Subject teachers: do you get any guidance on writing your teaching plans?

[attrayant]

I teach mostly math and science courses. When I started at this school, I was given teaching plans labeled Basic Science, Applied Science and Energy Science. I was given NO content - not even a syllabus of weekly topics. When I asked exactly what they wanted me to teach under the broad umbrella of Basic Science, I was told "up to the teacher". I got the same answer for the math subjects, which were just as vaguely named. So over the past two years I've developed what I consider to be an introduction to science, and made entry level physics courses for the two applied science & energy subjects.

I find it hard to believe that the MoE or whoever doesn't have detailed guidelines explaining what the "Basic Science" curricula is. Do those of you who teach science face the same issue?

This year I've been handed a new curriculum. Two of my science subjects have been replaced:

Science for Life Skills Development (instead of Basic Science)

Science for Career Development and Service (Instead of Applied Science)

Energy Science (no change)

When I asked what "Science for Life Skills Development" is, of course you know the answer I got: "up to the teacher". I tried to explain that the fields of science are very well established and rigidly defined, and it's not really kosher for us to go making up new ones out of thin air. I also pointed out that "Life Skills" is a really broad category of nebulous ideas (like time management, problem solving, social interaction, stress management etc.) that really don't have much grounding in what we normally think of as traditional science. Many shoulders were shrugged.

I don't even want to guess what "Science for Career Development and Service" might be, since there are at least three different ways to interpret the aggregate meaning of those six words.

With no information to go on, and lacking inspiration to create new course material, I'll most likely just use my existing teaching plans for general science and physics and slap new cover pages on them with the new names.

I mean, it's up to the teacher, right?

[otherstuff1957]

http://www.act.ac.th/document/1741.pdf

Here you go... Pages 106 to 150

[amykat]

Dear Attrayant,

Would you mind letting us know what type of school you teach at ...government, international, etc??

As a parent with a child in school here, I am really grateful we have good teachers like you. I have learned (I think) that my child's education is going to come, or has come, only from her foreign teachers. And I have an idea, only from their own initiative, for the most part.

I'm trying to concentrate on what I can do to support her teachers in little ways, rather than fighting the system in our school.

[attrayant]

http://www.act.ac.th/document/1741.pdf

Here you go... Pages 106 to 150

Thanks this is a useful document and even the head teacher here had never seen it. I see a lot of text from that document was cut & pasted into the teaching plan of whoever sat at this desk before me. At least now I know where it came from.

As for which school, I think forum rules don't allow me to name it since I'm being quite critical in this thread. It's a government school that bills itself as a "technological college" and the students are aged 15-17, so I guess it's equivalent to high school.

My next uphill battle will be trying to get them to turn one of the unused rooms into a science lab so the kids can do some hands-on. Right now I'm limited to demonstrations in front of the class.

Edited March 17, 2015 by attrayant

[WonnabeBiker]

Thanks for this thread. This is a big issue, IMHO. Last time I asked, someone gave me a thick blue book and there was content the government wanted students to be familiar with.

Q: got any textbooks? That has been a sore point as well.

Schools need libraries with English-English dictionaries and "Easy Reader" books. The usual once-a-week lesson doesn't cut it!

[attrayant]

The problem with using textbooks in a school that wants to have NES teachers is that the school can never be sure of getting a NES who is fully credentialed in a specific field of science. That's probably why the subjects are so vaguely titled. For example, based on a stack of papers that was in my desk drawer when I was hired two years ago, I can see the previous science teacher was teaching a lot of organic chemistry under the subject heading of "Applied Science". While I enjoyed chemistry in college and could teach it at a basic 101 level if I had to, it would not be my first choice. Thus it came to pass that I re-wrote the teaching plan for physics instead, which is still an applied science so it fits the bill and the school was okay with that.

The second problem is that science is a hands-on subject. Science should be split 50-50 between theory and lab. Sadly, many (most?) government schools don't have anything resembling a science classroom. That means 50-70% of any science textbook would be wasted paper.

A proper science classroom should look something like this:

There really is nothing exotic or prohibitively expensive there. There are some things we can do without - for example you don't really need fume hoods at every station if experiments that produce offensive or toxic gasses are done by the teacher in the main fume hood (that thing that looks like a big oven against the back wall). Really it's not hard to build a science classroom. Yes it's a bit more expensive than standard desks and chairs, and there's some consumables involved (chemicals get used up, glass beakers will break, etc.) But even though Thailand spends more per capita on education than most other countries it still can't seem to find money to build basic science classrooms.

Sorry that turned into a rant, but I'm passionate about this. But that's why you won't see many science textbooks in an English program unless you're in an international school or college/university.

[aidenai]

The problem with using textbooks in a school that wants to have NES teachers is that the school can never be sure of getting a NES who is fully credentialed in a specific field of science.

Sorry that turned into a rant, but I'm passionate about this. But that's why you won't see many science textbooks in an English program unless you're in an international school or college/university.

Don't apologise for something you did on purpose.

Please tell us, are you a NES?

[lostinisaan]

The problem with using textbooks in a school that wants to have NES teachers is that the school can never be sure of getting a NES who is fully credentialed in a specific field of science.

Sorry that turned into a rant, but I'm passionate about this. But that's why you won't see many science textbooks in an English program unless you're in an international school or college/university.

Don't apologise for something you did on purpose.

Please tell us, are you a NES?

I apologize before writing anything, because I've got very good "manors". ( Was used by a showroom Brit agency teacher to express his opinion if an American guy did something to a student in a sexual manner.....

The only problem was that the Brit didn't like the much more intelligent American, because he made it to a lawyer in his life before.....

The American was a lawyer and had more brain in his toes than this guy had in his..aeehh nose.

The Brit then finally quit and wrote a letter, visible for ALL English teachers:

"Dear colleges", and the shit finally hit the fan. The American guy didn't do it in a sexual manor' and and and and...

He'd left an incredible goodbye letter that was later corrected by a seven year old American girl. The guy's still employed as a model teacher for a well known agency.

A real tough "walking meter"( maybe 152 cm "tall") wanted to take an old American guy out, "behind building four" to "sort a problem out."

I'm afraid the "walking meter" isn't alone here to make other peoples' lives complicated with his brownish tongue.

Now I'm looking for a place to have some fun with my wife.Like an old fashioned manor. Or was it manner. Freaking English.

Edited March 18, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Scott]

Expecting a science program with a functional science lab is like expecting a library with books. It's pretty rare in Thailand.

We have a science lab and it is required that the teacher takes the students to the lab at least a couple of times each term. The students however, are generally not allowed to do anything. The teacher demonstrates the experiment and the students watch. They have nicely built lab tables, so it looks good.

[attrayant]

That's encouraging. I had heard from so many others that their schools are as barren as mine, but if there really are schools out there with real facilities then maybe I ought to start looking around again.