Germany An Example For Thai Educators

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EDUCATION

Germany an example for local educators

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Focus on low-performing students resulted in turnaround; constant efforts to rectify weak points in system

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationists have been receiving some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

German experts told them how their country focuses more on its low-performing students, the highest proportion of students in the country.

Teachers are trained to approach every student differently, according to the experts.

Based on a poor international assessment more than a decade ago, German educationists worked to discover the weaknesses in their system and figure out how to deal with such problems, said Norbert Spitz, director of the Goethe-Institut Thailand.

He was among speakers at a national conference on "What is a Good School?" hosted by Nanmeebooks in Bangkok to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Norbert said the first survey of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that German students performed below the average of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries in 2000.

"It was called PISA Shock," Spitz said. "The most important conclusion from the first PISA study was [we must look] for policies that helped us include those in the low performing category."

"We have to look at the low-performing students as so many from lower social classes or lower family backgrounds don't reach a higher educational level, only a small percentage. The family support may be weaker," he said.

He added that teachers increased the time they spent on low-performing students so they could supervise their homework. They stayed longer every day at school. Also, Germany included the idea in the training of teachers so that they must focus on every pupil in the classroom.

In Germany, academics, teachers and headmasters, and the private sector have made recommendations to policy-makers who must ensure that all recommendations could be implemented, Spitz said.

"This is to improve the educational system [and] PISA gave us opportunities to think about our weak points in the system," he added, "It is not at all about preparing students for the next [PISA] test, because that is a wrong approach. It is about the needs of the society for very well-educated, young generations who are able to apply knowledge that they have received in educational institutions and solve problems."

To create a good school, Prof Peter Fauser, a former speaker for the Jury of the German School Award from the University of Jena emphasised "comprehension intensive learning" and "the second order comprehension" - a specific professional competency that made teachers realise their own way of understanding and the individual understanding of their pupils.

The most essential aspect of the procedure of the second order comprehension was an ongoing conversation and cooperation between teachers before, during and after school.

In joint classroom instruction, one teacher could concentrate the overall lessons while another teacher could focus specifically on supporting individual kids. The teachers could serve and coach one another, Fauser said.

"Schools should be like an enterprise that tries to be successful in culture and education," he said, adding that they should also collaborate and learn from one another.

Privy Councillor Kasem Watanachai said the latest policy for Thailand's education was to produce good people for Thai society. He said for the policy to deliver tangible results, the country must first eradicate corruption by executive-level educators and teachers, enforce harsh punishment such as dismissal of teachers indulging in wrongdoings, prevent the politicisation of educational issues, and develop curriculum and educational-performance-evaluation standards.

"Then, we will need to embrace decentralisation in educational services. We have to assign a more active role for Educational Service Area offices," he pointed out.

Rolf Schulze, the German ambassador to Thailand, said that apart from family members, teachers had much influence over children. He said children learn not just about academic knowledge but also responsibility and life management from teachers.

"What children have learned from their teachers are tools for their future," Schulze said.

As a result, he placed great emphasis on teacher quality. He said competent and good teachers knew that there were many solutions to the same problem and many answers to the same question. He said these teachers would also be aware of children's different abilities and experiences.

"Good and competent teachers will respect children and encourage them to develop their potential," Schulze said.

Utai Noothong, the director of Anubarn Si That School in Udon Thani, found this seminar extremely useful. "I am going to apply the many interesting ideas to my school's context. I will convene a meeting of teachers to discuss the planning for improvement," he said.

He expressed the confidence that if all school directors did the same thing, Thai society should be able to get quality schools for Thai children.

"It's not at all a too far-fetched goal," Utai said.

-- The Nation 2012-12-03

[sirchai]

"Privy Councillor Kasem Watanachai said the latest policy for Thailand's education was to produce good people for Thai society. He said for the policy to deliver tangible results, the country must first eradicate corruption by executive-level educators and teachers, enforce harsh punishment such as dismissal of teachers indulging in wrongdoings, prevent the politicisation of educational issues, and develop curriculum and educational-performance-evaluation standards."

"Good people for Thai society,"

Kids in German schools do fail and have to repeat the level, they're in. There's no boy scout movement, that eats up too much time, by learning how to march properly.

The German curriculum is pretty clear to understand, while the Thai curriculum isn't even on the right way.

Nobody at German schools's loosing face, kids learn more in less hours.

Almost all primary school teachers in Thailand do hit the kids, mostly with bamboo sticks. Classroom sizes too big, Thai English teachers are pretty poor in the language they're teaching. Teaching English, by speaking only, or 80% in Thai doesn't make sense.

Teaching positions have to be bought, doesn't really matter if it's a good teacher, or not.

Parents have to pay good money to bring kids into a "better" school, even if there are 55 kids in one class. Just the reputation of the school counts.

Comparing a German with a Thai school doesn't make sense. Guess Thailand needs to wake up now.

They'll have to start at the top of the MoE, then the principals, teachers, all those who sexually abuse kids, etc..

All in all still a long way to go for Thailand.............

[angsta]

Just Germany??

I would have thought the whole of Europe for starters.

[rheinwiese]

German experts told them how their country focuses more on its low-performing students

Well, Thailand might need to focus on low-performing teachers

[lostinisaan]

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationists have been receiving some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationists haven't been receiving some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

[otherstuff1957]

Of course, all of this sounds very good, but there is one huge problem with implementing these ideas. Many Thai government schools have up to 50 students per class. How is a teacher supposed to spend more time with individual students? Even if they manage to magically double the number to teaching hours available, that would mean that while one teacher lectures, the other one will spend about 1 minute per class with each student.

[Payboy]

Sounds like someone's trying to justify a heavily subsidized pleasu.........errrr study trip to Germany.

[clockman]

Where in Thailand? are the role models, for kids to learn from. Please tell me if you know of any?

[Baerboxer]

Just Germany??

I would have thought the whole of Europe for starters.

Ah that proves that thinking is no substitute for research! Finland is rated top. Do some research and you'll be surprised.

[mike123ca]

German experts told them how their country focuses more on its low-performing students

Well, Thailand might need to focus on low-performing teachers

Well, Thailand might need to focus on a real salery for teachers

[manarak]

and these methods are bad for stimulating the good students.

both types of students need help.

the low-performing ones need learning help and the gifted children need to be provided with more stuff to learn

[sirchai]

Sounds like someone's trying to justify a heavily subsidized pleasu.........errrr study trip to Germany.

And they'll do that- of course- with the social security fund, where also foreigners are paying in....

[oldsailor35]

If only Thailand would reduce the millions wasted on the military and put more money into Education and Policing, there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Can anybody justify the size of the Thai army and the number of fully paid Generals and other high ranking officers.

[sirchai]

If only Thailand would reduce the millions wasted on the military and put more money into Education and Policing, there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Can anybody justify the size of the Thai army and the number of fully paid Generals and other high ranking officers.

If only America would reduce the billions of bucks wasted on the military and put more effort into their non existing social system,there might be many lights at the end of the tunnels. Can anybody justify the size of the American Army, even after the cold war's over?--

[samjaidee]

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationists have been receiving some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationists haven't been receiving some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

BANGKOK: -- Thai educationalists have been ignoring some practical and useful lessons about teaching and school improvements from experienced counterparts in Germany.

[Briggsy]

Apples and oranges. Chalk and cheese.

Over 50% of kids here are out of education by Por 6, that's the age of 11/12.

Try making secondary education really free, not just theoretically free.

Or even if you are really serious, charge the parents if the kids don't attend school.

This "report" is just the result of a junket to Europe from civil servants in the Education Ministry.

[sirchai]

Apples and oranges. Chalk and cheese.

Over 50% of kids here are out of education by Por 6, that's the age of 11/12.

Try making secondary education really free, not just theoretically free.

Or even if you are really serious, charge the parents if the kids don't attend school.

This "report" is just the result of a junket to Europe from civil servants in the Education Ministry.

Kids who finish Prathomsuksa 6 are 12, some 13 years old. Most of them are going to high schools. A big problem are the rural areas, because neither the teachers know what they're talking about, nor would the kids have the chance to study at a university after finishing M.6 Time for many changes.--

[nakhonandy]

A lot of things have to change.

The level of competence in teachers is woefully low.

Teachers still whacking kids with sticks, parents too. We know from experience that does not work.

Kids are not allowed to ask questions as when the teacher doesn't know the answer (often) he or she loses face!

People can't afford for various reasons to send kids to secondry school and further, hence the M6 drop out.

Classes are not just too big, they are unmanagable. 50 - 60 kids is impossible, even with two teachers which they don't have.

That's just a start.

We have to pay quite a lot for our son (15) to get a good education. 95% of the people in our village couldn't pay it.

[Publicus]

We can't get anywhere without recognizing individual learning styles.For example, some learners are better in the morning, others are better in the afternoon, still others are better learners at night. Some learners are better when visuals and graphics are used, others are primarily aural learners, i.e., what we might call sharp listeners. Some learners like and prefer a cold or cool learning atmosphere, others learn better when they are warm. I always had the lightest lunch possible because if I ate spaghetti and meatballs for lunch I'd fall asleep in class for sure. Other learners do better in their academic work with their stomachs full of spaghetti and meatballs, and then some. There are 101 considerations of learning style I see absolutely no evidence of in the Thai classroom.

Concomitantly, there are individual teaching styles. Some educators teach better in the morning. They get to school and are at their desk organizing themselves well before classes begin. Other educators prefer to stay later after classes are finished for the day, to set up for the next day so the next morning they arrive and begin their day as an educator without missing a stride. Some educators perform better dressed more formally, others wretch at formal attire - uniforms especially - and spend most of the day distracted.

Both learners and educators can like or need a snack during class time, which always should be an option. I use hard candy on occasion to keep my mouth and throat moist so that I can speak most clearly, yet some schools or some learners point the finger of criminal guilt at such behaviors. Some learners like to work alone, others would rather die than not work in groups.

Learners and educators both need the individual learning style, the individual teaching style, recognized, respected, honored and observed. There of course are also individual styles of management and/or supervision.

Knowledge and acceptance of individual styles in education is the predicate which leads to optimal results and processes. The first thing the ant colonies in the schools need to do is to dispose of the uniforms, the uniformity that utterly fails to have any cognition of individual educational styles.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Publicus

[Somtamnication]

Well, Germany is a good example for Thailand. Heck, the Thais already believe the world revolves around them, so half the lesson is already learned!

Edited December 5, 2012 by Somtamnication

[culicine]

Of course, all of this sounds very good, but there is one huge problem with implementing these ideas. Many Thai government schools have up to 50 students per class. How is a teacher supposed to spend more time with individual students? Even if they manage to magically double the number to teaching hours available, that would mean that while one teacher lectures, the other one will spend about 1 minute per class with each student.

And then ask teachers to spend MORE time with students after school.....admin will cry foul because they won't have time to drone on with their weekly meetings (talking memos) that go on forever. We did some remedial classes during our sports practice (2 weeks) - only foreign teachers volunteered to help students; Thai teachers were too busy with other nonsense. When they get rid of the BS subjects that students must do - M6 boys do NOT enjoy dance, and instead focus on specific subjects students are actually interested in, then that will be a start.

I'm not sure the assertion in the OP is a good one - to focus on what is 'good' for Thailand - Thais need to start thinking more globally in their approach to education, especially with the approaching AEC, which has been pushed back a year already. Just in case: To the Ed minister - NO there is no PISA practice book with questions that you can have your students study to 'pass the test' . Changing the whole approach to education is the way to go; remove the focus on passing the test.

[sirchai]

A lot of things have to change.

The level of competence in teachers is woefully low.

Teachers still whacking kids with sticks, parents too. We know from experience that does not work.

Kids are not allowed to ask questions as when the teacher doesn't know the answer (often) he or she loses face!

People can't afford for various reasons to send kids to secondry school and further, hence the M6 drop out.

Classes are not just too big, they are unmanagable. 50 - 60 kids is impossible, even with two teachers which they don't have.

That's just a start.

We have to pay quite a lot for our son (15) to get a good education. 95% of the people in our village couldn't pay it.

+ 100....

[hanuman2543]

The whole system is designed to keep the feudal system alive in the mind of every generation . Job well done !

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