In search of the average Thai
Are they earning 25% of what foreign teachers earn?
Often when I'm chatting with a relatively long-term foreign teacher, the conversation will turn to money and the topic of teacher salaries. And usually the person will remark that the average teacher salary in Thailand hasn't increased for the past ten years.
Don't turn your back on the kids
Postbox letter from Jon
Who are we there for? The school? Maybe. But I would hope that most teachers would say that they are there for the children, to offer the kids a chance to improve their English
Schools poaching teachers
Why does it always seem to happen to us?
This happens ever year. Things are going great, the students and teachers are all settled, parents are happy, mid-term tests out of the way and then out of nowhere a local international school swoops in and poaches one of our ESL teachers. So annoying!
What's going on?
Postbox letter from TRRicher
My colleagues are up in arms about what seems to be a two years and out rule.
When your face just doesn't fit
When a school wants to fire you, what can you do?
I had been working as a Maths teacher for just under four months at a Catholic school in Bangkok when the head teacher, who is always happy to deliver bad news in a very dramatic way, informed me that parents had complained about the homework books not being marked. This was just the beginning.
Teacher or entertainer or teacher AND entertainer?
Postbox letter from Wes R
"We're not teachers, we're entertainers!" That's a dangerous little meme and it's something I've read countless times on countless websites as it concerns teaching English in another country, especially Thailand.
Sneaky little cheaters
The joy of midterm exams
Midterms means a week of sitting bored out of our minds in classrooms with students that usually aren't ours. I feel bad for the students; I'm bored, and they're having to sit there and take test after useless test.
The nightmare team teacher
Postbox letter from Carl
I’ve had team teachers in Korea, China, Kenya and Thailand, And then there was Mrs. T
Don't be discouraged
Postbox letter from Jonathan
The problems of Thai education system are far from simple and the problems of learning English are not free from serious issues. You may talk about the no fail policy, however I feel that is just one part of the bigger picture. Until the Thais get round the idea that they really do need help from westerners not much progress will be made.
Parent power
Postbox letter from Keith Evans
We are currently halfway through the mid-term exams. Yesterday, a colleague and I were called into a meeting with some of the senior secondary students' parents, and the assistant director and a few of his cronies
