January 21 - 27

The lifelong journey of learning

Thai TESOL President Acharn Suchada Nimmannit (right) points out that organisation leaders come from educational insitutions all across Thailand. Sitted with her are (from left to right) Acharns Chada Kongjan,Sonthida Keyuravoing and Akara Akaranithi.

The Thai TESOL convention is news in itself. But this year there’s an air of change in the proceedings

Story by IAN CHARLES DOUGLAS
Pictures by TERRY FREDRICKSON

Some of Thai TESOL's many publications.

It’s that time of year again. The Thai TESOL annual general meeting has become one of the most popular and significant events in the teacher’s calendar. However this year there’s one major difference. Educators attending the convention will have more than seminars, lectures and books sales to think about. For this year’s conference will be, more or less, the last stop before the much-heralded new curriculum. Back in 1999 the National Education Act set in motion the development of the ‘Basic Education Curriculum’. Following its authorisation last November, the nationwide implementation begins in April.

It’s a challenge the dedicated professionals at Thai TESOL are clearly looking forward to and one promised to inform everything taking place at the convention.

Dr Toemsakdi Krishnamra, Thai TESOL's first president.

All the speakers will be reflecting the monumental changes in their papers. Indeed the title for this year is "Culture, Content and Competency," taking three key tenets from the new curriculum.

Talking to the learning post, Ajarn Suchada Nimmanit, President of Thai TESOL explains. "We hope this year’s conference will promote a more positive attitude to education reform among teachers. That they will go away more comfortable with the new curriculum, and feeling able to cope with the change."

The culture

One of the most pivotal components of the new curriculum is the move away from traditional rote learning to autonomous learning. No longer should the teacher be seen as a dispenser of knowledge, an unassailable expert, but more of a facilitator. To put it in plain English, from here on in, the teacher should provide students with the tools they need not the information. This empowers students to find the information themselves. Teachers will teach the skills young people need to perform in modern day culture rather than the isolation of a classroom.

But in a world where the rate of change is accelerating to dizzy speeds, is the overworked and underpaid teacher ready for such a metamorphosis?

Ajarn Suchada Nimmanit summed up the dilemma. "There used to be the assumption that when a teacher graduated from college their education stopped right there. With the new Education Act in place this is no longer so. In the future our philosophy must be one of ‘lifelong learning.’ A teacher’s career must continue to grow throughout his lifetime if he is to serve his students. In the case of English language, an essential survival kit in the twenty first century, this is especially true."

So how will the AGM help? A quick browse through the programme reveals a variety of speakers and discussion groups relevant to educational reform.

For example, Simon Greenall, from Macmillan Education, will be presenting a speech entitled Passport or Excess Baggage? Socio-cultural Training in the Classroom. He will be looking at how socio-cultural training can be successfully introduced into language classes. His conclusion will show how cultural training is a passport to success. Later on Simon will host a workshop enabling participants to examine and try out some key materials.

Other speakers useful for cultural skills include Sorani Wongbiasaj, from Chiang Mai University, who will be talking on Culture Competence Skills: A Learner Empowering Approach to Culture Learning.

After absorbing the theory you may want to discuss the topic further.

Arunee Wiriyachitra, also from Chiang Mai University, will be moderating a debate entitled Doing the Best in Education Reform in Thailand.

The content

Another strand to the new curriculum is authentic assessment. This objective is underpinned by key concepts such as holistic scoring, good exam writing, and student portfolios.

Of course, examinations remain at the core of the assessment process. However they are reinforced by ongoing assessment that draws upon a variety of evaluation methods. Students achieve a rounder, more accurate profile of their abilities.

The portfolio for example, contains examples of a student’s work produced during the term. So the students are not only being tested on memory, (remembering facts) but on the abilities they need in their field of their study.

If a student is studying town planning for instance, she needs to know all the facts and figures. That’s what the exam is for. At the same time the student is engaged in projects throughout the term, such as designing a city precinct or shopping mall, all of which involves architectural plans, rationales, and research. Hence the student demonstrates her ability to perform the job.

For some educators this is a controversial issue. Critics have complained that some teachers misinterpret the concept. They use it as an excuse to dump their workload on their students. All the more reason to come on down to the convention and contribute to the debate. Sue Kay, also from Macmillan Education, will be looking at Mixing Cultures: Texts and Tasks that Get a Personal Response, while Anne Burns, Macquarie University, presents a paper on Research, Training and Evaluation.

The competency

But don’t think it is just the students who are on the end of autonomous and continuous assessment. Teachers are now to be researchers – "action researchers" to be precise.

Ajarn Suchada is at hand to explain how this might work in practice. "Teachers should do action research to judge their effectiveness in class. For example, they video their lesson and observe their weak points. They then use this insight to improve their lessons. In due course they repeat the videoing to appraise the results."

Another method Suchada suggests is keeping a journal during class. "The teacher notes down in the journal the successes and failures in class as they happen, before there is time to forget. At the end of term the journal can inform the planning process for the subsequent term."

Participants wanting more details on the teacher’s new role can begin with the plenary speaker. Donald Freeman, former TESOL president and representing the US embassy and Thomson Learning, will be addressing this issue head on. In his paper he will be outlining a set of principles that can serve to shape teacher education.

Jill Burton’s presentation When Doesn’t Teacher-Conducted Research Work? is another focusing on action research. She will be looking at the four essential steps of research — planning, doing, analysing, and reflecting, and how this fits into the classroom. ELT teachers, she argues can be both researchers and teachers. Her paper highlights some of the practical snags with implementing theory and how to avoid them.

The conference

This year the AGM is taking place at the salubrious environs of the Imperial Queens Park hotel, across from the Emporium on Sukhumvit Road, from Thursday the 23^rd to Saturday the 25^th of January. Sawitri Suwansathit, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education is kindly presiding as this year’s keynote speaker.

A staggering number of speakers — 17 in fact — will be presenting or chairing at any one time! As well as the serious business of education reform, there will be plenty of workshops on more down to earth topics. Teachers can discover new classroom strategies and discuss issues of the day among their peers.

Then, naturally, there are those discount bookstalls to delve into, with an exhibit of the latest English learning materials, books, CD-ROMs, Internet programs and web sites. Poster displays will present Thailand’s award winning teachers.

Information will be on hand about English programmes and short courses from various schools and institutions. Last and not least, free gifts are promised, such as conference bags, EL gazette, newspapers, magazines, books, notepads, pens and pencils and posters showing different ways to improve English.

This year’s Thai TESOL AGM is an invaluable opportunity for teachers to study, discuss, read, or just plain vent about the new reform curriculum. While downplaying the hyperbole, it’s fair to say this will be the educational event of the decade in Thailand. Attending the TESOL convention will give teachers a feeling of being in the thick of the action.

After all, there are few more important jobs than teaching. Yet so many teachers feel overlooked and forgotten by society. The classroom hours are long and the pay scale compares poorly to similar white-collar professions. All the more reason for teachers to come along to the conference and recharge their batteries, forge new friendships, exchange ideas, see and be seen, and maybe, in between all the methodology and pedagogy, have a little fun.

One teacher’s story

Of all the worthy projects undertaken by Thai TESOL, perhaps the most exciting to the average burnt-out teacher must be the scholarships. Approximately fifty teachers per year get financial support to study, mostly in Thailand, but also in the UK, Australia, and Japan.

The learning post was lucky enough to interview Ajarn Kruawan Thongwundee, one of the hard working teachers who received a Thai TESOL scholarship. Kruawan, a teacher from Selaphumpittayakom School, Roi-Et, in the Northeast of Thailand, shared her tale of studying in the UK.

What did you study? the learning post asked.

"I got the TESOL scholarship to attend a full-time English language course at King’s School of English in Bournemouth, in 1998 for one month. The course included lessons in grammatical structures, pronunciation and intonation, vocabulary, spoken and written communication skills."

LP: How has it helped your teaching?

"I think the experience from this course was very useful for me to design a course to develop my students’ English competence. For example, using more communicative activities in classroom, gaining more self- awareness of using interaction activities in class, and realizing how important it is to get students to understand different cultures."

LP: Are there any other benefits you took from your time in the UK outside of the classroom?

"Yes, apart from those, I have got two crucial benefits from this time. Firstly, spending life with the homestay family made me gain a deep understanding of the way of life in England. So when I explain something from my experience to students it’s easier. Secondly, I enjoyed visiting interesting places in England during the weekends. And sure I used the pictures that I took to create some language activities in my class. My students felt excited to study with the real pictures."

Since her placement in the UK, Ajarn Kruawan has gone on to become President of the Lower North Eastern Affiliate of Thai TESOL.

Remarkably, despite experiences like Ajarn Kruawan’s, the teacher scholarships fall short of the quota available! Ajarn Suchada Nimmanit explains, " Teachers are nervous to apply. That’s why our philosophy is to encourage them to take risks, to be more competitive."

Read our other cover stories here.

Back to our home page

| Comments to Terry F. at