Michael of Siam Computer
The 31st of March 2006 will be something of a monumental occasion in the Bangkok TEFL business. Mr Michael, the near legendary Academic Director of Siam Computer and Language, has decided to finally call it a day and leave the responsibilities of running one of Bangkok’s biggest private language school chains to a slightly younger man. In the hands of a more energetic man? – I very much doubt it. We caught up with Mr Michael before he headed off to a life of gardening and fishing.
Well, well, well, young man. This has come right out of the blue. You always struck me as one of those guys who’d go on forever. Don’t tell me you’ve been slowing down?
It might be out of the blue to you...but after 49 years of uninterrupted work, President of a college in Florida, working with learning disabled students and then the capstone of assisting Thais with the building of confidence to use English....the time has come.
Let’s get the numbers out of the way first. How long have you been with Siam Computer and when did you rise to the lofty heights of academic director? I did get the title right didn’t I?
I started as an English teacher at SIAM's Pinklao branch on March 1, 1994, six days a week at 13,000 baht per month. We lived nearby so it was an easy walk to the office, dinner at PATA and great classes. By 1 August Mr. Chalermchai had moved me to the head office as the Assistant Director of the Foreign Language Department and I have remained in that position until this coming Friday.
I can’t imagine ever opening the Bangkok Post classified and not seeing “call Mr Michael or Mr Chalermchai for an interview”. You must have interviewed thousands of teachers over the years. Was it difficult to keep up your enthusiasm for that aspect of the job?
I am very fortunate in that I have always been a very upbeat and positive person. Meeting people is one part of the job I always enjoy. Even greeting people on the telephone is a positive way and sending warmth and a happy approach to a stranger. I realize that many of those calling to interview for a job are new to Thailand and if I can help in any way to make their adjustment to this wonderful country easier, whether they work for SIAM or not, I have an obligation to do
So who is being groomed for the impossible task of filling your position?
Mr. Ian Griffin, my assistant for the past five years will take over the Internal part of the job while Mr. Ben from our Minburi franchise will handle the external (Thai schools) part of the program.
Does Mr Ben wear a black suit and a bowler hat?...oh never mind. You’ll forgive me for saying so Mr M but when I first came to Thailand in 1990, Siam Computer didn’t have the greatest of reputations. You’ve done much to turn that image around in the past five years or so. What’s been the secret?
What we did with the support of Mr. Chalermchai, the Director of the FLD and the rest of the Management Committee was to set standards of excellence for our program. I re-wrote all the final tests, changed the text books SIAM was using, began having the language teachers pre-test internal students for correct level placements and we made many other easy to do improvements. We also increased the service to teachers to make them the valuable partners in our program. 'Nam-jai' became very important..... SIAM never missed a payroll which is an excellent way to tell teachers....you are appreciated.
I’m sure your hands have been tied on many an occasion though? What changes would you like to have implemented but never saw materialize?
One idea I would like to have done was a set of English language tapes (or now cds) that could be played by Thais sitting in traffic. Most other ideas...the enlargement of the language curriculum, the enlargement of the external program, helping with the development of SBAC and North Bangkok College all came to be. If the idea made sense and was cost effective our Management Committee was usually supportive.
Let’s reminisce. What is or what are the major differences in the Thailand TEFL business these days compared to say 10 years ago?
I guess the biggest difference is the increased need for qualified teachers and the increased number of training programs to provide those teachers. The Thai school's program continues to demand more and more qualified teachers and the supply in the last two years has been decreasing. Look at the number of positions listed on ajarn.com and we are still 6 weeks away from the May opening of schools.
Is it more of a teacher’s market these days do you think?
Yes, with the reduced number of candidates and the increased number of opportunities the teacher can be quite selective in the benefits and requirements which s/he requests.
“Being an entertainer is far more important than being an educator if you want to teach and be successful in Thailand” - Right on the money or complete codswallop?
There is some credence to making the classes enjoyable but the main target is to help students improve their confidence in using English correctly. Having the teacher smile, laugh, bring in items to make classes fun assists the students in becoming comfortable using English and that should be our objective. Comedy central is not our objective, but a fun way to learn should be.
Let me take a couple of current hot issues from the ajarn discussion forum and get your opinions. Firstly, ajarn.com has been criticized for accepting job ads under 30,000 baht a month. Some individuals claim that anything under 30K barely provides a teacher with an existence – and good heavens, one teacher even said that ajarn.com has been partly responsible for the low wages in Thailand. So what’s the question? – oh yes, should I stop accepting jobs that fall below ‘the poverty line?
I believe ajarn.com is a conduit of information. If a school offers less than 30,000 and they find a qualified teacher who accepts then that it is a win-win situation that ajarn.com helped to facilitate. If a school has no responses to a job ad for less than 30,000 they might have to review their proposal and increase the salary to get someone. Ajarn.com does not set salaries but does allow school to see what others are offering to stay competitive and that is helpful.
Conduit of information eh? Let me jot that down. Secondly, is the end in sight for the native-speaking farang teacher. Are the cheaper and more willing Filipinos about to muscle in and see us all banished to far-flung inhospitable lands? Like Korea for example.
The end of the native English speaking teacher could be brought about by other factors. I lost teachers who were planning to come to teach in Thailand but SARS and bird flu have caused concerned parents to stop their children from coming to Thailand. I have already had one potential teacher afraid to come to Thailand because of the international sharing of news of the demonstrations so there are factors other than the Filipino teachers. Salaries in Korea and Japan are higher than Thailand but so is the cost of living. Vietnam, Cambodia and China are all seeking native English speakers and some of the red tape has been reduced to encourage teachers to head there.
The use of qualified Filipino will provide some of the need to fill the demand. The Filipino teachers who SIAM uses are very well qualified, serve their students well and have overcome the schools concern of a dark colored skin. The color of their brain is not seen by schools and that should be of more consequence than the color of their skins.
You and I actually met once about 6-7 years ago. We sat next to each other during a presentation by Jack Richards (the writer of the Interchange series) at I think, The Landmark Hotel. Great textbooks. Extremely boring speaker. Were you a regular face at TEFL events around town?
I tried to attend many of the presentations by publisher supplied speakers. One can always learn something new and receive some valuable handouts and suggestions to share with our teachers. The networking at these meetings is also quite positive. Its fun to find out where people are now after job hopping.
While we’re on the subject of getting around town, did you have the time to visit all the Siam branches at some stage? There are a right good few of them. Was it your responsibility to make sure that standards were being met.
I make time to visit our branches on a regular basis. I also would bring new teachers to the branches for observations. It was helpful to see what teachers were doing and how they decorated their rooms so I could mention those things in our bi-monthly teacher training meetings. People always like to be recognized for their new ideas, achievements etc. We also developed a feedback system so we could make sure positive things were happening and our standards were being met.
So finally, what about retirement plans? Don’t fall into that consultant or ‘advisory’ trap. That’s the only advice I’ll give you. Make a clean break of it.
When we build or buy our new house in Pattaya, everyday will see swimming on the agenda and some internet work. I will continue to assist publishers with proofreading of potential English texts. I am sure there will be some private work I could do but have to be careful not to abuse my yearly retirement visa.
After all the work you’ve done, I imagine that the owner of Siam Language will be throwing the retirement party to end all retirement parties. I won’t be there in person but I’ll probably be able to see the fireworks from my home in Samut Prakarn. Seriously though Mr Michael, I’ve always found you a true gentleman to deal with and I wish you all the very best for a happy retirement. You’ve deserved it.
Friday lunch is a large gathering of SIAM friends from now and the past and it should be fun and a bit sad but comforting in that everything moves on and that is good for progress, new ideas and probably a new surge of enthusiasm. Keep up the good work. I will be reading every week
