The Development of Buddhist Leadership of Sub-District Headmen and Village Headmen at Dongcharoen District of Phichit Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research Article were 1) to study the level of Buddhist leadership development among Sub-district headmen and village headmen, 2) to compare the Buddhist leadership development classified by personal factors, and 3) to examine problems, obstacles, and suggestions regarding the Buddhist leadership development. The research applied the Mixed Methods Research consisting of 1) the Quantitative Research collecting the data with the questionnaires from 165 respondents, and analyzing the data with frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test and One-way ANOVA, and 2) the Qualitative Research using the in-depth interviews with 8 key informants and analyzing the data with the descriptive analysis. The findings of the Research revealed: 1) overall, the level of Buddhist leadership development was high (x̄ = 4.31). When considering each aspect, it was found that creating the love and unity (Nissayasampanno) was at the highest level (x̄ = 4.42). Then, delegation of authority (Vithüro) was x̄ = 4.28, and being a good role model (Cakkhumä) was x̄ = 4.25. 2) The comparison of Buddhist leadership development based on personal factors showed the people having different gender, age, education, and occupation had no different opinion to the development of Buddhist leadership of Sub-district Headmen and Village Headmen in all aspects. Moreover, 3) the problems and obstacles were lack of understanding of Buddhist principles and insufficient skills in applying these principles to work. The key suggestion were to organize practical training on applying Buddhist principles and to establish learning exchange networks among Sub-district and village headmen.