An Evaluation of The Desired Characteristics of Students Under The Project of Moral Development in Private School

Abstract

This research was to evaluate activities conducted according to the Project of Moral Development (PMD) in private schools in Thailand through self–evaluation by those involved of 3 groups: 1) school administrators                             2) teachers attending the trainings and 3) students in those private schools. The quantitative data were gathered from those 729 private schools through 45,000 questionnaires of which 21,380 were returned from 359 private schools and then analyzed. Meanwhile, the qualitative data were collected by the authors through the schools visits, informal talks with those involved, and observations. The results showed that                    1) most of the administrators and teachers were satisfied with the PMD, able to carry out activities according to it and wanted to proceed according to it again next year; that 2) the administrators were very satisfied with the physical changes in their schools, the changes of their students’ behaviors,  the psychological atmosphere  among the teachers and students; moreover, they thought that their schools seemed much better in perception of surrounding communities; that 3) the teachers were somehow satisfied with the changes of students interested in pursuing knowledge, doing good, and pursuing health care; that                   4) the students perceived that they had more skills in the Thai language, took more care of their own health and behaved more morally; that 5) they also realized that they were likely to morally and reasonably think and make decisions in their daily lives; and that 6) the following suggestions were given : a) The duration of only 3-4 months for organizing the PMD activities was very short so it should be extended at least 1 year before the assessment. b) The PMD’s trainings should be provided especially for those school administrators because they play an important role in the development of the moral development system to be successful. c) The private schools should organize regular activities according to the PMD throughout the year for continuous moral development. d) The Office of the Private School Commission (OPEC) should organize         a forum for the private schools to exchange experiences in organizing the PMD activities. In addition, e) the OPEC should have a clear policy on the moral development activities to create morale and encouragement for the private schools.