I have been teaching now in Thailand for six years and am pleased to hold a TCT license. I prefer to teach in government schools, because I know that I am only able to encourage the students to use the English they are taught. I have found that blame only comes to the farang teacher when he fails to involve the Thai teachers. Complaining about the students and other teachers actions really only makes tasks more difficult. When I fail a student or give low grades. I always suggest to the Thai English teacher that as they see the student more than me, that they must feel free to alter the result for the student the way they see fit….and 9 times out of 10 they change nothing, as my mark usually reflects the Thai teacher grade too. In fact I am then asked to speak with them and their parents too.

My stuggle is always the time I have to spend with each class and find my English only lessons are undermined by other imported teachers who will use more Thai in class then English when the previous year I taught them using English only. My simple advice is when a class goes missing! - make sure the workload that you would have taught isn’t so big that a hand-out to the class can be digested easily for revision at another date.

Phetpeter

I believe Ian is far to courteous to the government and its policies. He obviously has taught here for a while, so he should know that his students will not fail because they have not attended class. No student fails. Low grades maybe, but enough to pass. That is the Thai way of excellence in education and a promising career for the teachers and administration. A friend called me yesterday and told me he was being held accountable because his students had poor grades. He hasn’t seen his students in 3 weeks. This is a very typical reaction so the school and administrators can blame the foreign teachers. It’s called the “blame game” and the school administrators are very good at it.

Ralph

Kind regards and thanks to Ralph on his reply (postbox 15th Jan), but maybe he missed my mildly sarcastic comments. Let’s not fool ourselves when the government does not act as we expect. Its hardly something we can just pin on the Thai officials. However I do agree with his comments that almost everything appears to come before education, I have a Monday class I have seen for just 2 weeks out of the previous 7. Many have been cancelled, I say cancelled, because postponed would mean they were changed to another date and time. Thus the class is weeks behind.. The administrators feel that cultural events are a priority. With just a few weeks of term left, students will either get low grades or fail.

Actually, having a culture is a good thing, but to put it above everything else is short minded. You become an international laughing stock laughing stock.
Countries can’t close their doors to outside influences in this day and age.

Ian

In response to Ian (The good, the bad and the ugly, ajarn postbox 10th January 2011)  I believe Ian is actually believing the same government rhetoric it has spouted for a long time with no results. As with most things in Thailand, It doesn’t have to work, just appear that it does.

Ian writes in part, that “the Thai government wishes to continue to make bold steps forward.“ They certainly are making bold steps. Although I think forward isn’t exactly right. They have said that for a long time, but their actions do not support what they say. But, it DOES bring in more money, which is the bottom line in Thailand. If they are making bold steps forward as the say, who benifits from these bold steps? Certainly not the students.

Ian says that he can, “perform magic acts, create a show, and maybe even leave a class breathless.“ That certainly qualifies him as a good teacher in Thailand where “having fun” is far more important than education and always has been.

As I wrote in my post dated July 17, 2010, Just about anything and everything one can think of comes before education. There are 8 bans in my area, the students here have been to school a total of 17 days since November 1, 2010. On top of all the other things that come before education, not having a teacher show up for work is now also added to the list. It’s actually pathetic to even think the government values education. It’s too worried about keeping the westerners from poisioning the minds of Thais. As long as the students know about their culture, that’s enough. Or so it seems.

The students are learning exactly as the government wants them to. They want them to stay true to their culture, learn to grow rice for a living, stay poor, and not have a voice in the government. That is NOT to say that all rice farmers are poor. The ones that can afford it go to an international school, on to college, and make a decent living. The ones that do not have the money (which is the majority) will stay on the farm or in a meager job earning minium wages all their life. BUT THEY KNOW THEIR CULTURE, which is enough. Or so it seems.

Ralph

Let’s cut to the chase. You’ve done the resume, shown your certificates, dug out a half respectable photo - harder for some than others but still a challenge at the best of times because if we were all photogenic, we would be models not teachers. You’ve provided several references that are actually connected to teaching. Then comes the desired experience teaching Thais and the understanding of Thai culture. Then there is the insistence that we are aged between 21 and 27, drop dead sexy, and furthermore be able to sing, dance and entertain (equity certificate required) provide magic tricks ( magic circle membership needed) plus actually live in Thailand.

It’s now the time we want you to do a demo class! Any organisation that asks for a demo lesson or class should be viewed with suspicion. There is the odd exception and I mean odd, but as a rule of thumb, if you can provide all of the above, then that should be enough. Any half-decent employer will check out all that you provided and this actually gives me reassurance that they know what they want or even what they are doing. I always feel pleased when one of my references calls me and says “we had a call from such and such asking for a reference about you, and we gave it both over the telephone and in writing”

But wait. Some employers still want a demo lesson. Ok I’m an old hand. If I’m asked to give a demo I will sometimes agree to it, but demo lessons are at 2,000 baht an hour minimum time 3 hours. And money up front! The phone goes dead as the caller passes out in shock, or just figures out they’ve been busted. Alright I’m a bit of a sneaky old sod as well, I’ve agreed an odd free demo lesson from time to time and found myself at some poorly equipped office. Then in wanders a group of locals between the age of 3 and 95 and obviously of mixed ability level. Look, if you can’t see a scam now, I have little sympathy for you.

However the more students the better because that’s about five private students in my book - and they will actually learn something. So for my freebie, I’ll find out names, addresses, ability, and what they really want. Thanks. That’s an evening or weekend bonus for me over the next three months, and they will get a real classroom with full facilities and teaching that will build on what they know. For the more advanced students, I will advise them on university placements, visas, even where to stay, who to talk with and what university is best if they have both the ability and desire to study in the UK.

So when you have done the whole song and dance routine to get an interview and then out comes the request for a demo lesson, smile and say no - or better still ask for 3,000 baht an hour.

Ian