Protecting our children from teacher frauds

[NanLaew]

Good to see the mostly unqualified and totally unprofessional 'teachers' circling the wagons to protect their own here.

[rwdrwdrwd]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

Edited September 30, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[casualbiker]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

Good for you! Have you seen the Thai teachers credentials!

[NanLaew]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

And your earlier posts in this thread questioned the OP's archaic standing on morality?

According to the OP, we have an 18 year-old who allegedly drinks alcohol, smokes dope and working illegally as a teacher. In a lot of western jurisdictions, 18 year olds cannot legally buy or be served alcohol, so he's probably breaking the applicable laws here and at home. In a lot more western jurisdictions, smoking weed is also a criminal offense. In many other countries, illegal foreign workers are... illegal.

So leaving moral judgement aside, the OP wants to report a serial law breaker who just happens to be working with kids.

I too am a parent of a child attending school in Thailand and I would be seriously concerned if the school my kid attends had hired a guy like the OP has pointed out.

All these comments about 'nobody likes a grass' and 'snitches get stitches'... makes me wonder if most 'teachers' contributing herein picked up their TEFL paperwork while they were studying 'inside'.

[casualbiker]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

And your earlier posts in this thread questioned the OP's archaic standing on morality?

According to the OP, we have an 18 year-old who allegedly drinks alcohol, smokes dope and working illegally as a teacher. In a lot of western jurisdictions, 18 year olds cannot legally buy or be served alcohol, so he's probably breaking the applicable laws here and at home. In a lot more western jurisdictions, smoking weed is also a criminal offense. In many other countries, illegal foreign workers are... illegal.

So leaving moral judgement aside, the OP wants to report a serial law breaker who just happens to be working with kids.

I too am a parent of a child attending school in Thailand and I would be seriously concerned if the school my kid attends had hired a guy like the OP has pointed out.

All these comments about 'nobody likes a grass' and 'snitches get stitches'... makes me wonder if most 'teachers' contributing herein picked up their TEFL paperwork while they were studying 'inside'.

The point is IF he has documented proof of wrongdoing then report to the relevant authorities about that law breaking.

Your last sentence was rather snide!

This is in relation to the alcohol: The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of 2008 increased the drinking age in Thailand from 18 to 20, private drinking is not regulated in private locations.

Smoking weed.. Does he have proof!

Illegal worker.. It really depends on what is written on his work permit. You DON'T need a degree for teaching assistant, language consultant etc only for "teacher"

So going on the facts or actually the lack of them.

What would YOU do? Have you asked to see the credentials of the Thai teachers that teach your child. Many don't have education degrees, the Thai teachers are doing exactly what many foreign teachers are doing! They are taking the 1½ year top up teaching diploma.

[rwdrwdrwd]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

And your earlier posts in this thread questioned the OP's archaic standing on morality?

According to the OP, we have an 18 year-old who allegedly drinks alcohol, smokes dope and working illegally as a teacher. In a lot of western jurisdictions, 18 year olds cannot legally buy or be served alcohol, so he's probably breaking the applicable laws here and at home. In a lot more western jurisdictions, smoking weed is also a criminal offense. In many other countries, illegal foreign workers are... illegal.

So leaving moral judgement aside, the OP wants to report a serial law breaker who just happens to be working with kids.

I too am a parent of a child attending school in Thailand and I would be seriously concerned if the school my kid attends had hired a guy like the OP has pointed out.

All these comments about 'nobody likes a grass' and 'snitches get stitches'... makes me wonder if most 'teachers' contributing herein picked up their TEFL paperwork while they were studying 'inside'.

Nice to see the archaic supercilious 'old fogies' circling the wagons to protect their own here.

My reaction remains the same as my initial one, nobody likes a grass, and the OP appears to me to be a sanctimonious git.

I do not care in the slightest if one of my son's teachers smokes weed, or drinks alcohol, so long as they are not doing it in lessons. Just as I don't care if they happen to ride a motorbike without a helmet.

Honestly... close to 50% of Americans admit to having smoked pot, 87% to having drank alcohol - should they all be banned for life from teaching? It's hardly alleged paedophilia is it.

Neither am I bothered in the slightest if an English teacher does not have certifications, especially if the only other financial option is a Thai national who is fully certified yet cannot communicate using the language.

Forgetting about the alleged weed smoking and alcohol drinking (though given the way the OP presented the situation, I find that hard to do, since it appears to be a primary motivator), but to indulge the idea that the 'moral judgement' aspect can be placed aside for a moment and this question looked at purely in regard to certification... my question is this:

"Would Thai kids be better placed to learn English if every Western teacher in the country operating without the correct certification was dismissed?"

I sincerely doubt it.

Edited September 30, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[TuskegeeBen]

Obviously the young bloke is teaching under the auspices of some established language school. If he is arrogantly operating solo (with a big mouth, Facebook, etc.), then rest assured that the local police already know about him. Just let them do their job.

The flipside of that coin being, that if the young bloke is actually performing professionally, by providing Thai students with their (obviously) much needed supplemental education, then why are you taking issue with the young bloke, to begin with?

Thais have a dramatic penchant for turning a small mole-hill "issue", into a huge mountain of soup opera events. Are you sure that you have not been overly influenced, by your wife's apparent obsession with getting "rid of the kid", for some unsubstantiated, or underlying reason, that you're not aware of ?

The beer drinking and alleged "weed" smoking, is really a very silly point of contention, to be pursuing. Why not try dismounting from the high-horse, for a change, and invite the young chap home to supper, instead? Who knows, you just might make a new Brit friend, in the LOS; all things of farang life considered.

Edited September 30, 2015 by TuskegeeBen

[TuskegeeBen]

I, for one, am not a teacher. I am a parent though, with a child at school in Thailand.

And your earlier posts in this thread questioned the OP's archaic standing on morality?

According to the OP, we have an 18 year-old who allegedly drinks alcohol, smokes dope and working illegally as a teacher. In a lot of western jurisdictions, 18 year olds cannot legally buy or be served alcohol, so he's probably breaking the applicable laws here and at home. In a lot more western jurisdictions, smoking weed is also a criminal offense. In many other countries, illegal foreign workers are... illegal.

So leaving moral judgement aside, the OP wants to report a serial law breaker who just happens to be working with kids.

I too am a parent of a child attending school in Thailand and I would be seriously concerned if the school my kid attends had hired a guy like the OP has pointed out.

All these comments about 'nobody likes a grass' and 'snitches get stitches'... makes me wonder if most 'teachers' contributing herein picked up their TEFL paperwork while they were studying 'inside'.

Nice to see the archaic supercilious 'old fogies' circling the wagons to protect their own here.

My reaction remains the same as my initial one, nobody likes a grass, and the OP appears to me to be a sanctimonious git.

I do not care in the slightest if one of my son's teachers smokes weed, or drinks alcohol, so long as they are not doing it in lessons. Just as I don't care if they happen to ride a motorbike without a helmet.

Honestly... close to 50% of Americans admit to having smoked pot, 87% to having drank alcohol - should they all be banned for life from teaching? It's hardly alleged paedophilia is it.

Neither am I bothered in the slightest if an English teacher does not have certifications, especially if the only other financial option is a Thai national who is fully certified yet cannot communicate using the language.

Forgetting about the alleged weed smoking and alcohol drinking (though given the way the OP presented the situation, I find that hard to do, since it appears to be a primary motivator), but to indulge the idea that the 'moral judgement' aspect can be placed aside for a moment and this question looked at purely in regard to certification... my question is this:

"Would Thai kids be better placed to learn English if every Western teacher in the country operating without the correct certification was dismissed?"

I sincerely doubt it.

[TuskegeeBen]

Sviss Geez, do you get the drift of Petchou's message? If you do not, then I offer my deepest sympathies, for the future of your child.

Edited September 30, 2015 by TuskegeeBen

[lostinisaan]

I remember a similar scenario in Isaan, a youngish chap working

as a teacher with the motive to engage with as many girls as he

could, i heard he was finally deported but i also heard he was a

real stud hero for what he did, he was one of those rotten apples.

A scenario in Isaan, wow. Great post.

[lostinisaan]

Obviously the young bloke is teaching under the auspices of some established language school. If he is arrogantly operating solo (with a big mouth, Facebook, etc.), then rest assured that the local police already know about him. Just let them do their job.

The flipside of that coin being, that if the young bloke is actually performing professionally, by providing Thai students with their (obviously) much needed supplemental education, then why are you taking issue with the young bloke, to begin with?

Thais have a dramatic penchant for turning a small mole-hill "issue", into a huge mountain of soup opera events. Are you sure that you have not been overly influenced, by your wife's apparent obsession with getting "rid of the kid", for some unsubstantiated, or underlying reason, that you're not aware of ?

The beer drinking and alleged "weed" smoking, is really a very silly point of contention, to be pursuing. Why not try dismounting from the high-horse, for a change, and invite the young chap home to supper, instead? Who knows, you just might make a new Brit friend, in the LOS; all things of farang life considered.

Obviously the young bloke is teaching under the auspices of some established language school. If he is arrogantly operating solo(with a big mouth, Facebook, etc.), then rest assured that the local police already know about him. Just let them do their job

You meant farcebook, right?

[aarontendo]

First a license doesn't make of anybody a qualified teacher. You didn't bring any argument or facts that really should make you so worried.

A TEACHING license is pretty much the definition of the route to being a qualified teacher. I can't believe that I actually have to point this out to people. Now, we can argue until we're blue in the face if that makes them good at teaching or not, and as such is a completely different topic.

Protip: The teaching license is sometimes called a teaching qualification.

There you go dots connected.

Edited October 1, 2015 by aarontendo

[Ace of Pop]

People who can Do ,Do. The days of it being a Profession is limited here

[bigt3116]

First a license doesn't make of anybody a qualified teacher. You didn't bring any argument or facts that really should make you so worried.

A TEACHING license is pretty much the definition of the route to being a qualified teacher. I can't believe that I actually have to point this out to people. Now, we can argue until we're blue in the face if that makes them good at teaching or not, and as such is a completely different topic.

Protip: The teaching license is sometimes called a teaching qualification.

There you go dots connected.

But you don't need a TCT licence to teach at a university, are they not qualified teachers ?

[NanLaew]

People who can Do ,Do. The days of it being a Profession is limited here

The OP mentioned a specific case and the best the pseudo-TEFL cheerleaders here can do is repeatedly offer the scenario that the young chap maybe has something for the OP's wife or vice versa. When another well known instance is brought up, the best some our Isaan ajarns can do is just ridicule it. Why? He knows it happens and not only in Isaan.

Teaching still is a profession, not something one suddenly decides to do just to make ends meet when circumstances dictate. A poor return on investments, a frozen pension, sun, beer and girlies certainly are not the right motivation to become a teacher.

The whole education system in LOS is open to such fraud and deception. There's not a lot that can be done about that as it's their crap system and up to them to fix it. But it is discouraging to see that most advice here is not to interfere and to turn a blind eye even to the blatantly obvious ones.

[Globeman]

And since you ask... Quite honestly I don't down there that often anymore - usually when there are tourist friends in town. Drink beer, go to a few gogo bars and go home. There was a time when I'd join in the fun, but these days, not... I'm married and like it that way.

And which gogo bar did you meet your wife at?

Wow... just wow, man... what a low blow... for what? If I did meet her in a gogo bar and my marriage is a success, your statement is scummy. If I met her somewhere else, and m y marriage is successful, it is equally or even more scummy.

In all, it is just a low-life gutter-dwelling scummy statement from one stranger to another with no justifiable motivation... Why would you say such a thing to someone you don't know who hasn't harmed you?

[aarontendo]

First a license doesn't make of anybody a qualified teacher. You didn't bring any argument or facts that really should make you so worried.

A TEACHING license is pretty much the definition of the route to being a qualified teacher. I can't believe that I actually have to point this out to people. Now, we can argue until we're blue in the face if that makes them good at teaching or not, and as such is a completely different topic.

Protip: The teaching license is sometimes called a teaching qualification.

There you go dots connected.

But you don't need a TCT licence to teach at a university, are they not qualified teachers ?

Nope, they're lecturers. They wouldn't be called "teachers" in the same way that licensed K - 12 teachers are. Anyone in education would admit to this, including those lecturers. Professors often state something similar.

Now what you're really asking is if they're qualified (as in able) to do their job. Well, that is up to the hiring institution.

The added wrinkle is that those working in schools under OBEC are aware of the TCT requirements, and as such at this time one needs to be pursuing teaching credentials of some kind, be it a license, an M.Ed, or x number of credits in education.

Edited October 5, 2015 by aarontendo

[Kf6vci]

What should I do? I know an 18 year old British tourist of questionable moral character (drinks and pot), who has never attended any university, never earned a decent score in any English course in grade school or high school, has no Thai license to work here, certainly not as a teacher. He is in Thailand on a tourist visa only but is now leading Thai kids in English and other studies at a northern school.

I don't see the problem. Is he, do you have evidence he is a 'bad teacher' or is somehow a 'threat' to the kids? Have you ever sat in on one of his classes and assessed it? If so, using what criteria or professional knowledge or experience? There is nothing worse than some self appointed 'superhero' sticking their nose in where it is neither needed, asked for, nor wanted. Wind your neck in unless you have proof that he is a threat to the well being of the kids, and liking a drink and a smoke, isn't proof only your overblown opinion.

You don't seem too sure about your own claims about his licensing yourself, so your other claims can only be dismissed as 'spurious'. Has your wife taken a shine to him or something?

As long as the government school's happy with him... This is none of your business!

Q: What about all those with fake degrees who are n o t NES and have a terrible accent and often bad pronunciation and a limited vocabulary? Some are getting 5 years' licenses! Many have a TOEIC score of <600.

Young men drink and like to do other things. Can the OP cast the first stone?

Why not report the school's director?

[Johnniey]

I'd like to know at what age the OP came to Thailand?

The young guy is doing no harm.

Has the OP ever broken a law in Thailand - no helmet, paying for sex etc?