American Education vs Thai Edcuation
**Disclaimer: This is written about my personal experiences and observances about education in both countries. Although this is my perspective, it may not be the same for everyone.**
Education.
It's a big topic that can bring out many emotions and opinions in people. I love learning about education in different cities, states, and countries. Teaching here in Thailand has shown me an entire different approach and style of education/ learning. Again, this blog post is about my personal experiences teaching in America and in Thailand, not necessarily a blanket post about education in both countries.
-Education is MUCH more test based here in Thailand. Students are often taught so with the goal of acing a test, not necessarily with the goal of language acquisition.
-Rote learning. Many teachers here practice rote learning in most classes. While America is pushing for all project and evidence based learning, Thailand is not doing that quite as much.
-Special education diagnosing and services are almost non-existent. I had a boy on the Autism Spectrum in my class. He is not given any services and is essentially pushed through in the school system. Although I try my best to support him, I have 36 students in my class and am not trained nearly as well as a special education teacher.
-Schools are not "safe" in any typical sense of the word; hear me out before you react. There are no big spiral gates, no "buzzing into" the school, and no sign in or sign out for visitors. Parents and visitors freely come and go at any time of day. This might scare many American teachers, but I feel MUCH safer at my "unprotected" Thai school, than at my highly protected American school. There aren't random mass shootings and hardly any school violence here, so why would they need to protect schools? They are (typically) safe because no one is threatening them.
-Children in Thailand play however they want. There are no yard duties and no one to watch them outside. They play however they'd like and whatever they'd like. In America we have many yard duties and yet children come back almost everyday from recess reporting what horrible thing Johhny did to Joe and enter the classroom having screaming matches. My students come back from lunch happy, (sweaty!!), and ready to learn.
-Breaks! Students in America get regular breaks from learning, while my students only get their lunch period each day. They can play (or do whatever they want), after they finish eating, but that is their only break all day.
-Hours! Most American kids are in school from about 8:30 am - 2:30 pm. Most students go home, do an hour or two of homework, and then play before bed. However, my Thai students are at school from 8:00 am- 4:20 pm each day. THEN, they attend special after school classes until about 7pm, complete their homework, and finally go to sleep. Their weekend schedule is also chock full of extra math, English, science, or Thai classes as well!
-There is a lot of school time devoted to different Thai culture and school traditions. Students learn dances, learn Thai songs, and learn how to complete different tasks. The culture heavily interweaves into our daily school day and we often take time to have different cultural activities. This isn't really done in America.
-Respect. My Thai students are SO very respectful. They all stand up at the beginning of each class, bow to me, and in unison say "Good morning Teacher Beckah." They repeat the same ritual with "Thank you Teacher Beckah," at the end of each class. Although they are definitely a little naughty, I have found that they are much more respectful than American children.
-Rules. In America I never went a day without hearing a teacher yell, "No running in the hall!" Here in Thailand, the students are not allowed to wear their shoes in our building (sign of respect) and they run all around school with just socks on. We have slippery tile floors, but that doesn't stop them! They run and scream, and you know what? Hardly anyone falls! When they do fall, they pick themselves up, learn from it, and move along.
Education.
It's a big topic that can bring out many emotions and opinions in people. I love learning about education in different cities, states, and countries. Teaching here in Thailand has shown me an entire different approach and style of education/ learning. Again, this blog post is about my personal experiences teaching in America and in Thailand, not necessarily a blanket post about education in both countries.
-Education is MUCH more test based here in Thailand. Students are often taught so with the goal of acing a test, not necessarily with the goal of language acquisition.
-Rote learning. Many teachers here practice rote learning in most classes. While America is pushing for all project and evidence based learning, Thailand is not doing that quite as much.
-Special education diagnosing and services are almost non-existent. I had a boy on the Autism Spectrum in my class. He is not given any services and is essentially pushed through in the school system. Although I try my best to support him, I have 36 students in my class and am not trained nearly as well as a special education teacher.
-Schools are not "safe" in any typical sense of the word; hear me out before you react. There are no big spiral gates, no "buzzing into" the school, and no sign in or sign out for visitors. Parents and visitors freely come and go at any time of day. This might scare many American teachers, but I feel MUCH safer at my "unprotected" Thai school, than at my highly protected American school. There aren't random mass shootings and hardly any school violence here, so why would they need to protect schools? They are (typically) safe because no one is threatening them.
-Children in Thailand play however they want. There are no yard duties and no one to watch them outside. They play however they'd like and whatever they'd like. In America we have many yard duties and yet children come back almost everyday from recess reporting what horrible thing Johhny did to Joe and enter the classroom having screaming matches. My students come back from lunch happy, (sweaty!!), and ready to learn.
-Breaks! Students in America get regular breaks from learning, while my students only get their lunch period each day. They can play (or do whatever they want), after they finish eating, but that is their only break all day.
-Hours! Most American kids are in school from about 8:30 am - 2:30 pm. Most students go home, do an hour or two of homework, and then play before bed. However, my Thai students are at school from 8:00 am- 4:20 pm each day. THEN, they attend special after school classes until about 7pm, complete their homework, and finally go to sleep. Their weekend schedule is also chock full of extra math, English, science, or Thai classes as well!
-There is a lot of school time devoted to different Thai culture and school traditions. Students learn dances, learn Thai songs, and learn how to complete different tasks. The culture heavily interweaves into our daily school day and we often take time to have different cultural activities. This isn't really done in America.
-Respect. My Thai students are SO very respectful. They all stand up at the beginning of each class, bow to me, and in unison say "Good morning Teacher Beckah." They repeat the same ritual with "Thank you Teacher Beckah," at the end of each class. Although they are definitely a little naughty, I have found that they are much more respectful than American children.
-Rules. In America I never went a day without hearing a teacher yell, "No running in the hall!" Here in Thailand, the students are not allowed to wear their shoes in our building (sign of respect) and they run all around school with just socks on. We have slippery tile floors, but that doesn't stop them! They run and scream, and you know what? Hardly anyone falls! When they do fall, they pick themselves up, learn from it, and move along.
There is so much more I could write about, but I think I gave you enough to ponder for now. American and Thai schools are very different. I cherish different aspects about each school system and am so grateful that I get to see both!
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