The South African viewpoint
Postbox letter from Marguerite Huson
Four major issues that one particular ajarn reader is concerned about
Culture in the English speaking world
The problems in developing a university culture course
I have in front of me here a Culture in the English Speaking World course book that was written by a person with a European name at another university here in Thailand. It points out a number of supposed differences between Thai and Western culture. It then goes on, basically, to justify the things that Western people do in a positive light, while at the same time casting the contrary behaviour – its Thai parallel – in a very negative light indeed.
The Thai culture course
How to scam, exploit and demoralise foreign teachers
Day one of the course began with the typical smiles and greetings. The venue laid on a nice little breakfast pack for each of us and well wishers waited at the doors to greet us with: "Hello, thank you for coming!". (Like we had a f***ing choice!)
News from the TCT
The latest in the ever changing world of teacher requirements
Thanks for stopping by this month, and reading my article. The last month has been a busy one for myself and many other teachers I have met. There have been many conferences hosted by The Ministry.
Regulations update
Some amendments to last month's article
All Teacher’s License applicants must have 1 year of teaching experience, prior to application. Several readers had emailed me that they heard that it was two years. I got the one year answer from The Teacher’s Council, just yesterday.
Thai culture course experiences
How to scam, exploit and demoralise foreign teachers
Here's a complete breakdown of my time spent on the Thai cultural course. Actually I've decided that it was nothing but a teacher's council money spinner. It had little to do with improving a teacher's performance in the classroom and just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the foreign participants were given an impromtu dance class.
Back to school
A brief overview of primary and secondary schools in Thailand
There are three main kinds of schools in Thailand: government schools, private schools and international schools. Internationals schools are the most expensive, with average yearly fees ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 baht, depending on the quality and reputation of the school.
The new teacher licensing regulations
How the new rules will affect teachers
The first memo about these new regulations from The Ministry of Education and The Teachers Council of Thailand came out about 2 years ago. Until a few months ago, no mention of this has ever been made to me at either Immigration or The Labor Department. When I tried getting new visas and work permits for my teachers, (a few months ago) the Immigration officials told me that the teacher had to have their teachers license under the new regs before they could be issued a Non-Immigrant Visa.
Confusion reigns
Postbox letter from Tired and confused
There's nothing but confusion over this damned culture course
Understanding culture
Or the culture of understanding?
If knowing more about a specific culture can make me a better teacher while I'm living there, then I'd be more than happy to sign up and pay for some culture course. But keep the "My Culture Is Better Than Your Culture" crap out of it
