Farmer Wanphen Hoysang is preparing for a new class.  No, he is not attending a workshop on how to increase banana yields for his orchard, being already an expert in his own right.  Mr Wanphen, who dropped out of school after finishing Prathom 4, is one of the most popular teachers at a small primary school in Ayutthaya.  Each session he leads is always filled with young children running all over, with clear, bright eyes, eagerly trying out new experiments.

What's curious is the subject that he teaches - how to build ecological consciousness in the minds of the next generation.  The innovative course is likely to make most professional educators raise their eyebrows, though, once they learn about Mr Wanphen's background.

Such is the nature of the DAWN Project, an experimental programme that turns traditional schooling upside down.  A three-year collaboration that began in mid - 1997 between the National Energy Policy Office (Nepo), the Ministry of Education, and the Thailand Environment Institute, DAWN aspires not only to herald a new chapter in Thai education, but more crucially, to bring about a revolution in the lifestyles of the country's future citizens.

Emerging on the new horizon is radical concept in which teachers have as much to learn as their students, and that both often have to seek pearls of wisdom on how to conduct themselves from villagers in their own communities, most of whom possess no degree of any  level or kind - except from the university of life.

"I am teaching from grades four to six," began Mr Wanphen, whose three children are all students of the Wat Tongpuboran-Khanissorn Municipal School, his part-time office.

"I do not ask for any salary," said the farmer-teacher, in his late thirties. "It gives me a sense of pride that with my little schooling, I would be asked to teach these kinds.  Anyway, I do not want whatever I know to die with me.

"In fact, I almost died, literally, several times before, having been engaged in intensive chemical farming.  Now I would like them to learn how to grow their own food safely, and to save our resources.  It would be better than having to buy; say, electricity from Laos, forever, don’t you think?"

Grandma Chalor Rit-dej, Mr Wanphen's colleague, evidently shares the altruistic sentiments.

I am offering free classes on how to make traditional Thai desserts and handicrafts made of banana leaves.  I do not want  to take this knowledge with me when I go.  The skills may help the children someday to support themselves in hard times."

Of course, many of these grassroots teachers would not see themselves as imparting any avant-garde expertise in environmental science.  Surin Kitnitchee, an adviser to the DAWN Project, remembers a cordial episode in which he was asked by an elderly lady how many units of energy she had saved by making Thai desserts.

To answer the deceptively simple question, however, requires a thorough understanding of how modernization and advanced technologies have brought about convenience and improved our lifestyle, but also produced a level of environmental degradation that threatens that lifestyle.

"Our attempts to jump onto the economic expressway have landed us in disaster," said Khru Surin, another widely-respected teacher from Ayutthaya.

"Look at the vast rice fields over there.  In a rush to get rich quick, farmers have poured in so many toxic chemicals to boost yields that they have killed the fish in the ponds as well as put their own health at risk.  It's a pity they have failed to realize that the slow path of our buffalo-driven carts may be the most suitable road for us."

Still for first-time visitors to about 600 primary and secondary schools that are experimenting with the DAWN programme, the revival of the "old" way of life seems to have nothing to do with the lofty goals of environmental conservation.

How can keeping the neighbourhood canal clean lead to smaller electricity bills?  How could growing organic fruits and vegetables contribute to the country's national energy reserves?  And is not the effort to hark back to the good old days a little too romantic and unlikely to be achieved?

Dr Uthai Dulyakasem, the DAWN Project's Manager, certainly does not agree with such sceptical objections.  The former dean of the Faculty of Education at Silpakorn University believes a reform in the learning process is a must for the creation of a better future, as it could change people's patterns of consumption while nurturing their sense of social responsibility.

"Education must lead toward right understanding, which in Buddhist teaching, is samma-dhitti," said Dr Uthai.  "The future generations must realize that saving energy is not a personal matter, but a vital concern of the entire society.  True, a few people may say they have enough money to pay for their own electricity bills  Or they may think as long as they keep their own front yard clean, their duty is completed.  But that is a very narrow-minded way of thinking.  The DAWN Programme hopes to enable people to see themselves as responsible for the entire process, from production to consumption.  This means they must be trained to be able to see and connect things from a holistic perspective."

Dr Uthai believes the past and on-going attempts to clean up  the environment through taxation, laws, waste management technologies, and media campaigns have very limited impact, as they deal with the problems from the tail end of things.

The posters against littering and humorous TV commercials promoting car-pooling may prompt a few laughs from viewers or even a few minutes of reflection.  But the next morning, the memory may have already slipped away as the people lapse back into their daily routines.

Nor have attempts to introduce environmental laws and taxing systems, such as the "polluters pay" principles, achieved much success in discouraging polluting practices.  Small penalty terms, lax government regulation and monitoring, and legal loopholes have given leeway for those with good connections to avoid punishment.

After all, in Dr Uthai's scheme, DAWN's fundamental philosophy goes beyond the much-repeated campaigns "to always turn off electricity when you leave the room, please" Ultimately, the educationist stresses that those who undergo the reformed schooling must become aware that at every stage of their lives, they have in one way or another been consuming energy, and eating into natural resources.

"The calls for cutting down the use of fuel are straightforward.  But that is only the tip of the iceberg.  Is it ignorance or hypocrisy if you campaign against logging, but still splurge on toilet tissues and plastic bags?  Or to denounce the construction of more dams, while feeling nothing when eating foods out of the foam boxes, or soaking yourself in a hot bath tub?"

Unfortunately, continued Dr Uthai, there has not been enough focus on this 'indirect' consumption of energy.  In fact, modern education is partly accountable for encouraging the drive to consume, and the easy habit of forming fragmented views, such as preferring to talk more about recycling garbage than how to reduce garbage in the first place.

"Basically, our guiding philosophy is that even if there were no threats of scarcity of energy supply, we still have to change the way we are conducting our lives.  Excessive consumerism is unnatural and unsustainable," Dr Uthai stressed.

Ironically, DAWN faced a huge barrier during its early phase, as the first people to spearhead the anti-consumerism mission needed to undergo a radical conversion themselves.

"Teachers are key for our programme, and it is a very taxing and time -consuming process to retain them - many of them still lack the understanding and the ability to relate energy, environment, and education together," the professor conceded.

Gradually, though, more and more teachers seem to have taken up DAWN's philosophy.

Sudawan Supakesorn, a teacher from Yala province, joined the programme from the first year, and confided she has since simplified many aspects of her life, having cut down on a number of luxurious but unnecessary goods.

On the obstacles, Dr Uthai continued, have to do with bureaucratic constraints and die-hard attitudes held by conservative administrators.  Quite a few do not see villagers like Mr Wanphen and Mrs Chalor as having much to contribute to the education of future generations.

On the other hand, Mrs Parisa Pikulkhao, the principal of Wat Tongpuboran School, has high praise for the volunteer teachers as well as the rest of the community.

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