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[lonexpat]

I should have said Stephen King.

[LecheHombre]

Kilgore Trout, on 2012-01-17 08:05:01, said:

...
Of course there are those with natural ability who lack the proper credentials, what you are forgetting is how important having the proper background and training is.
Look at it from a parent's perspective; do you expect parents to accept the fact that the teacher teaching their children is not qualified?

Would you fly in an airplane with a pilot who doesn't have a licence but everyone "says" he is a great pilot; "don't worry about it; you will be fine"

Natural ability and aptitude is great but teachers also need to be properly trained, and of course there are those who are trained and don't do their job well; I'm not denying that.

For those of you who are good teachers but not qualified; you would be surprised at how proper training would improve your skills and if you are really dedicated then you will do what is necessary to get qualified.

Teaching is an art and a science; even if you are naturally good at the "art" you still need the knowledge and experience with regard to the "science."

Bottom line; if you want to teach in Thailand then you need to get qualified. If you don't; ride as long as you can but don't complain about not being allowed a work permit if by law you are not qualified to get one.

I understand where you are coming from, but your pilot analogy is flawed.  To convert it into the Thai situation, it should be altered as follows:

You are in a commercial jet where the pilot and copilot have both suddenly died of heart attacks.  For now your altitude is stable but going steadily towards auguring into the ground.  The flight attendant makes an announcement: "is anyone here a commercial pilot?!"  Out of the passengers, nobody stands up.  From there, the flight attendant needs to rethink her standards, and ask "is anyone here a civilian pilot?", or "has anyone ever taken any flight lessons whatsoever?", on down to "has anyone ever played a flight simulator game"?

Maybe Bangkok and some of the more populated and popular provinces can afford to demand commercial pilots / 100% to-the-letter qualified teachers.  A whole bunch of other places here cannot afford to be so picky.  In many cases, a motivated yet completely "unqualified" and/or unexperienced foreigner can do a fine job, particularly if they are paired with a qualified and motivated Thai teacher to show them the ropes, set lesson plans, etc.


What will the de-facto result of the TCT's rules actually pan out to be, assuming that they are fully enforced?  First, the great majority of schools in moderate or rural provinces will end up with NO foreign teachers.  Just like your average rural country school now.  Maybe that is OK, but I tend to think that such a result wouldn't improve the overall quality of English education here, quite likely the opposite.

Second, for any school that DOES manage to keep some foreign teachers other than an international school or full English Program school, their foreign teaching staff will be made up entirely of revolving-door backpackers and converted tourists.  Turnover rates are pretty massive now, but enforcing this will push it higher still.  The folks like the OP and myself who sort of fall into teaching but then "catch the bug" and actually take it pretty seriously and try to do a good job will be kicked out in favor of backpackers on a fresh "temporary" TL.  I've met a lot of fresh new 1st year foreign teachers in my 5 years here.  Some of them pan out and turn into good quality, motivated teachers -- but a whole lot are here for 1 year of drinking, chasing skirts, and hungover "teaching" before moving on to their next destination.  I can fully understand wanting to limit the presence and impact of that second group on the education system here, but I think that these TCT rules are unfortunately going to have the opposite effect over time.


Maybe I'm wrong, and I bow to the wisdom of those that have been here longer than I have and/or have a real background in teaching (I do have a Bachelor's Degree, but it is in Computer Science), but I feel like the TCT rules here are likely going to make things worse before they get better.  Just my two cents.

[Kilgore Trout]

Quote

What will the de-facto result of the TCT's rules actually pan out to be, assuming that they are fully enforced?  First, the great majority of schools in moderate or rural provinces will end up with NO foreign teachers.  Just like your average rural country school now.  Maybe that is OK, but I tend to think that such a result wouldn't improve the overall quality of English education here, quite likely the opposite.

Second, for any school that DOES manage to keep some foreign teachers other than an international school or full English Program school, their foreign teaching staff will be made up entirely of revolving-door backpackers and converted tourists.  Turnover rates are pretty massive now, but enforcing this will push it higher still.  The folks like the OP and myself who sort of fall into teaching but then "catch the bug" and actually take it pretty seriously and try to do a good job will be kicked out in favor of backpackers on a fresh "temporary" TL.  I've met a lot of fresh new 1st year foreign teachers in my 5 years here.  Some of them pan out and turn into good quality, motivated teachers -- but a whole lot are here for 1 year of drinking, chasing skirts, and hungover "teaching" before moving on to their next destination.  I can fully understand wanting to limit the presence and impact of that second group on the education system here, but I think that these TCT rules are unfortunately going to have the opposite effect over time.


Maybe I'm wrong, and I bow to the wisdom of those that have been here longer than I have and/or have a real background in teaching (I do have a Bachelor's Degree, but it is in Computer Science), but I feel like the TCT rules here are likely going to make things worse before they get better.  Just my two cents.

I agree with you milkboy, but thats Thailand. It has always seemed to me that the rules in Thailand are set up and unenforced so that they can arbitrarily enforce them to get rid of people they don't like.

I think though, that teaching without proper credentials, or teaching in most Thai schools for that matter, is something you can only do for so long.....if you are in it for the long run then I think there's no question; you have to find a way to get qualified and get stable job in a good work environment.

I started out with just a ba teaching in a Thai school, then did the language school thing, eventually taking the coursework to get qualified and went back to my home country for a couple of years for the practicum, testing and experience etc. It was tough and I busted my arse doing it, but it was worth it in the end.

Bottom line is; "it is what it is."

Edited by Kilgore Trout, 2012-01-23 16:33:11.

[LecheHombre]

You are correct, it is what it is.  Or to elude to your forum name, perhaps I should say "...so it goes".

To my own personal standards, I consider myself qualified to teach.  I say that with essentially no caveats, but if I allow some minor rationalization in addition then I am 99% certain that if I were to be kicked out of the teaching profession here I would not be replaced by someone any more qualified than myself...  Those that are more qualified are either going to want more money (fair enough) or a level of standards that just isn't present here.  I've known a few fully-qualified people with M.Ed degrees here, and in my experience they get burnt out with the poor standards and wacky situations faster than the "motivated amatuers".  YMMV, and that isn't to take away anything from the good, patient, fully qualified people here or those like yourself that went back home to get fully legit teaching degree -- /salute to you by the way, I think that is admirable.

We'll see what happens!