Where Do You Work?

[Ijustwannateach]

Ok, I've made this list as detailed as I can. This poll, for teachers only, is to determine how teachers are spread across the different kinds of schools/institutions here in Thailand. It is specifically not a thread about salary comparison, but rather to see what kinds of places are hiring foreign teachers.

"Steven"

P.S. Feel free to post your answer with more detail. As for me, I'm in a Thai public high school.

[Harry Palmer]

Ok, I've made this list as detailed as I can. This poll, for teachers only, is to determine how teachers are spread across the different kinds of schools/institutions here in Thailand. It is specifically not a thread about salary comparison, but rather to see what kinds of places are hiring foreign teachers.

"Steven"

P.S. Feel free to post your answer with more detail. As for me, I'm in a Thai public high school.

i work at a bkk police training centre, thanks mostly to the fact that Madame Palmer's dad is a major in the rotal bangkok police force. i teach the tourist police brigade english so that they can help the sex-pats when they get into a pickle...

they don't hire just any foreign ELT's here, just a few high quality candidates that they cherry-pick from international schools for a bit of p/t work...

[mbkudu]

When I taught in Bangkok it was all privates. They were mainly Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean families with lots of kids and a few Thai university students

here and there. This is where the money is. I started at language schools and quickly figured out that it is a waste of time because the pay is lousy. With privates

there is freedom, flexibility and higher wages; only negative, no work permit. The best thing about teaching kids privately is that the tuition is ongoing. I went to some families' homes for years on end teaching their children. One Taiwanese family I worked for had me come to their condo for eight straight years teaching their two sons. It finally came to a point where it wasn't necessary to tutor the older boy anymore. I kept on with the younger one for a full eight years and then

stopped teaching altogether. It was almost like I had become a member of their family. I miss teaching a lot and will go back to it again some time in the future.

[mbkudu]

they don't hire just any foreign ELT's here, just a few high quality candidates that they cherry-pick from international schools for a bit of p/t work...

Well, you're just the frigg'n dog's hairy <deleted>'s, ain't ya?

P.S. I think you might be violat'n your work permit status there Harry, work'n part

time and all with a cush at an international school and all.

[Ijustwannateach]

Yes, Harry, I'm impressed, too- would never have guessed it from your posts!

LOL

C'mon, guys- only 6 poll answers so far?!? There've gotta be more teachers than that around here!

"Steven"

[Totster]

I do my "teaching" in the bedroom.... "The classroom of Luuuurve"...

( sorry if i've gone off topic )

[kenkannif]

Private Language School!

[capital58]

First post ever on the forum, this topic caught my eye immediately. A good idea which should spark some other threads.

As to the question, I work at a private Thai university. (So this gets the zero replaced in that category).

[bald_at_35]

British Council, not bad

[falong]

I do my "teaching" in the bedroom.... "The classroom of Luuuurve"...

( sorry if i've gone off topic )

Just to keep it off topic.

Why is your avatar wearing a brown jockstrap?

[Totster]

I do my "teaching" in the bedroom.... "The classroom of Luuuurve"... 

( sorry if i've gone off topic )

Just to keep it off topic.

Why is your avatar wearing a brown jockstrap?

.. PRE OP.... !!

[Ijustwannateach]

This was one of my very first topics, back in the early days of the "Teacher's Room" on this forum. I still think it's a good topic, but as may be seen from the previous posts, at the time teachers were not taken very seriously here. Times have changed at least a little bit, I hope, and I'd like to revisit this survey in the hopes that more of our recent posters will vote and give a better picture of the job distribution.

"Steven"

[PeaceBlondie]

I taught two years govt. matayom schools, teaching English and M-1 math. And a few months at a commercial college. Currently recovering from motorcycle injury and its complications, teaching fellow beach bums to say, "Jellyfish."

[Ladphrao]

Teach at a couple of unis, one a program from a western uni and the other an international program at a private thai uni (I ain't an english teacher these days). But have taught at gov. unis, language schools, private hs and even done some "corp" teaching. Also done a fair bit of "Management" jobs in the country as well, one of them in the education field.

[Goldenbead]

I teach 3 and 4 year olds at an international kindergarten. We are on the brink of expanding into a full primary, middle and soon to be secondary international school.

I love my job.

[Neeranam]

I've taught almost everywhere - kindergaten, pratom, matyom(catholic, Buddhist, muslim), university(govt. and private), college, taught the police pre. the Asian Games in 98. Private language schools. Corporate work.

I got sick of it a couple of years ago though.

I think ten years teaching in thailand is enough for anyone, unless you really love it, which I didn't.

[Ijustwannateach]

I've bumped this thread before, but I think it deserves another moment at the top. Hope our recent readers will put their vote in.

[Canada]

Public high school out in the middle of nowhere.

[Xangsamhua]

Private EP/bilingual school. This category doesn't seem to be on the list, though there are quite a few out there - about 120 in late 2005.

Is Public High School/EP/MEP supposed to cover it?

[Ijustwannateach]

EP/MEP is a designation normally given to public schools, so yes, I just let private school be an umbrella for any and all varieties.

[stevemiddie]

Private school in Pattaya. Teach M5 and M6 .

[Xangsamhua]

EP/MEP is a designation normally given to public schools, so yes, I just let private school be an umbrella for any and all varieties.

Thanks IJWT, but it seems odd that there is a specific category for government EP/MEP schools, but none for private EP/bilingual schoools when there are more private bilingual schools than there are government ones (about 2:1 ratio when I last checked with MoE in late 2005). The term EP as you've explained before on another thread was coined by the MoE (I've forgotten the reason why) and the already existing private bilingual schools then had to adopt it in their interface with the MoE. The EP/bilingual schools I have in mind are those that teach core subjects in English or in both Thai and English.

What's the use of an umbrella category that covers both schools where English is taught only as a foreign language and others where perhaps 50% of the curriculum is taught in English? They seem to me to be rather different kinds of school. Thousands of teachers are teaching in private bilingual (or EP) schools. Why not include them in your survey as a category?

[otherstuff1957]

One question that this poll doesn't address, is WHO do you work for. Many teachers in BKK work at Government Schools, but they work for Language Schools/Agencies.

[toptuan]

Work for public university, but occasionally "loaned out" to the provincial governor to instruct him and his staff in a program we call "English for Business Travel and Negotiation" when they do trade missions to nearby countries.

[Ijustwannateach]

Ok, ok, I give in to popular demand. I'm editing the poll.