Nes Classroom Assistant

[rod2011]

Hi,

Advice needed please.

I read last year that there was a scheme where NES could become a classroom assistant. I believe this scheme has now finished though.

I plan to move to Thailand permanently this year and would be interested in doing something like this on a part time basis 5- 10 hours a week or somethoing like that.

I have no formal University qualifications in teaching although I have taught First Aid for 20 years so I do know a little about teaching.

Has anyone got some suggestions on how I would go about doing something like this and would I need to do a TEFL course ? I have looked at a few TEFL courses in Chiang Mai so has anybody any recomendations for schools good or bad?

The money is not really important but a small salary would be nice.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Yo Sup]

Go see Chris at TELFInternational, in Phuket. He puts out a good product.

[rod2011]

Unfortunately Phuket is about 1,000 miles from where I will be in Chiang Mai.

Any suggestions for Chiang Mai ?

[Scott]

I believe you can check the sponsor banners here in the teaching section.

I have heard good reports on SEE TEFL in CM.

[aussiebebe]

Sorry if this is unhelpful, but if you just want 5-10 hours teaching, you can teach online without the hassle of commuting, killing time between classes and being sworn at by Thai kids for peanuts. There are 100s of companies all over the world who want teachers, just check out online jobs boards.

[SlyAnimal]

I'd say, your best bet, is when you arrive in Thailand, go to a small school a little bit out of town (Or one in town, but out of town you'll likely have smaller classes and more warm fuzzies).

You could then volunteer as a teacher there. You do technically need a volunteers work permit, however I believe that these are relatively easy to get in comparison to a work permit for paid employment.

You obviously wouldn't get paid, but for only 5-10 hours a week, you wouldn't really get paid much anyway, and a lot of schools, but not all, have an expectation that if they are paying you, then you should sit in your office twiddling your thumbs when you're not teaching. However, you would gain teaching experience and have the opportunity to teach at a school which might not normally be able to afford a farang teacher (Which also likely means smaller classes, which is a nice introduction). After a month or so, you would have a much better idea on whether teaching was something you'd enjoy doing fulltime or not (For some it's a dream job, for others it's a nightmare).

For myself, I did something similar, where I was paid 11,000 THB a month (Although being new to Thailand, I initially required much more than this, so mostly used funds from abroad to fund myself), as an assistant teacher for 12 teaching hours a week, with a 1 weeks holiday each month. This was setup via Maha Sarakham University (in Maha Sarakham Province, Isaan), however I don't think they're running the program anymore (And it's too far away from you anyway). The experience I gained from this program was great, and it was a great "soft" entry into teaching. After teaching there for 1 term, I decided that teaching was something I could enjoy doing, and so found a fulltime job instead.

[sirchai]

Sorry if this is unhelpful, but if you just want 5-10 hours teaching, you can teach online without the hassle of commuting, killing time between classes and being sworn at by Thai kids for peanuts. There are 100s of companies all over the world who want teachers, just check out online jobs boards.

Online teaching isn't what he was asking for. Give it a try and see if you like it. The kids give me more than my salary's worth.