The Enhancing Participation of the Elderly in Transferring Local Wisdom to Youth of Mae Puem Sub-district, Mueang Phayao District, Phayao Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the participation of the elderly in transferring local wisdom; 2) to study the model of the elderly's participation in transferring local wisdom; and 3) to propose the guidelines for enhancing participation of the elderly in transferring local wisdom to the youth of Mae Puem Sub-district, Mueang Phayao District, Phayao Province. This was a qualitative research. The target group was 7,619 people living in 18 villages in Mae Puem sub-district by using a purposive sampling including 40 key informants. The tool used was an unstructured interview. The results of the research showed that 1) the participation of the elderly in transferring local wisdom to the youth found that local wisdom was something to learn and inherited in the family for many generations. It was the inheritance of the cultural identity of the family which Wat Rong and Mae Puem Municipality have jointly established the Wat Rong Elderly School. The objective was to transfer knowledge of local wisdom to youth and those interested in studying in order to conserve local wisdom not to be lost from the local area; 2) the pattern of transferring local wisdom among the elderly found that the elderly or local scholars used a variety of formats for transferring, for example learning from teachers, learning from brothers, learning from friends, learning from practice, self-learning from the media, learning from learning resources, study from documents, competitions and local wisdom contests; and 3) in terms of the guidelines for enhancing the participation of the elderly in transferring local wisdom to the youth of Mae Puem Subdistrict according to trisikkha, they were the important guidelines in the process of transferring local knowledge of the elderly to the youth. It was absolutely necessary that the elderly or local scholars must apply Trisikkha, namely Sila, Samadhi and Panya. In the process of transferring knowledge of local wisdom, it was to prevent the body of local wisdom from disappearing over time. Therefore, Trisikkha was Dhamma for enhancing participation effectively.