| Q |
Brian,
welcome to the hot seat. I was in New Zealand in October of last year. What
an amazing country! Are you a north or south islander? |
| A |
Thanks for the invite. I
come from the city of sails, Auckland. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip and
holiday ‘down under’. I am guessing that you toured the South Island and you
picked a good time of the year to travel, as in October Spring is kicking in
and everything’s green, lambs are bouncing around, daffodils and tulips are
in full bloom, fresh strawberries abound…
Hmmm, why did I leave all that behind to teach in Thailand? |
| Q |
Yes, New
Zealand is definitely one of those places where you think 'how would anyone
want to leave here to go and live in Thailand?' but I spoke to numerous
Kiwis who had been to Bangkok for a vacation and they all loved the place.
It's a funny old world innit? |
| A |
Yes that it
is. However, there is a big difference between spending 10 days in Thailand
with a pocket full of “real money’ and a carefree attitude to living and
working in the same country, week in, week out. Many teachers out there
would agree with me when I say that Thailand is one of those countries that
is set up better to cater for the short term tourists rather than for those
who have made Thailand their new home. It seems like that for as long as you
look like a foreigner, then you must be here in Thailand on holiday and are
‘targeted’ as such.
If you asked me if I miss my home country at times, then the answer would be
yes. Not sure what part I miss the most, maybe it’s the roast lamb and roast
potatoes. It could even be the lazy days out fishing for snapper in the
harbour with a few friends and a beer or two! |
| Q |
You had a
marketing company in New Zealand, so teaching sounds like a massive career
change? |
| A |
It sounds like a big
career change to many people but I haven’t viewed it that way. Marketing
involves selling or promoting an idea or a product. As a teacher working in
both the corporate evening classes and weekends, I have found that having a
marketing background has helped me to ‘sell’ the concept that learning
English is vitally important for so many reasons.
Also, a marketing background gives me a different slant on lesson
presentation material as I put an emphasis on variety, fun and interesting
topics when teaching to these classes. |
| Q |
So in your
expert opinion, how does a teacher in Thailand market themselves? |
| A |
I do not consider a few
years in Thailand makes anybody an expert and all teachers are different by
virtue of their personality or disposition.
However, Thai students (of all ages) are generally shy and lack confidence
to speak to foreign teachers so I think that if teachers can appear to be
friendly, show by action that they enjoy their work, and add a bit of fun
and variety to their class lessons then the bridge between teaching and
learning narrows. I have noticed that when this communication barrier is
‘opened’, then students can give valuable feedback on lesson material being
taught, problems in learning, etc. This helps me to ‘fine tune’ my future
lessons to better suit their level of learning which makes my teaching more
effective. |
| Q |
Let me get
this right - you've worked at a temple school, an orphanage, and now you
work at a government school. You also work weekends at a private language
school and do a bit of corporate work as well. Is that just how things have
panned out or are you just a workaholic? |
| A |
Seems like I am a
workaholic, huh? Well, university work is not as taxing as a secondary or
private school is. Less than 10 hours teaching a week at uni so there is
still a little “gas’ left in the tank for evening or weekend work. Corporate
work is only 1.5 hours at a time and just twice a week and weekend classes
can be as little or as much as you want.
My main reasons for working in different institutions are firstly because I
actually love teaching so I don’t class it as ‘work’. Second, this career
change to be a full time teacher has come in the twilight of my working life
so I am ‘fast-forwarding’ my teaching experience to gain as much variety as
possible in the limited time I have left to teach as Thailand is one of
those countries that values youthfulness (image) over maturity when sourcing
their teachers.
I also have plans for overseas travel in the pipeline so I think that
gaining experience in other ‘fields’ of teaching will pay dividends in the
long run when presenting my C.V. for an overseas posting. The language
school I work at has branches around the world which gives me the
opportunity to piggy back my way to whichever destination that appeals most.
|
| Q |
Let's take
some of these different teaching environments in turn, starting with the
orphanage. How long were you there and what got you involved? |
| A |
I taught there for 8
months and loved it! I got involved trough the company that I learnt my TEFL
and TEYL through (Spencer International). There were nearly 2,000 students
there from all parts of Thailand and it was a both humbling and rewarding
performance. The students ranged in age from 4 to 15 years old and they
don’t have it easy. Up at 4am, cleaning, praying, studying, doing exercise
plus other household chores, but that’s life. A more receptive classroom
full of students you will never find. They were aware of their station in
life and understood the value of learning English in their future lives so
study and try their best they did.
For those teachers out there who have considered volunteer teaching but
never taken the step forward, then take some advice from me, go do it! No
money but the rewards come and you are doing your bit to enrich their lives
through the power of learning. |
| Q |
Tell us
about life at the temple school? |
| A |
Life in the temple school
was great! Unlike some prestigious private schools in Bangkok, the students
here were so polite and appreciated having a native speaker to teach them
English. Having a regular input from the monks and a Buddhist influence
throughout the school has a positive influence on the students. Certainly,
from a teachers perspective, it was more enjoyable to teach students there
as discipline was never a question. |
| Q |
Was it
difficult to swap these what I would imagine to be fairly relaxed
environments for the government teaching gig? |
| A |
Not at all, it was always
my plan to move through the different teaching sectors. From my experience
so far, all teaching institutions have their “plus” and “minus” factors, and
the only way to know what suits your teaching style best is to experiment
and experience. |
| Q |
You do
weekends at a private language school then. Is this just to boost your
income or to simply give you something to do? |
| A |
Actually, neither of
these! Working in a weekend language school has two main advantages for me.
Firstly, it gives me the unique opportunity to teach on a one to one basis
as well as small groups of students. Secondly, it gives me the chance to
build up specialized teaching experience with this specific institution
which has branches, world-wide. This, in turn, becomes my ticket to travel
and work in the future. |
| Q |
I've
always been an advocate of the five-day working week. Don't you find that
all work and no play make Jack a dull boy? |
| A |
I think it’s a matter of
personal choice. I work the weekends, not for money, but for the love of
teaching. It gives me the opportunity to teach a variety of classes in any
given day. From “ankle biters” right through to IELTS classes gives me the
opportunity to be a more balanced yet adaptable teacher. Because I enjoy
teaching, I do not really class it as work and many of my students and I
have a good student- teacher learning relationship. |
| Q |
Is the
teacher's license conundrum affecting you? |
| A |
Well, as my university is
closed for the summer break, I cannot enlighten you or your readers on this
one. However, as being a contract teacher in a government university, I do
not expect that we will need to jump as many hoops as some of the private
schools will need to.
As a footnote, hot off the press is the latest news that some private
language schools do not need this new teacher’s license as they are
officially classified as a ‘learning institution’, not a school. As sure as
eggs, for as long as there are new regulations, there will always be
“exceptions” to the rule! |
| Q |
What do
you make of all these proposed changes that seem to be making life difficult
for teachers? |
| A |
On face value, it seems
like the main focus of the new teacher’s license is to extract more money
from ‘over-paid’ foreign teachers. Short term gain…. maybe long term loss.
In my few years of living and working here in Thailand, the rules and
regulations regarding foreign teachers have changed at an alarming rate. The
authorities need to realise that it’s not all ‘peaches and cream’ here in
the ‘land of smiles’ and there are other options for teachers in other
countries where the list of conditions is not so long or complicated. If the
authorities read the local newspaper, they would know that 30% of all Thai
English teachers are due to retire in the next 2 years. That’s 30,000 Thai
English teachers!
If I had any input into this latest piece of legislation, I would be looking
at ways to encourage more teachers here, not finding ways to tax them
further. |
| Q |
It seems
these days that places like China and Vietnam are becoming a whole lot more
appealing than Thailand for the new teacher. But you think Thailand is still
the place to be right? |
| A |
I guess I
have almost answered this question indirectly in my last few answers. Two
years ago I believe I made the right decision to come here but the last two
years has seen so many new regulations and restrictions coming in to play.
If someone was to ask me now if it is still the best place to start out
teaching, then I would say yes. However, once you’re qualified, take a look
around the traps and think about spreading your wings! |
| Q |
Your
future plans certainly seem to lie elsewhere. |
| A |
My future plans were
always to spread my wings. Through my weekend language school, I have my air
ticket to some amazing destinations around the world and in a years time, I
want to travel and work in Spain and in Russia. |
| Q |
Is there
any kind of English teaching you haven't tried but would like a shot at? |
| A |
I think that I have
covered all the bases of teaching here in Thailand so the game plan for now
is to keep working on, gain more experience and improve my skill and ability
as a teacher of English to foreign students. |
