University Teaching in Thailand?

[LarryGee]

I'm thinking about moving to Thailand in two years when my Thai wife and I retire. I'm a psychology professor at a large state university in the US; would there be any way to hook up with a university in Thailand to do some part-time teaching? Would I just be plain too old for consideration? Any information portals for this kind of thing?

[CaptainNemo]

For a fee, nay, a commission, I could assist...

[NZdick1983]

Welcome aboard, Larry.

You should talk to AO, if I remember correctly, he's a Uni teacher - similar to your age. Very well respected teacher - well paid too.

I was teaching Primary school kids (Science/English) that's a completely different beast (and ageism is a factor) but for Uni work, I believe the admin prefers more mature teachers.

If you haven't already, check out Ajarn.com

I'm sure you will find something bro. Good luck to you and your wife.

[Norton]

AO

Doubt Larry has a clue who AO is so,

TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum - View Profile: aging one

[LarryGee]

AO

Doubt Larry has a clue who AO is so,

TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum - View Profile: aging one

Actually, I've been lurking here for a year or so, and I read all the way through his thread on getting stuck in Bali (really wish he'd finish that, one day).

We just spent a month in Thailand this summer; I was there two years ago but this time I had in mind that I might want to be moving there soon. It struck me that maybe it would be easier to transition to retirement if I work for a little while over there first. I'm 60 right now.

But I really have no idea how it works over there. For instance, do they teach in English at the university level, and if so what can you reasonably expect to get across in subject matter? I work in an area that they probably don't know too much about in Thailand. At least I've never seen a paper published in my area by a Thai author.

[nidhogg]

At least I've never seen a paper published in my area by a Thai author.

Out of idle interest, what is "your area"?

[LarryGee]

At least I've never seen a paper published in my area by a Thai author.

Out of idle interest, what is "your area"?

Cognitive Psychology - things like memory, attention and learning. You put people in front of a computer monitor, flash stimuli, collect responses, and try to figure out how the brain is processing information. In college, psych majors usually take a course in cognitive psychology in the sophomore year.

[LarryGee]

At least I've never seen a paper published in my area by a Thai author.

Out of idle interest, what is "your area"?

But I also wouldn't mind teaching intro psychology or something like that. Even English - who knows?

[baldrick]

You put people in front of a computer monitor, flash stimuli, collect responses, and try to figure out how the brain is processing information.

sounds just like teak door

[nidhogg]

You put people in front of a computer monitor, flash stimuli, collect responses, and try to figure out how the brain is processing information.

sounds just like teak door

Well, except for the "brain processing information" bit of course......

[NZdick1983]

^ haha.. you guys are funny

[VocalNeal]

I'm 60 right now.

I believe Universities in Thailand, but if may only be some schools, "pension people off" at 60. Or at least don't renew there contracts.

I had a friend who couldn't get his contract renewed after 60. Not because he wasn't any good or anything political simply because he was over 60.

[NZdick1983]

I thought it was 65?

60 is not old in the slightest... there are young 60 year old people - then there are old 35 year old people no?..

My mum is 60 there is nothing old about her... granted, she is rich, takes HGH had a facelift in her late 40's and is one of the most narcissistic and vain people on the planet (and I don't like her - don't ask) but have to admit, she's not "old"...

I think she baths in the blood of young virgins...

[cyrille]

I think Neal was commenting on university policies re hiring farang rather than on your mother.

And it's true...many won't hire people at 60 and above.

In the provinces the chances would almost certainly be better than in bkk.

[NZdick1983]

55 I know.. just making the point that he's not old at 60 is all..

perhaps he could try private language schools - as they don't have silly age restrictions... (or do they?)

[raycarey]

i would think that the OP is going to have some difficulty finding a uni job teaching psychology....but he might have some luck at one the private unis where english is the language of instruction. a google search should get that list for him pretty easily.

60 is not old in the slightest.

there are two categories of people who say that 60 isn't old:

1. people over sixty
2. those fast approaching 60.

everyone else knows that 60 is old.

[NZdick1983]

^ yeah, nah... I'm only half way there - 60 is the new 40 bro...

[Bettyboo]

Cognitive Psychology

Oh dear, please accept my sincere condolences for your sickness...

Chulalongkorn have some Cognitive stuff, and they have a psychology faculty too: Faculty of Psychology « Chulalongkorn University

The Chula education faculty has some psychology majors too - ie.e they're gonna teach 'psychology' to school kids when they graduate: Faculty of Education « Chulalongkorn University

Mahidol is the university that traditionally has the highest standards linked to medical stuff (Chula would argue that...), and they have various programs that may be considered generally in your space.

http://www.grad.mahidol.ac.th/en/pro...hp?id=2022M01G

http://www.muic.mahidol.ac.th/eng/?page_id=406

There will be other universities with departments/faculties/programs linked to psychology. A 10 second Google effort brought up Thammasat (good) and Assumption (private, in the vein of many US colleges...).

https://web.reg.tu.ac.th/registrar/_...ng/06-0606.pdf

http://www.graduate.au.edu/genacadem...f%20Psychology

The folks are nice and approachable, and yes they have many classes in English, MA programs in English, etc. Depending upon which US university you're at, Chula/Thammasat/Mahidol will be of an equal or higher standard. They are not UCLA, but neither are the majority of US colleges!

If you're working in the US now, then maybe try to make contact with them; check out if you can publish in their journal/newsletter; check out if they have a conference there that you can go to and meet a few folks, make some contacts. That'd be the best way, imho.

[aging one]

Depending upon which US university you're at, Chula/Thammasat/Mahidol will be of an equal or higher standard

Could not disagree more betty. Its the reason my kids are at uni in the US. You can enter even the international programs at a Thai uni after completion of IGCSE's. No A levels needed. My kids could have started at 15.

I had them wait do the A Levels and now one is at Berkeley the other at UC Santa Barbara. The opportunities for when they graduate are much much better than graduating here.

Because of the costs I with they could have studied here, its rough with twins in the UC system and paying out of state fees. Thank goodness they study well and have a number of grants and scholarships.

[Bettyboo]

Could not disagree more betty. Its the reason my kids are at uni in the US. You can enter even the international programs at a Thai uni after completion of IGCSE's. No A levels needed. My kids could have started at 15.

As you know, I worked at Silpakorn, Chulalongkorn, Mahidol and A.I.T. I have also worked at unis in Oman and now in Korea which were US ran and part of dual degree programs with the US; many of my friends have worked in US colleges, and I think you'd be surprised how bad many of them are. I'm not particularly blaming the professors in this regard, but the administration in the US in many places is just pure money making, get numbers on spreadsheets, bullying the professors to standardize lessons so 'no child is left behind' and standards have plummeted because there is very little space left for the professors to teach once the inane administrators have framed the 'learning space'.

The good US unis are great (I'd love to go and do some research at UofC, for example), and the top Thai unis are decent. The lower Thai and US unis are plain terrible. I'm pretty sure this is the same in the UK too.

I've dealt with a few exchange students from the US while working at Thai universities, and the standard has not been better than the Thai students; one example was a Harvard exchange student who asked me to look through her final year dissertation - it was awful, I would have failed a student for that effort (poorly researched, unsubstantiated claims, inaccurate reference sources, culturally imperialistic and opinion based, huge distance between thesis statement and methodology, claims in the conclusion which were simply unproven within the paper, the list goes on), but Harvard passed it...

I'd also say, my Thai friends/colleagues who have gone through Chula/Thammasat/Mahidol are far better teachers than many of the Brits/Americans/Canadians/Australians I work with. Research in Thailand is distinctly average although the type and quantity of objectivist style research coming out of the US and UK is mostly crap too, imho... Don't get me started on the inane survey based research that fills endless western academic journals... I'm currently reading a book from a US author/professor on Linguistic Relativity, and much as I like Anthropology and especially Linguistic Anthropology, some of the research cited in this book (most actually...) is plain terrible.

You can enter even the international programs at a Thai uni after completion of IGCSE's. No A levels needed. My kids could have started at 15.

Low level private university programs, yes. Private universities, anywhere, can be very poor.

The top Thai universities do not accept 15-year-olds with low qualifications; many of the students are excellent. I've taught Thai students who have done a BA at Mahidol/Chula/Silpakorn then gone on to do tough MAs at Lancaster, Edinburgh, etc - that's not easy to do; you need a decent basic grounding to make that possible.

In any country, the gap between the top departments in the top unis and private universities that accept anybody is very big. A low end Thai private university and a low end British/US/Korean university will be equally bad. &, most countries have some decent unis at the top end; the best Thai unis are ok, imho.

The opportunities for when they graduate are much much better than graduating here.

That's true. Certificates from well regarded US/UK universities are gonna help in the job market much more than any Thai uni certificate would.

[aging one]

Fair enough betty a well thought out response. But I do believe that the quality of education has gone down the drain over the last 10 years in Thailand across the board.

Teaching IELTS this summer at Kaset was eye opening. I has students who have been admitted tentatively to MA programs abroad. They have to get a score of just 6.5 on the IELTS. Teaching the reading was so hard.

'Please students you wont have the time to read the passage line by line. Would you please try a skimming technique involving reading by scanning the passage rather than reading and rereading the same way you have been taught". They agreed to give it a try for the day and the reading scores improved that one day. I came in and did a reading passage to start the next day and did not mention skimming and scanning. 'Start please' I said, each and everyone took out a ruler and began reading from line one to the bottom and the scores plunged.

[Bettyboo]

^ yeah academic reading is a skill that most don't have control of at undergraduate level. The textbooks and teaching methodology are really poor in this space, imho, and the students suffer as a result. Also, students don't generally enjoy reading and don't just read to enhance their knowledge like we might, etc.

I almost always start my first class of a new course by simply writing 'Student Autonomy' on the board then asking what it means. When none of the students have a clue, I tell them they have 15 minutes to find out - at which point you get a classroom full of blank faces, and I have to pick up my mobile, press the Google speech button, say 'Student Autonomy' and let the students hear how the phone responds. We then go into a discussion of basic thinking skills, research skills, research tools, etc. I often wonder what they have learnt before they've entered that classroom???

[aging one]

I think our styles are quite similar. Cheers mate.

[LarryGee]

As you know, I worked at Silpakorn, Chulalongkorn, Mahidol and A.I.T. I have also worked at unis in Oman and now in Korea which were US ran and part of dual degree programs with the US; many of my friends have worked in US colleges, and I think you'd be surprised how bad many of them are. I'm not particularly blaming the professors in this regard, but the administration in the US in many places is just pure money making, get numbers on spreadsheets, bullying the professors to standardize lessons so 'no child is left behind' and standards have plummeted because there is very little space left for the professors to teach once the inane administrators have framed the 'learning space'.

I just sat through a day-long meeting of my department, and half the conversation was about student engagement and retention. Nobody dictates how we teach, but there are all kinds of informal pressures to toe the line. I would say 20% of my students are good to excellent, and the rest are engaged just enough to pass. Our university president is making a big push for increases in enrollment, so our class sizes have increased 50% or so in the past 4 years.

Of course, I would expect that Thai universities would suffer from the same maladies as the US system - mainly that half of the students shouldn't be in college in the first place.

I'll check out the situation when I get there, if I feel like it.

[BobR]

Employees in Government run schools (and most all government employees) are forced into retirement at age 60 irregardless of whether they want to leave or not.
You may need to limit your search to privately owned universities.

You're a Psychology Professor, I'd bet you could write some interesting stuff about the lot on this forum.

PS You do know about ajarn.com? There's some real twats on there but also some good information.