Examination Culture: Meritocracy and aspiration in a Thai monastic school

This talk will explore the lives of adolescent novice monks studying at a Buddhist monastic school in northern Thailand. In particular, it will focus on examinations as a meritocratic mode of assessment aimed at shaping young novice's capacity to aspire. 

The examination, as a form of assessment, is used across education systems as a vector for social mobility. As a meritocratic instrument, the exam may offer a unique opportunity for students to set foot upon a pathway to a university education and a lucrative and prestigious career. As such, it often figures within students and their families’ aspirations for possible futures. Aspiration has become an important concept for scholars of education in Southeast Asian contexts in understanding attitudes towards education, and the outcomes they hope to obtain from it. I consider the relationship between aspiration and meritocracy through an engagement with the experiences of novice monks undertaking their secondary education at a Buddhist monastic school in the rural north of Thailand. The talk will consider this relationship with a special focus on how channels for aspiration may break down due to a lack of faith in the meritocratic characteristics of an examination system.

Registration

This event is free, open to the public, and held in-person only.

South East Asian Studies Seminar Series

This semester’s theme foregrounds how communities across Southeast Asia have sought to live, believe, and flourish through the practices of everyday life. From ritual and governance to kinship and sport, the seminars explore how ordinary practices are imagined and enacted across different times and places. The series brings historical and ethnographic perspectives into conversation to illuminate the ethical, political, and creative dimensions of daily life in the region.