Interview at The Ministry of Education
John Quinn asks the probing questions
John Quinn, the senior TEFL trainer at SEE, spent a morning at the MOE office in Chiang Mai to try and get some answers to questions teachers have regarding employment in Thailand. John has very kindly allowed ajarn.com to put the main points of the interview on-line. Some of the answers may well surprise you.
The value of our degrees
Postbox letter from WB
Some of us believe that a college degree is a crucial experience for educators in general, especially those who work with children. Many of us that hold a college degree want to make more cash, have better jobs, job-security, and benefits.
A flawed system indeed
Postbox letter from George Murden
I hope that when the dust settles, the government can find some middle ground that will protect the students as they should, raise standards as they should, but will also allow genuine teachers with a genuine vocation like myself to teach in their beautiful country.
The academic debate
Does a degree make a good teacher?
Now what if a teacher has a degree, but no teaching certificate? Would that be okay? Probably. What about having just a teaching certificate and no degree? Maybe. What about no qualifications at all but a lot of experience? Possibly. And finally, what about schools hiring people with no qualifications whatsoever and no experience, would that go well? There’s the odd chance that it might, but I doubt it.
Taking back the profession
getting rid of the EFL riff-raff
We are talking about setting objective standards to a profession that is long overdue. And by setting these standards, we will be getting rid of a whole lot of really bad people; people that have absolutely no business stepping foot inside a classroom, in Thailand or anywhere else.
Let's start failing students
Postbox letter from JP Robinson
Unfortunately Thais cannot face failure so this means Joe Bloggs and his dog are in with a chance of getting a job. Schools should have their own methods of evaluating for the good of the school and not the good of their pockets.
Good morning Vietnam
Postbox letter from JP Robinson
How the tables have turned. I don't know about Thailand but I think it is Vietnam that is an exciting place to be.
Principles and principals
Postbox letter from John Smith
Principals are the first to know about who has proper credentials and who doesn't. In many cases they rely on fake teachers as snitches (informants) to give them information about the teaching troops.
Thai news
It's funnier than comedy
Latest news before this article goes online: the government will agree to compromise and raise the age for buying alcohol to 20, instead of the planned 25. Cheers!
From Boulder to Bangkok
Thailand at a crossroad
When I heard that a teacher, an EFL teacher at that, had been picked up in Bangkok on suspicion of the JonBenet Ramsey murder, I knew that things would change. Or, at least, I hope that things will change. For the better. I, like everyone else, heard the name John Mark Karr for the first time
