Breaking the Mold of Liberal Multicultural Education in Thailand through Social Studies Lessons

Multicultural education aims for social justice and a democratic society in that education should eradicate structural inequality and unequal power among majority and minority groups. These critical aims of multicultural education have been toned down when it comes to practice. In many parts of the world, multicultural education is often implemented in the form of recognition of visible elements of culture. Similar to other countries, schools in Thailand prefer the liberal form of multicultural education over the radical and critical ones. This study originated from dissatisfaction with how multicultural education has been implemented in Thailand and concern with its effects on students and the society at large. As part of the study, five social studies lessons were redesigned to challenge the liberal form of multicultural education. The lessons were taught in 5th and 6th grade classrooms in six participating schools. This article describes how the lessons were designed and delivered in the actual classrooms. The conceptual framework underpinning this study is critical multicultural education which views education as a hegemonic tool. In order to balance power among majority and minority groups, education should help students discern distorted power structures in society. In these lessons, "culture" was not regarded as static practices or artifacts but, rather, as the lived experiences of students and their families. In all the lessons, inquiry-based instructional methods were used. The instructional techniques used were cooperative learning, role playing and collaborative problem-solving.