Training Vs. Learning (Episode 1)

Rather sure that many countries are carrying this problem! and looking for its solution.

After formal education was set and disseminated across the world, poor and developing countries tried to build their capacity of people in the nation as modern as developed countries.

One thing that missing!

People thought that who do not study in school- in colledge- in university - or in some instutes, some of them will be label "illieracy" or "low-educational people" or more worst words else. Who graduate in high level education (in formal system), s/he will be admired as "people who are full with knowledge in mind" (feeling like that!)

People respect knowledge in "Texts" or "Books" (Explicit knowledge) more than knowledge in mind of peopple (Tacit knowledge).

Many years ago, Thai government try to elliminate the poors by set up many function in state body and all of these functions have implement their tasks and fight with a poverty. "Training" is one activity that tend to fill knowledge for the poor. Not easy at all, we have to review our "lesson learned" - what's happens - and what is the root of cause - why we cannot achieved?

We saw something, we' re not sure! But it may be right!

In deep of mind, we belief that farmers- they have less knowledge. Later we found that our knowledge and farmer's knowledge is totally difference. We were taught to respect knowledge in text or book that we read when study in school, but farmer they respects practical knowledge that they learn from real action. The answer is why farmers-they are difficult to make an understand in our knowledge while we had a heavy effort to fill knowledge via "training" methodology. Training is not enough anymore, how to design "learning process" inside the training is a challenge activity what we have to remind all the time.

Suphanburi is one province in central of Thailand, here well-known as "rice storehouse" of the nation. Before farmer here knew a chemical-fertilizer, peticide, or new rice seedling, they told us an old story about the way of life in the old days. They had to learn all by themself - how to grow, how to prepare soil in the field, how to raise, how to harvest, how to store it, and how to make a processing. When agricultural science has developed and it has deliveried to farmers. Farmers had instructed that a new rice seedling will generate more income for them because its yield higher than the native one. They forgot that a new seedlings accompany with new-style agriculture with a complex technology what is difficult to make understand by farmer themself.
It implies that the new-technology is a new-knowledge that farmers do not creat by themself. Life style of farmer has be changed by this way, farmers have to buy a new-knowledge i.e. rice seedling, fertilizer, peticide, machines and so on, even hire labor during land preparing, rice planting, harvesting more and more.

Fortunately, (some of) farmers in Suphanburi woke up from a chronic bad dream, they review within the group - why do they more work, do they more become poor? more unhealthy with infected harzardous chemical substance, having more debts. Not only those affects, farmers feel that relationship within community and good things in their village also decline everyday. In the past, some of them told that easy to take fishes or other natural foods from their rice field, but today unavailable. One of them asked- when do you remeber the unavailable event raise up? Farmers in group help each other to patched their rememberance. Finally, they can answer that it accompanies when we knew a new-knowledge (such as new seedling, ferilizer etc.) then we use it and do not create our own-knowledge anymore for many..many years.