Buddhist Pedagogy in Laos: Past and
Present
Justin McDaniel, Ph.D.
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
USA
Abstract:
Laos has been generally seen as a place of little innovation and development in
terms of Buddhist texts and textuality. However, many have overlooked the
contribution Lao Buddhist intellectuals have made to the development of new
genres of Buddhist literature especially in regards to pedagogical texts. This
paper will examine some examples of palm-leaf manuscripts used for sermons and
monastic instruction and then compare their pedagogical techniques and
rhetorical style to modern Lao sermons (both oral and printed) and student
guidebooks. The paper claims that there has been great continuity in Lao
pedagogy from the sixteenth century to the present despite political,
institutional, and economic shifts and disruptions.