LEARNING MANAGEMENT PROCESS OF THAI LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOCUSING ON LIFE SKILLS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

This research was a qualitative research. The objective was to study the learning management process of Thai language teacher focusing on life skills for high school students. Target groups were educational personnel and students at Phu Pha Man School, Phu Pha Man, Khon Kaen, the Secondary Educational Service Area Office 25. They were Mrs. Boonchan Buapha, Senior Professional Level Teachers, and 37 students in grade 10 at Phu Pha Man School in the second semester of the academic year 2019. The research instruments were video camera, observation form, interview form, audio recorder, field note, camera. Data were collected by recording videos of Thai teacher's learning management and interactions of students in the classroom while learning Thai language, and interviewing of Thai teacher and students. Qualitative data obtained from the protocol and important interviewees were analyzed in the form of descriptive analysis.

The result of the research showed that the learning management process of Thai Language teacher focusing on life skills for high school students consisted of 5 processes as follows. 1) Analysis of indicators and planning of learning units, indicators of learner development were identified based on Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008), and learning management indicators focusing on life skills were aligned with the learning management process focusing on all 4 life skills.  Those skills were the skill of awareness and appreciation for self and others, the skill of analytical thinking, making decisions and solving problems creatively, the skill of emotional and stress management, and the skill of building great relationships with others. The skills were integrated with indicators from the Basic Education Core Curriculum 2008 by applying the analysis table for indicators. 2) Preparation of learning management focusing on life skills, this consisted of designing a learning management plan, and applying of teaching media, quizzes, and worksheets. 3) Learning management, Thai language courses focusing on life skills were conducted step by step. First, the warm-up step, students were prepared before getting to the lesson in order to know what they were going to learn and be able to relate their background knowledge to the lesson that teacher was going to teach. Second, the teaching step consisted of learning activities covering 4 skills. 1. Awareness and appreciation for self and others, the activities aimed to assist the learners to realize their aptitudes, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, to understand individual differences, to recognize themselves, and to accept value and pride in themselves and others. 2. Analytical thinking, making decisions and solving problems creatively, the activities allowed students to recognize information, problems, and situations around them, and to criticize and assess the situations around with logic and reliable information. 3. Emotional and stress management, the activities aimed at allowing students to understand and be aware of the emotional state of the person, the cause of stress, how to control emotions and stress, and how to relax, avoid and change behaviors that might cause unwanted emotions in a good way. And 4. building great relationships with others s, the activities allowed students to understand aspects, emotions, and feelings of others, to use spoken and body language to express their thoughts, to understand the thoughts and needs of others, and to behave appropriately in various situations. Last step, the conclusion of the lesson, this step was a process gathering the important ideas that the teacher wanted the students to know by showing the relationship between knowledge and skills linked to life skills. 4) Assessment of learning, it contained inspection and evaluation of learning management in 3 forms as 1. assessment of student learning before and after learning management according to the assessment form of the Thai language learning pattern, 2. assessment of student learning by monitoring their performances, and 3. assessment of student learning from worksheets. And 5) Promoting and developing learning, this was additional activities provided to students apart from learning management based on the regular unit of study, such as writing activities about life experiences that they were impressed in the form of essays with photographs, and creating booklets activities that the students could share the story with others to read, so that students could gather better Thai language focusing on life skills.