Teacher recruitment: Strong backgrounds in science & math

New program to attract engineering, science, tech & math people into teaching resembles US & UK programs but some concerns are raised.

EDUCATION & TEACHER RECRUITMENT

Teacher recruitment: Flexibility to attract science & math teachers

Dumrongkiat Mala
24/03/2017

The education ministry recently revealed a plan to allow those who do not hold a bachelor's degree (or higher) in education to sit the exam needed to become an assistant teacher at public schools and vocational colleges.

Those who pass the exam without a degree in education will be allowed to temporarily teach in schools for a period of two years.

Within that two-year period they must join the necessary training programmes to meet the teacher licensing requirements to acquire a permanent teaching licence later.

The exam will be held on April 22.

The new education ministry idea does seem to be in the spirit of similar programs in the US and the UK

In the US and UK there are teacher recruitment and training programs meant to tackle problem areas such as not enough STEM subject teachers (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) (see Teach First in the UK here) or not enough teachers to teach in poorer areas (see Teach for America here).

WHY THIS NEW TEACHER RECRUITMENT FLEXIBILITY?

People who have worked for many years as engineers or computer programmers in industry or have taught mathematics or science at universities sometimes want to make a career change.

Sometimes these highly skilled professionals want to move to a new area for a lifestyle change, from the big city Bangkok to the country in beautiful Chiang Rai, for example. 

The same is true of professionals with skills in other needed areas including fluency in foreign languages such as English or Japanese whose skills could prove useful in schools.

Previously, only graduates holding a degree in education -- who automatically receive a teaching licence known as a "teacher's ticket" from the Teachers Council of Thailand (TCT) -- were allowed to sit the exam.

The change is aimed at solving the shortage of teachers with strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as STEM subjects.

This is according to Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin.

''Lots of public schools are having a hard time finding specialist teachers in STEM fields as the numbers of people coming forward to teach those subjects have been declining over the past few years, with a large a number of teachers also facing retirement age," he said.

OPPOSITION TO THE NEW FLEXIBLE PLAN

Several academics and education experts have voiced opposition the Education Ministry's new idea.

They say the proposal will hurt the quality of teaching and interfere with the way teachers are trained.

They are also concerned the new program would affect the number of students enrolling in faculties of education nationwide.

CONCERNS ABOUT THE NEW PLAN TO ADDRESS

Athapol Anunthavorasakul, a lecturer from Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education, said the new proposal may help the ministry fill the shortage of STEM teachers quickly but he also had some concerns about it.

Mr Athapol said his first concern was that it may produce teachers with patchy academic knowledge who lack the proper ability to engage with students on a psychological level.

Moreover, they may not be capable of designing the right learning activities or developing strategies to obtain feedback on student learning, which are both crucial, he added.

''Educating is intricately linked to social and behavioural factors of human development, including cognition, motivation, social interaction and communication, not just teaching students academic knowledge," he said.

Mr Athapol said he was also worried the Education Ministry would be embracing into the system people who lack a proper understanding of teaching and giving them just two years to become professional teachers.

In countries like Finland and Singapore, people who do not hold a degree in education but who want to become teachers must attend an intensive training programme for 12 to 16 months before they can head a classroom," he said.

"But here in Thailand we are doing it backwards by rushing those without enough teaching experience [into the same positions]," he added.

Such a loosening of standards would likely damage the quality of teachers in the long run and possibly cause less students to study at university, he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1220093/relaxed-rules-on-teachers-irk-academics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach_First
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach_For_America

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