New Mandala

40 responses so far ↓

• 1 Kom Ment // Jul 21, 2008 at 11:08 pm

  Thai Universities = Expat’s Graveyard

  Indeed, the graveyard of anyone who stays too long.

  There was a time when if you couldn’t hack it you became something like a philosophical streetsweeper or a lolly-pop person. Here they are reserved occupations. In the ever-so wonderful west that kind of job no longer exists or has been farmed out to some cheaper nationality. Now we all have to be superman and also remember to keep the greedy freemarket fanatics happy by spending money all the time. Decidedly shallow!

  Some world isn’t it where the only decent job a lot of lesser grads can find is boring yourself to death teaching English to folks who will never really use it for sums of money which won’t pay for one’s retirement anywhere.

  We got on our bikes and pedalled, and Richard Branson copped the benefit.

• 2 Business Owner // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:00 am

  As a small business owner specializing in high-end and specialized consulting, I and my colleagues have been employers in the Thai knowledge economy. My feeling from living and working here for many years is that education is the most significant, most fundamental, and most intractable problem Thailand faces; and I do not believe the problem will ever be solved.

  Critical thinking and problem solving skills are just too rare for Thailand to develop. Firstly, excellent Thai individuals leave the country, perhaps work at international organizations where their skills are appreciated, or become corrupt officials; and secondly, Thai society suffers from lack of motivation in all walks of life, because there really is no profit in intellectual pursuits or having a strong work ethic due to institutional failings.

  Finally, I believe that this situation in fact intentional, by whom I couldn’t say. But I think it is the true process by which the powerful remain entrenched.

• 3 fall // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:28 am

  Very good article… that would likely fall on deft ear.

  Critical thinking is the require skill in education.
  Never ask why on a question, it force teacher to read and spend more time grading exam. Then later student would come to beg for more grade and have to be individually explain. Better stick with multiple choice.

• 4 Kom Ment // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:55 am

  But to be a bit more positive, I really do think Business Owner has made some good points. It’s also very fashionable amongst the Thai Ultra-Nationalist Forum Posies to slam the critical work of Thais gone abroad without even reading it. Thus the likes of Thongchai Wanichayakul are portrayed as dangerous radicals in a most McCarthyite manner. This sort of talk shuts people up just as heavily as burning radicals in flaming oil barrels back in the 60s. PAD does it! Thaksin does it!

• 5 Fonzi // Jul 22, 2008 at 6:09 am

  Maybe it is just me, but I thought the essay was racist and patronizing. And I don’t say that lightly, because I am far from being politically correct.

  There seems to be a tendency amongst the foreign intelligentsia–not exactly the cream of the academic crop in their own countries– stuck in Thai academies who look down upon Thais for their shortcomings. Obviously, I don’t include Andrew and Nicholas in this assessment, because they are legitimate scholars (versus farang sex tourists with degrees looking for work in Thai universities.)

  I think it was Einstein who said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

  Whoever wrote this essay states that he has been in Thailand for 9 years and has two young children going through the Thai education system. If the system is as horrific as he makes it out to be, then perhaps he should go back to his superior farang country where he can be free to pursue any vocation he desires free from the Thai BS and his children can be brought up in a proper school system. I think it is hypocritical to rant about the horrendous failings of the Thai education system while willingly and consciously chaining your own children to that system, knowing the negative repercussions and supposed outcomes. That is child abuse, in my opinion.

  There seems to be a large segment of the farang community that loves to complain and feel superior to the Thais, because of their own racism and insecurities. There is also a small segment of the farang community that is deeply committed to Thailand and wishes it to succeed at every level. Frankly, I think the author is of the former group rather than the later. Who would in their right mind stay in a profession for 9 years where there is clearly no satisfaction except to feel intellectually and morally superior to your students and colleagues?

  Lastly, the essay in itself displayed all the characteristics of what he was criticizing: xenophobia, racism and farang exceptionalism, poorly constructed English, shoddy documentation, and superficiality over substance.

  In the final analysis, the author made some good points that I agree with, but those points are not exactly new observations, just rehashing of the same old arguments made by others, notably quotes from Sutichai Yoon and The Nation, not exactly paragons of Thai intellectual virtue.

• 6 Business Owner // Jul 22, 2008 at 7:50 am

  Fonzi, I always appreciate hearing your opinion, but I don’t see the point in using the R-word. Everybody loves to call everybody else a racist these days, and honestly I don’t even know what it’s supposed to mean anymore. Is “Thai” even a race? Anyway, it is no more racist to say that Thais are ignorant than it is to say that Americans are fat.

  Incidentally, I agree with you on the matter of staying somewhere one dislikes. I have resolved relocate elsewhere where there is a strong talent pool and where my kids would grow up in a healthy social environment. I agree with you that the complaining is cliche and boring. It’s just “lazy” this or “incompetent” that or “jumped the shark” the other.

  Finally, there was a tongue-in-cheek post on thaivisa recently that stuck with me. The assertion was that so many people complain because they want to be back home but actually can’t return there. The implication was something like running from the law, but I think if you interpret “can’t return” to cover social outcasts, then I believe there is a grain of truth there.

  Anyway, these comments are shamefully speculative and vacuous for the hallowed pages of New Mandala, so I shall leave it at that.

• 7 Glenn // Jul 22, 2008 at 10:39 am

  That certainly is a comprehensive essay. One thing that stood out for me is his criticism of rote learning in Thai schools. Here in the US there was a program on television recently about China and its current state. One of the interviewees was a young fashion photographer who had studied in the US. His opinion was that China really suffers from a lack of imagination and creativity due to its poor education system that also emphasizes rote learning.

  I think one could probably make many of the criticisms the author does of students in many places including most universities in the USA these days. Due to the constant testing and the need to teach the material on the test throughout their educational “careers” lots of kids here are also missing out on things like critical thinking skills. And with all the new technology out there they have tiny attention spans. Plus they expect to have everything handed to them because they have been taught their whole lives that they are exceptional.

• 8 Kom Ment // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:19 pm

  The original could be construed as racist.
  Other comments here too. Certainly patronizing!
  Whatever!

  But notice something else here. Thailand’s expats could be called social outcasts., but I’m not so sure it is really that simple. (Indeed, it’s probably further racism, but I’m far from politically correct either.) I actually think the majority of expat teachers here are a much more rounded bunch than you folks would ever give them credit for. In most cases there is nothing to really stop them going home apart from the fact that they have ‘invested’ heavily here. They could go home and face unemployment because the dumb system at home can no longer be bothered with people with medium-level qualifications. They are looked down on by just about everyone including the Phds here. They also frequently tarred with the expat stereotype by locals. Hence the fact that the Thai government feels that it’s perfectly OK to allow the tutor mill to milk expat teachers dry with ridiculous cultural awareness courses.

• 9 Srithanonchai // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:23 pm

  #5 If the author was not a “farang”, would your “argument” collapse? And sure — Chula, Thammasat, Mahidol are all full of farang sex-tourists posing as schloars! This response is just such as predictably defensive as is the saliva running out of Pawlow’s doggy.

• 10 Bob // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:30 pm

  The Thai educational system is rubbish, but Thai people are not.

  Despite such institutional lunacy, so many Thais go survive with their curiosity, inquisitiveness, and ability to challenge dogma intact. Many don’t, but judging by the truly appalling nature of the system, I am surprised and delighted to say many Thais survive it. Imagine how they would fare in a better system.

  Oh, and don’t forget there is hope. Three Thais just won gold medals from the Academic Olympiads, and Chulalongkorn University’s engineering team’s rescue robot also won first prize.

• 11 Kom Ment // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:31 pm

  “There seems to be a tendency amongst the foreign intelligentsia–not exactly the cream of the academic crop in their own countries– stuck in Thai academies who look down upon Thais for their shortcomings.”

  Did he ever claim to be intelligentsia? How do you qualify for this group? Run a blog perhaps?

  I don’t work in an academy and I’m glad I don’t. A great deal of looking down occurs on both sides. They both look down on their own for that matter.

  You now have to have a PhD to be even a small bit-part player on the global rape & pillage stage.

• 12 Bob // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:37 pm

  Oh, and isn’t it “nerdy”, in Western countries, to be intelligent? “Uncool”, “geeky”, or a “loser with no life”?

  Anti-intellectual attitudes don’t merely exist in Thailand.

• 13 Kom Ment // Jul 22, 2008 at 3:43 pm

  This is the best thread here in a long time, because it covers an issue which has a direct impact on many of the posters. Forget all this PAD said, Samak said cobblers! Thailand’s political system is an unreformable basket-case that is not really worth commenting on because nothing we say will ever have any impact. Trouble is, the same is almost certainly true of the Ed system too.

  Would Mugabe have ever compromised if his opposers had continued to smile and say nothing?

• 14 Kom Ment // Jul 22, 2008 at 4:00 pm

  There is also a small segment of the farang community that is deeply committed to Thailand and wishes it to succeed at every level. “Frankly, I think the author is of the former group rather than the later. Who would in their right mind stay in a profession for 9 years where there is clearly no satisfaction except to feel intellectually and morally superior to your students and colleagues?

  Lastly, the essay in itself displayed all the characteristics of what he was criticizing: xenophobia, racism and farang exceptionalism, poorly constructed English, shoddy documentation, and superficiality over substance.”

  Where exactly does that “deep commitment” lead? Booted out when you can no longer read the teaching materials to face a life back home in an OAP home talking to people who also have no respect for expat teachers.

  Is it a treatise? It seems to me you have your own elitist notions of ‘Trailer Trash’.

• 15 TEFL/TESOL Trash // Jul 22, 2008 at 4:21 pm

  This might be a good op to suggest the following that vested interests like acharn.com will never countenance. (We can’t upset the sponsors, can we?) A great deal of the TEFL/TESOL industry is essentially a scam. Perhaps not quite in the same league as people trafficking and international drug-running, but still intentionally & cynically exploitative.

• 16 Bob // Jul 22, 2008 at 6:28 pm

  Kom Ment,

  I was reflecting on the state of the political system in comparison to the educational system. Can those in the know shed light on how the educational system is essentially governed?

  It would seem like the educational system is an entirely top-down, demagogic bureaucracy that hinders its development. Where do the parents get a say, besides being able to “offer” money to schools? Why are Thailand’s good and bright not allowed to shine? Inherently, it seems like the educational system’s regulatory functions need to be separate from the bureaucracy, similar to how the Universities are being offload from the state’s stranglehold. As perhaps the telecommunications industry was/is/will be separated (somewhat miserably) from the state: policy, strategy, direction, and dare I say innovation be handed over to the Ministry while the quality control and regulation handed over to a Regulator, especially over the private schools?

  Just like how there are things the Thai state is doing right, there are things Thai education is doing right. Thai researchers are actually advancing humanity’s knowledge forward, but sadly they are few and un-influential.

• 17 Grasshopper // Jul 22, 2008 at 6:39 pm

  Kom Ment, that is terribly ignorant of you to compare Mugabe’s stranglehold on power to Thai education and even more ignorant to say that opposition to Zanu has been forever muzzled.

  Papaya in Thailand has a depressingly dismal blog. So I suppose it’s only fair that he call the Thai education system dismal. Maybe if what Thais needed for survival, socially or physically changed, then you’d have an educational system that would adapt to those new circumstances.

  Most of the comments I’ve read thus far seem to be like steam rising after a pressure valve of depression was released. Most are simply propagating a negative relativism, where ones values are superior because one believes they have been through a superior system. Good for them!

• 18 TEFL/TESOL Trash // Jul 23, 2008 at 5:26 pm

  Grasshopper acting God again! Or is it just Acharn Grasshopper!?

  You seem to forget that ONE of the functions of forums and blogs is to allow people to let off steam. The pressure certainly needs to be relieved after a day spent going nowhere in the classroom. As for the superiority of the system back home, I am not at all convinced anyway. My experience of a great deal of the Brit system was truly horrible. I also think, strangely enough, that Thailand might even fare a lot better without expat teachers.

  Of course, Thai students often do enjoy school for a good number of reasons. And they would doubtless enjoy it even more if they didn’t have to endure the expat old farts. The question is whether it is equipping them to be able to hold their own against other folks in the region. It seems to be failing that test in almost everyone’s estimation.

• 19 TEFL/TESOL Trash // Jul 23, 2008 at 5:42 pm

  By the way! How is life back in old blighty? Does several years in Thailand qualify you to perhaps apply for a job handing out the plastic toys in MacDonalds? Papaya was probably in a dismal mood before he even got here. The UK has become, like every other country in the world, a country where transnationals piss on people. Some superior system.

• 20 Grasshopper // Jul 23, 2008 at 9:20 pm

  I’ve never lived or taught in Thailand.

• 21 Sidh S. // Jul 24, 2008 at 12:48 am

  Great stuff…
  I have heard, both directly and indirectly, of issues that Papaya in Thailand discussed. Although I suspect this is part of a fuller story, as Papaya mentioned, Thai society/students value the sciences - not pure sciences though - but rather medicine, engineering, architecture etc. where the top students flock to which have many implications in itself in kindergarten to tertiary education. I suspect the ‘malnutrition’ is much more acute in the arts and humanities.

  There’s also a relatively recent prevalence of ‘international schools’ and ‘bi-lingual’ schools of varying quality. This will also have implications (that I don’t know what yet - but Papaya and Jonfernquest should be qualified to give us their insights).

  And it does remind me of one of my main frustrations during PMThaksin’s rule which was that ‘education reforms’ just kept getting stopped, delayed, side-tracked, stunted…etc…etc… There was a clear lack of sincerity (as consistently reported in the Nation quoted by Papaya) in reform, rather consistent with his/TRT’s unwillingness to reform other bureaucracies, politics, even business etc. I agree with Papaya, that the inaction in terms of education reform will hurt Thai society most in the long term… One of the best measure of a truly visionary and well-meaning government is their investment in education and education reform…

• 22 Michael // Jul 24, 2008 at 2:41 am

  I think Papaya is spot-on. How can anyone say his comments are ‘racist’ or ‘xenophobic’? He goes to some trouble to point out that there is nothing inherently lacking in the basic mental make-up of Thais - the problem comes from the way teaching is conducted.

  Frankly, I think Fonzi #5 is quite possibly a product of the Thai education system. (Let’s not discuss anything if it’s going to involve criticism of the ‘culture’. Anyone who does this is not a friend of Thailand.)

  Grasshopper is being, well, Grasshopper yet again.

  Anyone who has taught at any level in Thailand would have to agree with Papaya. What Thai teachers do is teach - they don’t educate. They teach the slower kids to copy from the brighter ones, so that their books look neat, from Anuban (kindergarten). They teach that the teacher is always right, and to venture out & make mistakes is bad. And as for arguing with an Acharn…the height of bad manners!By the age of 8 most kids have no curiosity (I’m talking about Bangkok & other major urban areas. I suspect that rural kids may be different. ), and very little creativity. But they’re good at decorating the stuff they download from the internet & present as their own work (complete with hyperlinks!) .

  I’ve taught at every level here - anuban to post-grad, including what is laughably termed ‘teacher-training’ - & I can tell you that this country is in deep poo education-wise, and therefore in many other ways. Yes, there are some good developments, but they are few and far between, and definitely not available through the state system. And the scary thing is that nobody seems to want to do anything about it. Sychophants like Fonzi help to perpetuate the situation by bullying anyone who criticises and providing support for the status quo.

• 23 Michael // Jul 24, 2008 at 3:00 am

  Oh, yes - I’m not a Thaksin fan overall (I don’t agree with murder), but I must say that his policies re. teacher re-training, and initial training showed promise. Of course the state teachers hated him: having spent 4 years in some pathetic Rajabhat where noone is allowed to fail, they certainly didn’t like the idea of being required to do re-training every few years in order to renew their teaching licences. And changing over to ’student-centred learning’ would require that every lesson would have to be new - too much effort.

  To be fair, though, most of the Education Ministry funds for the re-training probably would have gone into various pockets, and the trainers would have been incompetent idiots, and the curriculum would have been a whole lot of disparate but impressively-titled ‘workshops’ and ’seminars’…and noone would have been allowed to fail.

• 24 Lleij Samuel Schwartz // Jul 24, 2008 at 5:16 am

  There are several things that I want to comment on concerning Mr.(?) Papaya’s essay/screed; however, I only have time for comment on the concept of “critical thinking.”

  In the essay, and in the comments on it posted on this article, the term “critical thinking” is used; however, it is never defined. Indeed, it is assumed that everyone has the same understanding of what critical thinking is. Yet, as I have continued my research into contrastive sociopedagogy, I have become increasingly convinced that the term “critical thinking,” as commonly used, is actually a culturally-specific term that is laden with cultural beliefs and value judgements.

  I am not trying to say that the laws of logic and reasoning differ from culture to culture; however the conclusions and actions taken from such reasoning will be different based on the differing prioritization of values from culture to culture. Using the sub-field of linguistics, known as pragmatics, to examine the term “critical thinking” will reveal that the term carries with it the Western, and specifically Anglosphere, values of “independence” and “equality,” which leads to various culturally-bound beliefs, such as the belief that the value and purpose of education is to give young people the ability of self-determination or the belief that through the exchange of argument and counter-argument, disagreements can be resolved and objective truth can be identified.

  For hundreds of years, Thai culture had evolved seperately from that of the Anglosphere, so is it that surprising that Thai sociopedagogy would have a different prioritzation of values? If by critical thinking skills, one means teaching Thai students that:
  1. If P, then Q
  2. ~Q
  3. Therefore, ~P
  Then I have no concern; however, if by critical thinking skills, one means “to teach Thai students to employ the same value system in their reasoning as the Anglosphere does,” then I would find it to be cultural imperalism. Is the value of self-determination truly a part of “critical thinking”? Or can critical thinking co-exist with a system of การสำนึกบุญคุณ and การยอมตาม, and a cultural preference for สามัคคี?

  re: TEFL/TESOL Trash

  You seem to forget that ONE of the functions of forums and blogs is to allow people to let off steam.

  Who says?

• 25 Gloomy Observer // Jul 24, 2008 at 2:20 pm

  I would add that what the original article describes is widespread. However, Western education systems are rapidly devolving into a similar “all must have prizes” mentality, so Thailand is, ironically, catching up by default!

  In terms of cultural imperialism, perhaps…but then at the end of the day other Asian countries such as India or Japan or Taiwan (the latter was subject to Asian imperialism, remember!) all have excellent education systems with Asian characteristics. No-one claims that those three states fail to churn out talented thinkers, and yet they remain essentially Asian.

  No. Sadly, Thailand’s education system is a result of deep-rooted political/cultural practices, and reform will be next to impossible without wider reforms of the whole socio-economic backdrop.

  I am watching my Thai relatives be ever-so-slowly intellectually suffocated at their expensive Bangkok schools and weep…

• 26 khon ngai ngai // Jul 24, 2008 at 2:54 pm

  LSS:

  What are universal and what are particular human values? Is the idea of justice for example completely alien to Thais? (yes, because they overcharge farangs?) Is justice any more alien to American people who do not question and protest their government’s interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Chile, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Italy……(”72 interventions since WWII” accdg to John Pilger’s count) Are Thais less susceptible than Americans to believe in the idea of “manifest destiny” in regard to the Preah Vihar issue?

  If Thais have their own “system of การสำนึกบุญคุณ and การยอมตาม” and “a cultural preference for สามัคคี”:

  Should Thais condemn King Mongkut and Chulalongkorn for trying to impress colonials that Siam was a civilized (western) country?

  Should Thais condemn Pridi and his cohorts then for putting an end to absolute monarchy? (they should have been obedient and grateful! Ingrates!)

  Should Thais damn the students massacred in Thammasat in 1976 for protesting? (they should not have complained, they are only students! they deserve to be killed!)

  How about the Pak Moon Dam protesters? (they should listen and obey the puyai in the government!)

  Perhaps the solution to Thailand’s education problems is to stop sending Thai scholars abroad and shut the doors completely to foreign lecturers (especially “farang sex-tourists posing as sch0lars” and “depressed” farangs) who are poisoning the minds of their students with critical thinking? Since Thais are a proud people, let them cross-fertilize themselves intellectually and see what comes out.

  How are Thais going to protect themselves from Anglosphere exceptionalism?

  กู้ชาติ ! กู้ชาติ ! กู้ชาติ !

• 27 Sidh S. // Jul 24, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  I think LSS has a point on “critical thinking”. I’ve done a five year architecture undergraduate degree in a Thai public university and have experience this first hand. In most classes, I remember that my colleagues and myself rarely ask questions. This is particularly so when the mode of teaching was ‘transmitting knowledge’. However, when the lecturer was intentionally controversial and challenging in a good humored way, questions can flow (we have our mixes of ’strict/stern’ and ‘kind/funny’ professors and react accordingly).

  On the other hand, outside of the classroom I find that my classmates are on the most part highly critical thinkers and being architects, who rarely sleep, discussion of various topics (some downright creatively stupid)can go on long into the night. I am not sure about other fields of studies, but generally I find that whether Thais reveal their true thoughts depends on the personal relationship. With seniors, teachers, people one don’t feel close to, it is often ‘better remain quiet than suffer the wrath/consequence’ - but with friends, it is rather different.

  We’ve often heard from Phuyais (and I am vague on how it exactly goes) that at formal gatherings you don’t discuss politics, religion, and the monarchy. But many Thais will know that amongst close associates, conversations will eventually veer into one of the mentioned subjects (and people can be very critical) - in between talk of food, celebrities and sports (always a way out when things get too serious). Ofcourse, it should be banned when alchohol is on the table (as, in relation to the “A murderous mix of impunity” topic, it can be fatal)…

  I am not sure if this is also a case of Thai exceptionalism in the context of Anglosphere exceptionalism/dominance - a combination which makes the Thai look like they have no capacity for “critical thinking”. Maybe that in itself is already a protection mechanism in relation to #26.

  I hope other domestically trained Thais also give their views so we can also get some ‘local’ perspectives on this topic.

• 28 Srithanonchai // Jul 24, 2008 at 9:04 pm

  I am always somewhat annoyed when I hear unreflected references to “critical thinking” when what is actually meant is “analytical thinking.”

• 29 fall // Jul 25, 2008 at 1:45 am

  I am always somewhat annoyed when I hear unreflected references to “critical thinking” when what is actually meant is “analytical thinking.”

  Then I am the living proof that thai education fail… Mwa ha ha ha…

• 30 PK // Jul 25, 2008 at 2:51 am

  I’d like to talk about a subject that Papaya brushed upon in his essay that I think is actually very pertinent to the issue at hand: the emphasis on sciences.

  it seems to me that when bureaucrats and politicians as well as many thai concerned parents talk about improving education for our children, what they have in mind is an increased emphasis on the sciences, on churning out more inventors, scientists, doctors and Academic Olympiad medalists. from my own (admittedly limited) experiences browsing through governmental scholarship databases, observing the interests of scholars sent abroad, watching thai TV’s coverage of Academic Olympiad medalists and students’ innovative science projects and, inevitably, glimpsing the hidden disappointment in some adults’ faces once they find out that i am apparently planning to squander my Yale education on a history and international studies degree.

  science, it is believed, is this underdeveloped nation’s path towards success, therefore it makes sense that we must concentrate all of our resources (including the brightest students, as seen by the way that Entrance examinations are run) here. Philosophical discourse is a privilege of the affluent.

  seen from a more cynical stand point, however, i feel that science became the favoured child and the rallying point of reformers because of its innocuousness. encouraging critical thinking in the sciences does not lead to a questioning of the current status quo, it does not invite students to investigate touchy subjects like the monarchy, the constitution and the sacred tenets of Thainess (the holy trinity of nation, monarch and religion - which is to say, mainstream buddhism) as critical thinking in the humanities would inevitably do.

  therefore it seems to me like the only way thai kids are ever going to get the well rounded education that they need is for more acharns - and more adults in general - to begin that most important and most dangerous task of removing the ubiquitous yellow tape from subjects of inquiry. let me put it another way: with so many things untouchable, where can intellectual inquiry start?

  but alas, the threat of 15 years in jail (or worse) has kept most walking the narrow middle path of social acceptability with their hands up high in the air in absolute surrender at the expense of our nation’s intelligence.

• 31 Michael // Jul 27, 2008 at 5:49 pm

  Srithanonchai #28: Perhaps you could tell us what is so important, in the context of this discussion, in the distinction between critical thinking and analytical thinking that the confusion of one with the other makes you “somewhat annoyed.”

• 32 Srithanonchai // Jul 28, 2008 at 2:24 am

  Michael #31: I thought that evaluating something with reason (criticism) is a different cognitive operation from dissecting something in order to discover its operational principles (analysis), although both involve questioning. Insofar as critical thinking is assumed by a number of Thai educators to be at the core of western scientific-technological performance and thus should be emultated in order to catch up, it might therefore well fail. Just a try.

• 33 Johpa // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:36 am

  This aging Farang has not taught within the education system for nearly 20 years but I do find it somewhat bemusing that the perceptions of other foreign teachers have not changed much over the intervening decades. First, I do think that the Fonz is in error stating that the underlying tone of Papaya’s essay is racist. I think the Fonz is mistaking frustration for racism, a not uncommon misperception from those who suffer from an overdose of post-modernism. Such a person might listen to me speak of my frustrations with a few of my Thai in-laws and come to a similar incorrect conclusion that I too am a racist, crikey, they might conclude that I am a misanthrope, but I am neither and I do love those relatives.

  My own thoughts are that the frustrations of foreign teachers in Thailand arise due to their lack of understanding of Thai students neeeds to deal with the Thai cultural perceptions of ’saving face” , the need to both maintain ‘face’ for themselves and to protect ‘face’ of others, most particularly the need to protect the ‘face’ of their teachers and achaans by never questioning them. Thus both sides, teachers and students, are most comfortable with rote instruction, a pedagogical methodolgy undervalued in the western world and overworked in Asia. For those interested, I have found that the best academic description of ‘face’ in Thailand to be in Neils Muldar’s original work Everyday Life in Thailand: An Interpretation. For many of us Farangs navigating through Thai society some 20 years ago, this was our survival guide. As for teaching in Thailand, I found that as the teacher, I needed to build the bridge that would clear the path of the ‘face’ saving issues and allow the student to express themselves openly, something I was often able to do so over time on an individual basis, but alas, never at the classroom level. It was frustrating indeed.

  Now the concept of ‘face’ is not unique to Thailand, and the Thai education system does suffer from other afflictions. Clearly the Bangkok elite has little desire to share knowledge and thus share power with the Thai masses and thus education has been given short shrift in funding. (Dare I say that if there is any racism, it is that of the institutional Sino-Thai racism against the rural Tai masses ) And then there is the somewhat related issue of corruption within the education system where meritocracy is often thrown out and replaced with purchased seats spanning all levels of the education system from kindergarten up through the most prestigious universities.

  Meanwhile, here in the US, we are unintentionally assimilating towards a Thai education system with a test focused system that similarly stifles creativity within the classroom, both from the teachers and from the students. And judging from my nieces who have recently entered the corporate world, the concept of ’saving face’ seems to be entering that sphere as well as they describe a world where little gets done day to day out of fear of rocking the boat from their little cubicles.

• 34 Srithanonchai // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  # 33: “Dare I say that if there is any racism, it is that of the institutional Sino-Thai racism against the rural Tai masses.” >> A disturbing observation that most Sino-Thais with their ideology of representing a homogenized Thainess can hardly swollow. Tais are more sensitive, of course: “Jek jek!” (upon having a Chinese-looking driver of a car cutting in front), or “Look, almost all doctors in this hospital are Chinese.” (upon seeing the advertised list of doctors in a Thonburi private hospital), or “See, almost all the Thai patients here are Chinese.” (upon a visit to Bamrungrat hospital), or “Look at all these shops at the market–all Chinese: rich. Look at us–Thais: poor” (upon walking away from a rural market), etc. etc.

• 35 Srithanonchai // Jul 29, 2008 at 9:15 pm

  Bangkok Post, 29 July 2008

  Educators worry over lack of quality control
  Many institutes not doing a good job

  SIRIKUL BUNNAG
  The number of students may have crossed the two million mark, but the news does not sound good for regulators of tertiary education who were already fretting about the poor quality.
  Each year the country’s high schools together produce about 700,000 graduates, of which about 70% go on to pursue further studies in public or private universities.
  Over two million of them are now pursuing diplomas, a bachelor’s degree or higher university education.
  The number of students has doubled and the number of courses has increased 10-fold over the last decade.
  The Higher Education Commission (HEC), however, sees the jump in quantity as a looming danger for the education system.
  “The increase is too fast-paced. It seems as if all the Mathayom 6 (grade 12) students were fit to continue their university studies, as their performance was not being taken into account,” Higher Education Commission secretary-general Sumate Yamnoon admitted.

  He pointed out that in general the O-Net and A-Net scores of students from Mathayom 4 to 6 levels were well below average in all subjects. The poor results should be taken as a warning by educators that students needed to be better prepared for undergraduate degrees.
  “Our process to screen students for higher education is problematic,” Mr Sumate said.
  The students alone should not be blamed for the poor scores, as easy opportunities presented by both public and private colleges and universities were also contributing to the problem.
  Over the past six years, the number of courses on offer has jumped from 235 to over 2,000 . But this was not matched by the quantity of lecturers.
  “The number of lecturers did not increase. In fact, it was the other way round, as universities have a policy of cutting down their personnel,” Mr Sumate said.
  Instead of hiring full-time lecturers, most universities now prefer part-timers, because no extra benefits are involved.
  The problem was serious at the Rajabhat and Rajamangala universities. Before being upgraded to universities in 2003, the two institutes offered only graduate diplomas and undergraduate degrees, he said.
  “The HEC is trying its best to improve the quality of lecturers by making 1,000 scholarships available each year for doctorate degrees.
  “But no one from Rajabhat and Rajamangala has so far qualified for them because their GPA at the undergraduate level is below 3.00,” he said.
  Somwung Pitiyanuwat, director of the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA), agrees with him.
  The agency’s own evaluation had found that many universities were employing lecturers whose grade point average was 2.5 or lower.
  That was not acceptable in the past when the GPA of at least 3.0 was needed by those wanting to become university dons, he said.
  It was probably because university lecturers began to enjoy “too much freedom”, he said, as there was no mechanism to assess their teaching standards.
  The HEC had issued warnings to colleges and universities whose courses, lecturers, tests and evaluations it found were not up to standard.
  Only some have bothered to make improvements, it said.
  The end result is that degrees handed out by these institutes are not recognised, he said.
  One such institute which made the headlines was Srisophon College in Nakhon Si Thammarat last year, where 12 of the students were unable to receive their degree certificates after the standards office found the Computers for Business course at the private university was below par.
  Five or six programmes at other colleges and universities have also been rejected, Mr Sumate said. Many students sued their universities after failing to get their professional certificates to pursue their careers as a result of the substandard courses.
  As the agency is directly responsible for all forms of education beyond the high school level, the commission cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the existing flaws.
  Efforts on quality control have been inadequate, he said.
  Among the stricter new measures on quality control to be introduced by the HEC by 2010 would be a requirement that all the available courses at private and public universities be accredited before they are offered to students.
  The HEC now only monitors the programmes run by private colleges and universities, because all courses at state universities have to be approved by the university council first before they are introduced.
  Public universities will no longer be left untouched under the new plan. “Universities, private or public, should be evaluated by the same bodies,” he said.
  One reason behind the low quality of undergraduates is a commercial drive by universities.
  They want money from students and that could be another reason why many of them are using shopping centres as their branches, Mr Somwung said.
  “Universities in other countries earn most of their revenue from research and training projects. The only source of income from education is to charge non-resident students a higher tuition fees,” he said.
  Thai universities were doing just the opposite, because students were their main source of income, even if the quality had to be sacrificed.
  “Funds from the government to support them were insufficient,” he added.
  The ONESQA has estimated that no more than 10 universities in the country, all of them public, have solid financial backing to stand on their own feet by generating revenue from their assets, including property and human resources.
  “If they are not offered adequate financial support, there is no way you will see an end to low-quality universities in the country as they have to fight for their survival,” Mr Somwung said.Public universities must be strictly controlled by the university council. Politicians had interfered with their management for a long time until the present constitution banned them from sitting on the council.
  The ONESQA will assess all off-campus programmes for bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees run by universities in 2008 and will reject them if they are found substandard.
  The agency says more than 100 of them are being targeted, including a university in the eastern provinces which has only 3,000 students, but has opened 28 learning centres by claiming that it had more than 10,000 students.
  The ONESQA refused to name the university.

• 36 Thaitaff // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:30 am

  The inability to question the status quo is not restricted to schools.

  It is so intractably placed into Thai culture that it is the single largest obstacle to Thailands development in the coming generations. But then a country that can’t tolerate basic questioning of its institutions in a public environment isn’t holding up a very good example to its youth.

  The day that Thai society realises that to allow real public discourse makes its society stronger, Thailand society will be able to throw off the blindfold of ignorance.

• 37 manning sawwinner // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:12 pm

  Srithanonchai: many thanks for the Bangkok Post article. As a very old university instructor, I can vouch for the fact that many university instructors today are sadly low in intelligence as well as morals. So what can you expect? I would suggest that, if the secretary-general of the Higher Education Commission can do nothing but complain, he should get out.
  Thaitaff: I cannot agree with you more on the present state of Thai mentality. We are a country whose people cannot think but rather act on impulses or narrow self-interest. You find this at all levels from prince to pauper. This is why so many are easily misled by ASTV, and why the Parliament is keen on building its new edifice on a fantastic scale incommensurate with the economic state of the country, to cite only two among numerous examples.

• 38 Srithanonchai // Aug 1, 2008 at 5:00 pm

  The Bangkok Post has been running a series on Thai education called “learning curve.” Yesterday’s edition had articles on vocational education and the university admission system.

• 39 jonfernquest // Aug 1, 2008 at 7:26 pm

  Lleij Samuel Schwartz: “…as I have continued my research into contrastive sociopedagogy, I have become increasingly convinced that the term “critical thinking,” as commonly used, is actually a culturally-specific term that is laden with cultural beliefs and value judgements.”

  Completely agree, Thailand provides an opportunity to think outside the box of so-called “critical thinking.”

  So-called “critical thinking” skills can be applied in a practical small business context, for instance, formulating a winning business plan for a small magazine or a bakery. More opportunities and unoccupied niches for small businesses here. I designed a project-based curriculum for second year business English students at a university and is the focus for our little website at the Bangkok Post:

  http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business/entrepreneurs_and_business_plans/

  Not exactly studying Plato or Socrates, but some hard thinking and detailed research (marketing surveys, focus groups, surveys of the existing competition) can lead to some insights about the human context and business opportunities that surround you.

  European style vocational training seems to be much more in a critical thinking vein. One of my neighbors in Maesai was trained as a baker in the Netherlands and now travels around Asia selling ready mixed bread dough material and has also experimented with a lot of little bakery projects including hamburger buns to local hotels and restaurants. Somewhere along the way he added MBA skills to the vocational skills that he began with, all by himself. More provision needs to be made for this sort of self-education like what the Thailand Creative and Design Center on the top of the Emporium tries to do for design.

  It’s a good thing Thailand has a thriving private educational sector with international schools and universities. The public educational sector tends to be a little moribund and inflexible. Instead of following the well-charted best practices of other Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, new draconian regulations suddenly pop out from nowhere (actually the interim NLA). Andrew Walker was waxing how his PhD was the ultimate educational credential, well he would not qualify to be an English teacher in Thailand now, for which you need specifically a bachelors degree in education, no more, not less, even in a university, altough regulations like have a tendency to be ignored.

• 40 Sidh S. // Aug 1, 2008 at 9:10 pm

  I remember the few years after the passing of the 1997 Constitution as a sort of societal threshold towards more liberalism - and this manifested in the quality news, documentaries and what looked like sound beginnings for investigative journalism in pre-Thaksin ITV (a result of the constitution). Unfortunately PMThaksin, like a typical business tycoon (and monopolistic at that) is capable of viewing the medias as only a marketing tool… I think that public space of the media, both TV and radio, as a medium for societal discourse must be bought back and nurtured. And I am certain this will eventually be transformative for education (and its delivery) when societal issues are opened up for debate.

  I have proposed this before why can’t we have live TV programs that brings all stakeholders in the current conflict (like many aired by the ABC and SBS in Australia), TRT/PPP, UDD, PAD, the opposition, the military etc…etc… to discuss democracy, checks and balances, the rule of law, conflicts of interests, corruption, human rights etc. - and use the 1997 Constitution as the reference for what went wrong. I think that would be highly informative and educative at a societal level.

  Contrary to Thaitaff and Khun Manning, I don’t think it is about the narrow Thai mentality (as this applies anywhere) - but rather because of a lack of facilited public forums for difference of opinions to be aired and debated.

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