The Teaching of Culture by Buddhist Thai Teachers in the Three Southern Border Provinces of Thailand

The objective of this study on the teaching of culture by Buddhist Thai teachers in the three Southern border provinces of Thailand was to investigate the conditions of the teaching of culture by Buddhist Thai teachers, and their adaptation in terms of teaching under the unrest situation in the three Southern border provinces of Thailand. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 Buddhist Thai teachers who were selected through specific sampling. The instruments included semi-structured interview guidelines, tape recorder. The data were analyzed through drawing conclusions. The study found that the teaching conditions were different depending on local area conditions. In red areas where Buddhist Thai teachers had been physically assaulted, there were few Buddhist Thai teachers; the teaching content of Thai culture or other cultures apart from Muslim culture was faced with problems; and any negotiations received little attention. In red areas where Buddhist Thai teachers had not been physically assaulted or in normal areas and in secondary schools in these areas, the ability of teachers to teach cross-cultural subjects depended on how religious teachers who taught religion were, community’s recognition, students’ interest, and teachers’ characteristics. Regarding teachers’ adaptation in teaching, it was found that teachers: 1) Adapted the teaching content to correspond with the Muslim way. 2) Used certain teaching techniques to give students understanding such as pointing out the value and benefit of their learning, providing examples for explanations, dealing with trap questions that were difficult to answer first, inducing thought-provoking questions, introducing or showing appropriate thoughts, and speaking metaphorically. 3) Asked religious leaders some questions before teaching. 4) Built a friendly atmosphere with students. 5) In the case that there had been serious incidents in the school, it was found that most Buddhist Thai teachers avoided and left out the teaching content or activities that could affect Islam, or Thai culture that were not acceptable by the community such as “Wai"