Thread: Why such abuse for TEFLers?

Originally Posted by Bexar County Stud

My only beef is with those teachers who take themselves too seriously (a very common trait) and those who, on the end of the spectrum, don't give a shit (also common).

Sorry to say this but I think I've discovered these attitudes in many workplaces throughout Australia & Argentina...not only in Thailand.

Originally Posted by kwai73

Originally Posted by Bexar County Stud

My only beef is with those teachers who take themselves too seriously

Can you elaborate on this? What do they do or say that gets your goat?

We know what gets on your goat...EVERYTHING that you can't control.

Originally Posted by kwai73

Impossible to know really innit?

Maybe with the proliferation of the internet, and kiddy fiddling rings who communicate on it, it's getting easier to track the scatch the sick fuckers at it. And so it might seem that there's more paedo shit going on?

So TEFLers are possible paedophiles? You are sick to even suggest that!!! Then again, your "control freak" nature would love to get involved with controlling such a thing (vigilante style).
Your view of the world is rather dim but my view is also dim but in a different way. I believe that about 80% of the worlds population are morons, who need instructions upon how to breathe. You, on the other hand, probably think in a similar way but you wish to CONTROL how they breathe. I don't wish to control them.

Humanity is totally faithful unto itself. When you start placing moral & legal boundaries within it, it loses all sense of self (no responsibility). Who died & made you "God of students & teachers"? This goes for any of the other anti-TEFLers out there. If you want to REALLY make things better, put your money where your mouth is & either become a teacher or be constructive (& sensible...if possible) with criticisms.

Originally Posted by mikehunt

So TEFLers are possible paedophiles? You are sick to even suggest that!!!

Well I didn't really. But if I had, why would it be sick?

Originally Posted by mikehunt

Your view of the world is rather dim but my view is also dim but in a different way.

You seem to know me very well after a few exchanges on the internet. What a deep and insightful chap you must be!

Originally Posted by mikehunt

Who died & made you "God of students & teachers"?

Er, no one mate. What's up with you anyway? Haemarrhoids playing you up?

Originally Posted by Doggsy

I understand that some people that come to Thailand only teach English as a means to staying in Thailand and 'living the dream'. I also understand that some teach english to stay in Thailand and be a SLAGDOG monger, ( possibly already said that in the 'living the dream' comment!).

However it is extremely rare for somebody to admit teaching TEFL and not getting chewed out by other members of the forum, surely everybody can admit that there are good ones out there.

I taught TEFL for about 6 months when I took a gap year from uni which I would like to think helped me, along with staying in Thailand, grow up enough to realise that I was wasting my time at uni and thus made me try harder in my final year to ensure I passed my degree.

It also enabled me to try teaching which I had never thought of as a career as I had disliked school when I had been there. Once I realised I enjoyed teaching it has now led me to enrol on a PGCE course starting this September.

Granted most TEFL jobs pay a rubbish salary but if people don't need the money or can survive on the low salary it brings it then what is the problem? Not everybody needs to earn a high salary and be so materialistic...

And there are plenty people back home who'd call anyone living over here and having a g/f from these parts a fekkin' loser, guess some losers need to feel better than the other 'losers'.

me, I just do what I bladdy well feel like and don't give a rats arse what others think.

I've been enjoying a thread over on Ajarn that has people talking about some of the hardest jobs they did before becoming a TEFLer.

Here is one response.

"i think the hardest jobs are the most mundane ones.

i have had lots of jobs.

security guard in a car park at Tesco was by far the worst.

not hard at all, just incredibly slow.

nothing ever happened, consequently time dragged.

teaching is quite the opposite, time flies.
the more lessons i have the quicker the day goes.
i love teaching, really love it."

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

Originally Posted by dirtydog

^I think what it is with a lot of TEFLers is that they cannot fathom more than 4 weeks training, and it takes a hell of a lot longer than that to become a good teacher.

Certainly, but more on the job rather than schooling. I think teaching is more personality/attitude driven rather than skill driven. Sure, you need some basic communication and English language technical knowledge, but the true "good" teachers have a passion and attitude that no amount of university training can instill.

Native English speakers, by default, have the knowledge largely and a 4 week course may be all they need to to tie up the loose ends of teaching, like lesson planning, organizing your ideas, materials, grammar refresher and so forth. It's a starting point for new teachers. It depends on the course as well.

As I see it teaching English is 80% attitude and 20% credentials.

Spot on. As a 'TEFLer', I'm dismayed by the abuse on this thread, but hardly surprised.

Teaching a language in that language is a specific and somewhat discrete method of teaching. A four week intensive TEFL course provides you with a basic outline method and appraises you of the common mistakes which people make. Proper teaching qualifications naturally make you more rounded and aware as an educator, but are not necessarily germane within the parameters of this method - especially as regards the teaching of adults.

Most native speakers don't have a strong grounding in grammar so the actual content of the lessons will often be learned just prior to teaching it. This is not necessarily a bad thing - it's not generally that difficult - the important thing being how you structure a lesson to best relate it. That can only come with practice. Merely relying on a course textbook won't develop you that quickly but using your creative powers and the extensive resources available on the internet will.

Since around 2 billion people across the world are estimated to be learning English, to expect them all to carry a stack of 'proper' teaching qualifications is fanciful, not to say ignorant. Most Thai schools can't afford to attract the minority of super-qualified people but are quite happy to take what's offered, for a variety of reasons.

The first and most important is the modelling that a native speaker gives. Asian learners have many specific problems but perhaps the key one is pronunciation - they are simply not understood whan they try to speak English (and this of course makes them retreat 'back into their shell'). Thai English teachers, by and large, can't speak English, so will conduct the entire lesson in Thai - other than reading the words from the textbook exercises in such a heavily-accented manner that their 'modelling' bears only a glancing resemblance to English. Speaking and listening tasks are rarely if ever attempted. Thus, a Thai upper matayom student will frequently be able to recognise the past perfect continuous tense but be unable to understand or answer 'What did you do last night?'

Everything must be placed within the unique context of Thai education (and Thai culture in general). In the Government system (outside of a few elite schools), staff are badly-paid and unmotivated. Promotion to a higher-level is almost universally viewed as a chance for self-enrichment (in the form of backhanders from contractors, junkets etc). Farang staff are generally resented their 'enormous' 30k salaries - this 'sour'(ness), as someone described it herein, being an upsetting background to ones working day. The disrespect is efficiently transmitted to the students who see your lesson as an opportunity to misbehave (farang, unlike Thais, are forbidden from using corporal punishment) and insult you (if you don't speak Thai - or even if you do). Parents have little or no expectations from education and the schools are happy to match those expectations.
Far too much time is spent on quasi-military or religious mass activities. In addition a typically-Thai 'let's all be happy and nice' grading system (continuing all the way through HE too) means that no child can ever fail.

Things improve incrementally the more fees one pays essentially, but the sort of dynamic pedadogically-driven environment one might wish for ones own children is only really found is the International School sector (and the best ones at that).

The guy who said the split of committed to lazy was 3:1, I'd say got it right. Most tefl teachers care about their charges but some (generally those at the beginning or the end of their working lives) just care about an easy life. Many start out with the best of intentions but slowly grow jaded. My own attitude is that I work damn hard when I'm there but don't care (if possible) to take my work home with me - preferring to spend time with my daughter - my wife is the high-powered one. I get 37k.

Teaching English to people in their own country is like forking sand into a barrel. 98% of what you teach will be forgotten 10 minutes after the students have left the classroom and if you care too much about seeing achievable results you'll have a nervous breakdown.

Hope that clears one or two things up; though I dare say those who just 'hate teachers' will continue to wallow in thier bile.