a t i o n a l i s t s

a r r i v a I

Su n

1991).

Faced

w i t h

a g e n e r a l l y h o s t i l e

p o p u l at i o n , N a t i o n a l i s t educa

t i o n a l

a u t h o r i t i e s shrewdly d e c id e d

to r e t a i n some

a s p e c t s o f

Japanese s ch o o l i n g

which

were u se f ul f o r

t h e i r own p u rp o s es .

They

v a lu e d th e c e n t r a l i z e d Japanese

c o l o n i a l e d u c a t i o n a l

system f o r

f o s t e r i n g

subservience t o

a u t h o r i t y Wilson, 1970).


111



education

o f f i c i a l s

soon se t

about

p o l i t i c a l l y

socializing

the

local

population

(Tsurwni, 1977). The Nationalis t government

presented i t s e l f as the enligh tened conse rvator of Chinese

civi l izat ion.

Nationalist educators propagated ul t ra-nat ional is t ic

messages

in

the

schools: patr iot ism, civic

loyalty,

and cultural

f i d e l i t y .

However Nationalist p o l i t i c a l ideology was

linked t o t ra d it io n al

Chinese culture.

In

the schools Confucianism came to be used as

the

paramount

doc tr in e f or the p o l i t i c a l social izat ion

of

students

(Lucas, 1982;

Meyer,

1989c; Taylor, 1988).

Confucianism and Moral Education

Confucianism i s

essential ly

a moral system t h a t fosters a

universal

inner-world

morality (Hall Ames 1987;

Tan,

1990).

At th e h eart

of the

Confucianism i s

the

notion

of

ren,

or

l o v e

human

kindness , and

v i r t u e .

The

practice of

ren i s considered

a

supreme

moral achievement .

Ren

i s

in

accord with hsiao

f i l i a l

p i e t y r i t u a l norms , cbung

lo ya lty to one s nature ,

shu

r e c i p r o c i t y r ighteousness ,

ai benevolent

love , hsin

t rus twor th iness , bo

harmony ,

and ping peace

(Smith

Smith,

1989). Of a l l these

vir tues,

f i l i a l piety has been

t radi t ional ly

regarded as

the most

outstanding

manifestation of ren Mo

1985).

According t o

e Great Learning (a

Confucian classic) ,

f i l i a l

piety

serves

as the fundamental

ethical

principle

guiding

the [ive

tradi-

t ional relationsbips t h a t

between

father

and

son,

elder and

112



younger siblings,

husband and

wife,

friend

and friend,

and

ruler

and subject Meyer 1989a).

The primary cor.cern of Confucian morality is to establish an

in t r icate

social

order through

the

expansion

of

an

individual s

social dutY tha t

begins

with the

family,

which is

then

extended to

the

community

and

f in ally to

the state Confucian

vir tues

govern

a l l

socia l

interactions, with the family

acting

as

the pivotal

social uni t (Jiang, 1985).

Fi l ia l

piety

governs

daily

l i fe and

helps the family maintain

harmonious

re la t ions with the

world.

As

Confucius declared:

I f

one

can

cu lt iv a te h is person, then he

can

manage his household. I f he can manage his household, then he can

bring order

to

the

ent i re country. Then there wil l be

peace in the

whole

world (quoted in Meyer 1988b, p.

275).

Although

Confucian

thought

profoundly

influenced

Chinese

thinking into modern times,

Nationalist

pol i t ica l

propagandists

astueely merged Confucianism with

pol i t ica l ideology inspired

by

the

founder

of

modern

China,

Dr.

Sun

Yat-sen.

SUn s

pol i t ica l

philosophy

was framed within

the

Tbree Principles

o

the

People

these

principles being nationalism,

democracy,

and human

r ights

(Sun, 1959).

Chiang

Kai-shek, as

Sun s

successor to

the

le adersh ip o f th e Nat io na li st Party , e labo ra ted on h is

mentor s

ideological principles and adapted them

to

meet Nationalist

designs.

In

1953, Chiang

Kai-shek

published

his pol i t ica l views on

education.

SUpplElJllentary statements on ducation

and Recreation

and the Principle o

Livelihood

became the ideological guide

113



princip

les for

Nationalist

educators. Chiang emphasized

that

the

nat ion s youth had

to

understand the fundamental significance of

the basic

vir tues of

loyalty, f i l i a l piety. and righteousness

in

order

to

become

cit izens who

love

their

country

more

th

an

their

own

l i ves

i ta l ics

added] (Chiang,

1959, p.276).

Moral Education

Educational ideology in contemporary aiwanmerges Confucian

humanism

Nationalist republicanism. and Western

secular scient i f ic

thought. he Chinese Constitution states

that :

Education and

culture

shal l

aim a t

the development among the cit izens of the

national

~ p r t

the sp i r i t

of

self-government, national

morality.

o

physique,

scient i f ic

knowledge. and the abi l i ty to earn

a

living (C.J. Lin,

1983, p.112).

he Taiwanese

education

system i s organized on the 6-3-3-4

grade/year

pattern,

the

f i r s t

nine years

being

compulsory. Course

content and teaching guidelines follow the

national

curriculum

se t

by

the

Ministry of

Education.

At the primary level, courses are

given

in

LiZe and Ethics hinese (Mandarin), Mathematics Social

Studies Natural Science Music crafts and roup t ivi t ies

(China

Yearbook, 1991). Within

th is

comprehensive curriculum,

i s understoOO

t ha t

the

teaching of

moral education i s

supposed

to

be as

important

as

academic subjects. Moreover, moral education in

Taiwan s public primary schools i s to be

carr ied

out

not

only

through formaI instruction but also through p artic ip atio n in

114



informai ch aracter-b u ild in g a c t i v i t i e s Anderton,

1 9 8 3 ;

hu

1 9 7 3 ;

R.Y. L i n , 1 9 9 0 ) .

The

c urr ic ula r lin k

betwe en m or al

education an d

p o l i t i c a l

ideoloqy

was

reinforced

in

1962

when

th e

elementary

curriculum

was

rev ised

an d

th e ivieTraining

course

was replaced by ivies and

Morality

The

l a t t e r

was

again revised in 1 9 6 8 , an d

was named

LiÏe

and Ethies

t o

emphasize th e importance o f moral education in th e

c h i l d r e n s

d a i l y l i v e s .

The

course

remains

so-named

to

t h i s

day.

L i r e

an d

Ethics

To r e i t e r a t e , moral

education in Taiwan

i s

quided

by tw o key

p o l i t i c a l concerns. One i s

t o

f o s t e r

th e

values embodied i n

C o nfuc ia ni sm a nd

th e

Three Prineiples oÏ

the People

The

o t h e r

i s

th e need t o maintain th e legitimacy o f

t he N a ti on al is t

regime in

Taiwan. fo reiq n ers L e . , northern

mainlanders) ruling an

indigenous majority L e . , th e Taiwanese

Chinese),

t h e N a t io n a li st s

have had

to

c r e a t e

an d

maintain

an

image

o f

n a t i o n a l l e a d e r s h i p ,

on e whose p o l i t i c a l raison

d ê t r e

i s

th e recovery o f th e Chinese

mainland. With these tw o id eo lo g ical themes

i n

mind, th e p o l i t i c a l

agenda o f

th e

LiÎe

and

Ethies

course

becomes q u i t e apparent.

F i r s t ,

i f

examine th e

teach er manuals t h a t accompany

th e

course, fin d p a r t i c u l a r emphasis placed on c e r t a i n themes,

including:

love

o f th e n a t i o n a l f l a g ; love o f th e country; r e s p e c t

f o r q r e a t

h i s t o r i c a l f i g u r e s ;

protection

o f th e

c o u n t r y s honor;

and reco n stru ctio n o f

th e

country Office o f Com pilation and

Tran slatio n ,

Republic

o f

China,

1 9 8 9 ) .

Th e

manuals

convey t o

115



teachers the importance

of

promoting behaviors in t h e i r students

t h t

conform to these themes.

second, by studying the a ctua l

lessons

in the

i fe

and

th ics

textbooks

w

find

many

stor ies

containing

p o l i t i c l l y

explici t

mate rial, featurin g mili tary events, p t r i o t i c martyrdom, and

nat ional is t ic heroism. The i fe and thics textbooks dwell on one

p o l i t i c l

themei ci t izens

must

do t h e i r best

to strengthen

the

nation.

This pervasive

theme

i s buttressed

by

Confucian precepts

concerning

personal responsibili t ies within the social order.

The p o l i t i c l indoctrination

in

Taiwan s

moral

education

course i s thorough

and

unremitting Meyer 1988b, p. 278).

Students

are

encouraged

t o develop posi t ive

at t i tudes

towards t h e i r

p o l i t i c l

leaders, similar

t o

those they have would for

t h e i r

ow

family. Benevolent familial t r i t s are

imputed

t o important

p o l i t i c l figures such

as Chiang

Kai-shek

and

Sun Yat-sen.

For

example, Sun

i s

repeatedly referred t o as guo fu

or

f t h e r

of

the

country .

The

respectful suffix,

un

meaning

grandfather

i s

invar iably a t tached t o Chiang s family name. The personalization

of

p o l i t i c l

authority

i s further strengthened

by

deification

of

h i s t o r i c l

and contemporary leaders. For

instance,

the

hree Pr in -

ciples [ the eople are

inextricably

meshed with Sun

Yat-sen s

magnificence.

Throughout

the

moral education texts , students are

reminded t h t these principles form the

basis

of Sun s

personal

fulfilment •

116



Thematic Analysis Qf the MQral

EducatiQn

TextS

The

themes Qf

Patriotism;

Fil ial Piety; Respect for aw and

Diligence dQminate ins t ruct iQn

in Li fe

and Ethies

PatriQtism.

The

mQral educatiQn

textbQQks f i r s t appeal tQ s tudents

emQtiQns

by

l inking happy childhQQd experiences tQ pat r iQt ic

al truism.

The

cQurageous acts Qf mil i ta ry f ig ure s a re retQld

such

as Sun

Yat-sen,

Chiang Kai-shek and h is sQn, Chiang Ching-kuQ),

suggest ing

t ha t persQnal greatness i s

synQnymQus with pat r iQt ic

se l f lessness . The

mQral

qua l i t i e s Qf grea t men are

alsQ ascr ibed

tQ

everyday

peQple.

Qr

example, one le sson fQcuses

n a

National

i s t

sQldier ,

ao

Chih-hang

wh

gQes on

a

su ic ida l missiQn fo r h is

CQuntry.

The heroic

explQi ts

Qf

YQung

children

a re

alsQ recQunted,

presumably because they

tQO are

capable

of

making

great

sacr i f i ces

fo r t he i r country. JingQist ic

slQgans

abound,

fQ r example :

one

should sac r i f i ce the littl

s e l f to f u l f i l

the

needs

of the

l a rge r

s e l f ;

loyal ty

and

cQurage

a re

th e ro ots Qf patr iot ism ;

serve

the

public

and

forget

the

se l f ;

and

on

Office

of

CompilatiQn and Translat iQn,

1989).

Fi l i a l pie ty .

Within

the

LiZe

and Ethies curriculum, Patriotism gradual ly

replaces

Fil ial

piety

as th e card in al

CQnfucian

vi r tue .

This

change re f l ec t s a del iberate

attempt

by

the

gQvernment to use

family loyal ty as

the means to

ensure

loyal ty

to the

s ta te Wilson,

1970)

•

117



Unlike Communist China,

the

Nationalis t government has

never

abandoned

i t s

view th t strong familial t i es are support ive

of

national

consciousness (Martin,

1975).

However

t radit ional views

on

the

family

have been transformed

so

th t i s

no

longer

treated

as

an autonomous

socia l uni t , but ra ther as

the crucial

mediator

between the individual and the nation. subordinating f i l i l

piety to pa triotism , th e

government

uses t radi t ional Confucian

\familyism to

promote

socia l cohesion

and

national cohesion.

Within

th is

peculiar poli t i l interpretat ion

of

the family,

many

references are

made

to the Confucian classics concerning the

signif icance

of

the family

within society.

For example, family

members

are compared

to the

arms

and legs of one

body--harmonious

re la t ions among them are indispensable to ensure the well-being of

each member as well as the whole society. Other

lessons emphasize

the f t th t each family member

must

be ready to admonish other

members who commit transgressions.

Significantly,

th is theme

i s

also

applied

to pol i t i l

f igures. One lesson, for instance, focuses

on

Sun Yat-sen

and h is

brother , where

students

are exhorted to emulate

Sun s sp i r i t of

unselfishness

and

f ra ternal

loveR (Office of

Compilation and

Translation,

Republic of

China,

1989).

The

father-son

relationship

of

Chianq

Kai-shek and Chianq Chin-quo who succeeded

his

father as

president

of the Republic of

China)

i s also exploited to epitomize

the nat iona l s iqnif ic ance of f i l i l piety. Chianq Chin-quo s

idea l ized re la t ionship to

h is

father i s used

to

exemplify a famous

118



maxim found in the

confucian

c lass ic , non i l i l iety loya l

statesmen

emanate from

the gate of f i l i a l piety .

Respect fo r law.

The texts emphatically remind students tha t

th e

most important

reason for

observing

ru les and regulat ions i s to advance national

s tab i l i ty and

secur i ty .

The

message

i s

tha t democracy

must

be

founded on obedience. Seeking democracy

and

freedom without

abiding by

national laws

leads to

socia l

chaos and

endangers the

na t ion s

very

existence. The democratic and ega l i t a r ian

id eals o f

the

Three

rinciples the People are

always

qual i f ied with

cau tionary s ta temen ts

about the

l imi ts of freedom. True freedom,

the

t ex t s

emphasize,

involves

p uttin g th e

group s we lf ar e b ef or e

t ha t

of

the individual .

Diligence.

uch emphasis i s placed. on se l f -s t ruggle

as the

means to

success . Students are

to ld

to emulate the

grea t

scholar Wang

Yun

wu

who,

despi te

many

ear ly

hardships,

became

educated

to

the

level

of a leading

scholar ,

making

grea t

contr ibutions to th e nation.

Academie

achievement i s

also

re la ted to

hard

work.

Students learn

of

Yuan

Jung-yian of the

Sung

PYnasty (960-1279 A.D.),

a

very poor

farmer s

son,

who

l ived

an

abandoned, part ly

destroyed temple

while receiving

an

education. Yuan Jung-yian

not

only

becomes

a

leading

imperial scholar, bu t

also

emerges

as an

inf luent ia l

mil i ta ry and

pol i t i ca l leader.

Academie achievement

should be

pr inc ipa l ly motivated by consideration fo r

the

good of the nation

ra the r than

by

a des i r e fo r

individual advancement

•

119



MajoritY/Minority

Ethnie

Re la tions

The Dominant Ethnie Group--the Taiwanese and

Nationalist

Chinese

As

b r i e f l y diseussed ear l ier th e

immigration

o f

ethnie

Chinese

from e o a s t a l

China,

only

115 miles

d i s t a n t ,

began

in

the

16th

een tury w ith

seattered

enclaves

o f p i r a t e s

and

privateers

engaged on one s i d e

o r th e o th er of

dynastie wars on

th e mainland.

The

ethnie Chinese

were

c h i e f l y

immigrants

from th e

southeast

c o a s t a l

provinces

o f

Fukien and Kwangtung Bokkien speakers from

Fukien

Province

arriv ed

f i r s t

and claimed

th e b e st lands,

p a r t i c u

lar ly those on th e fe r t i le western p l a i n s . Bakka speakers from

Kwangtung

Province arriv ed la te r

and had

to s a t i s f y t he m se lv es w i th

marginal lands i n th e

f o o t h i l l s and along

th e

c o a s t l i n e ,

t h a t is

much o f

th e

remaining terr i tory o f th e indigenous t r ibes Today

th ese B ok ki en a nd Bakka, representing over 8

per cent

o f th e

ethnie

Chinese

population

sm ith, 1991),

a r e th e

dominant

e t h n i e

group,

and

th e t er m T ai wa ne se

i s

often used to

r e f e r

to

them.

A s ec on d m aj or in flu x o f Chinese immigrants

occurred in

th e

middle o f th i s century when m illio n s o f Chinese

Nationalists

escaped to Taiwan from th e

Chinese

mainland. Bence, th is l a t te r

popula tion

i s commonly r e f e r r e d to a s m ai nl an de rs .

These tw o w aves o f i mm ig ra ti on , c ou pl ed

with

th e


Chinese

pr ef er ence

fo r la rg e fa mi lie s, r e s u l t e d in a

tremendous

popula tion

growth o f eth n ie Chinese. Today they comprise over 98

120



percent

of th e i s l a n d s

to ta l

population, roughly 19 million people

China Yearbook

1991).

The

Non-Cbinese

Minorities--tbe

H i l l

Peoples

The aborigines o f Taiwan a re

believed t o

be

of

Indonesian

o r

Malayan o r i g i n , an d a re divided i n t o nine major t r ibes as

recognized

by

Taiwanese

a u t h o r i t i e s ; S aish et, Bunu Tsou, Rukai,

Yamei B ei nan , p ai wan , Amei and

Taiya.

Their a r r i v a l in Taiwan

occurred many c e n t u r i e s ago, and

the i r

t ies

to

o th er a bo ri gi na l

groups o f

Southeast ABia are remote. They do

n ot consider any

o th er land

the i r

a n c e s t r a l home The p r es e n t a b o ri g in a l

population

i s approximately 330,000, t h a t is

s l i g h t l y l e s s

th an 1 .5 p ercen t

o f Taiwan s

to ta l

population China Yearbook, 1991). The Paiwan,

Amei an d

Taiya a re th e th re e

l a r g e s t t r ibes

any

more indigenous

t r i b e s

e x iste d in Taiwan

in th e

pasto

When

C hi ne se i mm ig ra nt s

f i r s t

a r r i v e d

i n

th e

16th

century,

they

divided

t r ibal

groups

into

tw o types o f aborigines: sedentary

groups that lived i n th e

lowland

areas an d

practised

a g r i c u l t u r e ;

and

more m o bi le g ro u ps that l ived

i n

th e m ou nt ai ns a nd survived by

hunting an d f i s h i n q .

At

that

t a e

t h e r e

were

reportedly te n

sedentary lowland t r ibes

y

th e middle o f th is

century

th e

remuants o f th is sedentary lowland aboriqinal

population

had been

OlIIpletelyassiJlli lated in to the hinese m instre m Chaffee e t a l

1969).

The

t r iba l groups that

remained i n

th e hiqhlands were

in a

stro n q er

p o s i t i o n to res is t

Chinese

encroachment,

and survived

to

121



become what i s

known as Taiwan s

contemporary indigenous ethnic

populat ion.

Today

most t r iba l group members

reside

in remote

mountainous

areas,

especial ly

in the centra l mountain range t ha t

divides

Taiwan on

north-south

axis

(Chaffee

e t

a l 1969).

Unlike

t he i r

counterpar ts in northem Thailand, the h i l l t r ibes of

Taiwan are not well-known in ternat ional ly Consequently, there has

not been

grea t deal of research done on these

peoples.

General Cbarac te ri st ic s o f

Taiwan s

Hil l

Tribes

Histor ica l ly Taiwan

indigenous groups could be dis t in -

guished by the i r geographic location, economic

act ivi ty l inguis t ic

dis t inc t iveness and po l i t i ca l

organization.

Despite t he i r

t r iba l

charac ter is t ics

a l l groups

nonetheless share

some

cul tura l

s imi la r i t i es and customs.

:It

i s

important to note,

however,

t ha t

much

of the indigenous

peoples

t rad i t iona l

cul ture has

already

disappeared.

ribal orqani za ti on

Triba l

organization t radi t ional ly cons is ted o f

kinship group

and

loca l uni t

The

kinship group included

the clan, which was

subdivided

in to pat r i l inea l and matr i l inea l descents . Without

exception, Taiwan s ind igenous t r ibes pract i sed monog my (Chaffee

e t a l

1969).

The value of women s labor

was

recognized and the i r

posi t ion

in t r i ba l

society

was re la t ively

high. Close

cooperation

between the

sexes led to

s table and well-balanced

soc ie ty : Each

able-bodied

m n

brought in h is

share

of meat, and every ~ o m a n

who

was

physi ca ll y ab le cul t iva ted

the f i e lds

harvested

the crops, and

122



s to red the food (Hsieh, 1964,

p.

134). Disputes over

personal

or

communal property seldom arose.

Religious beliefs .

The

native

peoples of

Taiwan

worshipped

nature.

Their

bel ief

system was a kind

of

polytheism, which made

no

dist inct ion between

gods

and

spi r i t s .

They did not

have any

shrines

and

had

no concept

of

a s u p r ~ God They practised a ser ies of r i tua ls

before

or

af ter every important

farming and

hunting act iv i ty to show the i r

grati tude for nature s

bounty.

important

t radi t ional characteris t ic

of highland h i l l

t r ibes was the i r belligerence

(Chaffee e t

a l . 1969). In ter t r iba l

re la t ions

were

often marked

by

host i l i ty possibly at t r ibutable

to

the re la t ive lack

of

space

in

the

highlands.

They

were well

known

for head hunting.

Heads

were taken by young men to gain adul t

s ta tus prestige, and qualif icat ion for marriage. Head hunting

diminished

as foreiqn control over aboriginal practices increased,

and

by

the

la te

1950s

the practice

had

become

completely

extinct .

Moral nd

l g l

codes

Tradit ional moral codes kept the social order in tac t .

Behaviors commonly prohibited

by

a l l the indigenous groups

included: adu lt eryi p remar it al s x

inces t i

the

steal ing of any

a r t i c le of propertYi

and

disrespect

towards elders . In

everyday

terms,

f idel i ty to the moral code meant tha t

h i l l

t r ibe members

were quite ready to render each other assistance. They did not

l ike

to compete against each

other and

they rarely

resorted

to

violence •

23



he s o c i a l hie ra rc hy of th e community was seldom

disputed

sanctions ag ain st

those

w challenged th e e sta bl is he d order

of

leader ship were s t r ic t Adherence to th e s t a t u s

qu o

was

almost

e n t i r e l y s e l f - r e g u l a t o r y .

In addition,

v i l l a g e

communities

enjoyed

a high

degree

o f

pol i t ical autonomy,

even i f they belonged to a

l a r g e r t r iba l

e n t i t y Chaffee e t

a l

1969).

radit ional

education

Each memher had a well-defined r o le in assur ing th e

f amily s

welf ar e. Th e process o f bringing up th e youngest

family members

was a t a s k gener ally

shared

among

grandparents, p aren ts,

close

r e l a t i v e s an d

older

s i b l i n g s . A s t h e r e was no w r i t t e n

form

of

communication, childr en acquired t r a d i t i o n a l knowledge o r a l l y ,

mostly from o l d e r family memhers Transmission o f

knowledge

focused on

re sp e ct fo r laws,

r u l e s ,

reg u latio n s, an d

taboos.

Children would b e t o l d

s tor ies

about th e

her oic

e x p l o i t s

o f

p a s t

warrio rs, urging

them

to become jus t as

brave

and f e a r l e s s .

Learning

was

mostly

p a r t i c i p a t o r y .

he

young

boys

would

learn

e s s e n t i a l ski l l s e . g . ,

tool-making,

hunting and fishing)

through

direc t

obse rva tion

and p a r t i c i p a t i o n . he gir ls on th e o t h e r

hand, would be

or iented

toward home

ski l l s

e . g . ,

cooking,

c l o t h

we aving, e mhroide ry)

o r

a g r i c u l t u r a l techniques. In e i t h e r case,

th e emphasis

was on lear ning

by

doing.

ÇqntempOrary Cballenges Paced by ta iwan s ill Tribes

Recently, one a nthropologic a l r esear cher described th e

s i t u a t i o n o f Taiwan s n a t i v e peoples th i s way Copper, 1990):

124



The aborigines are l e s s educated, t h e i r

socioeconomic

s t a t u s i s lower,

an d

many find

d i f f i c u l t

o r undesir

able to in te g ra te in to th e s o c i e t y

a s

a

whole

• • . they

remain to a

large

extent

outsiders an d

a re

considered

underprivileged s o c i a l l y .

Most do n ot

want

t o be

assimilated, an d

s o c i a l

help programs have to a

lar ge

extent

been

counterproductive,

causing

a

breakdown

of

authority t h a t has

le d to crime

an d

other problems.

p

3 7 .

ny of th e th re ats to th e c u l t u r a l s urv iv al o f

Taiwan s h i l l

t r i b e s a re sim ila r

t o

th o se in northern Thailand.

The dif f er ence

i s t h a t thb ~ u t u r

loss

i s more extensive in

Taiwan.

The depopulatioD of th e highlands.

The r apid

outflow of th e

indigenous

la bo r force to th e

lowlands i s a major source fo r concerne The population o f some

t r i b a l

groups i s

already

dangerously low.

According

to

o f f i c i a l

estimates, more t h a n 80,000

people

o f

h i l l

t r i b e s t a t u s a re now

residing

in lowland d i s t r i c t s - - o n e fourt h

of th e t o t a l h i l l

t r i b e

population Cheng

1992a .

A

f a c t o r eontr ibuting t o th e demographie

depletion

of th e

highlands

i s

th e

inereasing

number

of

young

h i l l

t r i b e

people

who

a re

marrying

outside

t h e i r

t r i b a l

eommunities.

Exaeerbating th e

depopulation

problem i s

th e

f a e t t h a t most o f th e se exogamous

marriages

involve young h i l l t r i b e women. Aeeording to Chinese

t r a d i t i o n , th e

childr en o f

couples from

d i f f e r e n t

ethnie

back

grounds automatically assume th e

f a t h e r s

e t h n i e s t a t u s . And

because

th e r e a r e

fewer young

people

of

marrying age

wi t hi n

highland v i l l a g e s , h i l l t r i b e

members

seeking

a

spouse have no

choiee

b u t

t o seek

lowland Chinese

spouses

•

125



Urban m ar g in alizatio n

•

With th e r a p id

growth

o f Taiwan s economy t h e r e has been

an

inc re a se

in the

number o f h i l l t r ibe

youths

coming

to

th e

ci t ies to

t ry

to

make a

l iv ing

Because

o f

the i r

lo w

l e v e l

o f

ed u cat i o n ,

t h e

vas t m ajo r ity o f

t h e s e

workers end up a s

m en i al

l a b o r e r s

working

under

d ep lo r ab le

c o n d i t i o n s .

A s most o f

the i r low-paying j o b s

l a s t

only

f o r a fe w months,

th e

indigenous

workers end up dr i f t ing from

one

work

s i t e

to a n o t h e r Cheng,

1992a). The

c h i l d r e n

o f t e n

do

n o t

s t a y in one s ch o o l

long enough to

adjus t

o r

to keep

up wi t h t he i r

s ch o o l

work.

any

c h i l d r e n , wi t h l i t t l e

p r o sp ect

o f making

a

d ecen t

l iv ing become e a sy p rey

to

or ga niz e d crime and

s e x p l o i t a t i o n

J.M.

Yang, 1993).

U n t i l

now the

cent ra l government h a s

done l i t t l e

to

am elio r

a te

the problems

o f th e

c o u n t r y s indigenous m i n o r i t i e s Hsu,

1993). V arious w e l f a r e programs

to

ass i s t h i l l

t r ibe f a m i l i e s

have

been

c r e a t e d

such a s housing lo an s, c a r e e r

c o n s u l t a t i o n

s e r v i c e s ,

p res ch o o l e d u c a t i o n ,

and

jo b

t ra ining

programs.

However,

th e

h i l l

t r ibe

p eo p l e a re

woefully

ig n o r an t o f the e x i s t e n c e

o f

such

programs Cheng, 1992).

he

e ter ior t ion

o f

the community

The

p r e s s u r e

on

h i l l t r ibe members to a dopt to th e n atio na l

cul ture i s n o t l i m i t e d to th o se tha t

come down

to

th e lowlands.

The n e ga ti ve r ep e rc u ss io n s

o f

n a ti on a l a ss im i la ti on c an be f e l t

t h ro u g h o u t the h i g h l an d communities. Alcoholism

i s

wide spr e a d;

many

t r i ba l

p eo p l e suf fe r

from

l ive r ailm en ts, and sanitary

s e r v i c e s

a r e o f te n s u b s t an d ard . The

average l i f e span o f

h i l l

12 6



t r ibe people i5 also appreciably lower than tha t of the ir

Chinese

counterparts L iou, 1992).

Along with th e p hy si ca l d e cl in e o f th e h i l l t r ibe people

i s

th e rap id

d e t e r i o r a t i o n

of

the i r sense

o f

communal r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .


norms an d mores have

broken

down under th e

s t ress

of

extens ive transformation o f h i l l t r ibe

c u l t u r e .

Today s high

landers are

viewed

by a larg e p a r t of

th e

lowland populace as moral

degenerates

E.F. Chen, 1991).

According to Y L. Chen

1990),

t h e d e v it a li z ed family

u n i t

i s

th e prime reason fo r th e d isin te g ra tio n o f th e h i l l t r ibe commun

i ty .

As

parents

an d o ld er

s i b l i n g s

leave home to work in

th e

lowlands, e n t i r e

v i l l a g e s

a re l e f t to be attended

by th e e l d e r l y .

H i l l t r ibe children

o ften

lack

a

sense o f belonging and s e c u r i t y .

At

school,

h i l l

t r ibe students

a re compelled to learn Mandari:-:

Chinese

from

th e

f i r s t grade.

The

resul t

i s

tha t

many

h i l l

t r ibe

ch ild ren --th ird -g en eratio n

products o f th e

modern

school system-

can

b arely

speak

the i r

mother

tongues.

Communication

has

become

e s p e c i a l l y di f f icul t with t he e ld er s, many o f whom never learned

to

s pe ak C hi ne se well Mao

Bourgeault,

1991).

Sun 1991) des cribes

t r iba l

youths

a l iens

w ithin the i r own communities, fo r the i r lack

o f understanding

o f,

and f idel i ty to , the i r c u l t u r a l

patrimony.

Not

being properly supervised, many drop o u t

from

school an d

end

up running

away. Many h i l l t r ibe boys a re coerced t o work as

i l l egal c h i l d

lab o rers i n l o c a l f a c t o r i e s o r as crew members o f

ocean-going

fish in g

v e s s e l s . A s fo r h i l l t r ib e g ir ls th ey a re

127



often

doomed

to

an even more

ignoble

f a t e as

child

p r o s t i t u t e s

Liou,

1992).

According to Sun

1991),

a prominent indigenous i n t e l l e c t u a l ,

v i l l g e

improvement

p r o j e c t s

sponsored

by

the

c e n t r a l

government

have not r a i s e d

th e

indigenous

pe opl e s

s ta nd ar ds o f

l i v i n g .

J u s t

th e

opposite- - they have

turned t r a d i t i o n a l c o l l e c t i v e living

arrangements into shantytowns.

The p hy sica l d eg rad atio n o f th e

highlands i s so pervasive t h t contemporary h i l l t r i b e v i l l a g e s a re

almost indistinguishable

from

lowland c i t y slums.

V

Ethnic

Groups--Tbe bmei

an d th e Paiwan

he mei

The Amei

a re th e indigenous inhabitants

o f

Taiwan s

e a s t

coast

between Hualien and

Taitung. H i s t o r i c a l l y ,

they w ere vie we d as a

peacef ul t r i b l group, e s p e c i a l l y when contr asted

t o

t h e i r more

t r u c u l e n t

neighbors.

Census

fig ure s for

th e e a r ly

1990s

indicate

t h t th e Amei comprise th e l a r g e s t o f

th e

ni ne

h i l l

t r i b e s o f

Taiwan, approximately 110,000

members

Wu 1991).

I n th e p a s t , th e m a t r i l i n e a l clan system was

recognized

as a

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f

l l Amei Young

people had

c onsi de ra bl e freedom

in th e

choice o f

a mate, but approval by

th e

g i r l s par ents was

mandatory

bef or e

m arriage c ould take

place.

T r a d i t i o n a l l y ,

a

couple took

up re si de nc e

in

th e

home

o f

th e

b r i d e s parents. Due

to th e incr eased acculturation by

th e

Chinese, t o d a y s Amei family

28



organization i s pat r i l inea l and marriage is usual ly pat r i local

1991) .

Tradit ional meisociety las also hierarch ica l .

The

mei

were

known for

the i r

well-developed

theogony and

associated

body

of

cosmogonie

myths. At the top of

the pantheon

were

numerous

ancest ra l gods

whose

way of l i fe

was

to

be followed. After the

ancest ra l

gods

were the pries t ly families , who

carried

out the

wil l

of the

gods.

Pries ts

special ized in

memorizing lengthy

origin

myths, including

long

genealogies of ancest ra l

and

other dei t i es

which

were invoked during

re l ig ious ceremonies. Today, as

Chris t ian missions

have succeeded in convert ing

most

mei

members,

such

t rad i t iona l social

and sp i r i tua l

hierarchica l

arrangements

have largely disappeared.

The mei population

yas

customar ily arranged by age-grades,

each dependent

on the one

above for precepts

and instruction

in

proper

behavior.

The

male

children joined

the

lowest g ra de when

they

reached

puberty

a t

the

age

of

14

or

15, and

t he i r

grades

were

promoted

every

f ive or e ight

years .

en and women of the

same

age

were

accorded equal priv i leges

but th e g rea tes t deference

always

was

paid to whoever

was oldes t .

mei society had what may

be

called a dual i s t i c power

s t ruc ture . Secular authori ty

was based

on the male

age-grade

system; th e upper-age rank or the

older

men exercised control over

a l l soc ia l and po l i t i ca l matters . omen were expressly excluded

trom

po l i t i ca l

l i f e . The grea tes t

po l i t i ca l power was

vested in

a

chiefs assembly,

composed of men chosen

from

among

the

mature

age-

129



grades. Those who

sought

to

be chiefs had to be e loquent speakers,

sk il led in public performance and know ledgeab le

about

t r iba l

his tory . Other assemblies or

counc il s mi tigated to

some ext en t t he

power

of

the

chief

s

assembly. But

in

contra

s t

to

secular

authori ty, authori ty in re l ig ious

matters

was

exercised

by females

Lebar, 1975 .

The Paiwan

In

s ize the Paiwan

are

the th i rd la rges t

h i l l

t r ibe in

Taiwan,

roughly

56,000

members Wu 1991 . The Paiwan region

comprises th e

centra l Mountain

range,

extending

fo r

sorne 9 miles

in to

extreme

souther ly Taiwan, within

modern Pingtung

County.

Villages are located

for the

most par t

on

the upper drainage areas

of r ivers . The Paiwan t r ibe

t radi t ional ly

attached much importance

to

soc ia l hierarchy. socia l s t ra t i f ica t ion

was based on

genea

log ica l

closeness

to

a

senior founding

l ine . Age-grades did not

ex i s t

except

in

a

few

vi l lages

influenced

by

other

t r ibe s

customs

Chaffee

e t a l .

1969 .

While the powers and

p re ro ga tiv es o f

t rad i t iona l authori ty s t ruc tures have

long

been cur ta i led

dis t inc t ions based

on chiefly

descent pers i s t

Sun, 1991 .

Indigenous set t lement p t t ~ x s

have

been disrupted by

government rese t t lement schemes: wh ich

have

impelled the

movement

of h i l l t r ibe

vi l lages

to more a cc es si bl e l oc at io n s

nearer

the

lowlands. Tradi t ional ly , swidden agricu l ture was pract i sed sweet

potatoes

and ta ro being the s tap le crops WU 1991 . Mil le t was

the

favored cer emon ia l food,

and harvest ing

was accompanied

by

130



e l a b o r a t e ceremonip.s. M ar ri ag es u se d

to

be vi l lage endogamous

and

res i d en ce

wa s a m biloc a l. Th e

e ldes t

c h i l d

of ei ther sex)

wa s

supposed to remain

with th e

p a r e n t s

un t i l he o r she

f inal ly

i n h e r i t e d th e

ho use C haffee

e t

a l .

1 9 6 9 ) .

Kinship wa s am b i l i n eal . Children aff i l ia ted with

par t i cu la r

l in eag e, o r h o u s e , assumed th e house name. A ll

households

in

vi l lage claimed va r ying

degrees

o f g e n e a l o g i c a l

r e l a t e d n e s s

to

n med ch ie f ly

household.

Although vi l lages wi t h i n r eg io n were

o f t e n

in terrela ted

by k in and af f ina l t i e s and by ommon

language, t h ey

functioned a ut on om ou sl y a n d d id n o t form po l i t i c a l

c o n f e d e r a t i o n s .

Paiwan

myths

emphasized t he o ri gi ns

and

g en eal o g i es o f chief ly

f a m i l i e s . An ces t ral sp i r i t s were i m p o rt an t and were p l a c a t e d

col lec t ive ly thr ough t he c h ie fl y house. There wa s

we ll- de ve lope d

pantheon and the a n c e s t r a l sp i r i t s i n cl u d ed c lass o f cul ture

h er o es. Also

im por ta nt

were

a n c e s t r a l founders o f

vi l lages

v e n e r ~ d

in

a n c e s t r a l

sp i r i t

houses.

Th e most

character i s t ic

ceremony o f

the

Paiwan wa s

the Fiv e

Year F e s t i v a l , so c a l l e d because

wa s

h eld by each vi l lage on an

average o f once

e ve r y

f i v e y ear s

f ollowing

th e

h a r v e s t . T h i s wa s

v i l l a g e - r e n e w a l fest ival during

which

the

col lec t ive

ances t ra l

and o t h e r sp i r i t s were

summoned

to part ic ipate in f ive

days

o f

ceremonial games,

r i tua l and

f e a s t i n g . With th e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f

C h r i s t i a n i t y and i t s widespread acceptance in the Paiwan community,

r i tua l s

have m ostly

disa ppe a r e d

•

131



Officia l Highland policy

Highland Policy--1SOOs

Compared to the h i l l t r ibes of North

Thailand, interaction

between

the

h i l l t r ibes of Taiwan and more powerful ethnie groups

was characterized by a

great

deal of armed conf l ic t . The

reasons

for

th is

are numerous and

complex.

The

fact

that the native

peoples of Taiwan

had

no possibi l i ty of moving away from the more

powerfu l invading ethnic groups meant tha t they had

to

f ight for

the i r

ancestral

te r r i tor ies A second point

of dist inction

concerns the his tor ie isolat ion of the native

peoples

of Taiwan.

The

Taiwan

t r ibes

were

probably

less prepared to deal

with

socio

cul tural diversi ty than the h i l l t r ibes of North Thailand,

w had

traversed many te r r i tor ies

and

encountered many cul tural

influences

over the

centuries.

The

indigenous

peoples

under

the

Dutch

administration

had

been

t ractable, and,

on

the

whoie,

relat ions

between these

two et} . ic

groups were nonviolent. t i s important to real ize that the Dutch

went

to

great

pains

to assuage

the

in i t i a l

dis t rus t

of the Taiwan

natives by preserving

the so cial

and

pol i t ica l infrastructure

of

these communities

Rutter,

1923 .

Unfortunately, the

amical::lle relat ions the Taiwan

natives

had

enjoyed with

the

Dutch changed radical ly when the Chinese forced

the

l a t t e r to leave

the

is land.

The indigenous

people quickly dis -

covered

t ha t

Chinese immigrants

were not out to cult ivate fr iendly

132



re la t ions with them,

only the i r

land.

the e arly 18005, as the

flow

of Chinese

farmers swelled

to

more

than

two mil l ion ,

most

of

the

lowland-dwel ling indigenous

peoples had been driven

in to the

hi l l s (Lebar, 1975 Those tha t managed to remain in the lowlands

were

subjugated to Chinese petty

off ic ia ls

who

continually

robbed

and cheated them.

pat tern of in teract ion

between the

indigenous

population and the Chinese immigrants

emerged,

one

tha t

was

often

marked by violence and mutual animosity.

Bi t te r

enmity

exis ted between the natives and

the

Chinese, and

increasing warfare

was waged

throughout the

is land . any

barbarous

a t roc i t i e s were committed by the

Chinese

agains t

the

natives

(Rutter , 1923

Understandably native

at t i tudes

toward

foreigners

underwent

a comple te change.

The

most common approach taken by the

Chinese

toward solving

the i r

aboriginal problem was

to

simply e lim in te th e borigin l

people Rutter (1923, p. 224) describes t h i s policy quite

succinctly:

The

Chinese

of f ic ia l s

made

no

serious

attempt

to

conci l ia te

the

native di s t r i c t s or to bring

about

a cessation of

hos t i l i t i e s and

a

peaceful se tt lement: t he i r

only policy was

t ha t

of extermination .

As

a consequence, the nat ives were driven

far ther

and fa rth er in to th e h i l l s as the oncoming t ide of Chinese

se t t l e r s

dispossessed them of t he i r f e r t i l e t e r r i to ry on the

plains

and lowlands •

133



Japanese

Highland

Policy--1895 t o 945

At

th e beginning of their occupation o f Taiwan in

1895, th e

Japanese

c o l o n i a l

government

t r ied to

implement

a

c o n c i l i a t o r y

an d

constructive

p o l i c y

towards

th e indigenous po pu la tio n R utter,

1923).

For example,

t r iba l communities

t h a t nominally

accepted

Japanese

a u t h o r i t y were t r e a t e d r e l a t i v e l y w ell. Within these

communities, th e Japanese actually encouraged th e h i l l t r ibe

members to

re ta in

their

t r a d i t i o n s and

c u l t u r e . Nor d id

Japanese


t ry to displace

t r iba l s o c i a l o rg an izatio n s, indigenous

b e l i e f

systems,

o r

original customs

an d

h a b i t s . They

also

took

education fo r th e

hi l l

t r ibes

s e r i o u s l y ,

as

could

be a t t e s t e d

from

th e f a c t t ha t over 2

elementary

schools were

e s t a b l i s h e d

fo r

t r iba l

children Chaffee e t a l

1969;

Rutter, 1923;

Sun,

1991).

D es pite

such e f f o r t s , th e Japanese fo rces were unable to bring

most o f Taiwan s native communities under the i r c o n t r o l . The

t y r a n n i c a l

and

barbarous

treatmen t

under

th e

Chinese

g ov ernm e nt h ad

rendered th e

r em a in in g i n di ge n ou s

population irrev o cab ly i n t r a c

t a b l e . Faced

with

a

b e l l i g e r e n t

t r iba l population, th e

Japanese

a u t h o r i t i e s expediently chose

to

confine

th e t r iba l

peoples

within

the i r

boundaries,

primarily

by

means o f electr i f ied

barbed-wire,

leaving th e i n h a b i t a n t s to fend

f o r

themselves Chaffee e t

a l

1969).

From

u to

t u e th e Japanese c o l o n i a l government embarked

upon advancement campaigns i n t o

native

t e r r i tory such

campaigns

i n e v i t a b l y brought many c a s u a l t i e s ,

mostly on

th e Japanese s i d e ,

alonq vi th more Japanese p u n i t i v e expeditions •

34



National is t

Chinese

Highland Policy--1950s

to

1960s

After

re t rea t ing to Taiwan in

1949,

the National ists re ta ined

m ny

aspects

of

the

ear l ie r

Japanese

colonia l

model

of administra

t ion

fo r the is land . such was the case for the supervision of

t r iba l regions, which

remained

essent ia l ly sealed o ff from

mainst ream lowland

socie ty . In addition

to the

Japanese policy of

i sola t ion th e Na ti on al is ts ins t i tu ted

Han

Cbinese model

of

contro l l ing

th e

indigenous

population.

Called

l i f an th i s Cbinese

administra t ive model can be understood as the assimilat ion of

barbarians (Lee,

1992). Hence, the

year 1949

marked the

t rue

beginning

of the systematic breakdown of

h i l l

t r ibe cul ture (Ahern,

1981).

Because

access to the mountainous

areas occupied

by the

aborigines

continued

to

be

res t r i c t ed very

few

people

outs ide

the

government knew what was taking place there Ostensibly, the

government

maintained

these

res t r i c t ions to

preclude

the

i n f i l t r a -

t ion of undesirable elements and to

protec t

the abor igines from

unlawful people w o might take

advantage

of

t he i r [ the

indigenous

peoples] general ignorance of nat ional economic

and

l egal systems

(Cbaffee e t a l 1969, p.

47).

The

National ists soon es tab l i shed

speci f ie

pol ic ies

which

aimed to a ss im ila te th e indigenous peoples into the

nat ional

socie ty . The Civi l Affairs

Department

of the Taiwan Provincia l

Government

was put

in

charge of administering

highland areas .

Offices

a t

the county l eve l made responsible for c iv i l

a f f a i r s

135



public works,

conscription,

taxation,

and

conducting

censuses

D i s t r i c t offices

were then mandated

t o promote

c u l t u r a l

and

educational enlightenment

among

the

indigenous

communities and to

care

for sanitat ion

and

health

promotion.

I t

was

only

in the

1950s

t h a t public

primary

schools were f i r s t established in the high-

lands. AlI

these

government

actions were

implemented

under the

guise of

protect ion

and controlled

progress .

The

plan

was

t o

improve the

l iving conditions and t o

prepare as ma::y aborigines

as

possible for

part icipat ion

in the

national

society as

productive

members

and sharers in

the economic

growth

(Chaffee e t a l . ,

1969,

p. 4 8 .

The government s development policies had

major

disruptive

e f f e c t s on the

indigenous

peoples t r a d i t i o n a l

ways

of

l i f e . The

forced changing of aboriginal

names

t o

Han

Chinese

names

in the

1950s

i s a

case in point.

This

policy

not only created a

great

deal of confusion

for

the

highlanders

who

hardly

spoke a word of

Chinese),

also

blurred

t h e i r

sense

of

genealogy.

The

r e s u l t

was

t h a t siblings were

often

given different family

names.

That threw

t radi t ional

methods of

recording

family

descendance

and

kinship

into

disarray.

I t

also made some

t r i b a l

people

transgress marriage

taboos;

some young people

unwittingly

married close

members of t h e i r

w

kin,

only to discover

the

error

a f t e r

the fact , causing

a

great

deal of d1 smay and

embarrassment to

themselves and

t h e i r

families (sun,

1991).

Another

example

of

l i ~ a n s deleterious effect on h i l l

t r i b e

culture

was the introduction

th e e arly 1950s

of a scheme

called

136



shan d i ping d i hua ( to

transform

the highlands in to the low

lands ) • This

scheme

coerced

the

h i l l t r ibes to abandon the i r

t rad i t iona l system

of

administra t ion

in

favor

of

the

lowland

system.

As

a

resu l t

t r iba l

lands

were ar t i f i c i a l ly

segmented

in to

adminis trat ive

uni ts

by county, vi l l age

clusters and

individual

vi l l ages .

y

abolishing the t rad i t iona l t r i ba l leadership

system,

the

government not only reduced the t r iba l communities abi l i ty to

organize,

a ls o d ev it al iz ed t he

social

force t ha t regulated the i r

dai ly

l ives

including t he co ll ec ti ve upbringing

of

younger gener

a t ions . With the absence

of

t rad i t iona l

channels of

soc ia l

cont ro l , h i l l

t r ibe communities were

powerless to mit igate

the

assimilat ive impact of

the dominant

socie ty .

Other

direc t ives

commonly

referred

to as the

Three

GL·eat

CllJIIpaigns aimed to c i v i l i z e

the

highlanders

by

changing the i r

l ivel ihood, forcing them

to

prac t ise non-shift ing agr icul ture , and

promoting

affores ta t ion.

The

campaign

to

improve

the peop le s

l ivel ihood, beqan in the

early

1950s, had a most

profound

and

pernicious ef fec t

on

loca l cul ture .

There

were

s ix

main object ives

to t h i s

part icular

campaign: (1) to promote the use of Mandarin

Chinese; (2) to improve

the

people s

a t t i r e ;

(3) to

ameliorate

the i r food

and

drink; (4) to bet t e r the i r dwell inqs; (5) to

co r r ec t

the i r dai ly l ives ;

and 6

to reform

t he i r

cu stoms and

habi ts J . J . Lin, 1993).

Chinese

off ic ia ls

prohibited

the h i l l people from

wearinq

the i r t rad i t iona l

a t t i r e

considered

by

th e Chinese to be s tranqe

137



o r queer

clothing.

The n a t i v e s

could

not speak t h e i r mother

tongues. T heir

s u p e r s t i t i o u s p r a c t i c e s

were

eradicated

e . g . ,

a n c e s t r a l

f i g u r e s

an d

totems were publicly

destroyed

in front o f

police

h ead q u arters).

Traditional

ceremonies

w er e b an ne d

as

w ell.

Within a decade of i t s inception in 1952,

l o c a l


ha d

been able t o

f u l l y dismantle

centuries-old

t r i b l i n s t i t u t i o n s

Sun,

1991).

N a t i o n a l i s t C hi ne se H ig hl an d Policy--1970s

to

th e P resen t

th e

1970s, a s

c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t i e s r ea li ze d t he magnitude of

th e su ccess o f t h e i r policy t o s ic in iz e th e

indigenous

popula

t i o n , they deemed permissible

t o

r e l a x somewhat th e c ontro l o f

th e i n di g en o us p e o p le s . The a u t h o r i t i e s

did t h i s

by

f i r s t allowing

indi.genous self-government t t he v i ll ag e l e v e l .

Later, h i l l

t r i b e

members

were granted

th e

r i g h t

t o vote

an d t o p r e s e n t

themsel

ves a s

candidates

f o r

p o l i t i c l

representation

t

th e

county

l e v e l ,

which

wa s

e v e n t u a l l y

broadened t o

include th e

provincial

assem bly and

f i n a l l y , th e n a t i o n a l

l e g i s l a t u r e .

But

highland

communities continued t o

r e t r o g r e s s . th e

l t e

1980s, p u b l i c awareness o f th e

indigenous

p e o p l e s p l i g h t , both

domestic and

i n t e r n a t i o n a l ,

p u t

p ressu re

on th e

government

t o

address th e s itu at io n.

I n

th e e a r l y 1990s

th e c en tra l government

a l l o c a t e d s p e c i a l

funds t o

th e

Ministry o f

th e

I n t e r i o r

fo r

an

ex ten siv e

plan t o

coordinate

l o c a l ,

p r o v i n c i a l

and

n a t i o n a l

s e r v i c e s

d i r e c t e d t o

8



ass i s t the

h i l l

t r ibes .

The Ministry

elaborated

seven-point

s trategy

t ha t

covered

the

pol i t i ca l

social educational, cul tura l

and economic aspects of h i l l t r ibe l i f e a l l with the aim

of

upholding

and

p ro tec ti ng the

r ights and in terests of

the

mountain

compatriots (Tsao, 1992, p. 6). The strategy had the following

objectives: (1)

to

review,

discuss ,

and rev ise the governmental

administra t ion of h i l l

t r ibe

development

in order

to

improve

economic

undertakings within h i l l

t r ibe reservat ions; (2)

to

increase the administra t ive

capaci t ies

of organizat ions responsible

for

h i l l t r ibes ; (3)

to

safeguard the

regulat ions

re la t ing tn h i l l

t ri be p o l it ic a l

ac t iv i ty and the i r r ig hts to vote

a t

every

l eve l

of

jur isdic t ion to increase

po l i t i ca l

par t ic ipa t ion of h i l l t r ibe

const i tuents; (4) to

coordinate

in te r -agency educat iona l

services

with

the Ministry

of Education s f ive-year

plan

fo r

the development

and

improvement of schooling fo r

h i l l t r ibes ;

(5) to

es tabl ish

guidance

services

fo r

the h i l l t r ibe people l iv ing in

urban

centers;

(6)

to

act ively

promote

employment

and

career

t ra ining

services; and (7) to

exto l

t r iba l customs

and

ways

and

cul t iva te

indigenous ta le nt th at can perpetuate autochthonous

ar t .

Nevertheless, c r i t i c s

say

t ha t th e N atio na list old

guard

stubbornly

holds on to

China-centric po l i t i ca l ideology, one

t ha t regards Taiwan s h i l l t r ibes

as

mong the m ny

minority

ethnic

groups

exis t ing

a t the periphery of mainland

binese

terr i tory s

sUch,

the

ind igenous peoples of Taiwan are given the same ethnic

sta tus

as

Mongols,

Tibetans and Uighurs. The

Nat ional i s t

leader

ship

has always assumed the

self-ordained

role of protec tor of the

139



m in or ity p eo ple s,

t ha t

i s to

sa y,

ens ures tha t a l l e t hni e

m i n o r i t i e s

w i t h i n Chinese realm a re u nif ie d under i t s c o n t r o l

Pan, 1992).

R e c e nt l y

some

government

off ic ia l s

have

admitted

tha t

Taiwan s

p r e s e n t

highland

pol i c y cannot p o s s i b l y at t em pt to r e d r e s s

th e

deep-root ed b i a s e s a g a i n s t indigenous pe opl e found

among

th e

main

stream Chinese

Y W

Yang, 1992). According to t h e s e off ic ia ls ,

i s n o t

enough

f o r th e

government

to

provi de

paternal is t ic

a s s i s t a n c e to

the hi ghl ander p o p u latio n . What i s needed i s a

n a t i o n a l campaign

tha t would fos te r

a

genuine

re s p e c t f o r

th e

ethnici ty

o f i ndi ge nous peopl es .

N a sc en t r nd iq en ou s Pol i t i ca l

Movements

Po li t ic al in te re st

in

t h e

cul tura l

s u r v i v a l

o f indigenous

p e o p l e s i s due p r i m a r i l y to th e Taiwan independence movement. P r o

independence

ac t iv i s t s

claim

tha t

the

N a t i o n a l i s t s

usurped

po l i t i c a l power in 1949,

and

t ha t l oca l Le . , Taiwanese

Chinese)

pol i t i c ians s houl d be the

t rue

l e ad er s o f Taiwan. pro-independence

pol i t i c ians , par t i cu la r ly t h o s e be l ongi ng

to

th e

p e o p l e s

P r o g r e s s

iv e

P a r t y Min-Jin-Tang, o r MJT),

have so l i c i t ed su p p o r t form

Ta i wa n s

h i l l t r ibe

c o n s t i t u e n c i e s .

Although some

t r iba l members

a re amenable

to

such ove rt ure s, most

t r i ba l

po li ti ca l a ct iv is ts

remain

re luc tan t

to get pol i t i ca l ly i nvol ve d

with

th e

Taiwanese

Chinese J . J . Li n,

1993; Sun,

1991)

•

14 0



Instead, h i l l t r ibe

pol i t i ca l

leaders have s ta r t ed to

champion

a

grassroots

m o v ~ e n t among

the

t r iba l communities to arouse the i r

ethnic

and

pol i t i ca l consciousness.

This newly-found consciousness

i s

being

expressed

in

a

des

i r e

for

self-government

such

as

advocated

by the Indigenous P eople s P arty (IPP). A paramount

concern

for IPP i s to asse r t

indigenous

r ights

vis à v i s the

nat iona l

author i t ies

and

to secure the

legal

ownership

of

t r iba l

lands

J . J . Lin, 1993). The presence of indigenous candidates

independent of major party

aff i l ia t ion

in the l a s t nat iona l

e lec t ion in 1992 had an impact on

indigenous

voting pat te rns . In

th e p as t the

Nationa l is t

party

cou ld count

on roughly 90 percent of

h i l l t r ibe votes.

This

had now fa l len to 60 percent Hong

1992).

Heightened indigenous

po l i t i ca l

activism

was

responsible

for

demonstrations

held

in

Taipei

in the

f a l l

of 1993. Under the

slogan

of oPPQsing misappropriat ion,

f ight ing

for

s u ~ i v l

and

reclaiming ancest ra l lands , a large assembly of h i l l

t r ibe

demonst ra tors confronted

the

mil i ta ry

pol ice .

The

protes te rs

were

decryinq bureaucratie foot-dragqing on improvinq l iv inq conditions

in the highlands (Penq, 1993). Such demonstrations indicated how

much more organized and pol i t i ca l ly audacious the

indigenous

minori t ies had become.

The indiqenous people

of Taiwan have

also

s ta r t ed

to

es tabl ish

contacts with

indiqenous

groups in other countr ies. For example,

an ind iqenous

r ights deleqat ion

f rom Taiwan vis i ted

the i r counter

par t s in China and in the United s ta tes . These vi s i t s have not

only allowed

Taiwan

s indiqenous

people

to l earn from other

141



nations policies toward the i r

indigenous minorities,

they

have

helped them understand the

o on problems

they share with

other

groups around the world Chang, 1990;

J.H. Lee,

1992).

From

the i r

vis i t s

with

native

American

Indians

the

Taiwan

peoples

delegation learned the importance of employing legal

channels

to affirm ind igenous land and economic r ights as well as

to

preserve native languages. Hil l t r ibe representatives

have

been

invited to a united Nations

conferences

on indigenous minority

peoples r ights and

to

part icipate

in

draft ing a manifesto for

the

Internat ional Year

of

Indigenous

Penples. The united

Nations

Working Group on Indigenous Populations

has

also come to Taiwan

to

examine the conditions under which the hi l l t r ibe minority people

are l iving and whether the i r

fundamental r ights

are

being

respected

Guo, 1990).

Highland

Educational

Policy

In spi te o f signs th t the indigenous

peoples

socio-poli t ical

s ta tus

i s being

redef ined wi th in

Taiwan,

wil l take

time

before

such

shi f ts are

reflected in

highland

schools

Ministry

of

Educa tion, Repub lic of

China, 1990, 1992). According

to Pan

1992 , educational policy

for the

h i l l t r ibes

has

remained

vir tu l ly unchanged

for

the

l s t

for tY years.

Highland

education

aims to

social ize

t r ib l

children

in

two

ways:

1 exposes them to a

N at ional is t

interpretat ion of

society

and th e pol i t ic l system; and

2 denies

them

the

142



opportunity to learn about

t h e i r

own

people, t h e i r

cul tural

heritage, and about t h e i r homeland. The Nationalis t government

compels h i l l t r i b e children

to

embrace

the idea

t h a t Taiwan has

never

known

any

c i v i l i e d

ethnic

group

other

than

the n

Chinese.

Evidence of

t h i s

ethnic bias

can be

found throughout

the

primary school

curriculum. For example, geography

and history

t e x t s focus

on mainland

China. So

pervasive i s

t h i s bias t h a t by

the

time

h i l l t r i b e students f inish t h e i r s ix

years

of primary

education, they know much more about mainland China s

physical

features, i t s infrastructure, i t s h i s t o r i c figures, and

even

i t s

e thn ie minor it ie s , than the

geography

or history of

pre-Chinese)

Taiwan Sun 1991 •

143



Chapter

VI

Moral

Education in

Taiwan s

Primary

schools

w locations

in

th e

Paiwan an d mei com mu ni ti es were chosen

to i n v e s t i g a t e th e implementation o f th e national

moral

educational

curriculum in

public p ~ m r y

schools

an d

i t s implications fo r th e

pol i t ic l


of h i l l

t r i e

children. Observation of th e

schools

focused on moral education c l a s s e s an d school ct iv i t ies

r e l a t e d

to

pol i t ic l

s o c i a l i z a t i o n . s in Thailand open-ended

interviews were carried

out

with students

parents

teachers an d

community

l e a d e r s .

lowland school

located

in th e suburbs of

T aipei was also studied.

Ethnic

Çhinese

Sch00l

long o

Primary

School

Yong Ho i s

one

o f th e s te l l i te

towns

of

T aipei

th e

l a r g e s t

city

in Taiwan.

by-product of

T a i p e i s rapid i n d u s t r i a l growth

Yong Ho

i s

a factory town with a predominantly b l u e - c o l l a r work

force. In

r e c e n t

years as

Taiwan s

economy has burgeoned an

increasing number o f Yong Ho r e s i d e n t s

a re

commuting to Taipei to

work

in

lower - level

w h i t e - c o l l a r

p o s i t i o n s . ser ving primarily a s

an

i n d u s t r i a l park f o r T aipei Yong Ho i s congested an d heavily

polluted •

14 4



The school.

Yong o has

on e o f

th e

l a r g e s t elementary

schools in Taiwan,

sioU Lang primary

School,

with over te n thousand

stu d en ts.

The

school

i t se l f

bas

a

reformatory-like

appearance,

w ith high

w alls

surrounding th e campus an d s tee l gates guarded by s e c u r i t y

personnel. This i n i t i a l impression i s rein fo rced by th e f a c t tha t

th e

stu d en ts

a l l

wear th e

same

n e a t

uniform. Plants

and

green

spaces a re

sp arse. Most o f th e teach.ers here--a l l ethnie Chinese-

a re

graduates

from

th e p re stig io us

National Normal

U n iv ersity .

Students coming to and leaving

from

school

a re ushered

by d e s i g

nated c lass l e a d e r s . h n a c l a s s goes

o ut

fo r

p h y sical

education, stu d en ts

a re

required to walk in

f i le .

In c l a s s ,

s tu de nts s ta nd up when speaking to the i r teachers. They keep an

u p rig h t

pos ture

while seated , an d they

answer

ques tions promptly.

Application o f th e Moral

Education

eurricull1In

irect

moral

education

Because o f th e predominant use o f th e tex t books and a

r e l a t i v e l y i n f l e x i b l e teaching schedule, a I l th e children go

through th e Li e and Ethics course a t th e same pace

and

le a r n th e

same m a t e r i a l . At th e time o f

observation

th e s ub je ct being

tau g h t

was

bravery.

The

p a r t i c u l a r lessons

covered

were th e e x p l o i t s o f

Sun

Yat-sen fo u rth g r a d e - l e v e l ) ,

t h e

brave

r e s i s t a n c e

o f N atio n al

i s t s o l d i e r s

a g a i n s t Japanese

troops

f i f th g r a d e - l e v e l ) ,

an d th e

martyrdom o f N a t i o n a l i s t ace pi lo ts s i x t h g rad e-lev el) •

145



The instructional

strategy o f th e tea chers t ll three

grade

levels cons is ted o f dividing the

les

son into

two separate

study

periods. Reading

through

and discussing the lesson

story

with the

students

occurred during

the

f i r s t

period,

and

going

over

the

exercises t the end of the lesson,

during

the second

period.

Teacher-student

interaction

was

rather l imited, usua lly tak ing the

form of questions

and

answers based

almost

ent irely on

the

texts

Most of

these questions assessed comprehension

of

the

lesson story,

but some quest ions requ ired s tuden ts to make interpretat ions. For

example, the students were asked to

expl

in

the

meaning of

p t r io t ic sayings,

such

as to

forget

oneself

in the

discharge

of

off ic i l duties ,

and

loyalty

and courage

are the foundations of

a

nation .

They

were further asked

i f

they loved and respected

the armed forces of the Republic of China,

and

whether they were

ready

to

give the i r utmost to the task

of

recovering the

Chinese

mainland from

the

ommunists

The

s tudent s o ff er ed

sl ight ly more

novel

answers

when

they

were

asked to

ref lec t

on the meaning of

courage

in

the i r l ives .

~ o i l lust r t ions offered by

the

students included

defending

a

.assmate

from

bul l ies ,

going

to

the

doctor s for a

shot, admitting

having

committed a mistake, and call ing the

police

when an

emergency arises .

ndire t

mor l educ t ion

Indirect

pol i t ic l social izat ion took p lace primar ily through

school

ct iv i t ies

and

ceremonies

such

as singing the nat ional

anthem, attending flag ra ising

and

lowering

ceremonies,

paying

146



homage

t o Confucius, an d

bowing

to teach er s

an d sc hool

ad min istr a

t o r s . s in

Thailand, t h e

c h i l d r e n were

a l s o

as s i gned

simple

d u t i e s such as ~ l n i n g

th e classrooms

o r

t h e

c a f e t e r i a .

D i s c i p l i n a r y i n f r a c t i o n s were

minimal

a t

Hsiou-Lang

a t th e

time

o f obs ervat i on. Th e g e n e r a l l y s t r i c t manner i n

which th e

sc hool i s run assu r es

t h a t

most stu d en ts do n o t g e t o u t o f l i n e .

Usually

th e

teach er s handle d i s c i p l i n a r y

matter s

t he m se l ve s, us i ng

such p r e s s u r e t a c t i c s a s d e m e r i t n o t e s i . e . , n e g a t i v e comments

i n s e r t e d i n a

s t u d e n t s

r e p o r t c a r d ) , classroom

s e a t i n g

o r d e r L e ,

g e t t i n g moved down i n th e

s e a t i n g

arrangement from

th e

g o o d

s e c t i o n

t o

th e

b a d one ) ,

and t h r e a t s

o f

cl as s room t r a n s f e r s

being

s e n t t o a

c o r r e c t i v e classroom

f o r a c a de m i c a l l y poor and

i n c o r r i g i b l e c h i l d r e n , c a l l e d

.tang niou ban

o r

t h e c o r ra l ) .

stu nts

Th e s i x

s t u d e n t s

i nt e r vi e we d a t

Hsiou-Lang were:

Jongdai

male,

age 12 ,

s i x t h

g r ad e) ;

B i j a ng

fem ale, age 12,

s i x t h

g r a d e ) ;

Duojen

male, age 12, f i f t h g r a d e ) ; J i a l i n

female,

age

11,

f i f t h

g r a d e ) ; Shihchiou male, age 1 0, f o u rth g ra d e);

and

Jianming

f em ale, ag e 10,

f o u r th

g r a d e ) . Th e oc c upa t i ons

o f

t h e s e s t u d e n t s

p ar en ts v ar ie d. wo c h i l d r e n Jongdai

and

Bijang) r ep o r ted t h a t

t h e i r p a r e n t s were merchants. Duojen s t a t e d t h a t

h is

f a t h e r wa s an

e l e c t r i c a l e ngi ne e r

and

h is

mother wa s an i n t e r i o r

d esig n er .

J i a n m i n g s f a t h e r worked f o r t h e

Taiwan

Power ompany w h i l e

h e r

mother was

an a c c ount a nt . Shihchiou

and J i a l i n s a i d

t h a t

t h e i r

f a t h e r s

were

l a b o r e r s

and

t h a t t h e i r

m oth ers w er e a c

home•

1 47



Moral education

a t

home an d

a t

school •

The

responses

qiven

by th e

Hsiou-Lanq

students

indicated t h a t

they were under considerable academic and s o c i a l pressure

a t

school.

Accordinq

to

th es e s tu de nts ,

their

teacher s

were

very

s t r i c t

on

matter s

r e l a t e d to

student

behavior an d

academic

work.

For

example,

Duojen said that while he liked school:

ouoien:

Sometimes l f e e l h ap py a nd s om et im es l f e e l

annoyed.

I nter viewer : Why is

t h a t ?

ouoien:

l q e t to

meet

many friends an d learn new t h i n q s ,

b u t when th e lessons

q e t

hard, o r when

we have to

pre pa re

f o r

a t e s t l

q e t to

f e e l

uneasy.

I nter viewer : o

yo u

l ike your teacher?

Duoien:

y

teacher

i s

so- so,

but

l

r es pe ct h er .

Interviewer: Is your teacher s t r i c t?

Duojen: Yes, s h e s very

s t r i c t .

Nevertheless, Duojen

thouqht

o f h is teacher an

upriqht person:

Interviewer

Puojen

Yes

Interviewer

model?

I s she f a i r ?

s h e s

very fa i r .

o

yo u think

your

t ea ch er s er ve s as a

qood

ouojen:

Yes,

l think

so ,

she l e t s yo u ltnow c l e a r l y what

i s r iqh t

and wronq.

Teachers

repcrtedly

emphasized

observance

o f r u l e s ,

public

mindedness and

patriotism, and,

above a l l , scnol stic

diligence

When asked about

what they

thouqht

was

th e b e s t

way

to

show 900d

behavior, most

students

four ou t

o f

six) said followinq r u l e s an d

r e q u l a t i o n s .

The students believed

tha t

th e values tauqht a t

school

were

e s s e n t i a l l y th os e ta uq ht a t home

I nter viewer : Ar e th e v i r t u e s yo u

learn

a t school

dif fe ren t from those you

l e a r n

a t home?

B ijanq : T h ey re

th e same. At

school

y o u r e

supposed

to

love your classmates an d be c l o s e to them, and to r e s p e c t

and love

th e

teacher. At

home

y o u r e supposed to love

and

be c l o s e to your family

members and

to be

f i l i a l

to

148



As above, some informants

chose ei ther

a foreigner or a

family

member as great

persons.

Shihchiou nominated Thomas Edison,

explaining tha t Edison invented

many

things which

have made

our

l ives much

easier .

Jianming,

for her

part ,

chose

her

mother:

This

is because from the time we

were

born, Mother has

never s topped caring

for

us, she s always given us the

very best .

Whenever l m sick,

Mother

doesn t go to work,

she stays home

to

take care of us a l day. Mother i s

t ruly

great .

Although

Sun

Yat-sen was a

prominent

character

for

many

stor ies of courage and obedience,

there

were several s to rie s th at

featured

other

lesser known Chinese, such Jongdai s story about

henq Feng-hsi:

henq Feng-hsi was an outstandinq handicapped person,

from the

t ime

he was very young he had

to

endure many

hardships because of

his

physical disabi l i t i es Despite

h is many disadvantages he studied very hard a t school and

earned the r es pe ct o f

a l l

his

classmates. e even

got to

be

the student wi

th

the best grades in h is en ti re c la ss .

There were also

a

few

personal anecdotes

tha t

were

o ffe re d as

stor ies of obedience.

One was

Bijanq s:

Last

year my mother

had

another baby. In the

past when

t ha t happened

my

qrandmother would come

to

stay with us

to help my mother

fo r

the f i r s t

three

months. Last time

qrandma was sick, and so

t r ie d to help as

much

as

could;

did

the

cleaninq and

took

care of my other

younq brother.

hen

school finished

fo r summer

vacation,

stayed home more

often rather

than

qoinq out to play

with my fr iends

•

150



H i l l Tribe

SchQQls

aiW n

Subjects ei Yueh

Th e

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e

u n i t

o f

Ma-Jia i s

lQcated

in

th e

sQuthwest

o f

Taiwan w ithin Ping-Tung

Qunty see map

Appendix X I I ) .

Ma-Jia

i s

knQwn

a s

a t Q u r i s t a r e a .

I t

i s

PQ Pu lar fQ r i t s n a t u r e t r a i l s

i t s or c ha r ds,

and a u t h e n t i c abQriginal

v i l l a g e s

where fQlk dances

a r e

performed

and

h an dic ra fts a r e s o ld .

Because

Qf th e r e g u la r

p res en ce

o f

lQwland

v i s i t o r s a l a r g e

p a r t

Qf

th e indigenQus Paiwan

p Qp ul at io n h as come t o

depend

on tourism a s a s o u rce Qf income.

Th e

primary

school f o r Ma-Jia i s l o c a t e d

i n

t h e

v i l l a g e

o f

Bei-Yueh. com parable

t o o t h e r highland

v i l l a g e s

Bei-Yueh

h as

no

outsta nding

p h y s i c a l f e a t u r e s

t o

d e n o te

t h a t t i s i n h a b i t e d by

indigenous p eo p l e. The houses a r e

in

t h e same mQdern a r c h i t e c -

t u r a l

s t y l e s

o f

lowland homes. Grocery s t o r e s c a r r y consumer gQods

i d e n t i c a l to t h e i r lowland

c o u n t e r p a r t s ,

and

a l l

th e

s i g n s

a re

in

Chinese.

t

i s

only

when

one

n o t i c e s

t h e

v i l l a q e r s

p h y s i c a l

f ea tu re s o r o bs er ve s a n

e l d e r l y person

wearing t r a d i t i o n a l garments

t h a t one

r e a l i z e s

t h a t Bei-Yueh

i s in f a c t

an

a b o r i g i n a l

v i l l a g e .

h S c h 0 o l .

Th e

primary s ch o o l l o c a t e d

on

th e v i l l a g e s

o u t s k i r t s

i s

r e l a t i v e l y

new.

With i t s

b r i g h t

w hite

classrooms, u p - t o - d a t e

equipment

inc ludinq

s e v e r a l computers), a s t u d y room, a f a i r l y

w e l l

f ur nishe d l i b r a r y

and a p la yg ro un d , M a -J ia Elementary

School

i s evidence

o f

th e government s e f f o r t t o a l l o c a t e a g r e a t e r

p r o p o r t i o n

o f funds

t o h i g h l an d s c h o o l s . As i n th e

v i l l a g e

t h e r e

151



i s nothinq

obvious wi t hi n

th e school

grounds

to suqqest

t h a t

this

primary school

is servinq h i l l

t r ibe

s t u d e n t s .

Portra i ts of

Sun

Yat-sen, Chianq Kai-shek and

h i s son

Chianq

Chinq-kuo,

wall

posters

with e xc e rpt s

from

th e

Threl

J?rinciples

the

People adorn the walls

o f

classrooms.

Althouqh a small number

o f Chinese students attend th is primary school, th e v a s t majority

o f th e

s t u d e n t body

approximately

35

students) is

comprised

o f

c hil dr en o f th e

Paiwan

t r ibe Several teacher s also belonq to

the

Paiwan t r ibe

A s

in

a l l public primary schools

in

Taiwan, students are

r equir ed

to

wear a uniform, which is in va ria bly o f a dark color ,

most

often navy

bl ue .

The

dress

code does not

appear

to be f u l l y

enforced a t

Ma-Jia, however, and

many students wear

only

p a r t of

t he i r

uniforms.

Amei

Subiects--Fenq-Bin

Squeezed between

th e

P a c i f i e

Ocean

and

Taiwan s

c o r d i l l e r a ,

th e administrative u n i t o f Fenq-Bin runs alonq th e i s l a n d s e a s t

coast, approximately halfway between th e c i t ies o f Hualien and

Taitunq

see map

Appendix

X I I I ) . The population density on th i s

s i d e

o f th e island i s much lower than

th e western

s i d e .

There

is

a ra i l wa y and a

hiqhway t ha t

connect

Hualien

to Taitunq.

Neverthe

less th e

whole ar ea i s l e s s developed in terms o f

economic

i n f r a

s t r u c t u r e and

industr y s un, 1991).

Because

o f i t s re la t ive

geographic i s o l a t i o n , th e e a s t e r n c o a s t l i n e i s s t i l l q u i t e scenic

and re la t ively

un polluted, w ith

v as t s tr e tc he s o f undisturbed

152



beaches. H i s t o r i c a l l y th i s p a r t

o f Taiwan s

e a s t c o a s t was mei

terr i tory

The mei people have

los t

some

of the i r

land

to

Chinese

a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s b u t managed to r e t a i n most

a n c e s t r a l t rac ts of

la nd alo ng

th e

c o a s t .

The mei

p eo ple s c on ta ct

with

th e

Chinese is more circum

scribed

than

in

th e Ma-Jia

administrative

u n i t .

There a re

not as

many sightseers. The

ci t ies of Hualien an d

Taitung a re d i s t a n t

enough to

make t r a v e l

t h e r e

r e l a t i v e l y

infrequent.

Most mei

i n t e r a c t i o n with

th e Chinese i s usually with r e s i d e n t s w have

l i v e d i n th e a re a fo r

some

time such as th e lo c a l p o lic e teachers

administrators

and

c o a s t a l fishermen.

l a r g e

number

o f th e

mei people w continue

to l i v e

in

Feng-Bin depend on fishing fo r the i r l ivelihood. The mountainous

te rra in

does n o t favor

much a g r i c u l t u r a l

output.

s a

resul t most

o f th e lo c a l produce i s

consumed locally.

Despite th e slower pace

o f

l i fe an d re la t ive distance from l a r g e

urban c e n t e r s

th e mei

youths

o f

F en g- Bin h av e f e l t

th e

p u l l

o f

metropolitan

l i fe

an d an

increasing

number a re leaving the i r native v i l l a g e s

to

seek

employment opportunities i n Hualien Taitung o r even Taipei.

The

scbo l

Th e

s mall primary

school tha t

serv es

Feng-Bin harbor resembles

many o f th e o t h e r

older

s chools

throughout

th e

i s l a n d .

I t i s a

greyish

co n crete bu ild in g w ith a c o a t

o f

peeling w hite p a i n t

covering

th e

classroom

an d o f f i c e w a l l s . This

school

wa s

bui l t

a t

th e en d o f

th e

Japanese

occupation

o f

Taiwan.

A r c h it e ct u ra l ly t h e

school i s designed af ter t radi t ional Taiwanese rura l homes tha t

153



i s i s

a

o n e- st o ry b u il d in g

made up o f

rooms l inke d

t o g e t h e r

t o

form th r e e s id e s

and

a la rg e c o u rt

yard in th e middle.

Th e

c o u r tyard

a c t s

a s

b o th

pla y a nd a ss em bl y a r e a . Th e classrooms

a re

a u s t e r e

equipped

w i t h

th e

ba r e

n e c e s s i t i e s ;

c h a i r s

desks

and

b la c k b o a r d . Th e

o v e r a l l

appearance o f th e sc h o o l

i s one o f

overuse

and

u n d e r - r e p a i r .

D es p i t e i t s more run-down

appearance th e

s c h o o l s

grounds a re

k e p t c l e a n . Th e s tu de nts ta ke t h e i r

c le a ning

d utie s s er io us ly .

There

a r e fl o w ers

p l a n t e d

around

th e c o u r t

ya r d

and palm t r e e s

o ff e r some sh a d e . Th e

u s u a l n a t i o n a l

symbols

a r e

a l s o

p r e s e n t

inc luding

b u s ts o f Confucius

and Chiang

K ai-shek. T h is

s mal l

ha r bor school

h a s

o nly s ev en ty s t u d e n t s

o f

w o n i n e t y p e r c e n t a r e

Amei. The

p r i n c i p a l and

h a l f o f

th e te a c hing

s t a f f o f n i n e a r e

mei a s w e l l i n c l u d i n g two

r e c e n t

women

gr a dua te s

from a

t e a c h e r s

c o l l e g e i n

Hualien.

Implementation

o f

th e Oral

Education

curriculum

pr l eduç tion c l s s es

in t h e

lowland

sc hool

s e v e r a l classrooms

were

observed w h i l e i ~ n thi s was being

t a u g h t .

g r e a t

d e a l o f

congruence was found

in

th e way

moral

ed u cat i o n wa s

t a u g h t

in

th e

h i g h l an d

sc hools

a s

compared

t o

t h e

lowland s ch o o l .

A t th e tilDe o f

obse r va tion a t

Ma - Jia th e moral theme b ei n g

t a u g h t wa s f i l i a l p i e t y . A t th e f o u r t h - g r a d e

l e v e l t h i s

les s on

focused

on

h ow t o

b e

a f i l i a l c h i l d . Unlike most

o t h e r

l e s s o n s

found i n

th e te xtbooks t h i s p a r t i c u l a r

l e s s o n d id n o t have a

154



s t o r y .

Rather,

the teacher in str uc te d th e

s tudents

t o

th ink of

some

of

the ways t h e i r own parents took care of them,

and

how

they

repaid t h a i r parents . In reply, the s tudents

mentioned

common

occurrences

such

as

t h e i r

parents taking care of

them

when

they

were sick,

giving them clothes

t o wear and food t o e a t , and

comforting

them.

Textbook i l l u s t r a t i o n s

accompanying

t h i s

lesson

depicted b l i s s f u l Chinese families

and

the

harmonious

r e l a t i o n s

between

parents

and

chi ldren .

At the f i f t h

and s i x t h grades,

the p o l i t i c a l

content

of moral

education classes was

more

conspicuous. The f i f t h

grade lesson

consis ted of speech

made

by

th e

primary school p r i n c i p a l

exhorting h i s

s tudents t o p r a c t i c e f i l i a l p ie t y i n the home a t

school,

and

within the socie ty . In the s i x t h

grade,

the father-son

r e l a t i o n s h i p of Chiang Kai-shek

and

Chiang Ching-kuo was

used

t o

epitomize f i l i a l

p i e t y .

Significant ly , both

l e s

sons

emphasized

t h a t

th e

ult imate

form

of f i l i a l

p i e t y

i s

th e

defense of the nation

agains t

i t s

enemies.

At

Feng-Bin,

the moral theme taught

was

h o n o r . In the t h r e e

grade-levels , t h e lesson s t o r i e s

focused

on

Chinese

h i s t o r i c a l

f iqures : General JOu-Chou East

Tsin

Dynasty , confucius, Mencius,

and Jü-Chien

Epoch of Spring

and Autumn . The

message was t h a t

s tudents

should r e a l i z e

t h a t

the n a t i o n s honor

was

t h e i r own and

t h a t they should do t h e i r

utmost

t o defend t h i s honor i . e . , by

reclaiming

the Chinese mainland .

The i n s t r u c t i o n a l

s t r a t e g i e s

used t o teach i e anà thics

vere

q u i t e s imi lar t o those a t

Hsiou-Lang.

Most

teachers

r e l i e d on

155



l e c t u r e s followed by question and answer periods. Fo r th e

most

p a r t , s t u d e n t

p a r t i c i p a t i o n

in such c l a s s e s was unenthusiastic.

he few animated c l a s s e s were conducted by young

hi l l t r i e

t e a c h e r s .

For

example,

t

Ma-Jia,

on e

h i l l

t r i e

six th -g rad e

teacher

enlivened h is

c l a s s

by

having

stu d en ts a c t

ou t

d i f f e r e n t

sketches

e . g . ,

defending a smaller c h i l d from b u l l i e s or

admonish

ing

someone f o r h is l a z i n e s s ) .

I n d i r e c t moral education.

he

informal

asp ects

o f

moral

education

were also

s i m i l a r

to

th e lowland school

of

Hsiou-Lang. ach

s c h o o l s

p r i n c i p a l

addressed th e children in th e morning.

In

t he s e p r es e nt at io n s he

reminded them

o f

th e ru le s and r e g u l a t i o n s , announced a s p e c i a l

event,

o r

gave

them

an i n s p i r a t i o n a l

t lk about s c h o l a s t i c

d i l i g e n c e . I n addition, th e home room teachers d ev ote d tw en ty

minutes

a day

to

reviewing

stu d en t

behavior,

most

o f t e n focusing on

disciplinary matters such a s t a r d i n e s s

and

unruliness.

o

enforce

d i s c i p l i n e ,

teachers

resorted

primarily

to

reprimanding

th e

t r a n s g r e s s o r s , usually i n

f r o n t

o f th e

c l a s s .

Corporal

punishment

t Ma-Jia was l e f t to th e

t e a c h e r s

d i s c r e t i o n .

At Feng-Bin, co rp o ral punishment wa s meted ou t

t

th e en d o f th e

school day. This was done while l l th e students

were

assembled in

th e c o u r ty ard . Before they were dismissed, unruly s t u d e n t s were

c a l l e d

in

f r o n t

o f the i r schoolmates, the i r

transgressions were

described

to

th e school

body, and

then a

teacher·would

rap the i r

knuckles

w ith a bamboo

r o d - - t h e

number

o f

rap s depending on

th e

serio u sn ess o f th e offense •

156



In

te::ms

of

ext ra-curr icu lar ac t iv i t i es , the highland children

were

mcstly involved in choir prac t ice , music,

and

basebal l .

At

Ma-Jia some

students

pa r ti c ip a ted in

a r t ac t iv i t ies such as carving

wood

and

s tone ), p o tt er y,

and

l ea ther

craf t .

These a r t

projects

accentuated local themes

and

motifs .

They would

include

reproduc

ing

t rad i t iona l

wooden carvings used to

decorate

indigenous homes,

carving wooden masks and producing

l a rge l ithograph ie

stone-plates.

eoc ers

Teacher

outlooks on moral education

for

highland

children

varied according to th eir

ethnie

sta tus .

For example, although a l l

four

teachers

agreed

t ha t

moral

ins t ruc t ion was an

important par t

of

the i r

professional

r e spons ib i li ti es , t he

Chinese teachers

tended

to view these

responsibi l i t ies

in

terms

of improving chi ldren s

l iving

habi t s ,

and

ins t i l l ing

nat ional

t rad i t ions in

the

s tudents .

The

h i l l

t r ibe

teachers ,

on the

other hand,

ta lked

more

in

terms

of

adapting

the

moral

values

to

the

loca l

customs

and the condit ions

of

the people , and seeing how t r iba l customs

and values m y be introduced in to the

overa l l

moral education

experience of the

children .

FUrthermore,

when

the

Chinese teachers

were

asked to

pr ior i t i ze

the values the i r

s tudents

should

l earn ,

they emphasized

such

things

as obeying the law , and

respecting

the

family

and

socie ty .

In

cont ras t ,

the h i l l t r ibe

teachers

expressed concern

over the eurr iculum s

lack of relevance

to the

chi ldren s immediate

socio-cul tura l environment.

They emphasized the

importance of

157



highland

mores.

As

one

h i l l

t r ibe

teacher ,

Mr

Tian, put i t , the

chi ldren

should

become famil iar with

the

normal and accepted ways

of

soc ia l r ela tio ns hip s in

h i l l

t r ibe

communities .

Miss

Chen,

another

h i l l

t r ibe

teacher ,

ident i f ied

honesty as

the

most

important

vir tue

for her s tudent s to l earn . sshe explained, you

have to be

honest

to yourself and to

your

community . Miss Chen

went on

to say tha t a

va st r epe rt oi re

of moral

ins t ruc t ion

could be

derived

from t rad i t iona l highland cul ture :

There

are many good ideas we

can find

in the his tory

of

the

h i l l

t r ibes , the

mythology, the population,

the land.

These

are

par t of Taiwan s wealth, not

jus t for the

h i l l

people,

but

for

the

nation as

a

whole--we

should

not

exterminate

the t rue wealth

of

the na t ion . . . .

The

present moral curriculum

i s

not sui table to help them

[ the

highland children]

adapte

I t i s not enough to

prepare them to

take

exams. t i s more than ju s t

a

question of

school

performance. The

chi ldren

need to

fee l

tha t t rad i t iona l

h i l l

t r ibe

cul ture

i s a l i v ing

th ing, tha t it i s

usable

for those who are u nstead y ,

for those who

have

an unclear future.

According to Mr Tian, the highland s tudents knew much more

about

Chinese

vir tues and et iquet te (Le . ,

confucianism)

than local

mores. He ta lked

about

h is

attempts

to of f se t th i s tendency

by

reintroducing h i l l

t r ibe t r ad itio n s to h is

s tudents , mainly through

a r t and

music: The h i l l

t r ibe

teachers use

c lass time

to

introduce t rad i t iona l

ar t ,

such a s p otte ry . The school i s

lucky to

have a

pr inc ipa l

who

promotes t h i s

so r t of

ac t iv i ty .

Miss Chen

confirmed

Mr

Tian s

viewpoint, s ta t ing t ha t moral

education provided

a t

school

was

too

S ino-cent r i c :

The chi ldren

don t

have

the

opportunity to match the

school s v alu es w ith

t h e i r

cul tural her i tage.

t s a

kind

of

cul tura l

bias in the moral curriculum.. . l

take

t ime in the classes the chi ldren enjoy

to

teach usefu l

values , l ike choir prac t ice and the ar ts , l emphasize

158



cooperation, responsib i l i ty ,

and

fr iendl iness

• .•

to

teach mutual

respect

and self -conf idence l

t ry

to

ca l l

the

students by the i r

indigenous names

. . • to teach

s e l f

esteem l sometimes use t he n at iv e language

and

t a lk about

the

r e a l t radi t ions

found in Amei society.

The Chinese

teachers ,

h o w v ~

disagreed.

One

teacher , Miss

Lin,

said, There i s

a re sp on sib il i ty fo r th e school

to

make the

children

fee l

they

are

par t

of

the grea ter

nation,

and

fo r

them

to

be

famil iar

with

the

values t ha t make the nat ion >: ork That i s why

there i s a nat ional curriculum

to

guide a l l public school teachers

in

meeting

th is

t ask .

Another Chinese

teacher ,

Mr. Chang,

was

also unsympathetic

to

the

idea of

changing the moral

curriculum

to

become more cu l tu r a l ly sensi ti ve:

Valuable [class] t ime would be used ••• th is [ i . e . a

curriculum oriented

toward t r iba l

culture]

should

he

taught

as an

extra-eurr icular

course.

As

a

matter

of

fac t many

h i l l t r ibe

parents are

opposed to

the

idea

of

including a loca l curriculum--they

expect

the fundamen

t a l s of

[Confucian]

moral

educat ion to

be taught the i r

children.

These

specia l

educational

needs

of h i l l t r ibe

children,

including the teaching of

nat ive

t r iba l lan

guages, i s supposed

to

be

the p aren ts

job, not th e

school s .

SUch comments

on

the

Chinese

t eachers

par t

divulged

the i r

in te rpre ta t ion

of

the

ideoloqical purpose of moral

education.

The

Chinese teachers ful ly endorsed the moral curriculum fe r i t s

assimilat ive

function and

in terpre ted

the i r

ro le prim arily as

disseminators of e st ab li sh ed nat io na l v al ue s.

They

saw a need to

mget

a

cer ta in

def ic iency

in the highland

s tudents

moral

education

which

was

due

to

the i r

ethnie

background

•

159



students

Twelve

student

subjects

were

interviewed a t Ma-Jia an d

Feng

Bin.

Th e

students

a t

Ma-Jia were

Ruolin fe male,

age 12, s i x t h

gr ade) ,

Yawang

female, age

11,

f if th

grade,

Wenyian

female,

age

11, fourth qrade), Chiouching male, age 13, six th

grade),

Yüchin

male, age 11,

f i f th gr ade) , an d

Rongkwan male,

age

9,

fourth

grade)

• The s ix students interviewed a t

Feng-Bin were:

Hanwei

male, age 9,

f our th

grade), Guorong male, age 11, f i f th

gr ade) ,

Shihyi

male, age,

12,

six th

gra de ), YUru

female,

age

10,

f our th

gr ade) , Weiya, female, age 11, f if th grade),

and

H si ou la n f em al e,

age 12, six th

gr ade) .

A li

twelve

students stated

that they were

C h r i s t i a n s .

A t t i t u d e s toward schoolinq.

Th e

v a s t major ity

of

students

expressed a p o s i t i v e

at t i tude

about

going

to

school.

T he i r

atti tu d es

regarding thei r

teachers

was

a l s o p o s i t i v e . Only

two said that

the i r teacher s were too

s t r i c t

students:

Ruolin s

responses

were

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e

of

th e

o t h e r

Interviewer: How do

yo u

f e e l about going to

school?

Ruolin: Sometimes I find going

to

sC hool

very dif f icu l t

b u t

yo u

learn

about a i l s o r t s

o f th in gs .

l g e t to see my

f r i e n d s and we

have

time

to

play together.

Interviewer:

Do

yo u

l ik e

your teacher ?

Ruolin:

Yes,

l

l i k e

her

very

much

Sh e can g e t angry

sometimes

when we do something wronq,

l ike

cominq la te to

c l a s s

o r

qivinq th e wronq

answer. But most of

th e time

she

i s

smilinq.

Of th e twelve r es po nd en ts , o nly four named the i r p arents a s

sources

o f

moral i n s t r u c t i o n . J u s t one student, Chiouchinq was

able

to i d e n t i f y

someone

outside

h i s family a s a source o f moral

16



education. e selected the loca l pastor who i s an ethnie Chinese •

Ask.ed

about

ways

to

show go behavior,

the highland

students

answered

according

to

three themes.

The f i r s t had

to

do with

conformity

to

school

rules

and regulat ions

e .g . turning

in

homework on t ime,

being

punctual) . The

second focused

on academic

r es pons ib i li ti es e .g . performing well on t e s t s reading books a t

home); and

the

th i rd re la ted to

moral

actions

(e .g,

helpfulness,

and

espec ia l ly

f i l i a l obedience).

Exemplars

brayery qreatness and

obedience

Dr. Sun

Yat-Sen,

the founder

of

the Republic

of China,

was

often

mentioned as

an example

of

bravery

and

greatness. The

reas on s given

by

the

students for select ing

Dr. Sun echoed the

nat ional i s t ic

messages found in

the

Li e and thi s textbooks. A

typica l explanation for th i s

choice

was given by Rongkwan

the

fourth-grade Paiwan

boy:

Interviewer: Who

do you

th ink

i s a

brave person?

Rongkwan: Guo-: u

[ The

F ather o f

the Republ ic ] .

Interviewer:

Why

do

you

choose

him?

Rongkwan: Because he

[sun

Yat-sen] fought fo r th is

country against other countr ies without car ing tha t h is

l i f e

was

ln

danger.

Only one student , Hanwei

named

Chiang Kai-shek as a

model

of

bravery,

and

even

then,

was because he

was

associated with Dr.

Sun: • [Chiang Kai-shek

i s

brave] because he once

saved the

Fa ther

of the Republic .

Almost

ha l f

of

the

students

chose

family

members

as

brave

persons instead

of

a po l i t i ca l f igure. Thi s r esponse was given

by

YQru:

Interviewer:

Who do you

th ink

1s a

brave

person?

161



My

fa ther

i s very

brave.

He

sometimes

gets hur t

a t

work,

but

he

never cr ies . One time t ree f e l l

against h is leg and nearly

broke

i t but he continued to

go to

the f i e lds

every day.

Even

now

you can see the

scar .

For

th e ir s to rie s about cou rage ,

most

children reverted

to

well-

known accounts of

Chinese

nat iona l heroes . Again Sun Yat-sen was

the most often

ci ted

hero. A typica l

story

was the

one

to ld by

Hanwei about

Sun s exploi ts

when China

f i r s t

:lecame a republic . He

described Sun s

push from

the south

to defeat

the

warlords

who had

taken

control

of many par t s of China. YUru s story was

also

about

Dr.

Sun: Guo-: u

knew

t ha t

our count ry

was being invaded.

But he

did

not want t h i s

to

happen, so he

did

not run away and

he

went to

save the country. :It made a lo t of people worry

about

him . Both

s tor ies were closely related to those found in the moral education

textbooks.

Some

chose nat ional /his tor ical

f igu re s o th er

than

Sun Yat-sen.

For

example,

Chiouching s

s tory

was

about

General

Tien Tan:

Tien

Tan was

a

general

in the

State

of

Chi

when

the

invaders, the State of Yen,

wanted to

take Tien Tan s

c i ty .

The

soldiers of

Yen

were

much greater in number

than Tien Tan s soldiers Tien Tan cleverly used the cows

in

th e c i ty to at tack

the

Yen

soldiers

by

set t ing f i re to

the cows

t a i l s

and

ty inq

long knives to the i r horns.

The Yen so ld ie r s were so

scared

t ha t Tien

Tan s soldiers

were able to f igh t th off .

Another informant,

Shihyi chose a

wri ter

of the Sung

Dynasty

named

Ssu

Ma-kuang: b ec ause he wro te th e tzy chib tong ji n ( the t i t l e

of a

voluminous

Chronicle

cover ing ove r

a

1,000

years

of

Chinese

his tory

he made a b ig con tr ibu tion to the country .

Other

s to r i e s

of

courage

dea l t with

family

members.

Yl1chin

to ld

about

h is fa ther

who

once stood

between a

charging

water

162



buffalo

and

hilllSelf. Wenyian

chose

to

t e l l a story

about

her elder

s i s t e r

who

put

out a

f i r e

in the

kitchen

while t h e i r parents

were

away.

Hsioulan recounted a story about her fa ther taking her

younger s i s t e r

t o

th e h os pi ta l

i n

th e

middle

of

the nigh t.

Stories about obedience focused

e i t h e r

on national f o l k l o r e or

personal

anecdotes.

Examples of

th e former

include Hsioulan s

s t o r y

of

Tan-tze:

Tan-tze was

a f i l i a l son who

looked a f t e r

h i s s i c k

mother.

The only

cure

fo r h i s mother s

sickness

was

medicine

c a l l e d d e e r s m i l k . Tan-tze went i n to t h e

f o r e s t t o e x t r a c t milk from a doe,

but

he was nearly

k i l l e d by a hunter . The

hunter

was

moved by Tan- tze s

sense

of

f i l i a l

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

and

so

he gave

Tan-tze

several deer . With these animals,

Tan-tze s

mother

was

able t o

recuperate

from her sickness.

ongkwan recounted the

famous s t o r y

of

O ld

L a i :

long

t ime

ago there lived an old man who was more than

seventy years o ld , but

h is

parents

were

s t i l l

a l i v e . The

parents were so old t h a t

they

could not

r e a l l y

do much t o

amuse thelllSelves. To keep them from being bored , th e

old

man dressed hilllSelf up as a baby

and

played t r i c k s i n

f ront

of them.

The

parents

found t h i s very amusing. They

never got

t i r e d

of seeing t h e i r

son

play t h e

fool . This

old

man

was

none

other than

Old

Lai.

tt itudes tow r W and so i e t y nd

ethnie

id e n t i t y

Most

highland children were r e l u c t a n t t o

l i v e

i n t h e

lowlands.

Chiouching, f o r example, s t a t e d

t h a t

t h e

highlands

were

b e t t e r

because of b e t t e r environmental condit ions:

In

th e lowlands there i s too much a i r pollut ion. t s

very noisy,

too . You c a n t

g e t around

because t h e

t r a f f i c i s always bad, and t h e r e i s

garbage a l l

over t h e

place,

it

mells

bad.

Whenever

l m i n

town

l

f e e l

nervous, l i k e l want t o run away t o a quie t place.

Shihyi

expressed

h i s

concerns

t h i s way:

d o n t want t o go t o t h e

lowlands

because

too

many th ings

a r e d i f f e r e n t

between lowlanders

163



and

highlanders- - i t s e sy fo r con f l i c ts

to ar ise

[ i ta l ics

added]

Of the twelve respondents _only three

wanted

to eventually l ive

in

the lowlands.

Many

students

were

hes i tant

to

make

fr iends

with

lowland

chi ldren, expressing a sense

of in fe r ior i ty

vis-à-vis

Chinese

people. For example, Rongkwan

said tha t : The others [Le . ,

lowlander children] don t

think

l know much about a

lo t things .

Hanwei

fe l t he was not as smart as other Chinese children: I t i s

not easy

for m to

f ind

lowland

f r iends because they are very

clever and

in te l l igen t .

Yawang

noted tha t her fac i l i ty

in

Chinese

was not

good enough: 1 would need

to speak bet t e r Chinese

before

l f e l t s a f e ta lk ing

to

lowland chi ldren .

The highland s tudents ambiguous feel ings toward the

dominant

ethnic

group was ref lected in the i r sense

of

ethnic ident i ty .

For

example, when asked how he

would

ident i fy

himself

to a

foreigner,

Shihyi replied: 1 would say tha t l m an indigenous person but

from

the

country

of

Taiwan .

Slandering

e i ther

the

t r iba l

group

or

the

country

would

make

them angry. But ju s t

four

of them

said tha t

they would be angr ier i f they

heard someone say something bad

about

the country.

The interview data

gathered

from the Paiwan and mei

students

confirm a high leve l

of

congruity

between the i r pr ior i t ies in

values and those found in t he e st ab li sh ed moral education curr icu

lum. Almost invar iably the students chose moral t hemes which had

been

taught

as di s t inc t lesson uni ts

in

the ife n tb ics course.

Furthermore, many of t s tudents '

s tor ies of courage

and obedience

164



featured Chinese n a t i o n a l / h i s t o r i c a l

f igures

who

closely

resembled

those presented

in

the if and th i s t e x t s .

Notably,

none of the

highland chi ldren

referred t o

native f igures, such as c u l t u r a l

heroes and

ancestral

founders of v i l l a g e s .

I t

i s

also

noteworthy

t h a t the

highland

s tudents did not perce ive any r e a l difference

between

the school

and

the home in

terms

of

values, nor could they

r ead il y i den ti fy sources

of

moral i n s t r u c t i o n

outs ide the school.

Although

there

was

a

high

degree of correspondence

between

state-sanct ioned values and

highland

s tudent values, the same

c anno t be said about

t h e

s tudents

sentiments toward members of

t h e

dominant

national

ethnic group. Most of th e s tudents we: e

dis incl ined t o go l i v e

i n

t h e

lowlands.

Several

of the children

c l e a r l y

indicated

t h a t they f e l t i n f e r i o r

t o

th e lowland Chinese.

rents

All o f the

parents

in terviewed expressed t h e i r

hope

t h a t t h e i r

chi ldren

would

go

beyond

th e

high school

l e v e l .

Parents

also

emphasized

th e

importance

of

t he cha ra ct er -bui ld ing

aspect of

schooling,

for example:

Interyiewer:

What should

your c hild le arn

a t school?

Chiougwanq:

Of course i s important f o r

her

[ L e .

Ruolin] t o acquire s k i l l s

and

knowledge, but i s j u s t

a s

important

t o learn how t o

conduct

oneself . What s t h e

use

of learning a l l kinds of f a c t s

and

ideas

i f

you

c a n t

be an

upright

person?

Similar

views were

expressed

by

other

parents:

nI

hope

chi ld

can

have both, a successful career

and

good moral charactern--Chiangyi;

my

chi ldren

should become

persons with excep tiona l competence and

character

within th e society --Shenjeng;

the everyday school

165



subjects need t o

be

complemented

by lessons

on discernment and

recti tude --Jungren.

In s p i t e of

the high

hopes they

placed in education,

the

parents

spoke

of

m ny

undesirable

changes

they

observed

in

t h e i r

c h i l d r e n s

behavior and a t t i t u d e s sin ce atte nd in g school. For

instance,

Interyiewer: Has going

to

school

changed your

c h i l d s

thinking or behavior?

Jungren: Yes, l

can see

how he

[his son, YUchin] has

changed over

the

l a s t couple

of years. He s becoming

d i s r e s p e c t f u l impoli te ,

i l l -behaved

and

arrogant.

l

know

t h a t h e s hanging around with kids

who have already

l e f t

school; t h e y r a

not

good

inf luence.

He s not

r e a l l y

i n t e r e s t e d

i n

much

of

anything

a t

school.

Only two

parents

had someth ing posi t ive

t o

s a y o n t h i s subject .

Chiangyi f e l t t h a t her daughter had

actually

become more serious

and obedient . Jinchuan thought t h a t h i s daughter had become

more

s e n s i b l e .

The

parents

were

well aware

of the s o c i a l

i n e q u a l i t i e s

t h a t

exis ted between themselves

and

lowlanders.

Jinchuan spoke

with

anger about th e s o c i a l and economic

i n j u s t i c e s

he

f e l t

against

himself and

h i s

people:

Even i f we are d if fe re n t i n some ways, we highlanders are

st

people a f t e r a l l . Sometimes the lowlanders

discriminate

against t h e highlanders. They should not

t r e a t us t h i s w y ••• how are we t o believe t h a t we

too

a r e

Chinese?

Most

parents

recognized t h at t he ir

children

would move t o

the

lowlands. For

some,

t h i s

was

source

of

concern:

Interyiewer:

h t a r e your general

feel ings

about

lowland society?

Chiougwanq: Lowland

socie ty i s

prosperous and

bust l ing ,

and

you can

learn

l o t

t h e r e .

t h e other

hand, the

bad

aspects are even

g r e a t e r

•

166



Interviewer: What

so r t

of bad

aspects?

Chiougwang: People in

the

lowlands

don t

have

the

same

regard for

the

well-being of others . They do what s

necessary

to malee

themselves

prosper. You

never

have

the

chance

to

know

your

neighbor

everyone

i s so busy

outcompeting

everyone

e lse . All

you

hear

about the

lowlands today i s crime and corrupt ion.

have

many

problems

in our

vi l lage , but

I fee l the

lowland

c i t i e s

are much more dangerous.

Many

l il ce Jungren ,

were

also

concerned

over the prospect

of

t he i r

chi ldren s loss of the i r ethnic iden ti ty : I hope my own children

won t move

to l ive in

the c i ty . But

i f

the t ime

comes

tha t

th is

becomes

necessary,

it i s c ri t ic al tha t they don t

forge t

t he i r

sense of [Paiwan] consciousness .

communitv leaders

The two community leaders interviewed were Senyuan and

Lianwang.

Senyuan i s a prominent elder ly member

of the

Ma-Jia

Paiwan

community.

Aged 67 and Chris t ian, he

was born

and

ra i sed

within the vi l l age community. L ianwang used to

l ive

fur ther

north

near Hualien ,

as

a

young

boy.

He

and

h is

family

moved

to

the

administrat ive uni t of

Feng-Bin short ly af te r the Japanese

returned

Taiwan

to

China.

He has

remained here

ever

s ince .

Lianwang

i s

now 73 years

old

and

has

been a

Chris t ian

fo r over

th i r ty

years.

As many

older

t r iba l members,

both Senyuan Lianwang speak

Japanese

qui te welle

Both community leaders agreed tha t education

was very

important fo r the children. senyuan f e l t tha t th e most essent ia l

th ing for

th e Paiwan

children to l earn was how to read and to know

how to

speak

the national language wel l . To Lianwang, the

primary

167



purpose of

education

was to know

w to

t rea t people

r ight and to

conduct oneself

in l i fe .

Both

were

concerned about

the

role of

schooling in

cul tural ly

assimilating

h i l l

t r ibe

children.

Asked

whether

schooling

had

changed the

highland

chi ldren s thinking or behavior, Senyuan

replied:

Schooling has strengthened the chi ldren s compatibility

with the

national

cul ture,

but Chinese

cul tural values

are

sometimes

di f f i cu l t

to digest .

The Taiwanese and the

Hakka--their

roo ts are

founded in Han culture, and

the i r

population is

great . But the h i l l t r ibes have

no

other

place to look for

the i r

cul tural

heri tage

except the

highlands. All

they have

are the

l i f e

ways of

the

mountains.

Unfortunately,

the

Chinese

values

are

sometimes unsuitable

to our t radi t ional

ways.

Interviewer: In

which

ways are

they

unsuitable?

Senyuan: Chinese education

i s

teaching the

children

to

love

the

country, but not the community There are so

many problems aff l ict ing th i s vil lage,

such

as the

turbulent relat ions among family members the drinking

problems ~ o n g the youths, the increased incidence of

fighting

and

stealing within the vil lage. I t i s import

ant to consider

community

relat ions-- the

reciprocal

relat ions--so tha t the people in the

vil lage

can s t i l l

feel t ha t is important to respect

each

other in the i r

everyday

interactions. These

things

need to

be high

l ighted

in

the

chi ldren s

overall

schooling experience.

Lianwang was

especial ly cr i t ica l of the

school s neglect

of

indigenous values:

Schooling needs to enhance the personal ~ ~ ~ t e r

train in g o f

students.

Today s

education

in the public

schools

focuses

too much on academic concerns. I t i s for

passing exams, not f or get ti ng along with people. So

i s

not surprising

to

see

th e ch ild re n looking

only

a t

school

t exts

without

understanding what th is learning

means

for

the i r l ives .

Schooling

seems to take place

without

consideration

for the local

environment. There

i s the

loss

of customary morals in th is vil lage commun-

i ty . Students

are

neglecting

the i r cul tu re , t he re i s no

place

to

use t he o ri gi na l learning, the

children th ink

i s out of fashion ••• even

the

h i l l t r ibe teachers don t

know the

t radi t ional

culture •

168



The

elders stressed the

need for

schooling

to foster harmoni-

ous

s oc ia l re la tio ns within

t h e i r

cOlllDlunities

According to

Senyuan, probity and congeniality are

the things today s children

have to

appreciate.

The

Paiwan

children

have to

cult ivate

them

selves

and

practice

the [traditional] moral

cul ture .

e

suggested

that : The parents can

help

the

teachers i den ti fy c ruc ia l t r i b a l

customs

and principles which can be used

in

the

school s formal

moral curr iculum so can

become more

responsive to

the

children s

needs .

The cOlllDlunity

leaders

understood

the magnitude

of

the

challenge associated with revital izing

t h e i r

respective commun-

i t i e s

They

talked about the rapid depopulation

of

the

highlands,

and

the

d if fi cu lt ie s t ha t

e x i s t

in

motivating younger

people

to

stay

in

t h e i r native

vil lages. Senyuan was pessimist ic

about the

long

term

effects of the social changes

the

highlanders were

experiencing:

Nowadays

everything

in

our

vil lage

comes from

the

lowlands--television, v ideos, t el ephone s, cars, motor

cycles

we have less and less reason

to

say

t h a t

we

are

Amei and not

Chinese.

There s real ly not much

t h a t

we

can do, i t s

changing so

f a s t ow are

we

supposed to

f ight back?

Lianwang,

though aware of the challenges

faced

by h is v illag e in

dealing with

the

rapid

transformations

brought

on by the

nat ional

culture,

was somewhat more

optimistic:

:In

the past there

was

s trong pressure

to

show

loyalty

to

the

Chinese

[ MT]

••• some

t r i b a l

members saw

t h i s as an

opportunity

t o

show

t h e i r pa tr io ti sm , especi al ly

when

they went

to

do

t h e i r

mili tary

service.

Sometimes the

effec t was

t h a t

they showed

g reate r r espect

for Chinese

cul ture than t h e i r own cul ture.

Today

the si tuat ion i s

more

d i f f i c u l t [ambiguous]. :It

i s

a

problem to grasp

a

169



feeling of n a t i o n a l i t y

he

t r a d i t i o n a l Chinese

values

a re

hard to adopt to

t o d a y s

needs aybe

with th e

c ha ng es y ou ng er

t r i l

members can

look up

to

the i r

w

background instead of wanting

to forget the i r pasto

he a t t i t u d e s o f th e community leader s were

q uite s im ila r

to

those

of th e

parents Both ~ o n e d

th e

loss of indigenous values

and

th e s ch oo l s

r o l e

in

c u l t u r a l l y

assimilating

highland

youths

•

1 7 0



Discussion

S t ude nt s

y comparing

th e i nt ervi ew d ata

ga t he r e d

in

Taiwan wi t h

t hos e

o f North

Thailand, t h e response p a t t e r n s found

in

t h e Paiwan

and

mei

groups o f s tu de nt

s u b j e c t s most

c l o s e l y

p r l le led

t hos e

found

with in

the mong

group. Of

gre tes t

s i g n i f i c a n c e i s

th e

f c t th t

the i r frame o f cul tur l r e f e r e n c e m i r r or e d

th t

o f

t he i r mong

c o u n t e r p a r t .

Given th t the pr oc e ss

o f


i s

w e i l

advanced t t h e s e

two Taiw an

hi ghl a nd

s t u d y s i t e s

Ogbu s

1991,

1993)

p o s t u l a t e concerning t h e connection

between i nvol unt ary

m i nori t y

s t tus and o p p o s i t i o n th e dominant ~ u seemed to

be

confirmed.

arents and Qommunity eaders

f o r

the

res p o n s e

d a t a gat hered from the p a r e n t and

community

lea d e r s o f

the

mei

and

Paiwan

s t udy

s i t e s

t h e s e

g e n e r a l l y

d u p l i c a t e d the

o p p o sitio n al

views e xpr e sse d by the mong

a d ul ts a s

w e i l .

Th e most

conspicuous p o i n t

o f dis t inc t ion wa s t h e

f c t th t th e indigenous p a r e n t s

i n Taiwan

e xpr e sse d gre te r

resentment toward

th e

dominant group t han

t he i r mong

c o u n t e r p a r t .

Perhaps th i s wa s

due

to a more

bi t t e r c o n t e x t

o f conf l ic t and

oppos i t i on between the hi ghl anders o f Taiwan and the lowland

Chinese

•

17 1



Teachers

Interviews

with

the t eachers revealed

s i m i l r

ethnocentr ic

t t i t u d e s mon teachers who

were

members

of

the

dominant group

As

such

th e

Chinese

t e c h e r s

general out

look

on s o c i l i z i n g

indigenous children

was q ui t e s i m i l r

t o t h e i r Thai

p ~ r s

The

b e n e f i t

of having

been

able

t o

include

teachers who

were

themselves

members

of

th e indigenous t r i b l groups

was

evident in

t h e

c o n t r s t i n g viewpoints th ey h eld of education

i n general and moral

education i n p r t i c ul r •

172



ON LUSION

Thi s d i s s e r t a t i o n examined th e n ati o na l

p o l i c i e s

o f Tha i l a nd

and Taiwan

toward

t h e i r

hi ghl a nd

m i no ri ty p o p ul at io n s.

I n

bot h

c o u n t r i e s a f o c a l concern o f th e s e p o l i c i e s i s t o

a ss im i la te t he

m i n or it ie s i n to

t h e

n a t i o n a l

mainstream.

I n Tha i l a nd

th e

n a t i o n a l

p o l i c y

r e f l e c t s

th e

r u l i n g

e l i r . e s f e a r o f

i t s h i g h l a n d e r

popul a

t i o n

a s a

t h r e a t

t o n a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y and

l o c a l e c ol ogy.

To

minimize t h i s

percei ved t h r e a t

th e T h ai

c e n t r a l

government

i n i t i a t e d

s e v e r a l developlDent p r o j e c t s . For

t h e

p a s t

t h r e e

decades t h e

hi ghl anders h av e b ee n su b jected

t o f or c e d r e s e t t l e m e n t

crop

s u b s t i t u t i o n

Buddhist pros el yt i s m and i d e o l o g i c a l

i n c u l -

c a t i o n .

I n

Taiwan

th e

N a t io n a li st p o li cy toward th e indigenous h i l l

t r i b e s i s based on

t h e

p r i n c i p l e o f

l i : fan

which

r e g a r d s

a l l

e th nic m in ori tie s a s

b ar b ar ian s who need t o

be

br ought

u n d er

th e

c i v i l i z i n g

in f lu e n c e o f

Han

Chinese

c u l t u r e .

s

e nf or c e d

by


a u t h o r i t i e s ove r

th e

p a s t

f o r tY y e a r s

l i : fan

h a s a l l

b u t el i m i nat ed

t h e us e o f

hi ghl a nd

languages family

names

l o c a l

r e l i g i o n

n a t i v e a t t i r e and


f ol kw ays an d

knowledge.

I n

bot h c o u n t r i e s hi ghl anders a r e i n c r e a si n g l y d i s he a r te n e d

a s

t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l

v a lu e s g iv e way t o

i d e a l s

embodied

i n t h e

dominant s o c i e t y . The s o c i a l

f i b r e

o f hi ghl a nd

communities

i s

f r a i l

i n t e r - - g e n e r a t i o n a l

r e l a t i o n s a r e f r a u g h t wi t h s t r i f e and

th e

o v e r a l l moral

c l i m a t e

i s

d i s s o l u t e .

Ot h er s o c i a l consequences

o f


i n c l u d e

r a p i d de popul a t i on e t h n i c

exogamy

173



increased

f i n a n c i a l

indebtedness anà

th e commercialization

of

t r ib l c u l t u r e . In s h o r t assimilation

has

not improved the lo t

of

th e

highlanders in

e i t h e r country.

T he i r s i t u a t i o n is

more

precarious

today than

ever .

Moral education i s an important t o o l fo r

th e

absorbtion of

younger

generations o f

highlanders

in to th e national

f old.

Moral

education in

th e public

primary schools

of Thailand

and Taiwan s

highlands

follows

national guidelines which assur e th t th e

children a re pol i t ic l ly socialized to esteem n a ti o na l f ig u re s to

obey

r u l e s

and r e g u l a t i o n s and

a s p i r e to

i d e n t i f y

themselves

as

members o f th e

national

pol i tY

with

a

ommon h i s t o r y and c u l t u r a l

h e r i t a g e . highland students are exposed to th e national

c u l t u r e

they

per ceive l e s s difference

between

home an d

sc hool -

taught

values.

They

a r e l e s s able

to

i d e n t i f y sources

of

moral

i n s t r u c t i o n

outside th e school context

and

become

l e s s

i n t e r e s t e d

in


customs and mores.

However

th e

highland

childr en

who

were

th e

most

exposed

to

t h e

national

c u l t u r e were

a ls o th e

ones to regard th e

dominant

ethnic

group with th e le s t

ff ini ty

This

was

most evident

between th e mong students · of

North

Thailand

and

th e Amei

and

Paiwan students

o f

Taiwan.

Undoubtedly

such feelings towards

members o f th e n atio na l c ultu re run d i r e c t l y

counter

to th e

pol i t i c l s o c i a l i z a t i o n envisioned by

th e

ruling e l i tes of Thailand

and Taiwan.

One

explanation

i s

th t in both countries th e a ss im ila tiv e

ideological values expounded i n th e highland public schools a re

••

174



of f se t by g r e a t e r di rec t and

indirec t experiences

o f e th n ic

antagonism between th e indigenous c h i l d r e n and member o f th e

dominant ethn].c group, l ead i n g to

f e e l i n g s

o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

a g a i n s t

th e

former by

th e

l a t t e r Thus,

th e

h i g h l an d er

c h i l d r e n ,

ra ther tha n gaining a sense o f belonging

to

the n a ti on a l c u lt ur e ,

feel t h ey a r e being excluded

from

the dominant

cul tura l

mainstream.

They have a heightened sense o f m a r g i n a l i t y , are

re luc tant to

i d e n t i f y

w i t h th e dominant s o c i e t y ,

and

assume

a d e f i a n t

at t i tude

toward t h o s e who have forced

a s s i m i l a t i o n upon

them.

such

an

e xpla na tion

would

concur w i t h Ogbu s 1991,

1993) d e s c r i p t i o n

o f

th e

o p p o s i t i o n a l

cul tura l frame o f r e f e r e nc e and ident i ty a s s o c i -

a te d w it h i nv ol un ta ry m i n o r i t i e s .

A major theme

of

th i s

disser ta t ion h as been tha t

the pol i t i ca l

soc ia l iza t ion

o ccu rri n g in the s ta te primary s ch o o l s

se r ving

indigenous t r iba l c h i l d r e n in Thailand and Taiwan

i s

c o n t r i b u t i n g

to an

involunta r y

mi n o ri t y

o r i e n t a t i o n

toward the

dominant

n a t i o n a l

s o c i e t y .

such,

th e

s t u d e n t s

a d o p t

o p p o s i t i o n a l

at t i tudes

toward

members o f

the dominant

group. Moreover, adul t members o f

indigenous t r iba l

communities, pe r c e iving

the a s s i m i l a t i v e

preoccupation o f p u b l i c ed u cat i o n , a r e concerned ab o u t the

cul tural

s u r v i v a l

o f t he i r own s o c i e t y and i t s v al u e

system.

Thus t h ey to o

te nd to r e ga r d melllbers o f

the

d om in an t g ro up and

the

s ch o o l s

t h ey

c o n t r o l

w ith m i s t r u s t .

Findings o f th i s kind have imp o r ta n t i m p l i c a t i o n s .

Fi r s t

o f

a l l implie s

the

need for the cen tra l governments o f

T h a ila n d

and Taiwan

to update

the i r e duc a tiona l

pol ic ie s c ruc ia l

to th is

175



process

i s

rethinking

the fundamental relat ionship t ha t exis ts

between

dom inant and minority

groups.

As Gibson

(1991,

p.374)

argues:

educat ional po li cy of

assimilat ion,

whether

expl ic i t

or impl ic i t

coercive

or benign, stems

in

par t

a t

l e a s t

from the assumption tha t minor ity s tuden ts need to change

the i r ways i f they

wish

to be

s uc ce ss fu l i n

school.

Such

an

assumption

i s unfounded.

Following

Gibson s

suggestion, a more viable

educational

policy

i s

one tha t sus ta ins and pri:lmotes

multicultural ism.

In terms of

pol ic ical soc ia l iza t ion

a s tr ong po li cy o f mu lti cu lt ur al ism

would

communicate to indigenous s tudents t ha t they not

change

the i r

c ultu re o r abandon the i r sense

of

t r i ba l ident i ty Rather they

can

find strength within t he i r famil ies

and communi tie s,

Community

fo rc es p lay an

e s se n ti al r o le

in the school adaptat ions of minority

chi ldren, and schools must give g re ate r a tte ntio n to building

s trong,

col labara t ive

re la t ions

w ith m inority communities

(p.

375).

As

was

determined

in

the

introductory

sect ion

of

th is

disser ta t ion the

role

of

the teacher as an agent

of

soc ia l iza t ion

i s

essent i a l

fo r s tudents

a t

the primary

level

Accordingly,

teachers, par t i cu la r ly those

who

are

members

of the

dominant grOU ',

need to

demonstrate

to

the i r students

t ha t multicultural ism

i s an

interetlmic reciproc l

process

le rning Furthermore,

would

be important to

increase

the

number of

indigenous teachers serving

the highland

student populat ions. Doing

so would

require

important

policy changes

in

teacher

education programs

and

curriculum

development of

bat h count ri es

•

176



The cent ra l

governments of

Thailand and Taiwan

have

invested

cons ide rab le resources in

t rying

to

absorb highlander

minori t ies .

Highlander

antipathy toward

th e n atio nal cul ture has

already had

consequential

po l i t i ca l

implications

in Taiwan.

o

fa r

the

highlander movement in Thailand

has not had

the same

profound

pol i t i ca l ramificat ions as in

Taiwan,

but would

be w ise

for the

Thai rul ing e l i t e to

take

heed. Only very recent ly have some

pol i t i ca l leaders

in

Thailand

and Taiwan

come

to

regard ethnic

divers i ty

as nat ional

asse t .

The present

research

points to need fo r g re ate r in ve stig a

t ion

of the

development

of

cul tura l

frames of reference

mong

indigenous involuntary

minority

students in such countr ies

as

Thailand

and

Taiwan. This

~ u y

focused

on

issues of po l i t i ca l

social izat ion a t the

primary

leve l but research

needs to be

extended to

the higher

levels of schooling when students becomc

even more sens i t ive to issues

o f e th nic

ident i ty a l iena t ion and

the

development

of

an

ident i ty

system.

Moreover,

grea ter

cross

cul tura l

educational researc-h

of

neighboring Asian

s ta te s t ha t also

have

involuntary indigenous) minori t ies i s

needed,

such as the

Phi l ippines, Laos,

cambodia,

Vietnam,

Burma,

India ,

and

China.

Final ly, cross cu l tura l

research conducted within

Asia

needs

to be more

closely

l inked

with

the

research conducted in North

America. Important knowledge

and

exper ience concerning

the

i ssues

discussed in t h i s disser ta t ion should be more freely exchanged

between educators

serving

involuntary

minor i t i es .

Regardless of

the

nat ional se t t ing

today

s

educational

sys tem mus t

value

the

177



ethnic

and ul tur l background of i l students and demonstrate th t

the

school can be responsive

to

the needs of

multiethnic

global

society

8



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Th e

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m i s s i o n .

Bangkok P o s t ,

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1987) .

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D

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1992 . Bao-jang

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in teres ts ;

the

Ministry

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Tai-Wan

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1977 .

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Country

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The hidden

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the

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New

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Primary

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Lian-heh Bao, p. 15.

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The

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•

9



PPEND IX I

Decla ra tions of princip

les

adopted t the fourth General ssembly

of

the

World

Council

of

Indigenous

Peoples

September 1984:

Principle

1

Principle

2

principle

3

Principle

4

principle

5

Principle 6

Principle 7

Principle 8

Principle

9

All indigenous peoples

have

the

r ight of

se l f -

determination y

vir tue of th is

r igh t they m y

freely determine the i r

po l i t ic l status and

freely

pursue the i r economic social religious

and

cul-

tur l

development

All s t tes within which an

indigenous people

l ives

sh l l

recognize

the population

terr i tory and

inst i tut ions of the indigenous people

The

cultures of the

indigenous peoples are

p rt of

the

cultural heri tage of

mankind

The

t radit ions

and

customs of

indigenous peoples

must

be

respected

by the

s t tes

and

recognized

as

a

fundamental

source of law

All

indigenous peoples have

the r ight to determine

the

person

or

group

of persons who

are included

within

i t s

population

each ind igenous

people

has the r ight to determine

the

from

structure

and

authority

of

i t s

inst i tu-

t ions

The inst i tut ions of indigenous peoples and the i r

decisions l ike those of

s t tes

must be in

con-

formity wi th internationally accepted human

r ights

both collective and individual

Indigenous

peoples

and

the i r

members

are

ent i t led

to p a rt ic ip a te i n the pol i t ic l l i fe of the

State

Indigenous people

sh l l have exclusive righ ts to

the i r

t radi t ional land and

i t s

resourcesi where the

lands

and

resources

of

the

indigenous

peoples

have

been taken

away

without

the i r free

and informed

consent such lands and

resources

sh l l

be

returned

Principle 10 The land r ights of an indigenous people

include

surface

and

subsurface

r ights

fu l l r ights to

inter ior and costal

waters

and r ights to

adequate

and

exclusive

coastal economic zones within the

l imits of international law



principle 11. All indigenous peoples may for the i r ~ needs

freely

use

the i r natural wealth

and resources in

accordance

with

Principles

and

10.

Principle 12. No action or course

of

conduct may

le undertaken

which directly or indirect ly may

resul t

in the

dest ruc tion of

land

a i r

water

sea

ice wildl ife

habitat

or natural

r esources without

the free

and

informed consent of

the indigenous

peoples

affected.

princip le

13.

The original r ights to

the i r

material culture

including

archaeological s i tes ar t i fac ts designs

technology and works of

ar t

l ie with

the

indigen-

ous people.

Principle 14. the

indigenous

peoples

have

the r ight

to

receive

education in t he i r own

language

or to

establish

the i r

own

educational ins t i tu t ions

The languages

of

the

indigenous

peoples

are

to

be

respected

by

the States in a l l dealings between the indigenous

people

and

the Sta te

on

the basis of equality

and

non discrimination.

Princip

le

15.

Indigenous

peoples have

the

r ight in accordance

with the i r t radi t ions to move and c ond uc t t radi -

t ional

act iv i t ies

and maintain

friendship

re la t ions

across international boundaries.

Principle 16. the

indigenous peoples and the i r authori t ies have

the

r ight

to

be previously consul ted

and

to

author-

ize

the

real izat ion

of

a l l technological and scien-

t i f i c

investigations

to

le

conducted

within

the i r

te r r i tor ies

and

to have fu l l

access

to

the

resul ts

of t he inves tiga tion .

Principle

17.

Treaties between indigenous

nations

or peoples and

representat ives

of States

freely entered into

shal l be given

fu l l

effect

under national

and

international law•



•

PPENDIX

halland

-

aboft t cal _

tOO

, :

O

Sr t

l . .

G ·

~ · · ·

:;,.

~ U W 2

•

nd m n

ea

l

=

•



APPENDIX

Thai1and

Specifie

Objectives

of

·oral

Education

t

the

prim rv evel

1.

The

students shou1d be able to control themse1ves physica11y

verba11y

and emotiona11y

and

show

good manners

in social

interaction.

They

shou1d

act

for the benefit of others and

society.

2.

The

students

hou1d

be responsib1e for

the i r

deeds

t a11

times.

The topics th t are

identif ied

for moral education are as fo110ws:

1. not kil1.

2.

Express

love

and

compassion

to

a11

l iving

things.

3.

not

stea1

and do not

be greedy.

4.

Be

charitable

and

generous.

5.

not

infringe

on the r ights o f o th ers.

6.

Be

s t isf ie

with what

you have.

7.

not

l ie or speak impo1ite1y.

8. Show your s incer i ty towards

others.

9.

not take

any addictive drugs.

10.

Be

mindfu1

of

others and

have a c1ear

conscience.

11. Be reasonab1e.

12.

Be

fearfu1 of bad deeds.

13.

Be di l igent .

14. Be patient .

15.

Have

moral

courage

and

self-confidence.

16.

Be

thankfu1 for the favors you

received

and reciprocate

them.

17.

Be

honest.

18.

Keep your mind c1ear of bad thoughts.

19.

not

be se1fish.

20. Be neat and thorough.

21.

Be responsib1e.

22. Be

f ir

and juste

23.

Be discip1ined

and punctual.

24.

Be

responsive to change.

25.

Ophold good

manners and good habi ts .

26. Upho1d socia l

et iquet te .

27. Live harmoniously with others .

28.

Ophold

Thai

culture

and

t radi t ion.

29.

Be

loyal to the nation religion and the King.

30.

Be

willing to correct and improve your moral conduct

•



PPENDIX IV

Thailand

General Objectives o f Primary Education

a Acquire th e abi l i ty to

perform

selected

moral actions such

a s

c h a r i t y , s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e ,

diligence,

honesty, kindliness,

ra t ional i ty patience, sportsmanship, and

c o o p e r ~ i o n

b Acquire

th e

basic ski l l s necessary f o r d a i l y l i fe such as

language ski l l s mathematical sk i l l s scient i f ic ski l l s

economical

ski l l s

physical and mental h e a l t h h a b i t s , and

b a s i c

working

sk i l l s

c Learn to maintain a

peaceful

l i fe by adapting to s o c i a l

and

e nv ir on me nt al c ha nge s, maintaining

f a i t h f u l n e s s to

o n e s

r e l i g i o n ,

and

nuturing

th e

a bil i ty to

solve

o n e s

problems.

d Become a good member o f

th e society and

nation by

fu l f i l l ing

o n e s d u tie s,

respecting th e Thai

c u l t u r e , and

being

f a i t h f u l

to

democracy

•



PPEN IX V

p

of

orth

hailand



Appendix

Vl:

l:NTERVJ:EW

:I:TEMS FOR

PRIMARY

STUDENTS

LOWLANO

School:

Status :

Male

Female _

ge _

Grade Year

Parents occupation: Father _

Religion:

Mother

_

Interview

Items fo r Primary Students:

1

How

do

you f ee l

about going

to

school?

2 Do

you l ike your teacher?

3

s

your teacher s t r i c t

4 s your teacher fa i r

5

What

so r t

of

moral

vir tues

can

you

learn

a t

school?

Which

do

you th ink a re the

most important?

6

Do you

th ink your teacher

serves

as a good

example

of

the

moral

vir tues

he /she t ea che s you?

7 Are

the vi r tues you

learn

a t

school di f fe ren t from those you

learn a t

home

8 Do you

th ink

you can

learn

important moral values from

other

people in your

communlty?

9 What l s

the bes t

way

for you

to show tha t

you are

a good

boy/girl?

10 What would you l ik e to do

in

the future?

11

Who do

you

th ink

i s a brave person? Why?

12

Who

do

you

th ink l s a

grea t

person? Why?

13

Can

you

t e l l

me a s tory

about

courage?

14 Can

you

t e l l me a story about

obedience?



Appendix

VII

INTERVIEW

ITEMS

FOR

PRIM RY INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

School:

Status:

Male

_

Female _

ge _

Grade

Year

_

Parents

Occupation: Father

_

Religion:

Mother _

Interview

Items

for

primary Students:

1.

How do

you

fee l

about

going to s ~ o o l

2.

you

l ike

your

teacher?

3. I s

your teacher s t r i c t

4. Is your teacher

fair

5.

Do

you

th ink

your

teacher

serves

as a

good

example

of

the

moral vir tues he/ sh e te ache s you?

6. What

so r t of moral virtues can you learn

a t school?

Which do

you th ink are the most important?

7.

Are the

vir tues you

learn a t school

dif ferent

from

those you

learn

a t home

8. Do you

th ink

you can learn

important

moral values from

other

people in

your vi l lage?

9.

What

i s

the

best

way

for you to show t ha t you are

a

good

boy/gir l?

10. Who do you

think

i s

a b rave per son?

Why

11. Who

do you

th ink i s a great person? Why

12. Can

you t e l l

me a s tory about

courage?

13.

Can

you

t e l l

me a s tory

about obedience?

14.

What

would you l ike to do in the future?

15. Would you

l ike to

l ive in the lowlands? Please explain.

16.

Do you think you are equal to lowland people?

Please

explain.

17.

Do

you want to be

f r iends

with

lowland

chi ldren?

Please

explain.

18.

Do you th ink lowland chi ldren want

to

be

fr iends

with you?

Please explain.

19.

I f

a foreigner asks you who you

are

which do you th ink i s

most important

to say

the

h i l l

t r i be

to which you belong

or

the country which you l ive?

20. Which do you

th ink

would

make

you

angr ier someone

saying

something bad about your t r ibe

o r

someone saying something

bad

about

the

country

in

which you

l ive

in?

Why



Appendix VI::II

INTERV: : ;;,.r

ITEMS

FOR

INDIGENOUS

PARENTS

S t a t u s :

Fa the r

_

Occupation

_

Mot ler _

Re ligion _

Level o f Schooling

_

I nte r vie w Items

f o r P a r e n t s :

1 Do

you

t h i n k i s

important

f o r y o u r chi ld to get

an

educa

t i o n ?

2 .

Are you sa t i s f ied w ith

the

ed u cat i o n

y o u r c h i l d

i s

r e c e i v i n g

now?

3

What

i s

y ou r i m pr es si on

o f

t he te ac he r s )?

4 . What l e v e l

o f

s ch o o l i n g

do

you want fo r

your

c h i l d ?

5 What sor t

o f

f u t u r e do you want f o r

your

c h i l d ?

6

Do

you t h i n k y o u r c h i l d r e n l ike

going

to

school?

7 .

Do

you par t ic ipa te

in

s c h o o l - r e l a t e d

ac t iv i t i e s?

8

What

s ho uld y ou r c h i l d r e n

l e a r n a t sc h o o l?

9

How

should

c h i l d r e n show r e s p e c t

to

t he i r

te a c he r s?

10

Ca n the c h i l d r e n learn mor a lity from anyone e lse

in

th e

community?

I f s o ,

who?

1 1 . I s the knowledge

th e

c h i l d r e n g a i n from s ch o o l di f fe ren t from

t ha t o f

the home and

community? I n

what ways?

1 2 . Has going to scho\ .l

changed

your

ch i ld

s

th in ki ng o r b e h a v io r ?

1 3 .

Do

you

t h i n k y o u r

chi ld

i s

in teres ted in l o c a l c u l t u r e and

va lue s?

1 4 .

What

a re

your g e n e r a l f e e l i n g s about lowland s o c i e t y ?

1 5 . A re

you

w i l l i n g

to

s e e your

chi ld

go

to th e lowlands to

fur ther t he i r

education?

16

How

would

you

fee l

i f y o u r c h i l d went

to

l ive

in

th e lowlands?



Appendix IX

INTERVIEW

ITEMS

FOR COMMUNITY LE DERS

Status: Male _

Female

_

Age _

Religion

_

Interview Items

for

the

Community Leader(s)

1

I s

important

for

the chi ldren

in

t h i s community

t o

get

an

education?

2. What

i s the

most

important th in g stu de nts should

learn

from

school?

3.

What

i s your opinion

about the

education these chi ldren are

receiving?

4. Has schooling changed the c h i l d r e n s

thinking

or behavior?

5. Do

you

think

the schooling

experience i s

strengthening or

weakening the

c h i l d r e n s

t i e s t o t h e i r

families?

To

th e

community?

To

mainstream

society?

6.

Do you

think th e ch ildre n can

remain in

th e highlands

once

they complete t h e i r education?

7.

Should

the school

be an important

source of

moral learning?

8.

Are th e

moral values taught a t school d i f f e r e n t

from th e

t r a d i t i o n

a l values t aught i n

the

community?

9.

I s th e present t eacher (s ) acting as

a goOO

moral

model

for

the

children?

10 What

do

you th ink are the

most important

values

t h a t should

be

taught t o

the

children?

11.

Would you make

any

recommendations regarding th e moral

education th e c hild re n are presently

receiving?

12. I s th e community

involved

i n school matters?

13.

Do

you

think

i s

poss ib le

for

th e

community

and

t h e

scl ol

t o share i n moral education?

14. Do you think

today s

highland children a r e identifying more

closely

with mains tream moral values than t r a d i t i o n a l h i l l

t r i b e value·;?

15.

Do you

think

tOOay s

highland children

are

i n t e r e s t e d

i n


cul ture and values?

16.

Do you f e e l any r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n t r y i n g

t o

teach t r a d i t i o n a l

moral values t o th e

children?

I f so ,

how

17.

Do

th e chi ldren

respect

th e v il la ge elders? Do th e

children

l i s t e n t o them?

18.

Are

t h e r e

any

other

sources

o f

influence

t h a t

are

a f f e c t i n g

t he c hi ld re n s le arn in g o f moral values?

19. What

do

you think th e present

moral education program

i s doing

t o

th e c hil dr en s sense o f

c u l t u r a l

i d e n t i t y ?

20.

Should

th e chi ldren

have

a

greater

sense

of loyal ty toward th e

t r i b a l community

or

th e

government?



Appendix

INTERVIEW

ITEMS FOR TE HERS

Status: Male _ Female _

Age

Ethnie Status

Grade Level _

Years

a t

Target School

2 .

3 .

4 .

5 .

6 .

7 .

8

9 .

1 0.

1 1 .

12 .

1 3 .

14 .

15.

16.

Interview

Items

f o r Teachers

and

P r i n c i p a l s :

Do

yo u

f e e l

tha t moral education

is

an important p a r t o f a

t e a c h e r s professional r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s ?

How

do you f e e l

about th e

teaching of moral values to

h i l l

t r ibe children?

Are

t h e r e

any

p a r t i c u l a r problems

asso ciated w ith tea ch in g

moral education

to

th is

group

o f

children?

What do you

cons ider

to

be th e

most

important

~ o r

value fo r

t he se s tu d en ts

to

learn?

Do

yo u

t hi nk t he

moral

values

tau g h t

a t

school

di f fer

from

th e

t radi t ional

values

th e c h ild re n le a rn

a t

home o r in th e

community

Do yo u

th in k th e

moral v alu es ta ug ht

a t

school a r e having an

impact

on

th e students?

Do you

t h i n k

tha t such v alues as p a t r i o t i s m nationalism

and

r e s p e c t

f o r

c e n t r a l a ut ho ri ty a re

being e f f e c t i v e l y tau g h t

to

th e stu d en ts?

Do yo u believe

tha t

you a re having some sor t o f moral i n f l u -

ence on th e

s t u d e n t s

th in k in q and

behavior?

I f

so in

which

ways

Do

yo u f e e l

tha t th e

moral

curriculum

i s

p ro p erly

preparing

th e

students

t o become

qood

c i t i z e n s ?

Do

yo u

th in k th e p r e s e n t

moral

curriculum

i s

p ro pe rl y p re pa r-

inq

th e

students

to adopt to

mainstream so ciety ?

Do you th in k th e sch oo l h as th e

most

important influence on

th e s t u d e n t s knowledqe about mainstream society? About th e

qovernment?

Are

t h e r e

an y o t h e r sources

o f

information from mainstream

s o c i e t y t ha t

i s

in flu en cin q

th e stu d en ts perception o f

mainstream s o c i e t y an d th e government?

Would you l ike

to

se e any c han ge s made

to

th e p r e s e n t moral

curriculum?

Do

yo u

t h i n k tha t in everyday

terms

th e students a re applyinq

th e

moral lesso ns th ey learn ed

a t

school?

I f

so in

what

ways

What do you t h i n k th e

p r e s e n t moral

education program

i s doinq

to

th e

s t u d e n t s perception of the i r

own

c u l t u r e an d i t s

t radi t ional

values?

Which i s more important

f o r

th es e c hild re n

to

l e a r n l o c a l

t radi t ional

values o r th o se

t a u q h t

in th e school

curriculum?



•

•

.

;

PPEN IX XI

I ltppine

e

- - _ - : : : . - ~ : . . - - - .

.

uzo

t r a ~



I AO HSJUNG

H SHIH

f ao Wung

PPEN IX X

Map of Taiwan Southern Tip



PPEN IX XIII

Map of

Taiwan East oas t

beaupre_1995_political socialization of ethnic minorities in thailand and taiwan

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