Conservation curriculum: blending local culture and knowledge with modern science to enable school children to participate in forest management

Conservation curriculum for learning to protect and rehabilitate the forest is an education program. It is one step in preparing a community to establish community forestry and support people living in forest-friendly ways and obtaining benefits from the forest.

The curriculum design is based on a creative learning process, delivered in a positive way to integrate one subject to another through the process of thought. It could be that the main subject is integrated to local situations or problems, or it could be that the local curriculum is created to support the main subject. The program is connected to indigenous knowledge, beliefs, religion and culture; weaving the beliefs of the older generation into new generations. It is a way to explore the traditional thought, which contains the foundation for local knowledge, together with modern knowledge and scientific methods. The ideal is one of using thought to identify how to manage and benefit from the use of natural resources while respecting nature and sustainability and considering younger and future generations.

The curriculum design includes a teachers’ handbook which shows how to connect the human, physical, mind and environment together in the abstract. It also deals with the philosophy of open world vision and bio-vision relating to being born, growing older, becoming ill and dying. This outlines experiences from the beliefs of northern Thai people, who believe in the solar as the center of life, and makes linkages between the Buddhist religion and scientific method. The curriculum design is created to link abstract ideas which appear in occupations, agriculture, art, music and literacy. These interactions reflect the relationship between earth and livelihood, life to life, plants and diversity through to the sacred nature. The sacred spirits are reflected by, and related to culture, traditional norms and cultural ceremonies. These concepts are present in the lesson design for subjects on social knowledge.

The traing cource take 5 days with participatory approch. 
Other dates of the programme: 18-21 May 2008 / 23-27 November 2008 for 2008 year plan.