Contemporary Thai Primary Schools through the Years

Amidst the various educational reforms implemented in Thai education system is a burning question of the current state of schools in the country. What has been accomplished and what is there to improve? This paper utilizes a qualitative research design in exploring the current state of Thai primary schools in Thailand. Specifically, it employs critical discourse analysis to extract relevant data from pre-service teacher’s coursebooks. Additionally, informal interviews were conducted to supplement and provide further information on the areas of school learning resources, daily routines, school activities, classroom rules, and new functions of teachers aside from teaching. Observations and responses were coded and grouped into themes. The results of the study have shown some progress along learning resources, several changes in daily routines and school activities, a more comprehensive classroom policies that include social and cultural rules, and multi-faceted functions of Thai teachers. Keywords: Pre-service teachers, School resources and daily routines, School activities, Classroom rules, Responsibilities of teachers, Thai primary schools