New criteria for teacher accreditation

[rooster59]

New criteria for teacher accreditation

By KEDKARN BOONPEN
THE NATION

 

 

THE NEW TEACHER accreditation criteria has been put in place to allow Thailand’s 400,000 teachers to put in quality time to benefit students and to ensure devoted teachers are properly and fairly rewarded.

 

The new rule, from the Office of Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission, has been in effect since July 5. It carries an exemption allowing teachers hired before July 5 to apply for the old-style accreditation once within this year while those hired after that date can apply only for the new criteria.

 

Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin quoted the late King Rama IX’s royal message on the matter on July 5, 2012, that inspired the ministry to address the issue for the past five years. 

 

The royal message stated: “Thai teachers tend to focus on writing thesis papers and textbooks for their supervisors in order to get a higher position and salary. On the other hand, teachers who focus on teaching their students tend to get nothing much in return. The system is unfair. We need to change it. Teaching must be the priority in the consideration of teachers’ merits and teachers who put in a high quality number of hours … must be properly rewarded.”

 

Teerakiat said the new rule would keep teachers in schools and ensure that those devoted to teaching are properly and fairly rewarded. It would also curb related issues such as thesis cheating for accreditation and the high annual budget used for assessment.

 

Surin’s Primary Educational Service Area Office 3 deputy director Saner Saenkham said the new rule was on the right track by having teachers’ career advancement based on their merits to benefit students, while curbing thesis cheating. 

 

The new criteria would make teachers more alert and devoted to teaching, he said. It also gave school directors a role in assessing a teacher’s performance as both must sign an agreement for the accreditation. 

 

“It will naturally let school directors, school committees, parents and the community see what a teacher has done and how that benefits the children,” he said.

 

Nakhon Pathom’s Ban Tha Talad School teacher Pittaya Peerawuthhipan, who has attained the “Teacher of Special Expertise” level, said many teachers were worried as they had applied for accreditation under the old criteria. She urged the authority to provide a clear explanation about the new rules as some conditions required interpretation.

 

The new criteria for four teacher accreditation levels have many qualifications, including a different amount of class-teaching hours. Those applying for “Teacher of Special Expertise” level must have taught at least 800 hours a year. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30320191

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-08

[Samui Bodoh]

I have read this story four times, and the only thing that I can see is that teachers now have to actually be present in their classrooms. How this translates into better quality teaching is beyond me.

 

BTW, if teachers cheat on their thesis, why not simply fire them? Perhaps I am being too logical?

[clockman]

9 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I have read this story four times, and the only thing that I can see is that teachers now have to actually be present in their classrooms. How this translates into better quality teaching is beyond me.

 

BTW, if teachers cheat on their thesis, why not simply fire them? Perhaps I am being too logical?

Logic, is an alien concept. In Thailand. That is why they have, Thainess!

[ben2talk]

28 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I have read this story four times, and the only thing that I can see is that teachers now have to actually be present in their classrooms. How this translates into better quality teaching is beyond me.

 

BTW, if teachers cheat on their thesis, why not simply fire them? Perhaps I am being too logical?

Read it again, at least another six times, then tell me the meaning of the phrase 'high quality number'.

 

Methinks the translation was done and I dare speak Thai. Maybe someone who does not understand how to translate, you should not change the words into English. In the nature of language You really to understand the content and then explain it in English. (sic) 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by ben2talk
Thinglish.

[Cadbury]

2 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Read it again, at least another six times, then tell me the meaning of the phrase 'high quality number'.

 

Methinks the translation was done and I dare speak Thai. Maybe someone who does not understand how to translate, you should not change the words into English. In the nature of language You really to understand the content and then explain it in English.

 

 

Is high "quality number" related to "quality time" in any way? As in ......400,000 teachers to put in "quality time" to benefit students.

I recall my ex Thai high school English teaching girlfriend seemed always be having "quality time" going away with school directors and senior staff on "quality excursions" minus the students. They were busy spending the graft money the school was getting from employment agencies for sending them Filipinos to replace farang English teachers.

 

[mikebell]

55 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

teachers now have to actually be present in their classrooms.

Their presence is a hindrance to learning.  'Hey, Teacher, Leave those kids alone.'

[Dave67]

Is there a Thai word for quality , they seem to use it quite frequently

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, ben2talk said:

Read it again, at least another six times, then tell me the meaning of the phrase 'high quality number'.

 

Methinks the translation was done and I dare speak Thai. Maybe someone who does not understand how to translate, you should not change the words into English. In the nature of language You really to understand the content and then explain it in English. (sic) 

 

 

With Thai being an Abugida language where context is largely inferred, translation will always be fraught with errors even when done by a local who 'knows' what is being inferred

 

Usually there's a greater effort to ensure accuracy when translating the words of the monarch. I think the late King probably suggested reward for teachers providing "a high number of quality hours" of education rather than a "high quality number of hours".

 

Up to them how that concept will be measured though. Even dip sticks don't accurately indicate when one is "a quart low."

[thequietman]

So, number of hours spent in school is the measure of a good teacher. What a pile of crap. 

 

Test results/scores are the measure. Additional learning especially in English is the measurement. Being in your assigned class at the assigned time is the measurement. Having their students trust is the measurement. Being a good communicator is the measurement. Being a good listener and having the personality to match is the measurement. A sense of humor, kindness and knowledge are all good measurements of a good teacher.

 

Having to ask the director to assess, is opening the doors to more 'tea money.' Surely the head of department in the relevant subject is a better judge.

 

More blah, blah, blah and nothing changes. 

[thequietman]

46 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

Is there a Thai word for quality , they seem to use it quite frequently

Yes, it is pronounced as .........  'Cash.'

 

Different dialects means different names like ................ 'Money' or 'Moolah'

 

In Isaan I think it is pronounced as 'Backhander.' 

 

The generally accepted pronunciation throughout the country is however ............... 'Tea money.'

 

I could be pronouncing or spelling them incorrectly as I don't speak Thai but these are the gist of it. 

[Tilacme]

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Is high "quality number" related to "quality time" in any way? As in ......400,000 teachers to put in "quality time" to benefit students.

I recall my ex Thai high school English teaching girlfriend seemed always be having "quality time" going away with school directors and senior staff on "quality excursions" minus the students. They were busy spending the graft money the school was getting from employment agencies for sending them Filipinos to replace farang English teachers.

 

I am okay with "teachers who put in a high quality number of hours".  What I don't understand is when people use the noun "quality" on its own, ie quality time or, that sportsman is quality.   It needs to be accompanied by an adjective such as high/low/top, IMHO.  A builder friend put on his letterhead "quality as standard" so I told him you are not saying what you thing you are saying, but he didn't get it.  

[Moti24]

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

Their presence is a hindrance to learning.  'Hey, Teacher, Leave those kids alone.'

Teachers are just a brick in the wall; dislodge a brick, and the wall comes tumbling down.

[Lupatria]

The schools just reflect the situation in almost all other sectors: It's a swamp of inabilities, position buying, corruption, and nepotism. Just the way they want it.

[seajae]

from what I have seen of the teachers in Thailand they lack any quality what so ever, they are incapable of teaching students  in the class room and usually just ignore them. When you have to send your child to after school classes to learn what they should be learning in the class room you realize just how pathetic thai teachers really are. The only way it could be improved on is if they actually sat in on classes every so often to ensure the teachers were doing their jobs and gave them promotions based on the students test results but because they refuse to fail students this would be difficult to do, after all, cant have anyone losing face over their schooling, making them pass exams before they could go into a higher class is the only answer but will never happen, would mean they actually have to work

[connda]

What a concept.  Rewarding teacher who actually teach.  

[Gumballl]

The new slogan in Thailand:  No Teacher Left Behind

 

And as for the children, well screw them.

[Happyman58]

54 minutes ago, connda said:

What a concept.  Rewarding teacher who actually teach.  

Yeah amazing hey I thought that is what they are employed for

[ben2talk]

12 hours ago, NanLaew said:

With Thai being an Abugida language where context is largely inferred, translation will always be fraught with errors even when done by a local who 'knows' what is being inferred

 

Usually there's a greater effort to ensure accuracy when translating the words of the monarch. I think the late King probably suggested reward for teachers providing "a high number of quality hours" of education rather than a "high quality number of hours".

 

Up to them how that concept will be measured though. Even dip sticks don't accurately indicate when one is "a quart low."

ROFLMAO

Thai is indeed an 'abugida' and not a true alphabet. The word 'abugida' is referring to the alphabet, not the language.

 

It is not context which is inferred, but syllables. The difference being seen in English blends like 'Stoop'. With Thai, an inferred syllable 'SaToop'. 

 

Interestingly I noticed this aspect of language first watching NYPD Blue in the U.K. - those detectives use some very very long and complicated strings of words to make very very simple statements (replacing 2 words with 4 or 10 depending on the phrase). I also played a kind of 'NVQ' game where I would replace vocabulary in sentences and see how much you can get away with talking gibberish. If you're smiling and nodding, NVQ and context can get you through many situations with people not really taking much notice of the actual words used.

 

So I'm sorry, but that's not why the translation fails. Mostly it fails from lack of fluency.

 

For example, using google translate it can prove difficult to come up with a sentence like 'นี่เป็นดินสอหนึ่งแท่ง' (something like 'this be pencil one piece' with the word 'piece' or 'stick' being a classifier). So the language is much more than contextual - the classifier might well appear completely useless. In English, we'd only do that for something like sugar which is uncountable and use the 'classifier' to specify a unit (bag, kilo, spoon or whatever).

 

So to translate, you can quite correctly say 'This is a pencil' and get 'นี่เป็นดินสอ' (this be pencil) as well as 'นี่คือดินสอ'... but the schoolteacher or grammar nazi will say to you that it's not actually correct.

 

Thus, when translating, they make a mess by making it correct instead of just trying to make some sense.

 

I guess this is 50% of what it means to be Thai. The other 50% just saying 'whatever - ไม่เป็นไร' because they just can't handle it.

[ben2talk]

12 hours ago, Tilacme said:

so I told him you are not saying what you thing you are saying, but he didn't get it.  

And you thing he should get the thing you are saying?

 

Mostly I questioned the phrase (quality hours) because generally a teacher knows they need to spend as much, if not more time, planning than teaching.

 

For a fresh idea on a 3 hour teaching session, I could easily put in 9 hours work preparing ideas, plans, materials and so on. 

 

Quality doesn't come from the time. It comes from building up and developing ideas (improving plans from year to year rather than scrapping an rewriting them) as well as managing people and how they can share and enhance their skills.

 

For me, 'quality' time spent in school would be 2 hours preparing and planning a new activity with a well written plan that can be taken up by other teachers. For 'general' teachers (as is actually the case quite often) one teacher could come up with one excellent 3 hour plan per month. By sharing it with 4 other teachers, maybe a talented artist, historian, writer, mathematician or whatever - putting 6 hours each into planning a 3 hour plan means that you benefit from 24 hours of hard work (6 your own) and gain 12 hours of great material that you can use next month - but priceless once created because if it's good it can be pulled out again next year....

 

The Thai concept is that a teacher is good if they turn up early and go home late every day.

[ericthai]

15 hours ago, ben2talk said:

Read it again, at least another six times, then tell me the meaning of the phrase 'high quality number'.

 

Methinks the translation was done and I dare speak Thai. Maybe someone who does not understand how to translate, you should not change the words into English. In the nature of language You really to understand the content and then explain it in English. (sic) 

 

 

I think you are beating a dead horse.  Reporting like this has been complained about and ignored for the last 20 years. 

[bangrak]

Me good teacher in the anglish, my mother she tell, sure, she know, she have BF from france two month.

[thhMan]

I am packing my family and leaving the LOS, since smiles doesn't mean intelligence

 

Ive spoken to quality teachers and surprised at their lack of quality

 

The only way kids will get a decent education in Thailand is not to get an education in Thailand

[Tilacme]

14 hours ago, ben2talk said:

And you thing he should get the thing you are saying?

 

Mostly I questioned the phrase (quality hours) because generally a teacher knows they need to spend as much, if not more time, planning than teaching.

 

For a fresh idea on a 3 hour teaching session, I could easily put in 9 hours work preparing ideas, plans, materials and so on. 

 

Quality doesn't come from the time. It comes from building up and developing ideas (improving plans from year to year rather than scrapping an rewriting them) as well as managing people and how they can share and enhance their skills.

 

For me, 'quality' time spent in school would be 2 hours preparing and planning a new activity with a well written plan that can be taken up by other teachers. For 'general' teachers (as is actually the case quite often) one teacher could come up with one excellent 3 hour plan per month. By sharing it with 4 other teachers, maybe a talented artist, historian, writer, mathematician or whatever - putting 6 hours each into planning a 3 hour plan means that you benefit from 24 hours of hard work (6 your own) and gain 12 hours of great material that you can use next month - but priceless once created because if it's good it can be pulled out again next year....

 

The Thai concept is that a teacher is good if they turn up early and go home late every day.

Respect.

[Happyman58]

10 hours ago, thhMan said:

I am packing my family and leaving the LOS, since smiles doesn't mean intelligence

 

Ive spoken to quality teachers and surprised at their lack of quality

 

The only way kids will get a decent education in Thailand is not to get an education in Thailand

There are some good schools in Thailand I think the problem is that the government restricts what they can teach the kids But then again there are some very poor teachers here  They would not get a job anywhere except in Thailand

[perthperson]

"I think the problem is that the government restricts what they can teach the kids."

 

I am not certain that is true. My Thai neighbours educate their children privately because of what they claim to be the poor quality of teachers in the government school system.

Edited July 9, 2017 by perthperson

[thequietman]

15 hours ago, ben2talk said:

And you thing he should get the thing you are saying?

 

Mostly I questioned the phrase (quality hours) because generally a teacher knows they need to spend as much, if not more time, planning than teaching.

 

For a fresh idea on a 3 hour teaching session, I could easily put in 9 hours work preparing ideas, plans, materials and so on. 

 

Quality doesn't come from the time. It comes from building up and developing ideas (improving plans from year to year rather than scrapping an rewriting them) as well as managing people and how they can share and enhance their skills.

 

For me, 'quality' time spent in school would be 2 hours preparing and planning a new activity with a well written plan that can be taken up by other teachers. For 'general' teachers (as is actually the case quite often) one teacher could come up with one excellent 3 hour plan per month. By sharing it with 4 other teachers, maybe a talented artist, historian, writer, mathematician or whatever - putting 6 hours each into planning a 3 hour plan means that you benefit from 24 hours of hard work (6 your own) and gain 12 hours of great material that you can use next month - but priceless once created because if it's good it can be pulled out again next year....

 

The Thai concept is that a teacher is good if they turn up early and go home late every day.

So true! Once you are teaching a number of years, you already have lesson plans that have been proven to work again and again. Sometimes they need small changes due to class, age, number and ability. The fact that I can pull out a lesson in less than an hour is bewildering to the other Thai teachers.

It takes me less and less time each year to prepare for a class. If however I am not at my desk preparing for the class that I am already prepared for, then I am a shit teacher.

The fact that my lessons work, have been proven to engage the students and follows the curriculum is neither here nor there. frustrating to say the least.