More Thai Schools To Adopt The Lamplaimat System

[webfact]

More schools to adopt the Lamplaimat system

By Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

Khon Kaen Municipality to follow unconventional style

Having experimented with an unconventional teaching method for eight years the Lamplaimat Pattana (LPMP) School now feels it is ready to share some of the lessons it has learnt about its rare but fruitful style with other schools around the country.

Over the past two years, only four schools under the Office of Basic Education Commission have seriously adopted the LPMP model.

However, this constructive concept now looks set to spread to many more schools. The Khon Kaen Municipality, for example, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the LPMP to introduce this unusual teaching style to five schools under its supervision.

What have made the LPMP model outstanding?

At LPMP, students do not sit each class at the ring of a bell. They do not bring textbooks and there are no exams. Teachers speak to students with soft voices to reflect compassion and love.

Every day, students and teachers hug to make them feel good and relaxed.

Teachers encourage students to develop their potential, to value themselves, to boost their spiritual quotients, and learn to how to survive without taking advantage of others.

The students learn by doing assignments like reports, compositions, sculptures, handicraft, charts and embroidery.

Some assignments can take students as long as one year to do complete research.

At the school, students wear colourful uniforms that reflect local arts and culture. Their parents are involved in the learning process too because the LPMP model has recognised that the school alone cannot shape children's behaviour.

The LPMP model has worked magic for its students. All are happy and selfconfident. Their academic knowledge is also good.

In national tests last year, their average scores were higher than the average in Thai, maths and science.

The school, meanwhile, got a "very good" grade for 13 indicators in an assessment conducted by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment last year. It got a "good" grade in the other indicator.

Nakhon Khon Kaen Municipality deputy mayor Thawatchai Ruemromsiri said his local body was interested in the LPMP model because they shared the same ideology.

"We believe that education is not a competition where children who fail are to be eliminated. Education must help lay down a good foundation for a human. They must learn how to live without taking advantage of others," Thawatchai said. So far, he said six other schools under the supervision of local bodies had experimented with other teaching models including the Individualised Education Programme (EP) in a bid to explore methods best suited for local children.

Chaimongkhon Akaponpaisal, a school executive who joined training on the LPMP, said the traditional framework had hurt many children because it did not recognise the different abilities and talents of people.

"We had long trained to admire academicallycompetent students and to ignore those who were not as good," he said on Facebook. "We have to stop."

LPMP principal Wichien Chaiyabang said the training for school directors and executives from Khon Kaen Municipality was intended to make participants reflect on what they had done in the past and where they could improve.

"Then, I encouraged them to pursue their goals," he said.

Wichien is happy to see the LPMP model spread on to an increasing number of schools. "I can make a huge impact alone. So, I want to lead by example and let others adopt this model. It works."

He said some schools in Chiang Rai, Lampang and Phuket also planned to introduce the LPMP model in the upcoming academic year.

Hemaraj Land and Development Co Ltd had also sponsored 30 LPMPthemed classes at schools in Chon Buri and Rayong.

"This is in line with our philosophy. The more the teaching concept is expanded, the more benefits the country will reap through the higher number of quality resources," Wichien said.

He hoped all 30,000 rural schools in the country would learn and use the LPMP model.

-- The Nation 2011-03-14

[KhunBJ]

Sounds like a god idea...there is too little "Carrot" and too much Punishment in the normal Thai school today...and far too much rote learning .

[Phatcharanan]

"Every day, students and teachers hug to make them feel good and relaxed".

Good idea and should definitley be introduced to Universities.

[Markaew]

"We believe that education is not a competition where children who fail are to be eliminated."

No students fail in the system now and I really don't see any competition. What's to change? BUT... I agree the universities need an upgrade such as this. Expand their horizons, etc..etc.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Markaew

[Somtamnication]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

[anterian]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

You beat me to it. You forgot to mention that the Montessori method works well only with able students.

[tmvolunteers]

Most teachers are proud to wear the title and the uniform but they care little for their students.

"If you get a Bachelor degree and you cannot find a job in the tourist industry or at an office you can always become a teacher". - A sentence I have heard from many Thai's.

Parents only come to school if their kids have done something wrong or if there is a dance show. It could be nice also to have the parents engaged in the education system and be part of the school, I'm sure that many parents, well, some at least, would be interested in having something to say about their children's education.

Any change to the education system has to come from within Thailand, in the past they have tried to adopt the curriculum from New Zealand, and as it was created for New Zealand standards it never had a breakthrough in Thailand. Teachers didn't have a clue to what to do with the curriculum but the politicians who implemented it were seriously proud.

Any change to a school system that has failed its teachers and students for many years is welcomed.

[khaowong1]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[exbelg]

maybe that is a nice method if you are creating people to work the land and never ask questions...

if those kids come into the real harsh world of today's life, with corruption, crime, lose morals, than how is that generation to survive ???

[Velocette]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

You beat me to it. You forgot to mention that the Montessori method works well only with able students.

Really, only with 'able' students ? . . . .how long have you been teaching using the Montessori method, to come that conclusion ?

[anterian]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

You beat me to it. You forgot to mention that the Montessori method works well only with able students.

Really, only with 'able' students ? . . . .how long have you been teaching using the Montessori method, to come that conclusion ?

Firstly the method is not copywright, any institute can claim to use these methods, so your understanding may be different from mine.

Now to answer your sarcasm , about 20 years with secondary students. Any further sarcasms?

[Velocette]

Sounds like a screwed up version of Montessori, but with Thai "logic". WHAM!!!

You beat me to it. You forgot to mention that the Montessori method works well only with able students.

Really, only with 'able' students ? . . . .how long have you been teaching using the Montessori method, to come that conclusion ?

Firstly the method is not copywright, any institute can claim to use these methods, so your understanding may be different from mine.

Now to answer your sarcasm , about 20 years with secondary students. Any further sarcasms?

I said nothing about 'copywright'. obviously anyone can claim anything, the Montessori Method has been plagiarised by nearly all teaching establishments, and so called educational publishers.

I know of inner city teachers working with marginalised children who have had excellent results using the Monty,and of course Marie Montessori herself had great results working with what would have been street children.

Sorry to hear that your Montessori Methods with the less gifted were not effective.

[anterian]

I said nothing about 'copywright'. obviously anyone can claim anything, the Montessori Method has been plagiarised by nearly all teaching establishments, and so called educational publishers.

I know of inner city teachers working with marginalised children who have had excellent results using the Monty,and of course Marie Montessori herself had great results working with what would have been street children.

Sorry to hear that your Montessori Methods with the less gifted were not effective.

Have you ever watched a cat teaching its kittens how to hunt, that also is a Montessori method? The important thing is the mother's involvement. The Montessori method needs parental involvement and support also, my less able students (remember I am talking secondary level), never has this support from infant school upwards. Don't confuse ability with intelligence, it is more related to motivation.

You used the term "less gifted" not me

As I discovered in the Philippines, Street kids can be highly motivated because opportunities are very rare.

Your "marginalised children who have had excellent results" I suspect are the children of third world immigrants who still value a free education.

[arrowsdawdle]

Every day, students and teachers hug to make them feel good and relaxed.

By all means, those teachers need to feel good and relaxed.

Well, isn't that special. This will put an end to accusations of copping feels. It is part of the curriculum so it must be good. You go back to school Somchai and let the teacher hug you all he wants.

No need to introduce it to the Universities. It's already there.

[Velocette]

I said nothing about 'copywright'. obviously anyone can claim anything, the Montessori Method has been plagiarised by nearly all teaching establishments, and so called educational publishers.

I know of inner city teachers working with marginalised children who have had excellent results using the Monty,and of course Marie Montessori herself had great results working with what would have been street children.

Sorry to hear that your Montessori Methods with the less gifted were not effective.

Have you ever watched a cat teaching its kittens how to hunt, that also is a Montessori method? The important thing is the mother's involvement. The Montessori method needs parental involvement and support also, my less able students (remember I am talking secondary level), never has this support from infant school upwards. Don't confuse ability with intelligence, it is more related to motivation.

You used the term "less gifted" not me

As I discovered in the Philippines, Street kids can be highly motivated because opportunities are very rare.

Your "marginalised children who have had excellent results" I suspect are the children of third world immigrants who still value a free education.

Sorry I don't understand the cat and kitten reference in relation to a teaching method.

Sorry also that you feel the term 'less gifted' to be un pc, I'm quite comfortable with using it, less motivated, less willing, less able, are all lacking the 'gift' to be motivated or to be able, to be truely motivated is a gift.

As for parental involvement, the children Marie Montessori taught were both homeless and parentless.

Sure third world immigrants are more appreciative of free education than the inner city indigenous Brits.

However the educational system that can effectivley address the needs of children whose parents are chaotic drug users, has yet to be addressed.

[aidenai]

Firstly the method is not copywright, any institute can claim to use these methods, so your understanding may be different from mine.

Back to business then.

[otherstuff1957]

I think that this teaching methodology has been tried before:

The Spectator : 5 March 2005

Rod Liddle

When I was ten years old, in the autumn of 1970, the pupils and teachers of my state junior school in Middlesbrough were moved, en masse, to a brand new complex a few hundred yards away. This was, we were told, not just a new school, but a very different kind of school. ‘Look,’ said the headmaster proudly, as he showed us around the pristine building. ‘This is a school with no classrooms.’

‘Where do we have our lessons, then?’ we asked.

‘Lessons? Lessons? You won’t be having any of those. Or timetables. Or form teachers. There will be an area for maths and an area for English and so on. And you can make your own way there depending upon what you want to do.’

We pondered this, scarcely believing our luck. Where’s the catch, we asked each other? One of the brighter and lippier kids then said to him: ‘What if we never want to study maths, or English? What if we want to play football all day?’

And the headmaster gave a little smile and said: ‘If that’s what you want to do then you can do it. But, ha ha, I don’t think you will want to do that.’

He was wrong, of course. For the next eight months I played football pretty much non-stop all day, every day. So did all of my friends. We got to be really quite good. Once we spent an entire day attempting to replicate Willie Carr’s famous flicked-up free kick for Coventry City, which we’d seen on Match of the Day (and which was later deemed illegal by the FA: so that was an even bigger waste of time than usual). I don’t know what the kids did who didn’t like football: I didn’t see them any more. Clearly the headmaster, who was a nice chap, reckoned that some responsible impulse, a sort of genetically hot-wired deferred gratification, would kick in after a bit and we’d all see the immense benefit of trudging over to the maths area every so often. But it never did. Eight months without a single second of maths. Or English. Or anything other than football and, on very rainy days, talking about football, indoors.

[Kilgore Trout]

Geez, where I am from hugging a student will get you locked up.

BTW most of these ideas are more than 60 years old.

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see how this approach could ever work in Thailand; if students go through elementary school in a student centered system, then they are going to get a rude awakening when they get into high school/university (unless they go overseas), in contrast to the west where higher education is based on independent thought and research, where training them to think for themselves will have a benefit when they get to that level.

Just my 2 cents.

[thunder30101]

I think its a great program ! now I dont have to worry about admin expecting me to teach anything, we can just bypass the illusion of education and be happy, happy, happy. I think I am going to start a white envelope business, as I can see a whole new stream of sales for this program.