Thai teaching style: do Thai teachers tend to get angry if students have difficulty understanding a topic?

[wolf81]

I am wondering about the Thai teaching style, since my daughter is going to a Thai private school.

 

Just today a niece of our daughter is at our home. My girlfriend is helping her with some homework as apparently this girl has been lazy, not been doing her homework. Now she's doing math, basic addition and subtraction. This girl is going to a free government school.

 

But this niece (7 year old) is apparently having trouble doing basic calculations, e.g. 8 + 4 = 12. Now my girlfriend tends to become angry (raise her voice a bit, sounding a bit aggressive) as this girl is having trouble doing these calculations. I do feel this girl isn't as smart as most children her age, but I don't feel raising the voice and becoming a tad angry is helping her understanding. But I've been wondering: maybe my girlfriend is mimicking behaviour she saw from teachers back when she was a girl?

 

So my question: how do Thai teachers deal with children that have difficulty understanding a topic? Do Thai teachers tend to become a little bit angry? 

 

I wouldn't want a teacher exhibit this behaviour when our daughter would have difficulty understanding some topic ...

Edited November 1, 2021 by wolf81

[bbko]

Surely you don't think all Thai teachers react the same way with the slower students.

Edited November 1, 2021 by bbko

[problemfarang]

I suggest you to tell your wife to calm down when teaching that kid. If she cannot then not to teach the kid. 

If the kid is having some problems in learning.. you cannot make it better with higher voice or anger. You need to be more soft and understanding. 

 

About your kid going to Thai private school. I dont think you need to feel bad or worry about it. Because its a private school and education is a very big business in Thailand and really big big money in it. So i think you got the point. 

 

About your girlfriend mimicking her former teachers... Thats a good observation from you. its up to your girlfriends education background and age. Such as where she studied, in the city or urban. if she is 40 up probably saw some thai teachers hitting students and likewise things. I must say new generation teachers are really better. Like 10 years doing the work teachers.

 

Sadly in many government schools, education is a joke. Both from farang and thai teachers. Farangs they all know students dont care about the lesson or else. And most of them are there just for some income and long stay visa. For thai teachers again if its not the new generation teachers (10 years) they dont even care about the education there. I remember few things my teacher friends told and it was like nightmare stories. in private schools situation is little bit better. Although lot of politics going on in the school too. Again both for thai and farang teachers. Thai teachers fight for position with each other and farangs fight with each other just to stay 1 more year there. I know many farang teachers talking bad behind to thai teachers about the other farang teacher when ever the other one leaves the room. This is just to show they are better than other farangs so can stay here longer. And many stupid things like this. 

 

In thai education evaluation results from students is very important. So actually teachers cannot do too much about students. Think like this, students play with the phone and most of the teachers cannot do anything about it because when students evaluate teacher.. they remember they took his/her phone in the middle of the game... 

 

i thought marketing and logistics at a university in thailand when i first arrived to country for 4 years. i have lot of teacher friends too. Some of them were like i would not even look at their faces if i met them on the street (this is because of their habits or the example i gave like talk behind you and mostly lies), some i wish i didnt meet... I know and heard many real bad stories. I know how stupid the job is and working conditions are. luckily i found a work with my real background and very happy now. im working for thai army for 12 years now. 

 

Wishing you good luck with your kids education bro.

Edited November 1, 2021 by problemfarang

[Scott]

Thai teachers are as diverse as teachers anywhere.  I've worked with a few Thai teachers who have the patience of Job and others with less patience.  

 

Thai teachers are quicker to deal with perceived misbehavior or violations of cultural norms.  

 

Younger children are a little harder to teach because how they understand and learn isn't the same as with older students or adults.  People without a background in education can find trying to teach young children quite frustrating.   Sometimes you have to back up a ways to get them to learn.  

 

[rct99q]

I have an 8 yr old who spends her time between Canada and Thailand schools. From her.

 

Canada Schools - more interactive. Smaller class sizes. Engaging teachers. More fun.

 

Thai Schools - larger class sizes. More disruptive students. Much less one on one. Some children get struck with a ruler or stick. 

 

She can not recall a Canadian teacher ever being "angry" or yelling. Thailand nearly every day.

 

That being said she loves both systems! I have no idea how to classify a child as being "smart" or not. My daughter loves going to school and works hard at understanding the materials presented to her. 

 

We talk a LOT. It also helps that her teachers like her a lot, both in Canada and Thailand. 

 

My wife still struggles to understand why I spend so much time with our daughter with school work! She too gets frustrated at times. Tell her children look to parents and teachers as role models. 

 

Daughter is in a public school and doing fine here. We could spend another 100,000 baht or so in our area for a school. Not sure she would be any further ahead. 

 

I do not believe a child is born smart or not(some exceptions, but very few), I truly believe the key is keeping them engaged. Keep learning interesting. Spend time with the child. 

We play a math game using kids names from her classes.

 

Somchai has 4 plates of Sumtam, but naughty little Bank takes 3 plates of Sumtam. How many plates does Somchai have?

 

The goal is to come up with funny scenarios and increase the difficulty. 

We play this game in the car, before bed, eating, all day long. 

 

She now gives me riddles in Thai! 

 

It is hard work. By the end of the day i am exhausted. But my daughter wants to be an English Teacher here in Thailand. My goal is to help her achieve this.

 

I am sure you do already do, but keep communicating with your daughter. We play Roblox together sometimes and even in the game i ask how was school, what happened. 

 

Best of luck. 

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, wolf81 said:

So my question: how do Thai teachers deal with children that have difficulty understanding a topic? Do Thai teachers tend to become a little bit angry? 

There is a mix of Thai teachers as there is in every country.

Some have the patience to help the students who have difficulty in grasping certain subjects..

Others don't have the patience to help, and others just don't like being asked to explain anything.

Your g/f sorry to say should show more patience in teaching the young girl, instead of getting angry maybe she could try to use a different of approach in teaching methods.

Instead of using 8+4=12

maybe use apples hanging on a tree.. sometimes a picture helps to get the message across.

Something the young girl can relate to.

Once she has a mental picture in her mind the numbers become more understandable.

 

[Scott Tracy]

In fear of stereotyping, my experience is that if something doesn't go the way that some people want, the default setting is anger and violence. (Not just in Thailand, either.)

 

To clarify and expand: Some women were doing an activity proscribed by law, and one was losing badly and one was winning a lot. The one losing badly appealed for credit. When she was refused, she found a snake and threw it at the one who was winning.

My SIL owes shed loads of money on the back of other activities proscribed by law. When the people she owes come to collect. Default anger and sweary words. 

Perhaps it's nurture that pushes teachers to lose patience, but, that being said, teaching of a person who may not be as quick on the uptake as the teacher expects and wants, requires skill sets that some teachers don't have.

[recom273]

Maybe I am wrong, I think what your girlfriend is doing, is following the failed method of the Thai teachers that probably taught her in the past, teach them the theory and in her case gets frustrated because the kid doesn’t understand it. 
 

Generally Thai teachers usually don’t get angry, they don’t express their frustration or punish students, they just do their job as they have been directed to do. They do this until they retire and they get a pension.
 

This is why there is little in the way of “special needs” teaching in Thailand, the kid usually gets it or not. I have never heard a teacher expressing concern about a certain kids ability like the NES teachers do but I have heard plenty of them announcing the weeks to retirement on a Monday morning. What they might do is suggest a badly performing student attend special tuition at their backyard cram school.
 

You didn’t say how she was teaching, if the kid doesn’t get basic addition and subtraction at age 7 then she needs to take a step back, use pencils, Lego blocks or balls of paper to demonstrate, and achieve understanding then give the kid colouring pages for maths or use real life examples. Make it fun, then there is no reason to get angry or mock the child.

 

My reply is a little OT but it’s just my opinion of what I saw over the years.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

There is a mix of Thai teachers as there is in every country.

Some have the patience to help the students who have difficulty in grasping certain subjects..

Others don't have the patience to help, and others just don't like being asked to explain anything.

Your g/f sorry to say should show more patience in teaching the young girl, instead of getting angry maybe she could try to use a different of approach in teaching methods.

Instead of using 8+4=12

maybe use apples hanging on a tree.. sometimes a picture helps to get the message across.

Something the young girl can relate to.

Once she has a mental picture in her mind the numbers become more understandable.

 

And don't forget if kids do (where allowed) ask questions about the lesson/subject older teachers

and the much old teachers now in the ministry (and some young teachers) take the view that if a student asks a question it's a direct suggestion that the teachers didn't teach/explain the learning item very well. An insult to the teacher.

 

My Thai son had issues with this from a different perspective, He did the last 3 years of high school in Singapore (his English level not a problem, he grew up totally immersed in both Thai and English and is at native speaker level with both languages.

 

At HS in Singapore he loved the student centered learning approach and the project based learning approach. He also loved that teachers put strong focus on ensuring that kids knew 'the answer' but also 'knew why the correct answer was correct. A big focus on 'why'. He came back to Thailand to do a 5 year Education degree.

 

When he did work experience in Bkk he organized the class in changing small teams and taught using student centered / project based learning and with a lot of time explaining why the correct answer was correct etc. 

 

But, several times the Thai teachers in nearby class rooms realized he was doing things very differently and they complained loudly to the headmistress and demanded it stop.

 

The second time they protested the headmistress asked my son if other teachers could sit in the back of his room to observe. He agreed. _{(In fact she spoke very advanced English and had taught for several years in a progressive high school in Canada.)}

 

The headmistress also told the Thai teachers that the method my son was using is coming to Thailand and they should take advantage of an opportunity to see what the new teaching really looks like.

 

This outraged the older style teachers, and at the protest meeting turned into claims that the teachers were being insulted and disrespected and they demanded that my son be dismissed from the school that day. And he was. They also demanded and got a written promise from the headmistress that she would never mention 'new methods' ever again.  

 

Change is not on the agenda. 

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by scorecard

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

22 hours ago, problemfarang said:

in private schools situation is little bit better. Although lot of politics going on in the school too. Again both for thai and farang teachers. Thai teachers fight for position with each other and farangs fight with each other just to stay 1 more year there. I know many farang teachers talking bad behind to thai teachers about the other farang teacher

I was once at a BKK private school. Indeed, way more politics. Way more of a competitive nature, given the higher salaries and more limited positions. Other farangs felt threatened by my higher qualifications, despite my having no interest in their negligible steps on the ladder, becoming thorns in my side. I left because of that and all their meaningless little procedures, insufferable hi-so attitudes, and BKK living conditions. Now doing great back out here at an Issan govt school.

 

I've been at other govt schools with a similar competitive nature, despite it serving no purpose whatsoever. None of us were ever getting promoted. None of our jobs were ever really threatened. Given the remote locations and low salaries, most were asked to stay on each year given there are few other takers waiting in the wings. Yet some farangs still feel the need to jockey for meaningless positions and bragging rights, I suppose in dire need of an ego boost, given how the difficulties and their failure to adapt to the LOS have humbled them.

 

Back on topic. Regarding discipline, as I've observed of child rearing in the BKK malls, and out in the Issan moo ban, it's very much an "up to you" mentality, as with many things Thai. Go ahead and misbehave, embarass yourself. Don't study, don't eat healthy, don't practice good hygiene. Though you'll eventually suffer the consequences, then it's som nam na (you got what's coming to you). Thus, it's expected that only about 20% of every class will do well, or bother to do much, always only 5 or 6 in my classes of 30-35. Their years in school are simply seen as a weeding out process, with little done to bring up the other 80%. They've been allowed to decide their own fate.

[Pedrogaz]

I went to Catholic school in the time when primary and secondary kids were subject to corporal punishment by, priests, nuns, teachers and selected administration staff. This was cane or tawse, depending on the institution. 

I stammered badly as a kid and when I was 10 years old and had to stand up to read in front of the 48 strong class, I read very badly indeed. One teacher threatened to beat me if I stammered in his class. Surprisingly enough, I stopped stammering in his class from then on. 

Just sayin'

[ikke1959]

I dare to say that most Thai teachers are cruel for the kids. If they don't understand and can not doit they are lazy, or and got hit. It happens already in kindergarten with as a result that kids are afraid to ask the teacher to telll again or explain one more time. The teachers in Thailand can not be questioned.. the idea is that a teacher is clear in explanations and asking means loosing face for the teacher. 

It happened when I was teaching I cam into a class for my lesson and there were fractions on the blackboard of the previous lesson. My job was teaching converstation English,but as a warming up I wrote a similar fration on the blackboard and asked who knew the answer for a few candies if it was correct.  Except 2 students nobody knew the answer and a few students said to me that they did not understand fractions. So instead of doing my lesson I explained the whole frations and the students were happy and 90% understood. The result was that every lesson they wanted to play a game with fractions math....... and I knew that they would never have asked their math teacher...  

[Foghorn]

I found that the government school teachers were less angry than private school teachers , in my experience the private school teachers have a too high opinion of them selves , I took my children out the private schools and gave them go to the government school , it was the best thing I ever did for their education 

[kingstonkid]

Most teachers that I have seen at semi private and government schools do not care.  The old ones are jaded and past their used buy date.  They are putting in time and that is it.

 

There are always a couple of teachers that are willing to help after class but the students must approach them

 

If your niece is lazy7 then they simply do not care.  If she does not ask for help and do what they suggest then they do not care.

 

remember kids never fail so at some point the school does not even care as long as they are getting the money.

 

Yes if a new teacher comes in and gets results then the older ones feel threatened and will react in a negative way.

 

Like a lot of things in LOS it is felt that things work well so why get excited or make changes.

[Foghorn]

The best way to teach kids basic maths is with using money , if your niece learns let her keep the money , watch how quick she learns , worth the cost

[Foghorn]

Too many people think it is the teachers job to teach the children but it is the teachers job to help teach , the parents should play a big role in the teaching of their kids

[vandeventer]

24 minutes ago, Foghorn said:

I found that the government school teachers were less angry than private school teachers , in my experience the private school teachers have a too high opinion of them selves , I took my children out the private schools and gave them go to the government school , it was the best thing I ever did for their education 

I went to see a friend that use to teach in a private school where I live. We had lunch first where he sat next to two female teachers I asked my friend what subject the ladies where teaching. He said English but they can't speak it. I then went to his class, about 35 kids. The ones who wanted to learn sat in the front of the class, in the middle were the kids who didn't really want to be there as they were the trouble makers, and the ones in the back of the class were all sleeping. So I asked my friend how many students failed his class at the end of the year. He said none they all pass as the schools needs them back next year.

Edited November 2, 2021 by vandeventer

[Bluespunk]

On 11/1/2021 at 7:19 AM, wolf81 said:

But this niece (7 year old) is apparently having trouble doing basic calculations, e.g. 8 + 4 = 12. Now my girlfriend tends to become angry (raise her voice a bit, sounding a bit aggressive) as this girl is having trouble doing these calculations.

Teachers are teachers, some good, some bad, some indifferent-I don't think you can classify all Thai teachers a a homogenous group.

 

Is your niece being allowed access to counting objects [cubes, coins, counters, pieces of pasta, whatever] or a 1-20 numberline to help with these types of problem? If not then she should be.

 

Start with the counting objects when attempting the problem, initially sort into sets and count all and move onto counting on/back [if subtracting] from the larger number once confidence starts to grow.  As she gains in confidence over time move onto a numberline [counting on/back from the larger number]

Edited November 2, 2021 by Bluespunk

[recom273]

5 hours ago, Foghorn said:

I found that the government school teachers were less angry than private school teachers , in my experience the private school teachers have a too high opinion of them selves , I took my children out the private schools and gave them go to the government school , it was the best thing I ever did for their education 

Good move - you pay quite a lot to attend a private school but as far as I could ascertain, teachers don't need to have a teaching degree to teach in a private school, most do have degrees but its not necessary, many do have teaching related degrees, and are in the process of passing their government teachers exams because the money and benefits are much better.

Conditions for Thai staff in a lot of private school are pretty bad - generally poor pay, long hours, weekend work, forever at the beck and call of the owners - There is more pressure to push kids through the system as the parents pay for the privilege.

I guess not all private schools are the same, I have worked across the board in both government and private Pratom and Mathayom schools. Government schools are usually a much better idea.

[Bundooman]

If this young lady cannot control her emotions while teaching a 7 year old child, then she should not be given the authority or task to teach her. 

a little bit of imagination can do wonders.

The child is having problems as basic as adding 8+4 =12, right?

12 pencils/apples/tomatoes/12 anything. 

sort into two piles - 8 & 4

Using fingers, or even just adding one object to the 8 already in one group and asking the child how many there are now, is a simple method that the child can relate to, providing she has knowledge of basic numbers.

My wife used a similar method of teaching our 14 year old daughter many years ago. It worked.

Our daughter will never be in the 'math' class, but she knows how to simple stuff like that and can cope now with the more complex math stuff.

Thai people in general cannot do mental arithmetic.

I have seen this countless times over the last 16 years.

Patience is very rewarding - get rid of the temper-prone niece!

do it yourself if necessary.

 

[rainman333]

 

does your girlfriend have a degree (or professional training) in teaching?  If not, I wouldn't worry about it.

It's like someone asking are all Thais bad at cooking because that person's thai girlfriend who never cooked before made them a terrible meal

 

[BTB1977]

Don't have children with this woman.  Big red flag on how she will treat her kids. And maybe you some day if she sees you as stupid. 

[clivebaxter]

On 11/2/2021 at 12:50 PM, Foghorn said:

The best way to teach kids basic maths is with using money , if your niece learns let her keep the money , watch how quick she learns , worth the cost

Does not seem to work, went into a well known opticians yesterday and bought something for 290 baht and gave her 1k baht note. She needed a calculator to work the change out! Probably has a degree, but hopefully not in maths

[Damrongsak]

My younger son had some difficulty early on, first couple years in grade school.  Couldn't count coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters ...), got frustrated, all that.  But with good teaching and schools, he got with the program.  25 years later he's a crackerjack machinist, CAD/CAM programmer and general know-it-all, LOL. 

 

I don't think teachers got angry with him, but he would get angry and frustrated.  Sometimes to the point (early on - before schooling) he would stop breathing.  Kids are all different.

[it is what it is]

 

sorry, but you can't genralise about 'thai teachers'. there are good and bad teachers in thailand, as there are good and bad teachers in every country. i often talk to my friend's children about how they are doing at school and it is clear there are some very good thai teachers.

[wolf81]

One remark about people that comment about generalising teacher behaviour. Of course not all teachers have the same teaching style, however I do believe there could be a norm in a country, hence why I stated: "Do Thai teachers tend to become a little bit angry?".

 

Anyways thanks for all responses, gives me some food for thought. I discussed my girlfriends teaching style with my girlfriend and she explained me she does the same as her sister did to her. Her sister would even hit my girlfriend if she tried to explain a subject and my girlfriend wouldn't understand it. I asked my girlfriend if she believes that kind of behaviour helped her understand subjects better and I think she got the point. 

 

I aided the niece of our daughter a little bit with her maths homework (I am quite patient and I enjoy teaching people stuff) and I did see as we did more math exercises together, she began to improve. Was nice to see.

 

Perhaps in the future at some point I should consider doing some part-time teaching in Thailand (if possible). But first need to safe retirement money with freelance computer programming, which earns a whole lot more ...

[DavisH]

On 11/2/2021 at 12:50 PM, Foghorn said:

The best way to teach kids basic maths is with using money , if your niece learns let her keep the money , watch how quick she learns , worth the cost

Tried it with my son. But it was a disaster when we got to fractions ????

[DavisH]

I think Thai teachers, in general, don't like to answer questions. This is why you see in many government schools, the students will rarely ask questions of the teacher, especially in the class in front of everybody. Do you understand? "yes teacher". But actually many of them don't, and they don't like to ask. Good teachers should never ask that question. 

I asked one of my m3 students who went to a new Thai school wheter she can ask questions of the teacher - she said yes, but they don't like it. I guess its to reduce the chance of loss of face for the teacher when they cannot understand. S0 I think it's not so much that they would get angry, but really its not a cultural thing. They may approach teachers outside of the class or online if they want more help. Or end up in cram schools as they don't learn a lot is regular school. 

[Rhys]

I wonder how I made it through all this..... glad it is over now.

[MrJ2U]

"Thai teaching style: do Thai teachers tend to get angry if students have difficulty understanding a topic?"

 

I Think any teacher gets frustrated when pupils don't grasp what there being taught.

 

I think even  more so in Thailand's public schools.  Many kids playing on there phones these days.

 

It would drive anyone crazy.