Page 66 - คู่มือการถ่ายทอดองค์ความรู้ของครูภูมิปัญญาท้องถิ่น อำเภอสะเดา จังหวัดสงขลา

Part 1

The history and importance of passing on local knowledge by cultural instructors

Local knowledge and everyday life experiences were accumulated by previous

generations who then determined what was passed on. This collected information helps solve
contemporary problems that Thai people from different localities face. It has also helped them adapt
to modem life.

From generation to generation cultural knowledge has been appropriated and preserved in
both direct and indirect ways through the wisdom and the experience of the local elders, philosophers
and teachers as they exercise their intellect.
Even though the cultural instructors usually employ similar methods of disseminating
knowledge, it must be adapted to the individual locality if necessary, and still retain its original

identity. T o retain its worth, this knowledge should be inherited and conserved in a proper
manner so we can refer to it as "leading the way with culture to boost the economy and improve
the Thai people's life" Another way to promote the cultural instructors is through circulating the

knowledge, abilities, and skills they have gained from the many situations they have experienced
and learned from and also through using natural materials in their teachings for the preservation of
theenvironment. In each locality the culture is distinct and according to their local life style, so
retaining the real value of the culture is important for maintaining this way of life.

The National Culture Commission Office of Cultural Ministry is aware of the value of the
local knowledge so it has instituted a policy in order bring the role of the cultural instructors and their
importance to the Thai public attention. The National Culture Commission Office is now promoting

them for the whole country to benefit from. The Ministry is allocating a budget to the local community
projects in the five southern provinces for the following purposes 1) finding adequate cultural
instructors 2) publicizing the project 3) publishing cultural instructor's handbooks in three languages
4) inviting children, youth, or anyone else interested to attend the seminars 5) organizing training
sessions for the cultural instructors to participate in 6) assessing the observations and evaluations

of the cultural instructors through the Provincial Culture Office, and 7) organizing itinerant cultural
activities and cultural weekend markets. Publishing the cultural instructor's handbooks is of major
importance because the cultural instructors' knowledge needs to be documented in-order-to be

properly understood by the recipients. These books are also available to the general public through the
National Culture Commission Office who has initially attributed the cultural instructors' assignment.

Objectives:
1. To inform the people being instructed by the cultural instructors.

2. T o make this knowledge available to the general public to understand it and learn from it.
3. To exchange local factual information from one region to another

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