As some of you may know I have recently embarked on a new endeavour. I am taking my Early childhood Education program via Algonquin college. As an assignment I had to write a teacher reflection on an experience that influenced my desire to work with children. Here it is...
In 1997, I quit my job
as a Registered Practical Nurse, and took a leap of faith, into the unknown. Although, I was not a teacher, I moved across
the globe and became an English teacher in Suratthani. This town of 60,000 is situated
12 hours south of Bangkok, Thailand. It
is not what you call, a tourist destination but it is a great little city to
live, if you want to immerse yourself in Thai culture.
The only qualification that landed me
the job, was a certificate, which I earned over a weekend. I call
it my fast food, TESOL course. This experience of living in a foreign land,
and learning to do something, I had never done before, was enriching. It changed me, from the inside and out. I discovered a passion for working with
children, the diversity of culture and how to effectively work with
others. Living abroad opened my mind and
in essence became my school of life.
Mathus, the
school itself was a private school, which hosted after school English programs
and weekend classes, to children from kindergarten to high school. I was set to teach 4-6 year olds. Each class had a name and mine were The
Starfish and The Shrimps.
My orientation to Mathus was very
short. It consisted of a day where I was
introduced to my students, had a tour of the school, the small resource library
and my classroom, which was very basic. It’s white cement walls held a
whiteboard, a corkboard, and a shelf with a small boom box. There were no desks, no chairs, only a clean,
laminate floor.
The teacher’s office was small. It barely fit the 5 foreign teachers (4
Canadians, 1 American) and their desks.
In Asia people are used to living and working closely together. As a Canadian who was use to personal and
working space, this was as an adjustment. Not only did we work in a tight space but we
were the only 5 foreigners out of 10, living in Surat at the time. We worked together and were each other’s
playmates. Wherever we went Thai locals approached us to
practice their English and to simply fulfill their curiosity, of us
foreigners. We nicknamed our office, the
fish bowl, because it had a wall to ceiling window, where Thai adults and
children would peer in to have a peek at the “falangs” (foreigners). This
experience taught me much about acceptance and patience of others and cultures.
I was a new teacher, and filling in a
brand new position, with brand new students.
There was no curriculum, and from
the get go, I had my work cut out for me.
The learning curb was steep. I put my heart and soul into learning how
to teach English to Thai children. I spent hours reading books, and searching
the Internet and practiced what I learned on my students. I found a great joy in my students and
learning from them.
I used the Let’s Go series as a curriculum guideline and followed my
student’s lead for further direction. It
became obvious that a good teacher encompasses many qualities; patience,
compassion, observation skills and a passion for building upon what was
previously learned . I came to
understand that a class structure with interesting delivery was needed to keep
my students engaged; otherwise the children ran circles around me, talked over
me and basically did not listen. None of
these children spoke English and I did not speak Thai therefore we expressed
ourselves with smiles, frowns and hand gestures.
The school Thai system teaches their
population by rote. Children sit at
desks all day, memorizing text and repeating what the teacher says. They wear uniforms and girls keep their
haircut to shoulder length and the boys shaved at the sides and a little longer
on top. In my Western viewpoint it all
seemed very military like. English class
at Mathus was quite different from what they were use to, and they loved it.
Our class structure was fun, opening with
circle time, followed by a review, an introduction to new material and games to
solidify, and bring everything together. I had fun creating flashcards and interactive
ways where the children could be empowered in their learning. I discovered the value of phonics and
overtime the results started streaming in.
The children, who once only spoke Thai, started speaking some
English. They also started to read. These accomplishments drove my passion
further, and I fell in love with my students, and the process of learning from
one another.
To this day I still remember many of
my students, and one especially comes to mind.
Her name was Pang, her dark brown eyes sparkled with defiance and was a
discipline problem. She talked during
lessons, hit and bit other children and was a little terror. I found it difficult to stay patient and
learned that teaching brings you deeper into yourself. You are always having to self-evaluate, and
do those things that cultivate patience, and appropriate actions that support
your students. In this time, I started
to deepen my yoga and meditation practice, which I found helped foster those
qualities that make a good teacher.
Although, I had a personal yoga practice,
Pang continued to be a challenge. I
worked with P’Nong and Pang’s parents to find solutions to help her, be
successful in class. We tried the classic time outs, but those only alienated
her and confirmed her feelings of being a bad person. One day, I decided that I was going to
bombard her with positive reinforcement, that I was going to build her up with
compliments, and encouraging words for positive behavior. Guess what? It worked. Pang became a model student and she grew in
confidence and thrived. We became
special friends and thanks to Facebook, we are still friends, to this day. Pang taught me how believing in someone with
positive feedback can help someone
My days as an English teacher, in the
heat of Thailand, will forever be in my heart.
It is this experience that propelled me forward to leave my nursing
career and to open a home daycare. I am
now taking the ECE program with a dream of opening a center that will foster
the growth of children and their parents.
I am driven to continue living with a passion for children and their
families.
