Educational reform has been perceived as a process whereby the Thai Government expects to increase the national competitiveness and stimulate literacy across the country. Its crucial concept was to implement the student-centred learning approach (SCL). This study presents an analysis of classroom observation focusing on lower secondary (Mattayom 1-3) science classrooms in 14 schools located in a rural area in Thailand and discusses the implementation of the current science curriculum. Additionally, a thematic analysis of interviews with lower secondary school science teachers and focus group interviews of students are presented. Based on the thematic analysis, perceptions of 22 science teachers on the current science curriculum implementation and prospective factors which tend to deteriorate the effectiveness of curriculum implementation are addressed. Like the teachers' interviews, students' perceptions regarding science and benefit of studying science are obtained from 30 groups of students, using the thematic analysis and are presented in this study. Based on the observations of 22 science classrooms, teachers' practices in implementing the current science curriculum in the rural context can be categorised, based on their inclination towards particular learning approaches, into three groups; namely combination of the student-centred learning (SCL) approach and the teacher-centred learning (TCL) approach with a tendency towards SCL, combination of SCL and TCL with a tendency towards TCL ,and the teacher-centred learning (TCL).The teachers' perceptions could be described into two perspectives; namely on the reform and on implementation, and each perspective can be classified into several themes, and the major issues emerged are discussed. The students' perceptions can be categorised into eight themes such as attitudes regarding learning/studying science, future plans, etc. The study is expected to contribute to the understanding of current science teaching and improving its practices for the science teachers in Thailand. Eventually, these experiences could be an example for other transitional countries in the wider context.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:764559 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Siriwat, Patcharapan |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-study-of-science-curriculum-implementation-in-secondary-school-in-thailand(382e1407-c678-4449-8e79-9cd1b1e9ce63).html |
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