August 21, 2013, Wednesday, Mae Ramat (Thailand)
*Still raining*
I woke up, packed a bit and ordered breakfast next door. Mike came over around 7:20, informing me his co-teacher will be at his house at 7:45. I finished packing, and rolled my bike up to Mike’s house (just around the corner)
Mike’s co-teacher picked us up and drove about 5km north on the 105, out of town. 5km, 3 miles, It’s short, but the few miles still yield a full transition to rural countryside. The school primarily draws from the local countryside families, and even those living a days+ ride away in the mountains. The school rents neighboring buildings to serve as dorms for these children.
School starts with the national anthem and an address from the Pa-a(director), with all children lining the fringe of the courtyard, listening to the Pa-a’s address, joining in to sing, collectively practicing spelling a few English words, and, of course, occasionally poking their neighbors in the ribs.
For class, Mike moves into the library which he has co-opted to be the English room. He leads activities to test and secure the kids grasp of vocabulary. Today he reviewed places in school, saying the English word and having the kids tag the correct corresponding picture-card in a game. At first, Mike taught a majority of the curriculum and has slowly transitioned to coordinating the classroom games and activities as his co-teacher takes over the curriculum. Mike’s aim in teacher training is to move instruction away from rote memorization to interactive learning. The learning style in the Thai class room is primarily replicating the answer rather than knowledge. The write-what-the-teacher writes approach was stifling their ability to actually grasp the language, and creative though, in general. In his first days teaching, Mike prompted his class to draw anything, the concept was foreign, to say the least, and he had to clarify many times that literally anything could be drawn. Eventually, one child caught on and drew a picture, which his nearby class mates copied, thinking it was the answer.
Lunchtime came after two morning classes: a meal of rice, squash curry, pork and veggie soup, nam prik(spice), and glutenous rice dessert The meals are freely provided and Mike pointed out that the rice is the lowest grade rice. Beyond nourishment, education, housing, healthcare and kid’s disciplining, (even for actions within the community), are handled at the school. The community feel was apparent as I watched the kids handle lunchtime clean up. All these factors culminate to create a double-edged sword. School binds students and village together to create a tight community, but Mike worries that this attribute waters down the seriousness of the education itself: grades don’t carry as much weight.
We spent that afternoon at the new high school campus. The primary school will move there as well; once finished, and the old high school will be converted to dorms. The campus was beautiful, complete with computer lab and new buildings. Thailand has ramped up its investment in rural education as a part of a broader campaign: “No matter how far, we will reach”. The campaign aims to provide more resources to the distant rural population, through access to quality education, better infrastructure and healthcare. As I saw in Alex’s school in Suphan Buri, Thai’s improvements to education are wholehearted but half brained. Both schools have installed internet, but has yet to implement a program to educate students in internet literacy. A deeper investment has been to equip children with tablets, but there is no program in place to deal with broken devices or technical support. The most poignant irony is that while the students gain increase access to technology, they still don’t have enough books and classroom resources.
All this pressure to invest in education as a whole also stems from the ASEAN(Association of South East Asian Nations) integrated market by 2015 goal. The member countries will have open borders and free trade agreements. The integrated market comes as a mixed blessing, regional trade will increase as restrictions go down between countries.. However, Thais will be dropped into a larger labor market, competing with citizens of the entire region for all jobs. After the borders open, a Malay with better English and higher skills will have access to high skill jobs in Thailand.Thus education is key to improve the populations skill level. Thailand recognizes this and is making steps to improve education but is still tripping along the way.
And beyond getting another glimpse into Thai education, Mike is a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of Thailand. We chatted from early into late afternoon and from early evening into late evening. I would ask him questions about everything he had insights too, soaking up as much as I could about his first hand experience of life in the country.
August 22, 2013, Thursday, Mae Ramat (Thailand)
While Mike was off to school, I took advantage of a rainless moment to start a walk through town. I headed down the highway, made a turn into the south entrance and went along the main road, stopping in small markets to prospect good snacks and chat with shop owners. I got caught in a downpour and hid in a woman’s shop, where I practiced Thai and waited out the rain. We chatted, she gave me few snacks and directions to a beautiful nearby temple.
I checked it out, photoed and then wandered through the neighborhoods, assaulted by locals shouting out “Hey, bai nai krap!” (Hey, where are you going?), I’d reply “Bantiao!”(Walking around!) prompting them to smile and wave me on. I got a bit turned around but eventually made it back to the main road. Once back at Mike’s I read and wrote and then we conversed through the afternoon, evening and night. I got a great history lesson on Thai government coups, Royal affairs and politics.
I’ve met up with the perfect foreigners in Thailand recently. They speak the language, consequently allowing me to get a few language lessons in and they’re immensely knowledgeable about the surroundings. Now I have the idea bouncing around my head: living abroad.. It gets watered everyday and Leah, Alex and Mike were like a dose of fertilizer and a rainstorm. Starting to daydream about how much I could learn being stationary in China, not too mention reconnecting with the language.. But I don’t even know how long it’ll take me to get through the next 200k’s, so planning a life in China is still a bit far off.