Australia-Thailand School Partnerships Launched

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EDUCATION
Australia-Thailand school partnerships launched
The Nation


Foreign Minister Bob Carr

BANGKOK: -- Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced eight Australian high schools will participate in the Australia-Thailand school partnerships BRIDGE project.

Senator Carr said the Australia-Asia Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement (BRIDGE) Programmeme establishes cultural exchange partnerships between schools in Australia with those in China, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand.

"School students in Australia are connecting with students across Asia to learn languages and gain knowledge about our respective cultures and they are using the latest digital technology and professional learning tools for teachers," Senator Carr said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

The eight Australian schools to participate in the project are:

- Bundaberg State High, John Paul College (Daisy Hill) and Redcliffe State High School in Queensland

- Doncaster Secondary College, Manor Lakes P-12 College and Wanganui Park Secondary College in Victoria

- Cressy District High School in Tasmania

- Canberra Grammar School in the Australian Capital Territory

- These schools will be partnered with eight Thai high schools.

Senator Carr said participating Thai teachers will travel to Australia for a week in March 2013 to engage with their partner schools and Australian teachers will travel to Thailand in June this year.

"The Australia-Asia BRIDGE school partnerships Programme was featured in the Australia in the Asia Century White Paper as an example of innovative school partnerships," Senator Carr said. "Since 2008, 136 schools across metropolitan and rural Australia have established partnerships with schools in China, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand."

The Thai BRIDGE Programmeme is funded by the Australia -Thailand Institute (ATI) within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and managed by the Asia Education Foundation.


-- The Nation 2013-02-22

[scorecard]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

[chooka]

My daughter goes to Doncaster Secondary College (yr 11) I hope they can find some thai teacher that actually speak english to travel to Australia. My sons Thai english teacher has very little english speaking skills. I can't comunicate with her.

Edited February 22, 2013 by chooka

[chooka]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st

[oldsailor35]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st:thumbsup:

I agree, my partners son is getting English at school (Thai teacher) and from what i am told is very good ! But he cannot understand me nor i him ! I really do not think that they have any idea. Would'nt it be a good idea if every school had a voluntary native English teacher to help. Not oversee as that would cause 'loss of face' I am sure that there are many of us who would be willing to give up some of our time to help the kids. I have done this several times with school kids on the beach and they are so keen, and learn very quickly !

[oldsailor35]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st:thumbsup:

Like spelling for instance !

[chooka]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st:thumbsup:

I agree, my partners son is getting English at school (Thai teacher) and from what i am told is very good ! But he cannot understand me nor i him ! I really do not think that they have any idea. Would'nt it be a good idea if every school had a voluntary native English teacher to help. Not oversee as that would cause 'loss of face' I am sure that there are many of us who would be willing to give up some of our time to help the kids. I have done this several times with school kids on the beach and they are so keen, and learn very quickly !

Maybe thier plan is to send the Thai English teachers to Australia to teach aussie kids english. After all the Thai english instructors are the best in the world.

[Baerboxer]

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st:thumbsup:

I agree, my partners son is getting English at school (Thai teacher) and from what i am told is very good ! But he cannot understand me nor i him ! I really do not think that they have any idea. Would'nt it be a good idea if every school had a voluntary native English teacher to help. Not oversee as that would cause 'loss of face' I am sure that there are many of us who would be willing to give up some of our time to help the kids. I have done this several times with school kids on the beach and they are so keen, and learn very quickly !

Maybe thier plan is to send the Thai English teachers to Australia to teach aussie kids english. After all the Thai english instructors are the best in the world.

Someone needs to teach the Aussies how to speak English - maybe the Kiwis could help as well as the Thais!

Most of my Thia friends the speak English have more trouble understanding Aussies that any other accented English - even Glaswegian!

Edited February 22, 2013 by Baerboxer

[Chao Lao Beach]

What are the 8 Thai high Schools?

These schools will be partnered with eight Thai high schools.

http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/2013/bc_mr_130221.html

[aboctok]

Thanks for the life-size photo of Bob Carr's face. I started scrolling, and with no warning, out jumped Bob. Nothing personal against him of course. But even though he is relevant to the story, it's not about him.

Senator Carr's statement indicates priority for language learning. I'm curious whether Australian schools have Thai language programmes.

[aboctok]

Someone needs to teach the Aussies how to speak English - maybe the Kiwis could help as well as the Thais!

Most of my Thia friends the speak English have more trouble understanding Aussies that any other accented English - even Glaswegian!

The majority of your "Thia friends the speak English" converse with English speakers from many countries? Really? That's unusual, for Thai people. Or is this really just several Thai people who, naturally, agree (when someone suggests it to them) that they have at some time had difficulty speaking with an Australian? Come on now, you're talking it up just a bit.

[chooka]

Thanks for the life-size photo of Bob Carr's face. I started scrolling, and with no warning, out jumped Bob. Nothing personal against him of course. But even though he is relevant to the story, it's not about him.

Senator Carr's statement indicates priority for language learning. I'm curious whether Australian schools have Thai language programmes.

My daughter goes to Doncaster Secondary, one of the aussie schools mentioned. They do not teach Thai but they do teach Mandarin and Korean as 2nd languages

[diddums]

Thanks for the life-size photo of Bob Carr's face. I started scrolling, and with no warning, out jumped Bob. Nothing personal against him of course. But even though he is relevant to the story, it's not about him.

Senator Carr's statement indicates priority for language learning. I'm curious whether Australian schools have Thai language programmes.

My daughter goes to Doncaster Secondary, one of the aussie schools mentioned. They do not teach Thai but they do teach Mandarin and Korean as 2nd languages

Yeah...like lets pick a random language from around the world that is not used anywhere else and use it as a second language....not.

Maybe they could teach 'holiday thai'.

[Greer]

There are a lot of Thai's in Australia but certainly Thailand unfortunately doesn't have the numbers to warrant kids in that country or elsewhere overseas being taught the language as a standard component of the curriculum. Thai is available at some of the university language institutes though.

[chooka]

There are a lot of Thai's in Australia but certainly Thailand unfortunately doesn't have the numbers to warrant kids in that country or elsewhere overseas being taught the language as a standard component of the curriculum. Thai is available at some of the university language institutes though.

Box Hill which butts up to the suburb of Doncaster has a high Asian population mostly Chinese and Korean but also has the highest concentration of Thais in the Melbourne area. (Thai Temple situated there) The Thai population is still relatively small tho compared to the other asian populations.I guess this is why they chose Doncaster

[scotto]

There are a lot of Thai's in Australia but certainly Thailand unfortunately doesn't have the numbers to warrant kids in that country or elsewhere overseas being taught the language as a standard component of the curriculum. Thai is available at some of the university language institutes though.

Box Hill which butts up to the suburb of Doncaster has a high Asian population mostly Chinese and Korean but also has the highest concentration of Thais in the Melbourne area. (Thai Temple situated there) The Thai population is still relatively small tho compared to the other asian populations.I guess this is why they chose Doncaster

Chooka did you konw there is a thai temple in nunawading too? I believe there is a lot of thais around this area too my missus used to go there

when we lived in Glen Waverley which has a big asian population as well also not being far from springvale again another big asian area

so they possibly could have picked glen waverley high as well?just saying i do not think there is any real reason why some schools were chosen over

others maybe the schools themselves volunteered for the program?

[chooka]

There are a lot of Thai's in Australia but certainly Thailand unfortunately doesn't have the numbers to warrant kids in that country or elsewhere overseas being taught the language as a standard component of the curriculum. Thai is available at some of the university language institutes though.

Box Hill which butts up to the suburb of Doncaster has a high Asian population mostly Chinese and Korean but also has the highest concentration of Thais in the Melbourne area. (Thai Temple situated there) The Thai population is still relatively small tho compared to the other asian populations.I guess this is why they chose Doncaster

Chooka did you konw there is a thai temple in nunawading too? I believe there is a lot of thais around this area too my missus used to go there

when we lived in Glen Waverley which has a big asian population as well also not being far from springvale again another big asian area

so they possibly could have picked glen waverley high as well?just saying i do not think there is any real reason why some schools were chosen over

others maybe the schools themselves volunteered for the program?

Yes there is a Budhist Temple in Nunawading which is virtually next door to Box Hill with little old Blackburn squeezed in the middle. There are a number of Budhist Temples in the area. The Actual "Thai Budhist Temple" (Wat Thai Nakorn) is in Elgar Road Box Hill just down from Whitehorse Rd towards Doncaster. (about 800 metres from the Doncaster border being the freeway) This is also where the Thai Abbot of Melbourne resides and is the base for the Victorian Thai Association. I worked at the Box Hill Police Station and had the portfolio of "Police Muticurual Liason Officer for the City of Whitehorse and had a bit to do with this Temple. I Actually met my Thai wife there who was on the committee of the Thai Association. (Took me a awhile to snag her but eventually won her over)

In regards to this topic at hand the Ringwood Secondary College already has a sister school partnership with Montford College in Chiangmai and has done so for many years. every year teachers are exchanged for 1 month period and student from both schools visit each other.

The best thing that I can see that will come out of the program is that Thai teachers will see how a classroom is conducted in a western enviroment. The students in the west do not just sit there and write down everything that a teacher says or take everything said a gospel. Students are actually encourage to be motivated and involved in the classes by asking questions of the teacher, they are also encourage to think for themselves unlike some schools in thailand where robots are programed.

[Mousehound]

I have been trying to interest the High School in Western Australia , where I
teach, to take an interest in Thailand. The Curriculum interest in any Asian
country is broader than just language. I am teaching cultural, industrial and
technological similarities, differences and links. The trade with Thailand is
growing steadily. Thailand is one of the most visited destinations - most
likely only second to (Indonesia) Bali. The New Curriculum will require far
more evaluation of the way our Asian neighbours live. However, I think we are
pretty much going down the track of Indonesian or Mandarin as language options.
These may seem the best options for Australian students but proximity to WA at
least and the fact that Thailand is fast developing may make Thai an option.
Interestingly I have several Thai speaking students but have yet to come across a student that speaks Mandarin or Indonesian as a their first language.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Anyone know which of the 8 schools in Thailand are on the other side of this?

[chooka]

Anyone know which of the 8 schools in Thailand are on the other side of this?

Nope.

[chooka]

I have been trying to interest the High School in Western Australia , where I

teach, to take an interest in Thailand. The Curriculum interest in any Asian

country is broader than just language. I am teaching cultural, industrial and

technological similarities, differences and links. The trade with Thailand is

growing steadily. Thailand is one of the most visited destinations - most

likely only second to (Indonesia) Bali. The New Curriculum will require far

more evaluation of the way our Asian neighbours live. However, I think we are

pretty much going down the track of Indonesian or Mandarin as language options.

These may seem the best options for Australian students but proximity to WA at

least and the fact that Thailand is fast developing may make Thai an option.

Interestingly I have several Thai speaking students but have yet to come across a student that speaks Mandarin or Indonesian as a their first language.

I guess all the chinese speaking students are on the east coast. Thousands of them

[culicine]

Anyone know which of the 8 schools in Thailand are on the other side of this?

I'm assuming they will be 'specially chosen'. One would like to think that the schools chosen will have students who can actually speak english. This would limit it to International Schools and English/Bilingual programs. Of course most schools here will have some students capable in english, but the numbers will be much fewer than those in the aforementioned schools. But I'm guessing there will be other criteria that will be used to select schools, rather than the english ability of students.

[mickjn]

If Bob Carr has anything to do with this do not worry it will work he is a great man

[Mousehound]

Maybe thier plan is to send the Thai English teachers to Australia to teach aussie kids english. After all the Thai english instructors are the best in the world.

I wonder why no high schools in this activity from New South Wales, also Western Australia.

I think they need to lift thier standards 1st:thumbsup:

I agree, my partners son is getting English at school (Thai teacher) and from what i am told is very good ! But he cannot understand me nor i him ! I really do not think that they have any idea. Would'nt it be a good idea if every school had a voluntary native English teacher to help. Not oversee as that would cause 'loss of face' I am sure that there are many of us who would be willing to give up some of our time to help the kids. I have done this several times with school kids on the beach and they are so keen, and learn very quickly !

Someone needs to teach the Aussies how to speak English - maybe the Kiwis could help as well as the Thais!

Most of my Thia friends the speak English have more trouble understanding Aussies that any other accented English - even Glaswegian!

Duncometherawprawnwithmeyoubloodypommiewhineingbastard!

[Chao Lao Beach]

The 2013 school partnerships are:

Thai Schools

Australian Schools

Yothinburana (SS, 4000, Bangkok)

Canberra Grammar School, ACT

Satreephuket (SS, 4000, Phuket)

Wooranna Park Primary School, VIC

Phothisamphanphitthayakhan (SS, Chonburi)

Bundaberg State High School, QLD

Pathumthep Witthayakarn (SS, Nong Khai)

Cressy District High School, TAS

Kanthalalakwittaya (SS, 4400, Sisaket)

John Paul College (Daisy Hill), QLD

Narinukun (Ubon Ratchathani)

Doncaster Secondary College, VIC

Maesaiprasitsart (SS, 2500, Chiang Rai)

Wanganui Park Secondary College, VIC

Sapphawitthayakhom (TAK)

Manor Lakes P-12 College, VIC

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/teachers/bridge_school_partnerships/about_bridge/thailand_bridge.html