Today we spent the day at the school-district-wide subject area competitions. They took place an hour north of town, at one of the high schools, so we had to leave at the unusually early hour of 6:45am in order to be there in time for the opening parade.
Despite my previously noted dislike for the Thai educational system’s focus on competition, I am nonetheless rather proud to announce that Donut, a 6th grader I’ve taught for two years at my Monday-Thursday school, won the English speaking competition for upper elementary school. For several months I was rather hoping he’d at least win the local competition (which he did, last week) but I hadn’t quite expected him to win overall.
The reason I wanted him to win is a bit difficult to explain. As I said, I don’t really believe there should be a competitionl. However, although I often feel like I don’t accomplish much as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, I am particularly proud of the work I’ve done at this one school. For two years, Ajaan Warangkana and I have built a solid co-teaching foundation. We have a fairly consistent classroom routine (for Thailand) and have done a decent job of building new knowledge on top of skills the students have previously mastered (unusual, for Thailand). The kids actually like speaking English, in random but appropriate bursts, outside of class.
So, I felt like having Donut (his nickname) win the contest would be an external vindication that student-centered teaching pays off in the long run. It might not be the fastest or the most shiny – in terms of having lots for teachers to "show off" after a short period of time, as teachers in Thailand are wont to do – but it’s the most effective, and, I hope, permanent. Donut had a good speech, which he had practiced for several days as all the students do. According to the judges, though, what set him well ahead of the competition was his ability to understand and answer questions he was asked that he hadn’t had the opportunity to prepare for ahead of time. I like to think that this is because student-centered learning allowed him to learn to actually USE English, instead of just memorizing or repeating it.
So, even though I would have thought my work at this school was somewhat successful even if he hadn’t won, the fact that he did win will perhaps mean that some other teachers in the district might be interested in knowing how it was done. And for that they’ll have to go to my co-teacher, since I’m leaving soon. I compliment myself, a bit, for trying to bring new teaching techniques to the school. I compliment Donut, of course, for working hard and being brave enough to compete. But mostly I compliment Ajaan Warangkana, for being willing to try them for two years and adapting them with a sort of Thai-Warangkana flair. Hopefully, she’ll keep teaching with that flair, even after I leave. She was pretty excited after Donut won today, so I’m hopeful.
Despite my previously noted dislike for the Thai educational system’s focus on competition, I am nonetheless rather proud to announce that Donut, a 6th grader I’ve taught for two years at my Monday-Thursday school, won the English speaking competition for upper elementary school. For several months I was rather hoping he’d at least win the local competition (which he did, last week) but I hadn’t quite expected him to win overall.
The reason I wanted him to win is a bit difficult to explain. As I said, I don’t really believe there should be a competitionl. However, although I often feel like I don’t accomplish much as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, I am particularly proud of the work I’ve done at this one school. For two years, Ajaan Warangkana and I have built a solid co-teaching foundation. We have a fairly consistent classroom routine (for Thailand) and have done a decent job of building new knowledge on top of skills the students have previously mastered (unusual, for Thailand). The kids actually like speaking English, in random but appropriate bursts, outside of class.
So, I felt like having Donut (his nickname) win the contest would be an external vindication that student-centered teaching pays off in the long run. It might not be the fastest or the most shiny – in terms of having lots for teachers to "show off" after a short period of time, as teachers in Thailand are wont to do – but it’s the most effective, and, I hope, permanent. Donut had a good speech, which he had practiced for several days as all the students do. According to the judges, though, what set him well ahead of the competition was his ability to understand and answer questions he was asked that he hadn’t had the opportunity to prepare for ahead of time. I like to think that this is because student-centered learning allowed him to learn to actually USE English, instead of just memorizing or repeating it.
So, even though I would have thought my work at this school was somewhat successful even if he hadn’t won, the fact that he did win will perhaps mean that some other teachers in the district might be interested in knowing how it was done. And for that they’ll have to go to my co-teacher, since I’m leaving soon. I compliment myself, a bit, for trying to bring new teaching techniques to the school. I compliment Donut, of course, for working hard and being brave enough to compete. But mostly I compliment Ajaan Warangkana, for being willing to try them for two years and adapting them with a sort of Thai-Warangkana flair. Hopefully, she’ll keep teaching with that flair, even after I leave. She was pretty excited after Donut won today, so I’m hopeful.
Robert would like me to note that even though none of his English students won medals, they did come up and ask "How are you?" when I saw them at the competition today. And they could answer when I asked in return. ("I am cold," because at 55 degrees, it was really freezing.)
[The photo is from several months ago. The boys are showing off a guava tree. Donut is second from left in the back row.]
1 comment:
agreed, congratulations to all of you!
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