Interview: Prof Vicharn Panich is anxious to help boost Thai teaching standards

[webfact]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Driven by a passion for teaching
Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation



Prof Vicharn Panich is anxious to help boost Thai teaching standards

BANGKOK: -- THOUGH trained as a doctor, Prof Dr Vicharn Panich has spent his retirement years reading education-related theories, writing commentaries about how to boost educational quality and making real efforts to change Thailand's education for the better.

Vicharn, indeed, has practically made it his mission to promote the production of great teachers.

"I think there are too few good teachers these days," the 72-year-old man said during an exclusive interview with The Nation. "The rest are just pseudo-teachers".

In his view, pseudo-teachers are those preoccupied with their own interests, academic rank and pay level. Without any devotion to their students, these teachers do not care if most of their students fail to achieve learning objectives.

"Back in my school years, I found lots of good teachers," he lamented.

In December, the Roong Arun School Foundation published a book to reflect Vicharn's hope to promote the production of good and respectable teachers, as he wants to see Thai children grow up in good hands.

"Inspiring teachers, with great teaching skills and devotion, should be able to raise the educational quality across Thailand," a part of the book's foreword suggests.

The book has a compilation of his articles about "teachers for students".

Vicharn considers himself lucky to have had good teachers in his childhood, one of whom headed to his home to persuade his father to send him to a medical school.

After graduation, he spent more than two decades as a lecturer. Looking back, Vicharn believes that long period was probably a reason why he has associated himself with teaching. "At heart, I am a teacher," he declares in the book.

Vicharn said teachers these days were prone to focus their attention on smart students, while ignoring the real needs of the average and slow-learning students.

"I am not going to say I am 100 per cent right. But I have come to this conclusion after observing the educational system for so many years," he said.

He noted that while the country celebrates whiz kids for their remarkable successes at international academic contests every year, it practically turns a blind eye to the fact that most students achieve far less.

"For society to benefit, we must not ignore the majority of children," he stressed.

Vicharn, now the chairman of the Knowledge Management Institute (KMI), recounted that he became obsessed with "dedicated teachers for students" concept after reading the book titled "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness inside Room 56", which was given to him by prominent educator Varakorn Samkoses in early 2008.

He was so impressed with the book, he started blogging educational articles on http://gotoknow.org/blog/thaikm/tag/rafe.

In Vicharn's eyes, Thai educational quality slipped over the past few decades because policies are flawed, while many government teachers have successfully bribed their way into their jobs and continued to use dishonest means to claim promotion and rewards.

"What can we expect from such dishonest teachers?" he asked critically.

Vicharn said while not all teachers were bad, a significant number were careful not to work too outstandingly for fear that their colleagues would get angry.

"From my perspective, any change must be done through a system. We need to foster a system that encourages teachers to work well and efficiently."

He said a KMI initiative had already kicked off at 20 pilot schools, under which everyone at the schools must be active in improving educational services, with school directors playing the lead role.

Vicharn hoped to encourage all Thai teachers to follow their Finnish peers' style of working. In Finland, students and teachers are in classrooms together from 8.30am till 2.30pm only. After that, teachers have discussions with the school director.

"That approach encourages teachers to be lifelong learners. Indeed, teachers must learn harder than their students," he said.

He also said Thai educators should stop putting academic excellence over well-rounded development. "To me, learning should develop humanity," he said, "We need to learn many more things, not just academic matters."

He said in the 21st Century, teachers should encourage their students to acquire and apply knowledge via activity-based learning.

"When they do activities together, smart students will learn to listen and be kind to slower learners. They will get social skills too," he pointed out.

Although the Thai education sector is mired with many problems, Vicharn does not lose his hope. He has confidence that everyone can change and with positive psychology tactics, all players should be able to deliver much better performances.

"Let's share the success stories and tell all teachers how the contributions of each particular great teacher proves so valuable to children and the country. Then, we should see the differences," he said.

The powers-that-be should also have the guts, he said, to change rules and regulations that crippled the education system.

"Of course, there will be stiff opposition from those who will lose benefits. But if we go ahead with it, we should be able to achieve great changes," he said.

Vicharn suggested that officials from the Educational Council should work full time with the KMI for three to four years so that they step out of their old mindset and embark on new practical initiatives, which pursue learning-based activities and a professional learning community.

In addition to sitting at the helm of the KMI, Vicharn also sits on a government-appointed steering committee on educational reform and serves as an active adviser to a panel headed by former deputy education minister Sirikorn Maneerin.

"Her panel has been introducing a new approach in about 300 schools. We hope these schools will set example for all other schools to follow," he said. There are now more than 30,000 schools in Thailand.

Vicharn said he believed everyone should help improve the country's education, wherever they can.

"In my capacity, I will do all I can including addressing educational issues on my blogs and delivering thought-proving speeches at events where I am a guest speaker," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Driven-by-a-passion-for-teaching-30253652.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-09

[lostinisaan]

Back in my school years, I found lots of good teachers," he lamented

"In my capacity, I will do all I can including addressing educational issues on my blogs and delivering thought-proving speeches at events where I am a guest speaker," he said.

That's it. His "capacity" might not allow him to do any tremendous changes in such a corrupt system.

[SoilSpoil]

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

Edited February 8, 2015 by SoilSpoil

[cgphuket]

They need to start with good school directors. People who really care, not hobby job holders given their position because of the person's connections. Never saw a school director in Thailand that even knew of the names of the teachers working for him/her. Too busy having the staff polish their luxury car while they nap in their office.

[Stradavarius37]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

[Balance]

The Thai system of success is to be born into the "correct" family. Conversely, that is an absence of any form of meritocracy. This is why smart middle class kids whose families send them to private schools go to university and then off to Hong Kong or Singapore, etc. where they have a chance to succeed based on their knowledge and level of effort.

How do you teach small children to be curious? Or, perhaps the correct, and more difficult, question is, How do you not destroy that innate curiosity inherent in all children? Curiosity leads to learning; wanting to learn. Thais have been taught for hundreds of years not to question anything and to accept their place and suffer and maybe the next life will be better. The children should learn about competition, that competing successfully means that they have a chance to succeed here, in Thailand.

[Thaiready]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

Though the Profressor might have some points.......Soil Spoil was spot-on with his assessment. Maybe your the ignorant one because of the blinders your wearing.

I for one have first hand experience with the blunders of So-called Experts of Teaching in the Country. My Wife and I being a School Owner have faced challenges with the system ( Government ) for Teaching outside the Thai way. But the results prove otherwise as 98% of our Students are tested to be many levels ahead of all surrounding Schools in our area. In the beginning Parents where upset to see their child receive grading that they thought was harsh....Our answer was Nothing is Given All is Earned. We encourage our Students to ask questions and debate if they think the Teachers answer is incorrect. We have received criticism from the Government's Oversight System so much so we are forced to put up a front upon their visits.....but we resort back to our proven system at their departure..

Edited February 9, 2015 by Thaiready

[quandow]

On the first day a Thai student gets a failing grade for poor performance, then and ONLY then will true educational reformation have begun.

NUFF SAID!!!

[car720]

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

Yes and No.

Yes to the government educational system being useless and worse.

No to the general education system being no good.

I have taught in many different countries and have encountered many different systems and teachers. In all honesty though, I must say that one of the best teachers I have ever met was a Thai teacher in Phetchabun in a little tutorial business.

Sure he was a businessman and in it for the money but this guy could teach like I have never seen anyone teach English before.

His advantage? He was Thai and understood the psyche of the students. He had lived in the USA for many years and had an excellent command of English. This man was dedicated to the language. A true linguist. His results were outstanding.

He is a classic example of the new style of sociolinguistic teachings, referred to as the Communicative Language Technique.

We must remember that in many instances the Thais struggle with the Thais just as much as we do. I think this article reflects that.

[car720]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

Though the Profressor might have some points.......Soil Spoil was spot-on with his assessment. Maybe your the ignorant one because of the blinders your wearing.

I for one have first hand experience with the blunders of So-called Experts of Teaching in the Country. My Wife and I being a School Owner have faced challenges with the system ( Government ) for Teaching outside the Thai way. But the results prove otherwise as 98% of our Students are tested to be many levels ahead of all surrounding Schools in our area. In the beginning Parents where upset to see their child receive grading that they thought was harsh....Our answer was Nothing is Given All is Earned. We encourage our Students to ask questions and debate if they think the Teachers answer is incorrect. We have received criticism from the Government's Oversight System so much so we are forced to put up a front upon their visits.....but we resort back to our proven system at their departure..

Just curious. How many Thai teachers do you employ?

[car720]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

What is it about westerners? Where do they learn that the only form of defense is offense. Why go straight for the insults?

[lostinisaan]

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

A real good one. It happened around eight years ago, when a Malaysian started to teach English at my first primary school in Sisaket.

His Thai was brilliant and he did something really cool on his second day.

The director did his "Hitler like" speech day by day, while many kids collapsed through dehydration, standing in the hot sun for so long.Too long for all.

So, the Malaysian guy went to the director and told him that none of his Thai teachers were listening to him.

So why would the kids listen to his mostly boring bs, where he even forgot his speech many times. He lost his face immediately, but did find it again next day.

The director had a "word" with his teachers and the flag up ceremony was a little bit shorter than usual. from that day on. Thanks Dennis, if you read that.

BTW, who wants to know so much rubbish coming out of a director's mouth? They're not the best educated guys, because they all buy their position.

Pretty much similar to Wall Street, you won't find the best educated ones at the top. Money doesn't seem to stink.

[maidee]

i am not allowed to teach for free, children/adults in the moo baan in fear of being deported

i have my regular non-o, like so many people

with lots of free time but cannot put this in a constructive way

thai teachers, just repeaters

no thinkers, no doers, just followers

just what the army wants and/or businesses in brainless factories or working the rice field

[lostinisaan]

i am not allowed to teach for free, children/adults in the moo baan in fear of being deported

i have my regular non-o, like so many people

with lots of free time but cannot put this in a constructive way

thai teachers, just repeaters

no thinkers, no doers, just followers

just what the army wants and/or businesses in brainless factories or working the rice field

Dude, I do not think that anybody in a "Baan Nok Mubaan" would do anything that could cause you any troubles. Especially not, when you're doing it for free.

I've lived in my wife's village for a year before I even started teaching, where none of the teachers could speak a word of English.

Practically nobody, including my wife. My mother in law was always very concerned what the so different looking guy could eat. I went to the rice fields with them, drank Lhao Kao Nit Noi every 5 minutes after work, until it came out of my nose.

That was the end of my Lhao Kao career.

Get in touch with the village head, a school nearby and do what has to be done.

I truly believe that some posters here on TVF are really telling stories about stuff, where they do not know much about.

It's exactly the opposite. Cops, government employees, etc.would be more than happy to learn some English. And none of them would report you.

Once you've got your establishment rolling, you won't be bored anymore, people learn English and the quality of life's much better.

Everybody in my wife's village, but also neighboring ones deeply respect me and nobody would do anything to harm me. Nobody.

Just go for it and don't listen to the always naysayers. Good luck.

You'll see that it's great fun and if you need teaching material, or any advice, please feel free to drop me a private message. Cheers-

Edited February 9, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Thaiready]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

Though the Profressor might have some points.......Soil Spoil was spot-on with his assessment. Maybe your the ignorant one because of the blinders your wearing.

I for one have first hand experience with the blunders of So-called Experts of Teaching in the Country. My Wife and I being a School Owner have faced challenges with the system ( Government ) for Teaching outside the Thai way. But the results prove otherwise as 98% of our Students are tested to be many levels ahead of all surrounding Schools in our area. In the beginning Parents where upset to see their child receive grading that they thought was harsh....Our answer was Nothing is Given All is Earned. We encourage our Students to ask questions and debate if they think the Teachers answer is incorrect. We have received criticism from the Government's Oversight System so much so we are forced to put up a front upon their visits.....but we resort back to our proven system at their departure..

Just curious. How many Thai teachers do you employ?

9

[WonnabeBiker]

Quote: In Vicharn's eyes, Thai educational quality slipped over the past few decades because policies are flawed, while many government teachers have successfully bribed their way into their jobs and continued to use dishonest means to claim promotion and rewards.

"What can we expect from such dishonest teachers?" he asked critically. What about greedy directors?!? Let's assume you are Thai and need a paying job. You are in debt after years at the university and your parents are worried about your future. To get that job, they must pay about a year's salary. Quick: what would you do?

a) Report the bribe taker to the authorities - then what? Remain unemployed for life? (Or worse, much worse, serious repercussions)?

Opt for a long period of unemployment without getting benefits? (Feeling useless, hating one's life?)

c) The very brightest and best Thai English teachers would rival non NES who get 3 x or more than them. Starting with their TOEIC score. Alas, the Thai system is discriminating against the very best they have. Why not allow a Chula graduate with a few years' experience and a tOEIC score above 800 to compete against some folks from African countries?!? (I know such a situation - the highest paid foreigner having a TOEIC score of <550 and he gets free housing thrown in while the excellent Thai teacher earns <33% and must stay in some dorm).

Some Thai teachers of English make >40 k due to seniority. But can they hold a basic conversation? Nope.

I'm all for a student-centric approach. Drop the daily "morals" sermon. Stop using silly incomprehensible tests designed by clever Thais. Allow students more choice. Okay, maybe 20 in a class of 44 can't be arsed to learn English. Accept that and let them learn something else instead. And for those who really want to go the extra mile, offer frequent English Club / English Corner style lessons and pay for their books provided they actually read them.

How many bureaucrats are pushing paper, telling teachers what to do and how to do it?

And then the teachers get "evaluated" - not by the students who know who's good and who's not. (Office politics comes into it).

One poster here reported how his boss keeps breathing down his neck, sending in teachers to observe him. Keep that up and that teachers will just leave.

Do we see proof of the Peter principle at Thai schools?

[Stradavarius37]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

What is it about westerners? Where do they learn that the only form of defense is offense. Why go straight for the insults?

Insults...facts..... He IS one of the country's lone bright spots in educational reform - and your personal ignorance of who he is, and what he has done, is not an insult, it is a fact you ably displayed in public when you posted disparaging comments about him to "come down from his ivory tower".

[aarontendo]

And then the teachers get "evaluated" - not by the students who know who's good and who's not. (Office politics comes into it).

No offense, but no. I had a laugh in the office here when I saw an evaluation form for students to fill out. I looked at my boss and laughed and said no. Apparently it wasn't for our students, which is fine as I'd already told him I'm not having children evaluate my work.

Look around your schools, I bet dollars to donuts the popular teachers (the ones who will get high evals from kids) are the game and video ones.

[SoilSpoil]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The best teachers in the world couldn't function in the corrupt and morally bankrupt Thai education system. I observe it both as teacher and parent. No fail policies creates laziness, corrupt school officials driving in Mercs to the golf court, plagiarism at all levels (including your esteemed Universities) , teachers struggling with basic content matter (English, math, Science), classes cancelled for o so many 'activities' and so on. A lot of my morning classes are cancelled so that the school director can give a 2 hour 'Hitler-like' speech to my primary students about the importance of education. A dog chasing his own tail.

Dear professor, come down from your ivory tower and just admit that the whole system is sick and in dire need of reform. A bit of attribution theory should be applied.

What ivory tower is that? He seems to have a good grasp of the problems. Typical TV farang - bashing one of the few bright spots in education reform this country has...because of your own personal ignorance.

What is it about westerners? Where do they learn that the only form of defense is offense. Why go straight for the insults?

Insults...facts..... He IS one of the country's lone bright spots in educational reform - and your personal ignorance of who he is, and what he has done, is not an insult, it is a fact you ably displayed in public when you posted disparaging comments about him to "come down from his ivory tower".

The good man is putting the blame of the failure that the Thai education system is on the teachers. This demonstrates a complete lack of understanding. But maybe you agree with him that the teachers are to blame and not the corrupt administrative system as a whole. I repeat, the best teachers in the world, couldn't lift the standards here. It's similar to not being able to drive a car with a broken engine. No matter how good the driver is, you won't get far.

[aarontendo]

Doesn't really do any good to blame all the various cogs in the machine, and we have the same problem back home.

Teachers can and shoulder some blame, but let's not forget the role of administration as well as cultural and/or parental issues. I see all three at my school first hand. Agreed though, a bad system can and does grind down even your most idealistic and hard-working teacher.