Tanatchaporn Kittikong

Navigating Unexpected Territories: The Evolution of Fine Arts Program in Thai Higher Education through the Eyes of Thai Art Practitioners-Educators

Tanatchaporn Kittikong – Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Abstract:

For nearly a century, Thailand has nurtured its own arts schools and institutions, training educators and professionals in Traditional Thai Fine Arts, Dance, and Music. Over the past fifty years, the country has embraced Western artistic practices and ideas, significantly shaping Thai contemporary arts, design, and performance education. The creative curriculum in Thailand operates with a dual focus on innovation and the preservation of the arts, while the evolution of arts pedagogy has been influenced by both tradition and creativity, alongside the imposition of Western ideas and frameworks in curriculum development.  Ongoing changes in Thai educational policies, including the first national qualification framework for Fine Arts (TQF-FA 2015) establishing a foundation for higher education in arts pedagogy; the recent TQF 2022, a new educational paradigm focused on outcome-based education (OBE) and quality assurance (QA) principles introduced for nationwide implementation; as well as the “Thai Soft Power Policy” (2023), have also impacted the arts landscape, stimulating, if not disturbing, its dynamic territories. This decade of shifting ground in Thai higher education has influenced perceptions of Thai arts educators and created new territories to explore the potential of the arts within both the educational system and the broader economy, raising pressing questions about the competencies of Thai Fine Arts students today. This research project, titled “Developing a Learning Taxonomy Model for Fine Arts Competencies in Thai Higher Education Curriculum,” investigates the evolving landscape of Fine Arts education, including Visual Arts, Music, and Performing Arts. It aims to highlight diverse models that reflect the core of ‘Arts’ as perceived by Thai artist-practitioners-educators in the early 21st century, and suggesting learning models tailored to various regional beliefs and values while addressing TQF 2022. The project is funded by the National Research Council of Thailand and Khon Kaen University (N42A670199).