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While its core curriculum is deliverd in English, Rasami International has put a big effort into its Thai studies programme. |
We’ve pretty much succeeded – with one glaring exception. We haven’t – until this week, that is – explored primary education within the British system. With the advent of the British national strategies for literacy and numeracy, this is one of the more clear-cut and comprehensive programmes of study available anywhere and it is well worth a look.
To see the British primary curriculum in action, the learning post recently paid a visit to Rasami International School in the Phahon Yothin area of Bangkok. It turns out that Rasami is a very interesting story in its own right.
Establishing an identity
 Arwenun Klipbua |
Struggling to survive in Bangkok’s intensively competitive international school environment, Rasami brought in a new management team headed by English-educated Arwenun Klipbua, the daughter of the school’s owner. A new teaching staff was hired, buildings were built or renovated, and, above all, the school sought to establish for itself a distinctive identity.
"We took a look at what we could do perhaps to make ourselves different," explains Educational Director Colin Astle, an experienced educator who was initially brought in as the new school principal.
"One of the things that occurred to me the moment I arrived here," Astle observes, "was that this school is very Thai. It has a Thainess about it and I felt that we could really develop that and capitalise on it.
"We talk in our mission statement about delivering a British education in a very Thai environment. We’re very strong on Thai language, on Thai music, Thai history and culture and this appeals very much to the luk krung, the children of mixed marriage.
"The dad’s happy because they’re doing what they would be doing if they were in England and the mom’s happy because they’re learning Thai and Thai ways and preserving their Thai cultural heritage. Many of these children will actually spend their lives in Thailand," Astle points out.
Another distinguishing element to Rasami’s identity, says Ms Arwenun, is the school’s determination to remain small. Despite a doubling of the enrolment over the past two years to about 120 students, "we are small and we will always remain small. We’re probably going to get bigger, but it’s not to the extent of having 1,000 in the school," she says firmly.
"Being a small school," she continues, "when we say we want to approach the child as an individual person, I think we can. We know every face and every name. I myself know most parents. I know their expectations before they enrol their child in the school. We talk at great length about what they expect."
 Their parents may dislike mathematics, but Primary Head Gary Hurn is trying to make sure that is not the case with the children he teaches. |
Garry Hurn, Rasami’s Head of Primary, concurs about the advantages of smallness. "It’s the village school," he says. "You have hands on with all the children in the school. Children have a family feeling in the school.
"It is very suitable for children who could get lost in a big school – the amorphous middle group," Hurn observes. "You are always able to look at the top; you are always able to look at the bottom, but not the children in the middle. Here the children in the middle are the majority of what you have. That is something which I’ve found very rewarding."
Key Stages
In the British system, students begin formal schooling at the age of five, one year earlier than in many other educational systems around the world. Thus, a year-one student at Rasami would be roughly the same age as a child in kindergarten three of the Thai national system of education.
The primary programme (for children five through 11) in the British system is divided into two "key stages". Key stage one encompasses years one and two and key stage two encompasses years three through six.
 Michael Gallagher |
According to Rasami headteacher Michael Gallagher, the focus of key stage one is maths and English while in key stage two it is maths, English and science. The advantage of the British system, he says, is that objectives are set out in great detail and there is considerable guidance for teachers.
Take maths, for example. "At each age group," explains Gallagher, "the teachers are given targets for the children. It’s a very gradual build-up of not only number, but of shape, measure, handling data and algebra.
"For the teacher its very very clear what’s expected and what’s expected of the children at each level at each class. Targets are achievable and within those targets there is the chance to go beyond the target for the child."
If the objectives are clear, Gallagher observes, they are also quite ambitious, even for children at stage one. "When they’re seven years old we want children to be able to read, write and to be able to do numbers. It’s actually quite a high level for seven year olds.
"We want the children to become independent learners. We want children to be able on their own, of course with help, but increasingly on their own, to be able to write stories so that they are even able to put some of their feelings into the texts. They’ll also be able to do different types of texts, not just descriptive stories," Gallagher explains.
Literacy strategy
Like other British-based schools in Thailand and around the world, English instruction at Rasami is based largely on the UK’s ambitious National Literacy Strategy. Introduced in 1996 to address the failure of large numbers of British students to achieve reading levels appropriate to their age, the new system appears to be a considerable success.
By the year 2000, for example, 75 percent of the 11-year-old were at or above target compared to only 57 percent when the programme was first implemented. This year, the goal is 80 percent.
At the core of the literacy scheme is the literacy hour. One of the early problems with the literacy scheme, says Hurn, was that it was quite rigid. "You were told what the structure would be. Most of the teachers stuck to that because they were told to.
"Now," Hurn says, "most schools and most teachers have adapted it to suit their experience and their own children."
This, he says is especially important for schools like Rasami where a large portion of the students are non-native speakers of English; they will often need extra practice and repetition before they succeed.
"We’ve been looking at instructions – what instructions are – with our year five and six children," Hurn relates, "which is a target that year four children will have looked at. But these children need more practice to be able to get the structures of the sentences. A lot of the children really don’t develop linguistically the same as a native speaker within this school.
"So I’m making sure they have the framework to build on. At the moment, they’re looking at ways of improving instructions. They’re looking at instructions for making a recipe which, it is clear, is really written for adults.
"Why? Well, it used the word ‘scones’. What are scones? Don’t know. So what could we call it? ‘Cake’. OK, you’ve got the idea, it’s a cake recipe.
"This way they’re looking at how they can manipulate language so they feel that words they have are important,"Hurn explains.
Becoming "numerate"
 The focus is on numeracy as teacher Zoe Brittain asks her year-four students to think of ways that they can double the number 26. |
Like other primary teachers, Hurn teaches a variety of subjects, but his love is clearly mathematics. "Maths is a particular interest of mine," he says. "I’ve been a maths coordinator for about 15 out of the 20 years I’ve been teaching. It was not a subject that I was good at as a scholar, but I’m very interested in what it is and what it can do for children.
"All the adults I meet hate mathematics," he observes. "So, I’d rather my children develop some love or interest of it rather than going through life having the same view as their parents. I think I succeed. I hope I do. Children seem to want to do the mathematics. ‘Oh, it’s the math lesson, good!’ So they are positive about it."
A big help, Hurn believes is the National Numeracy Strategy which was first implemented in the UK about three years ago.
"Numeracy is what anybody would call mathematics," Hurn explains, "but the realisation in England was that to be "numerate" – to be able to cope with figures and calculations – was by far the most important part of the study of mathematics.
"So the emphasis was moved from a topic-based approach where teachers would do a ‘shape’ topic, a ‘number’ topic, a ‘data’ topic to number-based skills. The other topics were much more closed, much more defined.
"It has its pros and cons," Hurn observes of the numeracy scheme, "but I believe the way the strategy was set out, it has benefited most of the children I’ve taught using it.
"The numeracy strategy lays out mathematics for a year group. It’s broken down into units. Most of those units are based on a one-week period. Each of those units has about three lessons. You can get teaching resources which actually go through and tell you what the three lessons are.
Rather than the chalk, talk and paper sessions common to many of our local schools, the numeracy scheme uses a more oral and mental approach. Children, says Hurn by way of example, "are encouraged to develop a variety of mental strategies for addition and subtraction.
"How do you multiply by ten? How do you multiply by one hundred? What are quick ways of being able to add up three single digit numbers – finding combinations for ten and then being able to add up the other ones.
"Children also learn strategies for using the calculator," Hurn continues. "When is a good time to use the calculator? How do you read the calculator correctly? All of those techniques are built into the strategy."
Numeracy, adds Gallagher, is taught through a wide variety of activities, particularly in the early years. "They’re taught through games. They’re taught through activities, such as role play in shopping scenes or restaurant scenes. They’re taught through song.
"The idea is that they have to understand before they can do the more traditional problem-solving activities. To do that, you make it fun for the children. In the early years all you will see are games and activities but they have got to be structured, Gallagher explains.
Expansion plans
It should be noted that Rasami International is more than simply a primary school. It enrols children from the age of two all the way through secondary school key stage four at age 16. At present, all levels are housed on a single site, but, says Ms Arwenun, plans are afoot to move the secondary school to a nearby plot of land in two years time.
terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |