Sharing experiences

A good exchange benefits both the host country and the visiting participants. Making that happen in Thailand are clockwise from the top left: Marilda Riul, Diana Johnson, Kathleen Andrews, Barbara Sabonis-Chafee, Rosemary Whitcraft, Angela Broeckel and Mark Trachtenbarg.

Every year, large numbers of Thai students go abroad as well and not just to the United States as is commonly believed. Last year 700 Thai AFS students went to 42 nations with sixty percent of them going to countries other than the US.

But AFS has other programmes too. There are community-service programmes for young adults, for example, and also teacher exchanges ranging from several weeks in duration to up to a year. Hundreds of Thai teachers have spent a year abroad, living with host families, observing classes, teaching about Thai language and culture and participating in community activities.

With the Thai educational system in the midst of reform, AFS Thailand has also received requests for experienced American volunteer teachers. The result has been a pilot programme, a cooperative effort between AFS Thailand, AFS USA and the local US Embassy. In the end, six volunteer teachers, five American and one Brazilian, were brought in for teaching stints of up to six months.

“We have a close association with the Ministry of Education and they asked us to try to help,” explains Rosemary Whitcraft, AFS Thailand’s long-serving and extremely dedicated consultant for scholarships and funds. “The programme is called the Global Education Programme. Teachers interested in participating apply to AFS USA and the final selections are made here in Thailand. ”

Whitcraft says the pilot was a little slow in getting started, but it has gone well enough that she is sure it will be continued, with at least 10 teachers coming over in the next batch.

“We’re looking for teachers, older teachers if possible, to come out on what is like a sabbatical for three months, six months or a year. The Ministry would like to have teachers to work all over the country,” Whitcraft relates.

Recently the learning post had an opportunity to speak at length with the six teachers participating in the pilot programme. All had very positive experiences, and they also had insightful observations on the Thai educational system and how future exchanges might be tailored to better fit its needs.

They will be listened to, Whitcraft assures. “This is a pilot programme and I’m sure there will be changes. Their recommendations will go to the board of AFS Thailand and AFS USA. We will get input from the Ministry too.”

Kathleen Andrews, a retired accountant, is one of the older volunteers Whitcraft spoke about. Based in the northeastern province of Kalasin, she has come in for the very special treatment Thai society affords its seniors.

“Everyone is amazed by the fact that I am 72 years old and that I have come to a strange country not knowing the language. They’re surprised that I would really like to walk to school, but they won’t allow me to do that. Everybody wants to take care of me. They want to help me across the street and up and down stairs and tell me what I should and should not eat. Everyone is very kind.”

It has been a unique experience, she says. “I get to live with a host family. I have been to three weddings – no funeral yet, but I think I will probably do that before I leave. I just live my daily life as if I were a Thai person,” Andrews says.

At Kalasin School where she teaches, she does not have a class of her own. “I have spent a lot of hours in the classroom, but not with a particular class,” Andrews explains.

“The children seem eager to talk with me. I have students that look me up during their free time. If they find that I have some free time, I have had groups of three to six students come and literally sit at my feet for the opportunity to talk. You seldom find that in the United States.”

Andrews feels an equally important part of her job is with the teachers, particularly the English teachers. “I have lunch everyday with the English department. The English teachers bring their lunch and they share it with me. We spend at least 90 percent of our time speaking in English. I’m never sure how much teaching I have done, but I’ve certainly done a lot of talking.”

Andrews’ only criticism is one that was echoed by several other volunteer teachers. The programme could benefit from some tighter planning, she says. “The only problem that I have is that they don’t tell me in advance what I may be doing tomorrow or what they expect of me. We in American are a little bit more accustomed to planning our activities ahead of time.”

Barbara Sabonis-Chafee agrees. She is also a retiree and has had an “absolutely phenomenal personal experience” during her stay in the northern province of Lamphun, but she feels too that the programme needs clarification.

“I think there are two dimensions to the experience,” Sabonis-Chafee reflects. “One is the growth the teacher gets from the experience which is quite separate and apart from the benefits the school gets from having the teacher. I think that maybe those two areas need to be clarified a bit more.”

Like Andrews, she has spent much of her time moving from class to class. In her opinion this is not the best use of a volunteer teacher’s time.

“I think it was the first time the school has had a volunteer teacher and the thinking was we’ll just have her go in and talk to the students so they can hear what a native speaker sounds like. As a guest in a room for an hour is fine, but I’m not sure that every week, once a week having a guest is particularly beneficial,” Sabonis-Chafee observes.

Her conviction was strengthened recently by a very positive teaching stint during the term break. “I had a summer session that was exclusively mine,” she explains. “The first group was 28 students from Mattayom one (M1) and the second group was M3. I thought that was fantastic. I was actually able to see progress because every single day I worked with the same group of children. We had two hours a day, five days a week and it was a really fun, enjoyable class.”

Angela Broeckel would concur wholeheartedly about the benefits of having classes of her own. She has been in that position since she arrived at her school in Nan province last October.

“I currently teach 25 lessons per week in M1, M5, and M6. I team-teach with M5 students, but with M1 and M6, I basically have my own classes,” Broeckel relates

“I think Thai children love English,” she observes. “I think they love to learn if the teacher is passionate about teaching.”

There is little doubt that Broeckel has that passion – a good thing, too, since her situation is a demanding one. Like her Thai counterparts at Satrisrinarn School, her classes are huge, ranging in size from 55 to 60.

“It was a challenge in the beginning, but it’s quite interesting now,” Broeckel says. “When I walk in, the kids are really excited. They’re all really good listeners. I think it goes along with getting their respect. Once you have their respect, you can easily teach them.”

Fortunately, Broeckel arrived in Nan very well prepared. With a bachelor’s degree Intercultural Communications and five years of teaching experience – three of them in Japan – she was able to adapt very quickly.

Her recipe for working with large classes is simple and efficient. The subject matter must captivate the students’ attention and the lesson plan should follow a consistent format.

“There’s always a routine in my class and the students know what’s coming up next,” she relates. “If they know the layout of the class and what’s happening next, they’re able to listen intently.”

Group work is essential in a large class, Broeckel adds. “I do a lot of group work with small groups of five to seven students – not always the same students because I want them to mix with other students.”

Marilda Riul, a high school English teacher from Brazil, has had a more flexible assignment, necessitated in part because of her late January arrival.

“I was based at Kallayanawat School in Khon Kaen,” Riul explains. “I did some co-teaching there in February when the term ended and we weren’t going to teach again until May and June which would have been very frustrating. So I asked to visit different schools and universities.”

As a result, Riul has been able to spend time teaching in a technical school and a primary school within the city of Khon Kaen and at a remote village school outside. In addition she has taught at an English camp in Sakonakorn and given lectures in Mahasarakham and Udonthani.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” she says. “The teachers seem very interested, but what I find most enjoyable is motivating kids, touching kids, making kids dream about the possibilities of learning the language and how that learning can change their lives. That’s the best part of it.”

Two of the AFS volunteer teachers have been placed in schools that have just introduced the government’s Mini-English Programme (MEP) at the M1 level. MEP students study science and math in English in addition to their regular English class. Both the volunteers help with the MEP, but they also teach students in the regular programme.

Diana Johnson teaches MEP science at Rayong Wittayakom School in Rayong province. In general, she likes the concept of the MEP, but not its current implementation, particularly in science.

“I think the MEP is a great idea, but I think it needs a little more government direction and a little bit more assistance as far as curriculum goes,” she says.

From her experience at Rayong Wittayakom, Johnson believes government curriculum planners didn’t take into account that the student’s language level affects the rate at which they learn.

“The original intention was to try to keep the MEP students and the regular students at the same level, learning the same content. In an ideal world this would work, but in reality, their level of language affects the learning process.”

Johnson says she believes the MEP students can catch up to the regular students in science by M3, but they need a curriculum better tailored to their particular needs.

Even in its present form, however, she believes the MEP has real merit. “I do think it’s a good programme. I can see the improvement among MEP students and how quickly they are picking up the language as compared to some of my M6 students. The younger kids don’t have that fear yet of speaking and making mistakes. By the time you reach M5 and M6, it’s difficult to pull English out of them,” Johnson observes.

Mark Trachtenbarg teaches English at Surathampitak School located on a military base in Khon Kaen. He, too, has noticed a significant difference in the MEP students and regular students, but he says he quite enjoys working in both programmes. He also has some interesting observations as to why English classes in the regular programme are not as successful as they could be.

“One of the most challenging parts has been just getting the students interested,” Trachtenbarg says. “There are students who want to be there and there are students who have no interest at all.”

The problem, he says, stems largely from the way the classes are arranged. “The students in the English class aren’t grouped according to their ability and so there are students who have no proficiency at all. They can’t form a sentence. They can’t write their name in English. And there are students who I can sit down and have a conversation with.

“The kids who are not interested often tend to be the really good ones. I can’t make it interesting for everybody. I hate to give up and teach to the middle, but in the end that’s kind of what happens,” Trachtenbarg says with obvious regret.

His experience in the MEP is very different. There he meets with all 28 students in the programme individually, focusing mainly on their writing. He has also worked on teacher training, something he clearly enjoys.

“It’s really fun to see the teachers outside of their teaching environment,” Trachtenbarg relates. “When they’re teachers, they know everything, especially in Thailand. The teacher knows everything and the students learn from them. When they sit down and get to be students, they don’t have to know everything. I think they really enjoy the opportunity to laugh and joke. And they’re coming in their free time so every person in the class is motivated.”

Clearly AFS has been able to attract the type of volunteer teacher that Thailand needs. These are not tourists, but people with the experience and desire to make a real contribution. It will be interesting to see how their recommendations will be incorporated into subsequent exchanges.

Thailand, too, offers the volunteers a rewarding environment. Significantly, at least three of the volunteers will be staying on after the AFS assignment ends.