BOR WORN home, temple and school (HTS) organisation : the learning organisation in the communities of Thailand

• Main Author: Brahmasubha, Ariya
• Other Authors: Thursfield, Denise
• Published: University of Hull 2012
• Subjects: 306.4309593; Business
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.559105

This study investigates BOR WORN-HTS Organisation as a learning organisation which is the way to provide knowledge, education and learning to the community and also transfer Thai local knowledge and culture to the next generations to achieve the goals for learning and strengthening the community with knowledge and morality. This study is a qualitative research in cultural anthropology. An ethnographic research method with unstructured interviewing and participant observation were used to gather qualitative data from four communities in rural areas across Thailand where HTS organisation has been operating and is still alive. The gathered information is presented in four main themes (BOR WORN-HTS Organisation, OL/LO, LIC, and TLK&CT. The community of practice was the research concept used to analyse data, together with qualitative document analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the HTS Organisation has been in Thailand for many years. It is an ideal organisation that represents the collaboration between people from three main institutions in the community; home, temple and school. HTS Organisation occurs automatically in the social context when the members of the community come to take part in the activities created by three mains institutions (H-T-S). The people participate in community activities for two reasons: because they respect their religion so try to sustain and carry its values on to the future generation and because they trust and believe in an individual person such as a monk or community leader. HTS Organisation is a learning organisation (LO). The learning process, both individual and social learning, as well as global knowledge and local knowledge (OL), happens when members of an organisation join together in community activity. Theory of learning and social practice in communities of practice is the fundamental process of HTS. Thus, HTS Organisation acts as a community of practice in a unique combination of three fundamental elements: the domain, the community and the practice. HTS Organisation encourages people of all ages to communicate, participate and create learning processes within the social context and apply the concept of communities of practice as a management tool to explore and help people to achieve the expected outcomes of the community, that is, learning and strengthening community and maintain the national heritage in Thai society and transmitting it to the further generations. As a result, application of the concept of HTS Organisation brings many benefits while needing little investment. The advantages of the HTS Organisation are not only the benefit for the community (knowledge based society, well-being, strengthening, sufficiency economy and sustainable community) but it is also good for people, especially the country’s children and youths, who have great potential in the future to be skilled, talented, proficient people and be filled with knowledge and morality or Kwam Roo Koo Kun-Na-Tham.