Teaching in Thailand

“Teachers have three loves: 

love of learning, 

love of learners, 

and the love of bringing the first two loves together.”

Scott Hayden

 

Although my primary purpose for being here in Thailand as a Fulbright Scholar is to conduct research, I have been given many other responsibilities; one of my favorites is my teaching assignment. Not teaching university students, though, but teaching preschoolers. The National Institute for Child and Family Development promotes the teaching and learning of English, and since I am a native English speaker, I became the logical choice to teach. The institute has something similar to a university lab school where faculty, staff, and community members can enroll their young children for a full day of learning, fun, and care. I believe the institute serves more than 300 students and employs 40 or 50 teachers. Teachers are here usually from about 7:30 am until 4:30 pm, and the kids arrive and leave around the same time. 

 

Before taking a nap, the children eat a school-prepared lunch of rice or noodles with meat and veggies, use the restroom, clean their bodies, get into their pajamas, and return to the classroom where each child has a personal mat and pillow to sleep on. This is the hour during the day when the teachers can prepare their lessons and materials. 

Thai preschoolers getting ready for nap time

Initially, I was given several classes of children ages 2-4 and a class of children from the homeless shelter ages 3-10. Because of the kids' and teachers' enthusiasm for these classes, I was recently asked to teach the children who will graduate to kindergarten, and now that it is summer term, I am also teaching toddler classes (1-2 years old). My university training and teaching experience as an Early Childhood Special Educator has prepared me well for this assignment, as has my church calling in years past as a primary teacher and music leader. I ABSOLUTELY love this part of my work here in Thailand! The kids are so fun, loving, and eager to learn. I love their hugs after the lesson is over. I love it when they see me in another context and call out “Teacher Tina! Teacher Tina!” and we try to communicate. I love it when their parents find out I’m the English teacher and they express how much their children enjoy learning English. I’m also very grateful that their teachers are helpful and supportive of my crazy teaching techniques.

Thai preschool children learning English

I’ve been told by more than a few people that I teach differently than what is typical in Thailand, the Thai style being more teacher-directed. The teacher typically reads a book to the students without stopping and expects the children to sit still and respect authority. It’s a disciplined style of teaching and learning.

 

An example of how appropriate and tidy these kids are expected to be happened as I watched a beautiful music lesson. There may have been 40 or more kiddos in the class, all sitting in a big circle on the floor with the music teacher and preschool teachers. A little boy had one leg stretched out in front of him for a couple of seconds; his teacher gently touched his leg and asked him to sit nicely. He immediately pulled his leg in, respecting his teacher, and continued to engage in the music activity with his peers. 

Thai children leave their shoes in tidy rows

Having never been in a Thai preschool class, I simply teach the way I would teach kids in America: I’ve had them whispering/shouting words in English, standing up/sitting down, turning around, running around the room like airplanes or hopping like kangaroos. Maybe I have lost some authoritative credibility as I have fallen to the ground on more than one occasion when the story would be more comprehensible with such actions. 

 

When I was concerned about how much the kids were learning with the little time we have together, and without opportunities to integrate English learning into the curriculum, I reached out to a BYU colleague who is an expert in second language learning. He said that having exposure to English at an early age makes them “heritage learners” and they will be likely to learn English more readily when they are older than those who don’t have this early exposure. He reassured me by saying this instruction is an “incredible gift” to these students. 

 

Unfortunately, the library has very few books in English, the class for the kids from the homeless shelter may have none, and I didn’t see any books in the classroom for kids with special needs. I am grateful to my neighbors who ran a book fundraiser for these kids. Thank you for your generous donations!  They will help these youngsters feel more confident in learning English, express their emotions (something the Institute wants us to focus on due to cultural taboos), and accept students with disabilities (yes, we have already exposed them to this content and intend to do much more!). 

 

I love learning. I love these preschool kids. And I love being a small part of bringing these first two loves together. 

Getting hugs from preschoolers