Teaching opportunities for 18 year old bilingual girl

[plachon]

I just wanted to sound out what kind of opportunities exist for a Thai-English nationality and bi-lingual (fluent) 18 yr old (my daughter) who would like to spend a few months teaching English on her gap year? More specifically, will she find it easy to find work as the schools won't have to bother about the hassles of getting her a work permit, visa, etc, or will they insist on only hiring 100 % farangs with degrees and TOEFL quals? Would she be more likely to be hired for a primary school or secondary school and will her age matter? And what sort of pay can an 18 year old expect in an upcountry school? If anybody has any direct experience or recent anecdotes of people in similar situations, I would be glad to hear.

[zeichen]

Short term positions aren't really fair to the students. I think that it is more about puffing up the ego of the volunteer than helping students.

What does she have to offer besides being bilingual? Without actual knowledge or a skill set to teach, she really isn't going to do much more than break the routine of the students.

[Eddy B]

With the Thai schools having their schools breaks soon. Maybe she can help out in the summer camps arranged by the schools. Pay would have to be talked about between yourself/daughter and said school.

[mike123ca]

Unless she already has a degree, I think you can rule out public schools. My high school does have 5 0r 6 university students training to be teachers, but I don't know if they are even being paid. I suspect they are there for an apprenticeship.

I think she might have success if she looks for employment requiring a bilingual employee. For young people finding paid work is usually difficult because of lack of work experience. I'm assuming she also has Thai citizenship so she should try to apply for many different jobs and also practice the art of networking.

[Phatcharanan]

She should look for work as a Teaching Assistant within Primary (Prathom). I'm sure some schools would be happy to take her on in that role. Pay is not likely to be good of course.

[plachon]

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions so far and I am kind of hoping she could find a job teaching primary school students in an Isaan provincial town. Yes, she has Thai citizenship and spent her own childhood between age 7 to 11 in a Thai primary school, so she should be able to empathise somewhat with the kids situation, having been there herself only 7 years previously. It would obviously be a learning experience for her in terms of classroom discipline and teaching practice, but she is a quick learner and am sure would be a breath of fresh air for the kids stuck in rote learning classrooms being taught by teachers who can hardly speak English themselves.

If anyone else has any anecdotal experience of gap year teaching in Thailand (English or other subjects), then only too glad to hear your tales.

[kirstymelb101]

Hey! I'm Thai/Oz and can speak both languages fluently. I've been living/teaching in Thailand for the previous 4 years now. I've never needed a WP, Visa or teachers license in order to gain employment. In spite of being in the books as Thai I receive Farang wages. Only reason for this is because I hold a passport from Australia, which is a native English speaking country as you already know.

If she has no prior teaching experience, I suggest she take either TEFL/CELTA course. Most agencies provide this service. It's fairly intense but I believe mandatory - The instructors are VERY helpful and your daughter will learn basic skills acknowledged in Education required to teach Thai students - IMO.

In my own experience even tho I can read/write Thai I'm seen as 'Farang' and treated differently, not necessarily bad, but not seen as Thai. Inform your daughter to be aware of prejudice, Thais love to gossip about absolutely everything. Jealousy may occur because she holds foreign passport, earns Farang salary & can speak English better. This is the Thai mentality I've had to overcome........


Note: If she does her job proficiently, arrives to work on time, hands in lesson plans, contributes to extra curricular activities and has good work ethics she will be fine

Edited January 29, 2014 by kirstymelb101

[sam sen]

if she is serious about teaching she should at least take the time to obtain a basic qualification such as a CELTA - it will also look good on her CV

otherwise teaching assistant... but...

would you want your child's education in the hands of 'teachers' without a teaching qualification or experience? one of the problems with the thai education system...

[plachon]

Hey! I'm Thai/Oz and can speak both languages fluently. I've been living/teaching in Thailand for the previous 4 years now. I've never needed a WP, Visa or teachers license in order to gain employment. In spite of being in the books as Thai I receive Farang wages. Only reason for this is because I hold a passport from Australia, which is a native English speaking country as you already know.

If she has no prior teaching experience, I suggest she take either TEFL/CELTA course. Most agencies provide this service. It's fairly intense but I believe mandatory - The instructors are VERY helpful and your daughter will learn basic skills acknowledged in Education required to teach Thai students - IMO.

In my own experience even tho I can read/write Thai I'm seen as 'Farang' and treated differently, not necessarily bad, but not seen as Thai. Inform your daughter to be aware of prejudice, Thais love to gossip about absolutely everything. Jealousy may occur because she holds foreign passport, earns Farang salary & can speak English better. This is the Thai mentality I've had to overcome........

Note: If she does her job proficiently, arrives to work on time, hands in lesson plans, contributes to extra curricular activities and has good work ethics she will be fine

Thanks for your reflections Kirsty, and it is interesting to hear how you are perceived amongst your Thai colleagues as a farang, despite the language and nationality. I'll look into the options for TEFL/CELTA courses, as you suggest. Roughly how long do they take to complete and can they be done in places other than Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Phuket and the other major cities, such as the smaller provincial towns of Isaan? Any recommendations on particular course providers?

[SlyAnimal]

She can do a CELTA/TEFL course in most of the major centres, and would also be able to do it in your home country. The times vary depending on the quality of the course, since longer courses generally involve more teaching practice etc.

I'm not sure about how much she will be paid, as she doesn't have a degree so isn't legally allowed to teach, although a lot of countryside/Isaan schools will bend the rules to accommodate her. Although a teaching assistant role might not require a degree, but it also doesn't really pay well either. If she's more looking for the experience, and isn't too fussed about the money, I could probably assist with getting her a position teaching in my area (Not sure if they'd take her on, as she's only 18, but could ask a few of the local schools nearby). If she's interested, just send me a pm and I can find out some more info.

[nellyp]

Your daughter will find work easily (even without qualifications) if she wants to help out in a classroom, all she needs to do is decide what she wants. Female teachers/assistants are in huge demand, though unfortunately not for a couple of months. I agree with a previous poster about the lack of consistency with teaching for a couple of months and would suggest that she looks for temporary work (possibly as teacher cover).

Something i would also suggest thinking about is whether your daughter wants to learn something or have an experience. if she wants an experience she can do that in any school (though some students can be difficult), however, if she wants to learn something then she needs to work with good teachers. Unfortunately, I think your daughter will become a trophy teacher for a few months unless you chooses the right school.

Is a qualification necessary for a couple of months? Probably not.

[kingstonkid]

Hi the course that i would reccomend is the 120 hourr TEFL It is done in about a month. i had a young guy working with me tht was a little older and did not have the course adthe kids ran him ragged at the Mattayom level.

If she is going to tech then i would recommend that she stay with the lounger kids in the lower P vand K

[nellyp]

Hi the course that i would reccomend is the 120 hourr TEFL It is done in about a month. i had a young guy working with me tht was a little older and did not have the course adthe kids ran him ragged at the Mattayom level.

If she is going to tech then i would recommend that she stay with the lounger kids in the lowerI agree

I agree, try for youngsters, more fun less headaches.

I still think that spending a month completing a CELTA to be a teaching assistant for 2 months is overkill. She will not be on her own, so classroom management is irrelevant, as is planning a lesson.

[kirstymelb101]

Hi the course that i would reccomend is the 120 hourr TEFL It is done in about a month. i had a young guy working with me tht was a little older and did not have the course adthe kids ran him ragged at the Mattayom level.

If she is going to tech then i would recommend that she stay with the lounger kids in the lower P vand K

The TEFL is a good way to gain experience. Most of the students will be newcomers from abroad who are all new to the country. The course work isn't very difficult, so the OP daughter will have loads of leisure time to make friends and explore Thailand.

[kirstymelb101]

She can do a CELTA/TEFL course in most of the major centres, and would also be able to do it in your home country. The times vary depending on the quality of the course, since longer courses generally involve more teaching practice etc.

I'm not sure about how much she will be paid, as she doesn't have a degree so isn't legally allowed to teach, although a lot of countryside/Isaan schools will bend the rules to accommodate her. Although a teaching assistant role might not require a degree, but it also doesn't really pay well either. If she's more looking for the experience, and isn't too fussed about the money, I could probably assist with getting her a position teaching in my area (Not sure if they'd take her on, as she's only 18, but could ask a few of the local schools nearby). If she's interested, just send me a pm and I can find out some more info.

To be honest, I think most schools located in deep Isaan provincial areas don't even know the process of WP + Non Imm B Visa for foreign teachers. My school was absolutely clueless with my paper work, the administration department actually asked if I knew how to obtain them. Amazing Thailand ^^,

[Scott]

You are correct about schools not knowing or understanding the procedure. A good friend of mine worked in a province and he did his own visa and work permit. He got the necessary paperwork together, he had the school sign everything and stamp everything and he went for his visa and eventually his Work Permit. The school was absolutely clueless. They were nice enough to send someone along when he got the Work Permit, in case he needed assistance.

He said his Thai language skills got amazingly proficient once he started trying to navigate the bureaucracy.

The school he was at was not particularly small or remote either.

[Scott]

I can't put my finger on the regulation right now, but I am fairly certain that I read that the minimum age for teaching is 20 years old.

I think 18 is a little bit too young to be in a teaching position.

[plachon]

She can do a CELTA/TEFL course in most of the major centres, and would also be able to do it in your home country. The times vary depending on the quality of the course, since longer courses generally involve more teaching practice etc.

I'm not sure about how much she will be paid, as she doesn't have a degree so isn't legally allowed to teach, although a lot of countryside/Isaan schools will bend the rules to accommodate her. Although a teaching assistant role might not require a degree, but it also doesn't really pay well either. If she's more looking for the experience, and isn't too fussed about the money, I could probably assist with getting her a position teaching in my area (Not sure if they'd take her on, as she's only 18, but could ask a few of the local schools nearby). If she's interested, just send me a pm and I can find out some more info.

Thanks for the advice and doing a TEFL course might well be a good starting point for her, although time is a bit of an issue for doing the various things she's planning to fit into her gap year after Thailand. One idea is for her to teach at the same primary school she attended, so there would be a personal link, and I'm sure she could ably help out the teachers there as a teaching assistant. The chance to earn a bit of money would be good, but not essential, unless she had the TEFL qualification to justify it. Thanks too for the offer of locating a school, but I think it shouldn't be necessary, as we have a few contacts already from back in the days we lived there.

[plachon]

I can't put my finger on the regulation right now, but I am fairly certain that I read that the minimum age for teaching is 20 years old.

I think 18 is a little bit too young to be in a teaching position.

I recall 18/19 year olds teaching at my daughter's primary school as volunteers not so many years ago, and the kids loved it and learned far more in that class than under their usual staid teachers. As you know, rules in Thailand tend to be rather flexible and made to be broken! And age shouldn't be a barrier to being an English teacher, IF the kids are keen to learn. May even be easier in some cases to communicate with people nearer ones own age?

Thanks for all the feedback from others - has given me some things to think about before she heads East. She can start making some plans over next few months.

Edited February 3, 2014 by plachon

[onlycw]

A 20 years old guy was hired at a government high school, getting 20 k. The contract states "part-time" and there seems to bee some loophole.

Good luck to your daughter - she should call some schools and try networking.

[kirstymelb101]

A 20 years old guy was hired at a government high school, getting 20 k. The contract states "part-time" and there seems to bee some loophole.

Good luck to your daughter - she should call some schools and try networking.

Was the man a native English speaker? Is he teaching in Bangkok or the province?

[zeichen]

There was a policy about 8 years back that did require people to be 20 to teach, but that only applied to work permit so for a Thai national it isn't an issue.

Do prepare her though that volunteering or being an assistant also requires her to do things like sweeping, mopping and a lot of logistical things and not that much to do with actually teaching.