Teaching English in Thailand:What U will need May2009

[travelerjim]

The well read and respected forum
RE: Teaching English in Thailand...
Ajarn.com has issued this important information:

http://www.ajarn.com/

http://www.ajarnforum.net/

http://www.ajarn.com/Banter/rulesandregulations.htm

Teaching English in Thailand :

What you will (probably) need to be or need to have
in order to become a legal teacher in 2009

With the help of one of Bangkok's top teacher recruiters and a few contacts
at the Thailand Ministry of Education and The Teacher's Council of Thailand,
ajarn.com has come up with the following information regarding what will be
involved if you want to teach legally in Thailand as of mid-May 2009 (
the start of the next academic year).

Please be aware that this information is correct as of 14th May 2008
and we've deliberately used the word 'probably' in the title -
simply because this is Thailand and overnight changes are part and parcel of life here.

There are THREE types of applicant
and FOUR methods to apply for a teachers' license.

read on...
http://www.ajarn.com/Banter/rulesandregulations.htm

--------------------------------

Along with that new news, ajarn has posted this assessment
of the current teacher situation in Thailand:

http://www.ajarn.com/

Phil's Front Page Comment 14th May 2008

I had dinner with a Bangkok teacher recruiter last night and he confirmed
what I pretty much knew already. The number of people wanting to teach
English in Thailand and specifically teach English in Bangkok are way down
on this time last year.

Obviously he could only come at this from the angle of how many applications
he's received over the past six years but he feels it could be as much as 50% down.

It's certainly a teachers' market out there!

-------------------------------------------------------
New monthly column from Teacher Recruiter Jason Alavi:

http://www.ajarn.com/Contris/jasonalavimay2008.htm

"Hello and thanks for taking the time to pop in! My name is Jason Alavi.
I'd like to give you a little background about myself so you know why Phil
has so graciously allowed me to write this column.

I have my own private English school in Rangsit, Pathumthani.

My main line of work is providing and managing foreign teachers
for several schools in Pathumthani province (just Northeast of Bangkok)
and the neighboring areas.

I have been doing this for six years, so I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly ..
read more...
------------------------------
Current teaching positions openings in Thailand:

http://www.teflasia.com/ajarn/browse_jobs/index.html

---------------------------------------------------------------

A good resource of information for those seeking
to teach in Thailand...or are currently teaching.

Thanks ajarn.com for sharing :-)

Although I do not teach myself, living here in BKK I have a lot of farang friends who teach english and they are getting a lot of job offers these days.
Does anyone know if there exists a website for freelance teachers?

[travelerjim]

Although I do not teach myself, living here in BKK I have a lot of farang friends who teach english and they are getting a lot of job offers these days.
Does anyone know if there exists a website for freelance teachers?

soiboy,

May I suggest you have your friends look at the ajarn.com website...
see the links I have posted above in my OP...

http://www.ajarn.com/

http://www.ajarnforum.net/

http://www.teflasia.com/ajarn/browse_jobs/index.html

http://www.ajarn.com/Banter/rulesandregulations.htm

It has a place for them to post their "Resume"...
so they may be able to seek a teaching position.

The jobs posted pages are updated daily and very helpful.

One can submit their resume by clicking so via the ajarn.com website...
makes it easy to see what is available and make application too.

Ane there is discussion web boards to assist teachers with
whatever questions they might have about teaching in Thailand.

Then there is tefl.com and it too has similar web pages...
http://www.tefl.com/
http://www.tefl.com/jobs/results.html?r ... 5c13542cfc (http://www.tefl.com/jobs/results.html?rs_so=1&tefl_session=ca2fd5563285d04fdff32712b08ea0b1&tefl_session=ca93d14af9af37770043af5c13542cfc)
http://www.bestteflcourse.com/index.shtml

and for Thailand...the ajarn.com is widely the best website.

Dave's ESL cafe is also a mother lode of information about teaching English.
http://www.eslcafe.com/

It is clear the requirements for teachers are changing in Thailand...
and with the current shortage of qualified teachers...
I believe the new rules for teachers license will result in an even greater shortage.

The Thais are shooting themselves in the foot...so to speak...
and I believe it is a turf battle between the Thai teachers Association et al...
and the Expats...

Trying to upgrade the requirements is admirable ...
but the quick way they are doing it will leave them with severe
shortages of English Teachers...

Good Luck to them!

You can see that they have a special, easy procedure for people with a graduate degree in Education, but none for those with a graduate degree in (say...) English! Imagine switching in "Chemistry" or "Mathematics" for "English" and the nature of the turf war is clear, as is the end result -- for the first time in Thai history, you will need a "Teacher's License" in order to teach. Who grants the license and rakes in the chips? The folks with advanced degrees in Education, the same ones who brought real quality to American education!

I received my entire education from "unlicensed" teachers and I find my enthusiasm for this project of "Teacher's Licenses" lukewarm at best. My one course taken in the Education Department of U.S.C. convinced me that, after P.E., this is where the dummies and morons hang out. After all, these are the same fools who just decided to shove major parts of the university curriculum into the high-school years "because so many students won't have a chance to go to university." On the same grounds, you could moan that few indeed will become Ph.D. candidates, so it would be best to shove part of the doctoral curriculum into 6th grade.

[cottmann]

If I remember correctly, The Thai government announced a little while back its intention to tighten the rules regarding foreign teachers. This followed a series of scandals surrounding men who had been, or were, teaching in Thailand. It's not all a bad thing. I remember going to an English language school in Bangkok and meeting one of the teachers, an 18 year old Italian who had difficulty understand what I was saying. And it used to be the case that just about any passing itinerant could get a job teaching English.

EFL teachers = Every Fucking Loser?

You'll get no quarrel from me about the abysmal state of some ESL teachers and teaching: I've had farang "supervisors" at Chiang Mai University who regularly produced pronunciation howlers (imPOtent, preFERable) and grammatical howlers as well. The only question involves the cure. It seems to me that requiring applicants to take something like the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) would produce some results, but unfortunately, I think the farang being required to demonstrate proficiency would soon demand that ALL English teachers be so tested, including (say) the incompetent matriarchs at CMU -- so that idea would seem to be a non-starter. I almost got fired for idly suggesting it one day! (Yes, the matriarchs WILL fire you for correcting their English!)

Requiring a 300-hour course in educational methodology (probably the same for all teachers) at 200 baht per student per hour, grand total 60,000 baht per student, seems like a very poor way to deal with people who can't speak English. What it LOOKS like is "soak the farang," and it is virtually guaranteed to put an end to young people coming to visit Thailand for a year or three and teach English along the way.

I noticed the bitter comment about ESL being for losers...would only point out that if you are young and want to see the world AND pay your own way AND not be a backpacker, it's hard to think of anything else than teaching English. Not anything BETTER, mind you: anything ELSE.

It used to be the case that teaching English was just about the only wide-open job opportunity for farangs in Thailand. Now that door seems to be swinging shut (although a former colleague assures me that the rumors have been flying for five years or more.) But he doesn't care any more -- he's off to Vietnam and $3100 a month -- about 100,000 baht. He makes 25,000 here.

Generally, if you want to upgrade your work force, you have to budget for that. Here, it seems that Thailand is going to leave its position as the second-worst ESL country in SE Asia through smoke, mirrors, and soaking the farang. I has me doubts, me hearties, I has me doubts.