Is the Thai education responsible?

[ipsut]

I do know of a young girl that is very bright yet disciplined severely for having hair unacceptably long, so your post caught my attention with that.
On the other hand I believe morals are best taught at home by parents, then reinforced at school, and society in general by prosecuting those guilty of corruption and other forms of illegal activity.
As for the quality of Thai Schools, my wife and I know of 4 Thai students that went to the USA to study via an exchange program ( 3 girls 1 boy ) all of them found studying in the USA to be easier than in Thailand, and ended up with very good marks. I'll admit that may reflect badly on the educational system in the USA more than it demonstrates a quality education in Thai schools.

[Hard_done_by]

I do know of a young girl that is very bright yet disciplined severely for having hair unacceptably long, so your post caught my attention with that.
On the other hand I believe morals are best taught at home by parents, then reinforced at school, and society in general by prosecuting those guilty of corruption and other forms of illegal activity.
As for the quality of Thai Schools, my wife and I know of 4 Thai students that went to the USA to study via an exchange program ( 3 girls 1 boy ) all of them found studying in the USA to be easier than in Thailand, and ended up with very good marks. I'll admit that may reflect badly on the educational system in the USA more than it demonstrates a quality education in Thai schools.

(many years ago) I remember attending a core subject seminar at uni and listening to an asian student reading 'his' assignment out loud to the class - all went well, apart from the multiple times he stopped and asked the tutor about the words he didn't understand - yes, education is a marvellous thing.

[ipsut]

RogerRamjet: I may have wrongly assumed you were referring to the basic differences between right and wrong when you mentioned morals and ethics. Political thought is an entirely different way of getting there. Teachers are human and subject to their own desires, therefore not perfect. Ethics in Thailand may be a societal problem if it is as bad as you suggest. I hope it is not, as that would be hugely difficult to solve. Solving it by installing leaders that have a history of corruption however does not seem to me to be a good way to start.
Hard_Done: was the Asian student a Thai ?

[Twilight Zone]

RogerRamjet,

Almost two year ago, I wrote 4 long posts in this forum about education. Here is my credentials. I have an engineering degree from the U.S. and a Masters in Finance, Marketing and International Business. About 10 years ago, at the suggestion of my friend, I was a part time lecturer in management at the number one university in Thailand. I was also invited to teach many management subjects to SME's at many other universities. I now hold a position in the Steering Committee of that number one university, and also a member of its Advisory Board.

My posts are very long (and may be boring), but if you are interested to read them, here is the link to the first one. The series continue on in the same topic.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=897&start=30

[ipsut]

ipsut,
Is it corrupt if a teacher says he or she has no time to teach the subject at school, but will hold "special classes" on weekends at a private residence so the students can catch-up. The fee will be 3,000 baht!

RogerRamjet: Of course that is coruption, again my point is do you fix it by bringing back leaders that have promoted that system for years. I doubt it. Do I have the soloution to change the system? Are you kidding?

[Hard_done_by]

... My posts are very long (and may be boring), but if you are interested to read them, here is the link to the first one. The series continue on in the same topic.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=897&start=30

Hi Twilight,

I'm interested in this comment:- "... This lack of logical thinking is reflected in our everyday life. I sell houses and I can see the big differences in how foreigners make decisions as compared to the Thai. I don’t want to sound as if I am putting down Thai people. However, I must say that most foreigners make more logical and more methodological decisions, whereas the Thai will make decisions based on feelings alone. ..."

Did you ever stop for one second and consider that ther westerners you were dealing with were not indicative of the nationalities they represent? For example, low paid workers, low skilled workers, and dole recipients were probably not in the group of 'foreignors' you speak of.

If one takes any given class, there is good outcomes for some, and bad outcomes for others, regardless of the amount of effort put into each student. it will also depend on the socio-economic background of the students, the care and consideration given by parents to a child's education, and the quality of the school they attend.

I think that most public school systems in the world have the same problem as what you speak of in thailand, and yes there will always be those teachers who put moe effort in (as you say you did), and they will always outshine the others (as you say happened), but that is the system, and it will always be the system.

If parents are concerned about their childrens' education, then they have to become an active partner in the education process on a day by day basis, and parents have to act at the first moment they see their child/children is/are struggling.

Parents have to establish open and honest dialogue with their children so that the children will open up when difficulties arise - most parents don't have time to be so watchful over their chidren, and some parents lack the educational skills themselves to be able to help their children, especially in the later years of high school, and particularly relating to more science or math (trig/stats etc) related courses.

I think of your efforts and achievements (while commendable) as no more than holding a glider to launch in a windless environment, because while you held their hands and took the time to get them to understand certain aspects, then what happens after they are 'launched' back to the normal system? Some will win, some will fail - it's the nature of things.

The truth of the matter is that most primary and secondary education is not that important in the end. I think such education is more about showing a capacity to learn by oneself - and if students have the capacity to learn then they will have more success in their respective university years. Grades/scores/test results are the keys which open doors to further and higher education.

Too much help weakens capacity - weaning a student off help is the answer, and the key to that student's long term success in his/her learning experience. You will aways be able to take the camel to the water, but making it drink is another matter altogether (so to speak).

Education is a long term process, it is just not one or two classes.



IMO

[Eggmeng]

The great american writer Mark Twain wrote that when he was 5 years old his parents put him in school and put an end to his education.

I hope that I will be able to afford here in Thailand, the best possible schooling for my daughter, as schools also serve to socialize children.

But in my view the single most important thing I can contribute to her education is to instill in her a love of reading, as my parents did me. This is admittedly, in the age of mass entertainment with all it's distractions, more difficult than it was in the past. And of course I will make sure she learns English, since much of the best reading material can most easily be found in that language.

This seems to me more realistic than to hope that the Thai system of education will improve in my lifetime. Though for the sake of the nation, I hope it does.

[Absara]

I do know of a young girl that is very bright yet disciplined severely for having hair unacceptably long, so your post caught my attention with that.
On the other hand I believe morals are best taught at home by parents, then reinforced at school, and society in general by prosecuting those guilty of corruption and other forms of illegal activity.
As for the quality of Thai Schools, my wife and I know of 4 Thai students that went to the USA to study via an exchange program ( 3 girls 1 boy ) all of them found studying in the USA to be easier than in Thailand, and ended up with very good marks. I'll admit that may reflect badly on the educational system in the USA more than it demonstrates a quality education in Thai schools.

When I was at the primary school (in a poor rural community in Thailand), I was taught (or told) to never question the wisdom of your teachers or your elders - translation: don’t think, just conform. I don’t mean to look down on the country education system, but I recall some farangs saying that kids in Thai schools get indoctrination more than education.

Later on, I was lucky enough to study in the West. My general observation is that up to undergrad level, students from Asia perform better than local/white students in Western schools, and the main reason is because Asian students study much harder than Caucasians do. At the graduated level though, I notice that the Caucasians tend to outperform their Asian counterpart in terms of new breakthroughs, new discovery and invention. I remember during my post-graduated thesis defense, there were several Canadian students, and other exchanged students from Germany, France and middle East sitting in. One of the students (German) was so bright, and I can feel his intellect and potential just by looking into his eyes. (I felt privileged and honoured to speak in front of such a brilliant and talented crowd).

[Voice]

Hi Roger, Yes, Thai educations need a lot of work especially Thai history. It has distorted with fiction rather than full fact. We had been under Burma and control by the Japanese in world war 2 yet they told us that we always been independent. Most of our history lesson came from fiction & tails rather than real history. I think I learn more about my country from European recorded history than my own country.

[trtrz]

Hi Roger, Yes, Thai educations need a lot of work especially Thai history. It has distorted with fiction rather than full fact. We had been under Burma and control by the Japanese in world war 2 yet they told us that we always been independent. Most of our history lesson came from fiction & tails rather than real history. I think I learn more about my country from European recorded history than my own country.

I seconded that. It is so distorted, it's revolting. I have been through both Thai and British education system and there is a huge difference in studying of history. For Thailand, history is one big nationalism propaganda, meanwhile for UK, it's a lesson where it builds your analytical skills with information given. Students of history in UK are thinkers, students of history in Thailand are followers.

I have been through the military training and the stuff they teach, were absolutely ridiculous, they called Indo-China war a war between Thailand and Japan, when in truth, it's Phibun invading Cambodia. This particular distortion of event is the reason, why many Thais fail to understand the situation at Kao Preah Vihear. The truth is Thailand has to compromise its right in that area to disassociated with the Phibun regime that invaded a French colonies and acted against the Allies. The history lesson also ignore the dodgy business going on in the power struggle between phibun and Pridi, during that time.