Poll points to urgent need to revisit method of hiring and training teachers

[webfact]

Poll points to urgent need to revisit method of hiring and training teachers

By The Nation

 

 

The majority of respondents in a survey said teachers in general were aggressive, and those who abused their students lacked professional ethics.

 

The Suan Dusit Poll surveyed 1,896 people nationwide from September 29 to October 2 about their views on teachers.

 

Of the respondents, 78.90 per cent said they had not been punished, while 21.10 per cent said they had been punished, such as hit with a rod, been pinched, had the shirts pulled out, been shouted at, been insulted, had things thrown at them or were locked up.

 

Teachers have been in the spotlight after recent CCTV footage showed a Nonthaburi school teacher physically assaulting kindergartners.

 

When asked for their views on teachers who abused students (multiple choice), 84.36 per cent of respondents said teachers were aggressive, 83.41 per cent said they lacked ethics, 79.71 per cent said they felt depressed, and 74.59 per cent said schools lacked care.

 

When asked what they thought was the reason for teachers' violent behaviour, 86.77 per cent of respondents said they lacked professional ethics, 73.33 per cent said the guidelines for recruiting teachers were inadequate in finding good teachers and 63.28 per cent said schools lacked care.

 

Asked what parents should be most concerned about regarding their children, 80.54 per cent said teachers' punishment, 62.41 per cent said learning, 54.08 per cent said bullying, and 43.11 per cent said eating.

 

Regarding ways to prevent violence by teachers, 79.80 per cent of respondents said school directors must pay attention to the recent case, 77.32 per cent said guidelines for recruiting teachers must be improved, and 72.31 per cent said teachers and students must be monitored closely.

 

Pornpan Buathong, a researcher at Suan Dusit Poll, said this survey showed that the majority of respondents pointed at teachers lacking the required ethics for the job, so the Ministry of Education and school directors should urgently tackle this issue, as well as implement preventive measures.

 

"Also, the government should pay attention to violence in the classroom because it may affect their credibility," she said.

 

Meanwhile, Sitthiporn Iamsen, dean of Suan Dusit University's Faculty of Education, said the fact that 21.10 per cent of respondents had been punished by their teachers was worrisome even if the figure was low.

 

"However, if teachers punish and teach students to avoid doing bad things, while students admit their wrongdoing, it would not be considered violence by teachers," he said.

 

In the case of Onuma Ploadprong, a former teacher in a Nonthaburi school who was sacked for allegedly assaulting kindergarteners, he added that she cannot call herself a teacher because she did not have a bachelor of education degree.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30395594

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-05

 

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[Snackbar]

The recruitment of young teachers is a shambles which favours unethical people.

 

Trainee teachers are limited to working for two years in their own province then, relocate for six years to continue their career choice. Those with family ties have little choice but drop out. Whereas transients without family take the opportunity. 
 

Good, honest young people are discriminated against while loners and outcasts have nothing to lose and end up in one in Thailand’s almost 37.000 schools.

Here lies one of the numerous issues within the Thai education system.

[DavoTheGun]

In my experience, 5 years in a Government College, most Teachers are incompetent, not interested in teaching, give them books or tasks to do, then leave them, come back a few minutes before finishing, or arranging some sort of "Activity" they will be having. just a joke.

[mrfill]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"However, if teachers punish and teach students to avoid doing bad things, while students admit their wrongdoing, it would not be considered violence by teachers," he said.

Torture is ok so long as you get a confession. Hmmm

[djayz]

The entire system (education) needs a complete overhaul. From top to bottom. Clean house and press the reset button.  

[Grumpy John]

If there is oversight of teachers then the overseers are failing badly.  Maybe some tough measures are needed from higher up the education chain. 

[rkidlad]

Not long after I first moved here I had a Thai university lecturer ask me to proofread her dissertation for some doctoral study. Thinking it might be interesting to do I accepted. Dear Lord, was that a painful exercise. I had no idea what she was trying to convey. It's not because I didn't understand the subject, it was 'cos it literally made no sense. Just word salad. A mix of copying and pasting perfect English from a text with her own incoherent ramblings using poor English.

 

In the end I just made sure it was grammatically correct. It made no sense at all. She later text me to thank me and tell me she passed. Honestly, no one could have made sense of this dissertation. It has no place inside a university. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see scratched on the walls inside a lunatic asylum. 

[munchlet]

Violence in the classroom is of course very important.. But even more important is content. The Thai education system produces robots who accept the paternalistic nature of Thai Society blindly. 

 

Vietnam's education system is way ahead of Thailand's, about 2 years ahead. It also produces 5 times as many engineers and computer people than Thailand's. Teachers in Thailand are underpaid, ensuring that they are largely dross, they are pretty much unsackable and are promoted by seniority rather than ability. 

 

To cap it all, the curriculum is driven by the "Nation, Religion Monarchy" mantra which seems to produce sycophants rather than free thinkers. The whole system, like much else in this beautiful country, is rotten, starting at the top. 

[Surasak]

Teachers and violence, What can one say? A narrow mind is usually accompanied by a wide mouth!!

[hotchilli]

Teachers in this country on the whole believe they are gods and should be treated accordingly.

They can do as they wish with impunity.

 

[TERMINATOR3AB]

Sadly  Thai  culture  again is  aggression  is  seen as  normal  

Look at the  domestic  voilence  against women in Thailand  truely  outrageous 

Kids  at school  just another  projection of this  aggression

Road  Rage  is  unbelievable  as is  some street  violence

Great  country  to  visit  even the laws are racist 

All of Thailand needs a  culture  shock  but will not happen for  many generations to  come  

By then will  probably be a provence  of China  anyway 

Good  Luck  Thailand 

[ChipButty]

Surely you cant keep complaining about the teachers its got to be higher up that needs sorting out?

[connda]

1 hour ago, djayz said:

The entire system (education) needs a complete overhaul. From top to bottom. Clean house and press the reset button.  

Which they will probably do.  They'll put foreign teachers under a microscope, create another layer of bureaucracy to create and implement more regulations for foreign teachers to follow, and then throw a few farangs and Filipinos against the wall every year to show the country they mean business. 
In the meanwhile committees will be formed, photos taken, puu yais promoted, and lip-service paid to upping the standards of Thai teachers while allowing the status quo to follow entropy's path of least resistance as teachers are sent to continuing education to learn new and improved rote learning techniques guaranteed to dull the senses and put students into the deep slumber of unquestioning conformity.  New regulations regarding punishment will be issued amounting to providing teachers with the guidance: "Be more discrete in the future and don't get caught and embarrass your betters or they'll be hell to pay."

Based on history and personal experience, I have high expectations that this problem will be, "ah-hem", taken care of.  ????

[connda]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

Not long after I first moved here I had a Thai university lecturer ask me to proofread her dissertation for some doctoral study. Thinking it might be interesting to do I accepted. Dear Lord, was that a painful exercise. I had no idea what she was trying to convey. It's not because I didn't understand the subject, it was 'cos it literally made no sense. Just word salad. A mix of copying and pasting perfect English from a text with her own incoherent ramblings using poor English.

 

In the end I just made sure it was grammatically correct. It made no sense at all. She later text me to thank me and tell me she passed. Honestly, no one could have made sense of this dissertation. It has no place inside a university. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see scratched on the walls inside a lunatic asylum. 

How many doctoral candidates require an editor to edit their dissertation?  If that's the case, then the editor is more deserving of the title, "Doctor" than the candidate.

[ThaiFelix]

18 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Surely you cant keep complaining about the teachers its got to be higher up that needs sorting out?

Aaah somebody sensible at last....thanks.

[mberbae]

We have 3 kids in 8th and 10th grades in Chiang Mai.

Often, teachers don't show up for class, or come late.

A lot of them have ZERO clue how to teach.

 

[spidermike007]

No poll is needed for this. It has been a dirty secret for a very long time, that a percent of the teachers here abuse their students, and that a majority of the teachers here are substandard, do not even know the lesson plans they teach, and cannot even pass the tests they give their students. To call the Thai educational system low quality, poor, ineffective, and outdated, would all be an understatement. Much reform is needed, and an argument can be made that the extremely toxic elite here, want to keep the system the way it is, for reasons of avarice, selfishness, and a false and ancient notion that it will protect their status. Those vermin have alot to answer for.

 

By international standards, the two top universities in Thailand are Mahidol and Chulalongkorn. World University Rankings created by Times Higher Education takes into account the reputation of research done by universities and how often papers produced by universities were quoted around the world. They have Mahidol ranked at #610, and Chulalongkorn ranked at #801, worldwide. That is the best this nation is capable of. Shows you how important education is to the elite (who send their kids overseas for college) and this spectacularly toxic administration. I know this thread is primarily about grade school, but I doubt there are international rankings for that. 

[johnarth]

one big point that is not being mentioned, and that is the rotten spoilt kids that Thais have many of, they are not into being told what to do, and many teachers are not used to kids that will not do what they tell them, so you have what you reap

[Bender Rodriguez]

yes polls & hubs solve all problems in thailand

[purcho]

4 hours ago, mrfill said:

Torture is ok so long as you get a confession. Hmmm

Sort of sums up the Education system doesn't it.

[ChipButty]

3 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Not long after I first moved here I had a Thai university lecturer ask me to proofread her dissertation for some doctoral study. Thinking it might be interesting to do I accepted. Dear Lord, was that a painful exercise. I had no idea what she was trying to convey. It's not because I didn't understand the subject, it was 'cos it literally made no sense. Just word salad. A mix of copying and pasting perfect English from a text with her own incoherent ramblings using poor English.

 

In the end I just made sure it was grammatically correct. It made no sense at all. She later text me to thank me and tell me she passed. Honestly, no one could have made sense of this dissertation. It has no place inside a university. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see scratched on the walls inside a lunatic asylum. 

I knew a couple of Thai women who had high level management jobs with a large Japanese company and they wanted to look for another job, they asked me could I check their CV's for English and grammar, I'm guessing they had used these before, I think we had better start again, I completely re did them at least it made them look more presentable their CV's, bye the way throw them other ones away 555

[Bender Rodriguez]

when you let teachers cheat to pass the exam (for money or other services) ...

[GaryAdriaenssens]

6 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Not long after I first moved here I had a Thai university lecturer ask me to proofread her dissertation for some doctoral study. Thinking it might be interesting to do I accepted. Dear Lord, was that a painful exercise. I had no idea what she was trying to convey. It's not because I didn't understand the subject, it was 'cos it literally made no sense. Just word salad. A mix of copying and pasting perfect English from a text with her own incoherent ramblings using poor English.

 

In the end I just made sure it was grammatically correct. It made no sense at all. She later text me to thank me and tell me she passed. Honestly, no one could have made sense of this dissertation. It has no place inside a university. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see scratched on the walls inside a lunatic asylum. 

I know perfectly what you mean. It's really sad. Afraid it will never change in this country. Said from a NNES being here for almost 20 years.

[Chongalulu]

The problems run much deeper.

"Thai students are consistently performing below the international average in core subjects, according to the results of the international 2018 PISA examinations.

Published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday, the results show Thai students underperforming in reading, mathematics and science compared to most countries participating in the evaluation. 

The PISA examinations, which take place every three years, evaluate education systems worldwide by measuring basic skills and knowledge of 15-year-old pupils, and their readiness for the challenges of adult life.

Approximately 600,000 pupils from 79 countries, including 37 OECD nations, completed the latest test, which focused primarily on their reading ability.

 

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According to the survey, Thailand ranked 56th for maths, 66th for reading, and 52nd for sciences.

Thai pupils recorded a score of 393 points in reading, far below the OECD average of 487 points. In sciences, Thai students scored 426 points, much worse than the international average of 489. And in mathematics, Thais scored 419 points, well below the OECD average of 489 points.

Thailand’s reading performance in PISA 2018 was lower than in any previous assessment, and 16 points lower than in PISA 2015. "

[overt2016]

Get rid of the military style uniforms, get rid of the sticks and -------

[Scott Tracy]

The children see the teachers, or experience it themselves, abusing kids with impunity. The kids take that with them and grow up with the thoughts that violence is ok.

 

I am not a teacher, but was a lecturer and an instructor at technical.college and work and for my pastimes. Qualifying with a Bachelor degree in Education does not a teacher make.

 

In training to become a lecturer and instructor, there were subjects such as class control, which included psychological aspects, approach teaching with regards to class discipline, etc. The teacher's approach to the class and the ability to change this approach for differing circumstances. Nowhere was it a acceptable to either verbally or physically abuse the students, at any level. This included the use of belittling and sarcasm. Control the class using strength of personality and subject knowledge was the mantra.

 

Mind you, in my uni course there was a senior lecturer who was a rocket scientist, seriously, he had worked for NASA, whose method of getting through the class was to keep his eyes closed or look into the air....

[Orton Rd]

10 hours ago, Snackbar said:

The recruitment of young teachers is a shambles which favours unethical people.

 

Trainee teachers are limited to working for two years in their own province then, relocate for six years to continue their career choice. Those with family ties have little choice but drop out. Whereas transients without family take the opportunity. 
 

Good, honest young people are discriminated against while loners and outcasts have nothing to lose and end up in one in Thailand’s almost 37.000 schools.

Here lies one of the numerous issues within the Thai education system.

When my Mrs sat the teaching exam which they have to do to get on the waiting list for a govt teaching post she says the 'pass' mark was 200k. That was 20 years ago so I expect it's gone up quite a bit since then. She already had her degree, passed the exam a couple of times over the years but never far enough up the list to get a job. She's great teaching kids as well, their loss.

[LazySlipper]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Regarding ways to prevent violence by teachers, 79.80 per cent of respondents said school directors must pay attention to the recent case, 77.32 per cent said guidelines for recruiting teachers must be improved, and 72.31 per cent said teachers and students must be monitored closely.

 

100% should be paid to school admin that don't give a hoot and never walk around their school to see what is going on and who rather be in meetings with tea and cookies rather than doing their job and walking around regularly. If headmasters were walking around doing their jobs then the likelihood of such incidents occurring would be minimized.

[Redline]

Nothing will change because the entire fraudulent national system will collapse with honest schools and proper education.

 

[grego49]

A while ago here there was a story about thai english teachers that could not speak or understand english,what hope do the kids have,,,