|
|
|
Parents of primary and secondary school students in Thailand
have a remarkable range of choices.
The learning post helps makes sense of it all
We made a special effort in our first year to cover the main kindergarten through secondary school systems available in Thailand. With over nine million students, this is the educational sector with by far the biggest enrolment. In addition, many Bangkok Post readers are parents with children in this age group.
Thailand offers them a remarkable, even bewildering, range of choices. First, of course, is the Thai national system which is set next year to undergo a dramatic transformation away from its age-old rote-oriented curriculum.
 With relatively small classes, teachers in the international system are able to focus on their students’ individual learning styles. |
The transition is likely to be a bumpy one, but it does offer some hope to parents dissatisfied with the traditional approach to learning. And with the proliferation of bi-lingual (English–Thai) programmes within the national system, parents also have a choice in how they want the new curriculum delivered.
It is in the international school system, however, where the choices are most overwhelming. Thailand, observes International School Bangkok principal Dr Bill Gerritz, "has probably the most competitive market in the world". There are over 60 international schools in the Bangkok area alone, he marvels, compared to two in his previous posting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 These Harrow students take a last look at their notes before an IGCSE exam, an internationally-recognised qualification that can gain them early entry into many Thai universities. |
To help our readers begin to make sense of this complicated picture, the learning post has made it a point during the past year to cover the curricula in place in each of the four main educational systems found in Thailand. These include the national system, the British system, the American system and the system developed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation.
Here is a brief overview of some of the things we have learned from a very busy and eventful year in the field.
The British system
Of the four, the British system is is probably the easiest grasp. Based on the National Curriculum for England and Wales, the programme of study is divided into four levels, or "key stages" as they are commonly known.
Key stages one and two are roughly equivalent to the primary level in most other systems – "roughly", because children enter key stage one at the age of five, a year older than a Thai or American student would begin primary school.
In the early years, there is a heavy emphasis on English and mathematics. Teachers in both subjects closely follow the detailed guidelines set out in recent UK government initiatives, the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy.
Like most other primary school systems, the children in British-oriented schools generally have one teacher throughout most of the day. There may be one or more speciality teachers for subjects such as music, physical education, or computer literacy, but the core subjects will be handled by a single teacher.
This changes in key stage 3 (ages 11 to 14) where specialty teachers become the norm. This is a transitional period, weaning the children from dependence on a home room teacher and preparing them for the rigorous course work in key stage four (ages 15 and 16).
In key stage four, students take a series of two-year externally designed and graded courses, each leading to an internationalised version of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). In some cases, such as mathematics or physics, international schools can opt for the British version of these courses, but the vast majority go with the IGCSE versions set by the Cambridge University examination board. Examinations are generally held in May and June of the second year and they are sent to the UK for grading.
Interestingly, the Thai Ministry of Education has deemed the IGCSE qualification to be equivalent to coursework in Matthayom five and six of the Thai national system. Students who pass five IGCSE courses with a minimum grade of C are therefore eligible to apply for a place in a local university.
This is not the case in the UK itself, however, where universities require students to complete two years of preparatory courses beyond key stage four. For most students in the UK this means taking what are commonly known as A-level courses. In Thailand, however, many of the British-oriented international schools – Harrow is a notable exception – have opted instead to offer the IB diploma. More on that later.
 The American system offers the largest number of course choices at the advanced level. These Ruamrudee seniors can literally choose from A (art history) to Z (zoology). |
The American system
In theory at least, the American system should be the most difficult to understand. Actually, there is no single system since education in the United States is largely the responsibility of the individual 50 states. And since most funding comes from the local community, the states have delegated much of the actual control over what schools teach to cities and towns.
In reality, while American schools do have a lot of autonomy, recent developments have made them far more similar in what they teach than ever before. A big reason is the growing demand by US communities that their schools be accountable for the services they provide.
National and state standards and benchmarks have been implemented and children are regularly assessed to see how well they meet them. These results are widely published and compared and woe to the school whose students consistently lag behind.
Thus, do not expect radical differences between the American-oriented schools in Thailand. In fact, with their strict adherence to external standard and benchmarks, particularly in core subjects like English and mathematics, there are now striking similarities between American and British schools, educators from both systems point out.
Local autonomy, however, does give American schools great flexibility in the methods and materials they can use to meet their academic aims. The curriculum for each course of study is written internally and subject to constant revision. This is particularly advantageous in tailoring courses to the needs of an international student body.
One of the most striking features of the larger American-oriented international schools in Thailand is the remarkable array of courses they offer students at the upper levels of secondary school. At Ruamrudee International School for example, students literally have a choice between A (Art History) to Z (Zoology).
One reason for the variety is that many students in these schools are bound for four-year American colleges and universities where advanced preparatory courses are strictly not required for admissions. Thus, students generally have a choice of both standard and advanced courses, the latter offering varying degrees of US college credit depending on the institution the students apply to.
Students will often have a wide range of choices in the advanced courses they take. They can choose between the American-based advance placement courses or International Baccalaureate courses, for example. Some schools, like their British counterparts, offer the full IB diploma.
 This is a science course, but these NIST MYP students are taught to relate what they learn to other courses as well. |
The International Baccalaureate system
The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is a nonprofit educational foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. It offers a range of programmes popular with international and independent private schools around the world – and, increasingly, schools within national school systems as well.
By far the best known of these programmes is the IB diploma for the final two years of secondary school. As mentioned earlier, this has become the curriculum of choice for many of the top international schools in Thailand. The reasons most commonly cited are its international orientation and its academic rigor – "the best university preparation programme available anywhere" is a recurrent comment from school administrators.
Students earning the programme’s diploma must pass externally-graded exams in a primary language (one in which they have native or near-native proficiency), a foreign language, mathematics, an experimental science, a social science, and an elective course in another social science or the arts. In addition, diploma seekers must complete a rigorous theory of knowledge course, write an extended 4000-word essay on a topic of their choice and complete 150 hours of CAS (creativity, action, community service).
Several international schools in Thailand have also adopted the IBO’s primary years programme (PYP). The PYP is really a curriculum framework which schools can adapt to the needs of their students.
The core curriculum is inquiry-based with students and their teachers exploring six basic questions: Who are we? Where are we in time and space? How do we express ourselves? How does the world work? How do we organise ourselves? How do we share the planet?
 There is a remarkable amount of innovation within the various educational systems available in Thailand. Here Concordian teachers Adelaide Liu (left) and Angela House plan out the day’s activities for the first grade class they share, half of which will be taught in Chinese and the other half in English. |
Interestingly, the delivery of the PYP (and, indeed, the other IBO programmes) is not confined to English. There is a Spanish version and a French version, for example, and in Thailand, one Bangkok-area school, Concordian International, has a bi-lingual English-Mandarian Chinese PYP programme.
The IBO’s Middle Years Programme (MYP) is still somewhat of a rarity in Thailand. At present, it can be found only at the New International School of Thailand – which runs the country’s only full IB programme.
The MYP is interesting because of its systematic effort to explore linkage between subject areas. There is also a major emphasis on intercultural awareness and flexibility in communication.
While it is not technically required, schools implementing IBO programmes inevitably seek formal authorisation from the central organisation. This is a multi-year process involving IBO membership, several rounds of teacher training as well as intensive pre-authorisation and final authorisation visits by IB representatives.
The Thai national system
Big changes are afoot in the Thai national system as the country prepares for next year’s implementation of an ambitious new curriculum that for the first time incorporates some of the principles and practices common to the systems we have discussed so far.
The new curriculum can trace its origins to Thailand’s liberal new constitution which was adopted in 1997. The charter demanded far-reaching changes which, in turn, were explicitly spelled out in the National Education Act of 1999.
This set in motion the development of the "Basic Education Curriculum" which was finally authorised in November, 2000. In many ways, this is a remarkable and visionary document as it draws on the best practices of a large number of educational systems from around the world – much like the international baccalaureate curriculum found in many of Thailand’s international schools.
Specifically, the new curriculum is intended to address inadequacies in mathematics, science, technology and foreign language education, particularly the teaching of English. In addition it is designed to undo the failure of the current system to foster critical thinking and the life skills necessary to cope with a rapidly-changing world.
Much like the American system, the new curriculum gives – indeed it requires – significant local input. The Ministry of Education has developed a detailed list of guidelines, standards and benchmarks, but the individual schools are largely responsible for developing the content to carry them out. The idea here is for the schools to directly address the needs of their local communities.
If all goes according to plan, the curriculum will be implemented over a three year period beginning in 2003 in years one and four of both the primary and secondary levels. Preparations have been underway for over two years now and this year more than 1,000 schools nationwide have been piloting their versions of the curriculum.
The results have been mixed. The learning post has visited some stellar examples in Lampang’s Khelangnakorn School and Bodin Decha of Bangkok. But we have also seen schools who are obviously struggling. The biggest complaint has been lack of support in the painstaking curriculum drafting process.
Nor, it is clear, do teachers fully understand what it expected of them. For many, learning-centred education remains a foreign concept. Even for those who understand and embrace this method of teaching, it is extremely difficult for them to put it in practice when class sizes average 50 or more.
Coming in 2003
The nationwide introduction of the new curriculum is likely to be the story of the year in Thai education in 2003 and the learning post will once again be a close observer. We hope to play a supportive role since the consequences of failure will be dire indeed.
The learning post will also try to fill in some of the many gaps remaining in our coverage of the international school system. We will, for example, be visiting schools delivering some of the other national curriculums and, in some cases, we hope to take a subject-specific approach and look, for example, at a variety of approaches to the teaching of early mathematics or reading.
University programmes available in Thailand obviously need more coverage and there is a lot we can do with self-improvement education as well – effective methods for learning English and Thai, for example. Anything related to education in Thailand is fair game and we certainly won’t be adverse to suggestions from our readers.
School visits
We are often asked how we choose the schools that we visit. Often, we start with an idea for a story and then we search out a school where we can obtain the information we need.
Schools also contact us – far more, in fact, than we can comfortably accommodate. Here, we only select schools appropriate to the type of stories that we are doing at a time. Over the past year, for example, we have focused on primary and secondary programmes in the four main systems found here in Thailand (see main story).
Thus, our purpose in a school visit is not just to cover that school, but to provide insights into elements of the school’s programme that are likely to be found in other similar schools as well – key stage four in the British system, for example.
Do we charge fees to the schools we visit? Of course not. The learning post is part of the Bangkok Post’s editorial department and very independent from the commercial side of things. Occasionally, the advertising department may suggest one of their clients, but we evaluate their suggestions strictly on the merits of the story we are likely to get.
Education in Thailand on the web
Starting this week, we are devoting a special section of our website to education in Thailand. Here you can access all of our main feature stories on schools in Thailand since the learning post began publication in December 2001. The stories are grouped into clear categories to assist in your search. We’ll be working very hard to expand and improve this section in the coming year. And make sure you take a look at our main site as well.
terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |