Nice to see you do yet another positive blog article on Thailand.
Thanks for your comments Brian,
no system is perfect, not the European one, nor American, and certainly not the Thai one.
With a conservative estimate of a shortfall of over 100,000 teachers combined with headteachers and school executives who don’t appear to “cut the mustard”, I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that Thai kids, brilliant and smart though many are, are being failed in many ways by the education they receive.
The system like many in Thailand is riddled with corruption (“Tea Money”), cronyism, nepotism, and outdated teaching practices that border on archaic. It’s a small wonder that these kids rarely get the opportunity to get high positions as they are taught from a very young age to know their place and stick to it.
At least the Second Educational Reforms are an attempt (perhaps a vain one) to redress some of these issues, so there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon, no matter how small that may actually be.
Tom
Tom, thanks for the commentary. I’m just curious what “ICT skills” really means. Is it really important that school directors have memorized keyboard shortcuts for MS Word and Excel or can resize graphics in Photoshop? Further, I’m not sure how English skills and ICT skills walk hand-in-hand to show that Thai school admins are deficient in the skills they need to manage a school.
Education in Western society used to teach people the Bible, and the virtues of the monarchy. In other words, before scientific enlightenment, the printing press, democracy and education systems that existed independently of the church, people were taught traditional morality and a number of other social edicts, or cultural truths – rules based on convention, not reason – that functioned to, in the cant of the day, ‘civilise’ them, or give society its exalted shape.
In Australia, for example, this situation persisted well into the 20th century. God, king/queen and country were the order of the day till well past mid-century, faith in these ‘pillars of society’ was explicitly taught via the education system until the 1970s (the end of ‘White Australia). It is only very recently we have seen any real emphasis placed on teaching Australian children how to arrive at their own truths via ‘critical thinking’, or via the scientific method, without ‘conditioning’ them with any pre-packaged truths – that is, without cramming ideas about what people should think down their necks. Clearly, this project is ongoing, the education system – particularly private education – remains an instrument for the dissemination of all sorts of propaganda, a mighty battle between science and the traditions of the feudal system is being fought as we speak.
In Thailand, promoting religion and the monarchy are still features of the national curriculum, they continue to precede the development of rational knowledge and thinking skills on the national agenda. As all teachers must know. As Tom is pointing out, morality remains a focus. So obviously, we have a situation here that invites comparisons to be drawn.
Also, many of the owners of those Master’s degrees did not do the work themselves. It is no secret in Thailand that at university, as the age of the students increases, so does their propensity to cheat. A great injustice is afoot, actually – the young people have to get down on their knees to people who style themselves as moral and intellectual examples, but whose education was extraordinarily information impoverished, whose integrity is often very dubious, and whose agenda is often very self-serving.
Hi Guy,
Thanks for your post. You raise a good question:
“I’m not sure how English skills and ICT skills walk hand-in-hand to show that Thai school admins are deficient in the skills they need to manage a school.“
These are skills that the Thai Ministry of Education has decided are important for school executives to be in possession of. But if course you could argue that other skills like leadership, participatory management, and organisational skills are, if not more important, certainly equally as important as IT and English.
You need to also remember that Thailand is undergoing major restructuring changes in line with the Second Educational Reforms (you can read about it in my article at ajarn.com and also for the English Language Gazette) with the stated aim of becoming a major educational hub in S. E. Asia.
Add to the fact that, only this week, it was reported Thailand is about to announce that English will soon become its official second language after Thai. You can read about it here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/life/education/185082/english-skills-receive-boost
Whichever you decide using whatever criteria, my main point here is that “morality training” should not take the bulk of any funding when the money could be spent in a much more appropriate and efficient way.
best
Tom
By Tom Tuohy, Riyadh on 2010-07-08