The Development of the Integrated Curriculum of the Buddhist Morals for Strengthening Social Adaptation of Vulnerable Youth

Abstract

The purposes of the study consequently were (1) to study background information needed in the development of a Buddhism curriculum in developing vulnerable youths’ social adaptation, (2) to develop a Buddhism curriculum in developing vulnerable youths’ social adaptation, and (3) to implement the Buddhism curriculum in developing vulnerable youths’ social adaptation. The study was divided into 3 phases including need analysis, curriculum development, and curriculum implementation. The participants were 50 stakeholders of vulnerable youth caregivers in phase 1, 5 experts in phase 2, and 100 vulnerable youths in phase 3. The instruments were an interview form, a curriculum evaluation form, an integrated curriculum of the Buddhist morals, and a pre-post test. The data were analyzed using content analysis, percentages, mean scores, standard deviation, and a paired sample t-test. The main findings could be summarized that using the integrated curriculum of the Buddhist morals was beneficial in strengthening the social adaptation of vulnerable youths. However, the developmental processes of the curriculum also demand the analysis of information regarding vulnerable youths, their environment, and potential Buddhism morals that could benefit their life skills. Students also need learning activities that could help them make a connection between religious morals and life situations.

An Overview of Akhlak and Moral Concepts and Their Relevance to Moral Education in Malaysia

“…The integration of Islamic morality's foundations with the basic principles of Western moral ethics, as well as diverse religious values and beliefs, can help ME achieve its desired goal. This is because virtuous human beings will be formed holistically on a balance of knowledge, attitude, and skills (Nathpukdee et al, 2022) by taking into account various principles and points of view, rather than based on a single understanding, in order to avoid the assumption that the implementation of ME is a process of indoctrination based on certain religious beliefs.…”