Thai editorial: To boost education, emphasize critical thinking over conformity

[toooa]

I don't see how that's gonna happen when the country is run by people who discourage real thinking with everything they do....What a joke, they want students to think critically, yet they can't take any criticism. They want students to be able to ask questions when they have laws that explicitly forbid any type of rational questioning. Just goes to show what utter geniuses they are at the top...

The biggest thing holding this country back is the people running the show. Arrogance and ignorance are a bad combination.

[Thai at Heart]

Any changes today will filter into the job market in 6 or 7 years.

[DogNo1]

I can't remember a time when education was NOT in crisis, can you. An interesting book about education is The Philosophy of Education by Bill O'Neil, one of my teachers at USC. Education in various settings has differing objectives which can covertly be different than the objectives stated. Perhaps most challenging to authoritarian regimes such as Thailand's is the Marxist approach to education as practised by Vygotsky in Russia. See https://www.marxists.org/subject/education/g

[DogNo1]

Sorry. I don't know how the "g" snuck onto the end of the URL. Please remove it for the URL to work,

See also https://prezi.com/xqisow8fiatt/marxism-as-a-philosophy-of-education/

and http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/vygotskian-approach/

[JustAnotherFarang]

Most thais learn to follow and they are happy to go with the flow because it means they do not need to think too much. Those that question where they are going are considered to be the rocks in the way of the governments progress. Suppression through conformity is the name of the game when it comes to educating the children of tomorrow.

I say to my students that if you tolerate this, then your children will be next.

JAF

[Artisi]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

[Thai at Heart]

Most thais learn to follow and they are happy to go with the flow because it means they do not need to think too much. Those that question where they are going are considered to be the rocks in the way of the governments progress. Suppression through conformity is the name of the game when it comes to educating the children of tomorrow.

I say to my students that if you tolerate this, then your children will be next.

JAF

They are actively told "Mai dtong kit maak".

[steven100]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

because english is the standard international language used by most countries when communicating for business or personal.

also, english is used in most banks, business houses, tourism spots, international transactions and many other forms of day to day work.

Thai school leavers will be limited in there chosen career paths if they do not speak english ... tourism revolves around english speaking, hotels need english speaking receptionists, airlines require english speaking staff, banks require english speaking staff.

A Thai cannot travel abroad or apply for foreign jobs if he cannot speak english.

It must be compulsory for every student to learn English ... this can only be of great benefit in their future.

and as thailand relies heavily on tourist and the $$$ coming to thailand then provide the necessary people who can communicate properly thereby to ensure their stay is more pleasurable.

If Thailand doesn't learn how to speak english it will be left behind as Vietnam & Burma will surely move ahead in this front as has been witnessed recently.

Edited August 22, 2015 by steven100

[lildragon]

Well written article. I certainly encourage my students to question me, each other and the power structure in place. Some relish it, others are less enthusiastic but generally open up over time. Unfortunately the powers that be don't like such ideas, the status quo gets questioned and they bring in new laws to squash it.

Things like the internet and social media are too wild for these dinosaurs to control. I'd like to think that in 30 years (so a few generations) things will of improved here. Future generations will look back on these times of massively corrupt politics, coups and fervent nationalism and shudder. There is only so much we can do though, the youth of Thailand need to take this and run with it.

Great article (surprising too considering their target audience) and I hope this issue keeps getting pushed.

[Artisi]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

because english is the standard international language used by most countries when communicating for business or personal.

also, english is used in most banks, business houses, tourism spots, international transactions and many other forms of day to day work.

Thai school leavers will be limited in there chosen career paths if they do not speak english ... tourism revolves around english speaking, hotels need english speaking receptionists, airlines require english speaking staff, banks require english speaking staff.

A Thai cannot travel abroad or apply for foreign jobs if he cannot speak english.

It must be compulsory for every student to learn English ... this can only be of great benefit in their future.

and as thailand relies heavily on tourist and the $$$ coming to thailand then provide the necessary people who can communicate properly thereby to ensure their stay is more pleasurable.

If Thailand doesn't learn how to speak english it will be left behind as Vietnam & Burma will surely move ahead in this front as has been witnessed recently.

I don't disagree with your comments, but compulsory - make it available and taught by competent teachers for those who want it- why not make Chinese compulsory as well - a lot of Chinese tourists come to Thailand and a wealth if business is undertaken with China.

[Thai at Heart]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

because english is the standard international language used by most countries when communicating for business or personal.

also, english is used in most banks, business houses, tourism spots, international transactions and many other forms of day to day work.

Thai school leavers will be limited in there chosen career paths if they do not speak english ... tourism revolves around english speaking, hotels need english speaking receptionists, airlines require english speaking staff, banks require english speaking staff.

A Thai cannot travel abroad or apply for foreign jobs if he cannot speak english.

It must be compulsory for every student to learn English ... this can only be of great benefit in their future.

and as thailand relies heavily on tourist and the $$$ coming to thailand then provide the necessary people who can communicate properly thereby to ensure their stay is more pleasurable.

If Thailand doesn't learn how to speak english it will be left behind as Vietnam & Burma will surely move ahead in this front as has been witnessed recently.

Because language is the language of international academia.

[casualbiker]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

because english is the standard international language used by most countries when communicating for business or personal.

also, english is used in most banks, business houses, tourism spots, international transactions and many other forms of day to day work.

Thai school leavers will be limited in there chosen career paths if they do not speak english ... tourism revolves around english speaking, hotels need english speaking receptionists, airlines require english speaking staff, banks require english speaking staff.

A Thai cannot travel abroad or apply for foreign jobs if he cannot speak english.

It must be compulsory for every student to learn English ... this can only be of great benefit in their future.

and as thailand relies heavily on tourist and the $$$ coming to thailand then provide the necessary people who can communicate properly thereby to ensure their stay is more pleasurable.

If Thailand doesn't learn how to speak english it will be left behind as Vietnam & Burma will surely move ahead in this front as has been witnessed recently.

Steven. English is already compulsory from P1 to M3, that's 9 years.. And most if not all of my M3 students know to capitalise the e in English. Edited August 22, 2015 by casualbiker

[Artisi]

and make learning english compulsory ....

Why?

because english is the standard international language used by most countries when communicating for business or personal.

also, english is used in most banks, business houses, tourism spots, international transactions and many other forms of day to day work.

Thai school leavers will be limited in there chosen career paths if they do not speak english ... tourism revolves around english speaking, hotels need english speaking receptionists, airlines require english speaking staff, banks require english speaking staff.

A Thai cannot travel abroad or apply for foreign jobs if he cannot speak english.

It must be compulsory for every student to learn English ... this can only be of great benefit in their future.

and as thailand relies heavily on tourist and the $$$ coming to thailand then provide the necessary people who can communicate properly thereby to ensure their stay is more pleasurable.

If Thailand doesn't learn how to speak english it will be left behind as Vietnam & Burma will surely move ahead in this front as has been witnessed recently.

Steven. English is already compulsory from P1 to M3, that's 9 years.. And most if not all of my M3 students know to capitalise the e in English.

Correct -already compulsory, in a fashion - so back to my previous statement make it available to those who want / need it to be taught by competent teachers. You don't need proper Oxford English to grow rice, banana's etc.

How many Germans, Poles, Italians,Greeks etc. speak and understand perfect English.

[Seastallion]

Recently my 32 year old adopted Thai son was awarded a special recognition medal from the daughter of the King. The award was for being the best teacher in Chiang Dao, Pai and Fang. He teaches Advanced Thai Language, and over the past 3 years his students have consistently won every award possible during competitions. His students love him, as do his superiors, although that wasn't the case at first. He teaches at a unique school in Arunothai, Chiang Dao which, while it has one building with a library and dining room, the class rooms are actually small rotundas set into the natural landscape of the school grounds. It's actually cool as hell. lol.

From the very start, he encouraged his students to ask questions. He would tell them that if they didn't understand something, then ask him and he would explain it to them. It took a while for them to accept this "new concept", but once they did, they started questioning ALL the teachers. It didn't take long before it caught on. The head administrator had a talk with my son and gave him the "we don't do that" routine, to which my son told him: "I do it that way. If you don't like it, there are other schools I can go to." Now they are begging him to stay, and not move back to a position here in Chiang Mai.

Now he, along with 7 of his fellow teachers at Arunothai, are all working on their Master's at the same university together, and they all have the same "agenda" - teach the students to THINK! I've had quite a few talks with him, and he admits that it's not going to be easy for them, but maybe the 8 of them, who will all be in Chiang Mai schools, can start something here that will eventually spread to others. When I pointed out that in going to a new school, he could meet opposition from his new bosses. He grinned and said: "Dad, I've got the daughter of the King behind me, so they aren't going to say shit!" Kid's got a point.

Let me buy that man a beer magnum Dom Perignon.

[Seastallion]

It's an excellent article that covers the major issues. It is correct.

What I don't feel comfortable with is the report mentions the committee recommending de-centralisation. I think that will lead to failures in some provinces, and also competition for funding.

I suspect the recommendation is made with funding to some select districts already in mind.

I read an article recently that says that Thai high school students do more hours per year than most other countries, and on top of that, many take tutoring, or extra classes....yet with paltry results.

The kids are over-worked and under-taught.

An observation from my teacher wife; When a teacher inherits a poorly taught student (most of them), she/he can't be bothered "repairing" the previous years failings, and so will just continue on with the, "passed"...not so much from a "no failures" reason, but her/his own job is too daunting, so pass on the problem to next year's teachers.

Not my wife, of course...she's angry and frustrated.

[Seastallion]

The opinions in the OP are deserving of a whole lot more exposure.

[hanseman]

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