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kingwilly

or more.

having said that a mate on my pool team told me last night he is here earning $460 p/m !!!!!!!!!

Marmite the Dog

Jesus! How can he survive on that?

kingwilly

he actually said he aint 5 Million Rups a month, which is about that amount but fucked it i know how he survives, very carefully I guess. He owns his own house here, bought from funds that he had in England (life savings) so he doesnt need to pay rent.

he also married his bargirl g/f just before she got pregnant, but now she aint pregnant anymore.

(she was a bit miffed that the house is not in her name.....)

he is also a part owner of a bar.....

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jandajoy

I'm in complete agreement with you. My point is that the only way to resolve the problem is to throw money at it. Pay peanuts and get monkeys. No offense meant.

Marmite the Dog

Completely agree.

But, they need to start with sorting their own teachers & schools out first and somehow introduce a culture of studying, which they simply don't have here. Having the best EFL teachers in the world will make zero difference if the students have no drive.

jandajoy

Agreed, and that won't happen whilst graft, corruption and dishonesty prevail. So, it'll never happen.

Marmite the Dog

^ So we're agreed that EFL teachers with iffy degrees is the way to go for Thailand at the present time?

Good. Glad that's sorted.

Next...

jandajoy

Nope, it's obviously not the way to go as the outcomes indicate.

Unfortunately the solution has yet to be found. I'd recommend a coup.

Marmite the Dog

OK, so you don't want unqualified teachers and it's a waste of time to have proper teachers.

Who's going to teach the kids then?

tropic of cancer

What outcomes?

tropic of cancer

Well, you had me fooled

theudonshawn

in uni I did a paper on reading and dyslexia. One of my sources... and I analyzed the "phonemic magic bullet", the "whole language" approach, phonic approaches and some other forms of cruel and unusual punishment. The people who did the meta analysis (who are significantly smarter than me) said that the most important variable was having a teacher who cared about the students and was dedicated. There's a sort of a positive feedback loop created by trs who love their ss and expect them to succeed. The love and expectation feed and improve the st's self efficacy causing the st to give the tr more of what most trs really want which is the love and admiration of their ss. (those smiles that we never forget). this gives a happy boost to the tr's self efficacy who becomes more dedicated and so on and so forth.

I have an English school (a very small... learning center), and I'll hire teachers with dodgy degrees or none at all... I'd even take energetic youngsters taking a year off between high school and college (though I'd supervise closely). The real magic is in the relationship which develops between the caring adult and the st/child.

I had asshole full prof's in school with published books and a wall full of qualifications... who I got jack shit from for useful information. I had friends who partied and cheated their way through college who finished dumber than they were when they came in. Some of the most educated people I know make terrible terrible teachers.

In fact, my 10 year old stepson likes to teach with me on the weekends... he get's A.3 kids to read more clearly than some of the adult thai teachers I've worked with... and he's 100% Thai. That is, my A3 kids read more clearly than some of the Thai's trying to teach English.

Sorry about that... bit of a brag and and a rant... forgive me, I'm WUI (writing under the influence) but I'll post anyway...

Marmite the Dog

^ Well put and a good post.

Mr R Sole

Thanks for all the posts, great advice. IMHO I also believe that a dedicated teacher makes all the difference. Rather than some boring twat forcing uninterested Thai kids to speak English then fail and just play games all the time to placate them. Like so many do in my experience.

tropic of cancer

Actually, (well-designed) games are one of the most effective learning tools you have

mrsquirrel

A teacher is in a position of trust and power.

Would you want somebody who has lied and cheated to be in that position? They were prepared to break the rules to protect themselves and keep their job. What else are they prepared to do?

You don't need a degree to be a competent teacher. However you if one is required for visa reasons and you have to lie to get one. Does that make you a competent person?

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ItsRobsLife

Ironic that his fake degree is a 'Life Experience Degree' bet he wishes he he'd done a real 'Life Experience Degree' he could write an essay about this.

Simon43

As was pointed out a few pages ago, the guy has not cheated. He does not have a fake KSR degree. He has a life degree from an unaccredited institution. That degree was accepted by his current employer, but is very unlikely to be accepted by his next employer because a life degree generally requires no specific study etc etc blah blah blah.

If he had a fake KSR degree, then I would say that he was in deep shit. But his degree is not fake, but also not really worth the paper that it is printed on!

What to do? My understanding is that the requirement for a 'real' degree can be postponed if he/his new employer grovel nicely to the Ministry of Education.

Perhaps the best route would be to sign up for a 'real' degree course via distance learning, (or a PGCE etc via the same route), and then present the life degree qualification AND the acceptance for the new course of study. At least that would show that the guy is aware that his life degree is crap and is trying to get a more recognised and accredited qualification.

This advice from a guy with a UK BSc and MSc and half a Thai MA.... (none of them bought in KSR)

Simon

FlyFree

I think some lose perspective totally here in Thailand. Trying to teach English to a bunch of Thai kids in an ave Thai school at a pittance certainly does not require a degree. A decent grasp of the language and an ability to get through to the kids will be just dandy. Anything else is overkill.

One day, in the very distant future, when the culture has taught the kids that the world out there is important and that they should be inquisitive and actually try and learn something, maybe. Now? Let's get down to earth a bit.

baldrick

bah - all this new fangled degree stuff

foreign language has been taught for centuries with a bible and a bunch of hail marys

why should they deviate from the tried and true method