A view from the student’s side of the classroom

Perspectives on becoming a student again

19th December 2012

For the most part, I was teaching (in a variety of different capacities) during the years I was also pursuing my graduate studies. Now once again I am alternating between the front and rear of the classroom, and this can be an effective method to help one to keep the student's perspective in mind when the time of the day comes for one to assume the role of teacher.

Win-win teachers

How to become a more valued employee

26th May 2011

Whether in the staffroom, lunchroom, shop floor, barracks, or around the water cooler next to the cubicles, the main topic of conversation has always been how incompetent the bosses and management were.

Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

Is it necessary to have practical experience in order to teach it?

3rd May 2011

As a professor of Management and Business Studies, I have been asked a few times in the classroom, usually after lecturing on how to run a global enterprise, by bright and inquisitive students why I wasn't actually in management as opposed to teaching it.

What are we here to teach?

Should we see ourselves as missionaries for Western culture values?

4th April 2011

As foreigners teaching in a foreign country, what are the expectations and where are the boundaries?

Is TEFL teaching a career or a job?

Perhaps it's not such an easy question to answer

3rd March 2011

Should an individual accepting a position as a TEFL teacher think this is the first step in a career or should one consider it “only” as a job?

Entrepreneurial teachers?

Nobody owes you a career. Your career is literally your business.

31st January 2011

Are entrepreneurial attitudes and actions beneficial only to business owners? Or can all of us, teachers included, benefit from thinking and acting like an entrepreneur? Can a teacher think like an entrepreneur without starting his or her own school?

Pros and cons of teaching English

It's all about the trade-offs

2nd August 2010

If one has a strong case of wanderlust, teaching English can be your ticket to getting paid to travel to world, or it can allow one to follow one’s significant other to different locations and still find work.

Teaching in an intercultural environment

What are some of the issues facing educators in a foreign land?

3rd January 2010

Studying culture is no substitute for the practical experience of working and living abroad, however having some mental frameworks in which to analysis experiences could be helpful in adjusting to working and living in a new cultural environment.

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About Ajarn.com

Ajarn.com was started as a small hobby website in 1999 by Ian McNamara. It was a simple way for one Bangkok teacher to share his Thailand experiences and pass on advice. The website developed a loyal and enthusiastic following. In 2004, Ian handed over the reins to Phil Williams and 'Bangkok Phil' has run the ajarn website ever since.

Ajarn.com has grown enormously and is now the most popular TEFL site in Thailand - possibly even South East Asia. Although best-known for its vibrant jobs page, Ajarn has a wealth of articles, blogs, features and help and advice. But one principle has always remained at Ajarn's core - to tell things like they are and to do it with a sense of humor. Thailand can be Heaven or Hell for an English teacher. It's always been Ajarn.com's duty to present both sides of the equation. Thanks for stopping by.