Thailand running before it can crawl
Postbox letter from Mr. Russell Park
In 2010 there were 250 schools nationwide in the EP program. In 2011 it doubled to 500 and they estimate it will double again next year. The Thais are running around the country, awarding their schools this stamp of 'World Class School'. Which world do they mean?
What damage exactly?
Postbox letter from Peelie
The damage that unqualified foreign teachers do to the Thai system is minimal. All the damage is done by the Thais themselves.
Win-win teachers
How to become a more valued employee
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.
Problems at your school
There are always problems where you work
So there are 25 things wrong with your teaching job? Actually there are 25 things wrong with every teaching job - you just pray they don't all happen on the same day. As Phil explains, it's the way you handle these often 'minor inconveniences' that will make or break your time in Thailand.
Hubris vs humility at the helm
Why I decided that enough was enough
The Thai members of staff to whom I regularly voiced my concerns about the very visible slowing, sometimes even reverse pace, of the program’s progress, always said give it time. So I did. For a year, from the time our four deputies were very ceremoniously replaced, I waited and hoped something good would happen.
Good teachers or warm bodies?
What do we deserve?
I’m guessing that at least one third of all TEFL teachers are underprepared, underqualified or lack any kind of training in their subject. Compounding the problem is the fact that government funding for teacher training/re-training is non-existent.
Scatterlings of Africa
Investigative journalism at its very best
A true life tale of a school controlled by the Sud Efrikan mafia or something similar.
