A Buddhist Integrated Development of Life Skills from Learning Jãtaka to Practicing of Upper Secondary School Students

Abstract

This dissertation paper has two objectives: 1) to study the principles of Buddhadhamma from Jãtaka for applying in the development of life skills of upper secondary school students, and 2) to propose the Buddhist integrated body of knowledge on the development of life skills from learning Jãtaka to practicing of upper secondary school students. This research employed the qualitative research methodology done by documentary research and in-depth interview where its contents was then analyzed through the descriptive analysis respectively. The research results were found that:
(1) The Ministry of Education has prescribed four components of life skills aimed at fostering and developing students' resilience in four aspects as follows: (1) awareness and realization of one’s and others’ value, (2) critical thinking, decision making, and creative problem solving, (3) dealing with one’s emotion and stress, (4) building good relationship with others for enhancing the quality of students, making them strong and effective citizens being capable of coping with societal changes through managing what needs to be inculcated and indicated including the group of social studies, religion, and culture based on the core curriculum whereby upper secondary school students could be utilized to develop their life skills through teaching and learning three Jãtakas: Vessantara Jātaka, Mahosatha Jātaka, and Mahājanaka Jātaka; each of which is mainly rooted in the four core principles of Buddhism: charity, wisdom, perseverance and morality.
(2) As far as the Buddhist integrated body of knowledge on the development of life skills gained from learning Jātaka to practicing of upper secondary school students is concerned, the following Buddhadhamma, charity, wisdom, perseverance and morality are actively integrated with four kinds of life skills: (1) it needs awareness and realization of one’s and other’s value by which it is basically cultivated through perseverance, morality, wisdom, and charity, (2) it basically needs critical thinking, decision making, and creative problem solving through wisdom, perseverance, morality, and charity, (3) it basically deals with emotion and stress through charity, perseverance, wisdom, and morality, and (4) it basically builds up good relationship with others through charity, morality, wisdom, and perseverance. Once properly incorporated these characteristics in development of life skills, students’ ways of life, be they personal life or education, could be gradually strengthened by means of the strong foundation of Buddhadhamma derived from the body of knowledge named ‘ATER MODEL = A(DPVS) + T(DPVS) + E(DPVS) + R(DPVS)’ accordingly.