Farang English Teachers In Thailand

[garro]

Good questions and concerns from the OP. I too have often wondered why people on forums tend to look down on foreign teachers and use certain stereotypes in discussing teachers. I have to agree that media has played a role in casting this negative light, and if you’ve followed this forum long enough, you’ll see there are many people who love jumping on bandwagons and the moment an “isolated” incident occurs, they don’t respond, but react, hence with extreme negativity against everyone.

But the “real world” is different. As folks like Garro have already pointed out, the majority of teachers here will take those extra steps to ensure a quality education to their students. As in any occupation, anywhere in the world, there will always be the miscreants and troublemakers. Doctors, politicians, businessmen, lawyers, retail clerks, etc have never been exempt, and we do hear of isolated cases, but we don’t tend to generalize all people in an occupation as being this way.

People write about seeing or talking with teachers at a pub or strip-bar. Big deal! A handful of teachers, out of how many, use their personal time to do what they wish. For some very strange reason when a small group of teachers go out on a Friday night, have a few drinks, all teachers are then branded as alcoholics, deviants, or even worse. As long as the night-life doesn’t spill over into the classroom, then there really isn’t a problem at all. I will admit, I have seen over the course of six years, four instances where “teachers” have come into work drunk, hung-over, or incapable of performing their duties. They don’t last long, and are replaced either by the school or company where they are employed. These types are the exceptions, not the rule. Overall, I have seen nothing but professionalism. To be fair, I’ve also observed expat non-teachers drunk and acting asinine while in public. Naturally the media doesn’t care much about that.

I’ve been with the same school for 5-years and have never had a problem, not a single problem. Parents, students, and Thai staff go out of their way to make sure I am “well kept.” The kids do learn as evidenced by their scores on the Thai National Exams. They have continually scored significantly higher than their counterparts and other schools as a whole. With that, parents and school personal/administration are extremely happy. Like another poster here, parents do call me at home to say “hello”, remember my birthday with gifts, and invitations to dinner either to their home or a restaurant are normal. On the rare occasion that I’ve been ill, parents, students, and Thai staff do call or drop in to make sure I am well or in need of anything. Moreover, even the neighbors are not strangers. They do bring small gifts when they return home after travel (that is reciprocated as well), will bring a dish or two of food time to time (again reciprocated when I bake cookies, cake, lasagna, etc), and are genuinely happy to speak with me.

As mjochim wrote in another post, taking care of who you are in public is of upmost importance as well. I don’t drink alcohol, so no worry there. I will dress in shorts on days off (to the dismay of others on this forum...they even have a thread on that subject), but they are always clean and presentable. To be honest, I have never seen a drunk or inebriated “teacher” in my neck of the woods, and it seems they also know very well about perception.

There are some nay-sayers on this forum and their reality is much more different than the majority. Hang out in sleeze places, and you’ll have sleeze from all walks of life, not just a handful of “teachers.” Teaching is an admirable profession, and yes, most of the Thai’s do respect you, providing you respect yourself first. Better yet, most of the world will respect you if you do the same.

Nice to read another post by somebody who obviously enjoys teaching.

[BugJackBaron]

Here's my 2 baht's worth - I taught full-time in Thailand for more than 12 years and still do some private work.

<snip>

DP25: Try working in Korea / Japan / Taiwan without qualifications... not easy unless you are willing to break visa regulations, and I suspect that very few teachers do so.

As someone who just finished 11 years of teaching in Korea, this gave me a laugh.

Sure to get legal work you need a degree. But English is like a religion there and the demand

is so great. There were a lot of illegal teachers in 97 and I bet there still are - working part time

and giving private lessons.

I heard that it was very difficult for someone over 30 years old to find legal work in Korea.

Is that true?

No.

If you have a pulse and are from an "English country" you are in.

If you look like Ken or Barby you will be in more quickly tis true.

Edited June 15, 2008 by BugJackBaron

[gzu88bv]

I am not a teacher, but I know what I am talking about. There are teachers and teachers as probably in any other profession. No pun intended against Falang teachers, but some just do not qualify at all and if he in particular is not respected then it is very likely his own fault.

[garro]

I am not a teacher, but I know what I am talking about. There are teachers and teachers as probably in any other profession. No pun intended against Falang teachers, but some just do not qualify at all and if he in particular is not respected then it is very likely his own fault.

You may know what your talking about, but I'm afraid that I haven't got a clue about what you have just written.

[apex2000]

I'm a "volunteer" teacher at a local government school way up here out in the sticks. I'm not a qualified English teacher and make no bones about it. I do have qualifications but in my own field of Telecommunications.

My school invited me to attend some 5 years ago and I've been there ever since. I spend as much time helping the Thai teachers with the language as I do with the students.

Why do I do it? Well it's not for money nor visa but it has helped me to integrate with the local community although I realise I will always remain a "farang" in the local communities eyes.

But it has broken down a lot of barriers, the students are not scared to communicate with me and the local population also are no longer terrified to speak with a "farang".

It has also given some of the poorer students an opportunity to hear English from a native speaker as my school can not afford to employ a professional and the students can not afford to attend a fee paying International school.

My tuppenceworth for what it's worth.

I too have been doing something similar to SweatySock (charming nick, by the way).

At present I work as a volunteer for the Non-Formal Education Department. No teaching is involved, just a little translation from Thai to English and v/v, helping out on teacher training sessions etc.

In return for the little that I do, I get my yearly visa and thus a work permit.

I need a letter signed by the governor of Ubon Ratchathani every year to accompany my visa application. So, I do translation work for the governor's office too which helps oil the wheels every year when I need my letter signed.

Help and you will be helped. Most Thais in official positions are not out to get us.

I even asked an immigration police officer once, 'If I decided to stop work at the Non-Formal Education Department and therefore could not get a visa/work permit, what could I do in order to stay here?' He replied, 'There are several foreigners that we know of in this area who stay here with no visa at all. We turn a blind eye if they are not trouble makers and maybe do a little to help out in the community through volunteer work or something.'

Can you believe that?

I'm retiring in 5+ years. No intention of going 'home' to Blighty. So, I think I'll test him out!!

Good luck all.