A Study in the Theory and Practice of 'Khit Pen' Learning Concept in Thailand : Focusing on its Pluralistic Feature

In Thailand it was in the 1970s when a national literacy campaign with a learning concept named 'Khit Pen' was launched. It started as an endogenously developed learning concept mainly for adult learners who learn out-of-school situations, but it has later become a popular methodology in formal education as well. According to some documents and the present author's interview to Dr. Kowit, an initiator of Khit Pen, it can be said that the Khit Pen concept is strongly influenced by Buddhism. Nonetheless, Khit Pen was introduced as part of a national literacy campaign and it has been applied to learning practices of people who believe in other religions such as Christianity or Islam. Based on the results of the surveys and interviews conducted by the present author in the Northern and the Southern regions of Thailand, this paper stresses upon the following points : Khit Pen is being conceived as a learning process for problem-solving rather than religious ideology, especially when it is applied to educational situations of other peoples than Buddhists. Then the paper examines some significant characteristics of Khit Pen including scientific character emphasizing causal relationships and humanism. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of learning from the philosophical aspect of Khit Pen. Nowadays such development methodologies as PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) or RRA (Rapid Rual Appraisal) have become popular among such developing agencies as international organizations and NGOs. It goes without saying that these methodologies are essential to the development of citizens' lives especially in less developed countries. However, attention should be paid to their weaknesses as well as strengths, that are, tendencies to become part of economic-oriented globalism. On this point, Khit Pen with its clear objective of 'individual happiness', can serve as a warning to people involved in developing projects/programme. Finally the paper attempts to stress the pluralistic aspect of Khit Pen that has made the learning process accepted by many religious groups in Thailand