UNA VERSIÓN TELEOLÓGICA DEL FUNCIONALISMO

The conflicts and violence in Thailand have extended rapidly both in depth and width since 2004. It has many root causes and factors, as previously addressed. Regarding the southern problems, Jitpiromsri (2010) reported that:

“The incidents of unrest in the Deep South from January 2004 to January 2010 had happened for six full years. From the database of Deep South Watch, it was fond that over the past 73 months, there were a total of 9,446 incidents of unrest, resulting in approximately 4100 deaths and 6,509 injuries. The total casualty of the unrest over the past six years, with the dead and the injured figures combined, was more than 10,609 individuals.”

The violence extends to the innocent civilians in everyday life and in the community. According to the HRW report (2007), the people in the southern provinces felt that no- one is safe anymore in the south where anybody might be a victim of the bombs. In 2010, the HRW (2010:7) also reported that:

“The insurgents, who view the educational system as a symbol of Thai Buddhist state oppression, have burned and bombed government schools, harassed and killed teachers, and spread terror among students and their parents. The vast majority of teachers killed have been ethnic Thai Buddhists, and their deaths are often intended as a warning to others. The vast majority of teachers killed have been ethnic Thai Buddhists, and their deaths are often intended as a warning to others.”

The government sent security forces to protect children and teachers. Whilst the government security forces have set up long-term military and paramilitary camps or bases in school buildings and on school grounds, the separatist militants had been

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warned not to cooperate with the authorities. As a result, they (students, teachers, and schools) are in a risk of facing violence from both insurgents and government security forces (Ibid.). The International Crisis Group (ICG, 2010a:4) also reported the impact of violence on education in southern Thailand as follows:

“Violence has seriously disrupted education in government schools. Many teachers have asked to be transferred and many school days are lost as a result of attacks. Some schools, particularly in remote areas, also face declining enrollment. Buddhist students follow their parents, who move because of safety concerns; Malay Muslims send their children to private Islamic schools, which increasingly are also offering primary education.”

This supported the earlier study of UNICEF/Thailand (2008) which explored the impacts of violence from the views of children in the violent areas at southern provinces in that:

“The children suffer anxiety and stress associated with the ongoing threat and anticipation of violence, as well as their own violent experiences and their proximity to places vulnerable to violent attacks. Their everyday experiences include witnessing attacks and other violent incidents associated with injury and death.”

The violent situation in the southern provinces creates a feeling of fear, distrust and hatred in social relationships and the broader community. Many have feelings that tend to mistrust each other. It has changed the social relationship between the state and people among Thai Buddhist and Muslim communities, and even between individuals in the same community.

The political conflicts and violent situations have spread throughout the country. This conflict concerns the political ideology which divided people of the country into two groups “the yellow shirts” and “the red shirts” (see section 2.4.4). According to the International Crisis Group’s report, the protest of the red shirts turned violent with some people dying, including troops:

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“With the draconian law imposed, the government began to take harsher steps, beginning what it called an operation to “take back the area” on 10 April. While it pledged to strictly follow standard riot control measures, live ammunition was used during chaotic night time clashes. Accounts of the violence remain disputed. It is clear that troops were attacked by grenades and fired on by unidentified armed groups, with five soldiers killed, including a commander, Col. Romklao Thuwatham. 21 civilians were shot dead and autopsy results show most were killed by high-velocity rounds.12 More than 860 were injured, 350 of whom were soldiers.” (ICG, 2010b:3)

“Following the crackdown on 19 May, 36 buildings, including the shopping mall Central World Plaza; the Stock Exchange of Thailand; and several commercial banks were set on fire. It remains unclear if the Red Shirts were responsible for all of them. The violence in Bangkok sparked anger among Red Shirts in the countryside, prompting the torching of governor’s offices in four northeastern provinces.” (Ibid: 6)

These conflicts and divisions are still ongoing and violence might explode again depending on the political conditions.

2.6 Summary

This chapter started with presenting the researcher’s role, which tends to be an insider. The theoretical framework was addressed based on Freirean education theory, including the areas of educational concepts, methods, roles of the teacher and students, knowledge, and the influence of Frierean theory on this research. The national profile of Thailand was presented, consisting of geography, demography, history, political structure, economic structure, religious structure, and the national education system. The contexts in Thailand were illustrated in the later stages of the chapter, which emphasised the situation of southern Thailand. The next chapter presents the literature review concerning peace, peace education and teacher training as well as conceptual frameworks of peace education.

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Chapter Three: Literature Review

3.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the literature review relating to past and current studies. The chapter is separated into seven sections. The first is the introduction of the chapter. The second is the concepts of peace, which are drawn across the Eastern and Western cultures through negative and positive peace and the holistic concepts of peace. This section explains the development of the concept of positive peace and the development of a more holistic concept of peace. The third is peace education which contains concepts, types, aims, contents and methods of peace education from the views of scholars and organisations. The fourth is peace education for early childhood children, which consists of concepts, aims, contents, methods of peace education for early childhood children. The fifth is teacher training for early childhood education (ECE) in Thailand. This section explains the factors concerning teacher training for early childhood education in Thailand, the qualifications of early childhood teachers, the standard of profession in early childhood education, and the recent curriculum of undergraduates for ECE in Thailand. The sixth is the conceptual framework of peace education which illustrates five models of peace education, namely the Learning to

Abolish War Model (LAWM), the Integral Model of Peace Education, the “Flower- petal” Model of Peace Education (FMPE), the Education for Peace based on the Integrative Theory of Peace (EFP-ITP), and the Peace Education Programme Model (PEPM). The seventh is a summary section.