UNI Graduate Student Providing Teacher Training in the Land of Smiles
February 8, 2012
A University of Northern Iowa graduate student is making a difference in Thai
government schools by attempting to change the way foreign and Thai teachers coteach in the bilingual classrooms.
Dubuque born, Rebecca Petersen,
42, has been an elementary teacher
in Thailand government schools for
six years now and says she has no
plans of leaving any time soon.
“Teaching is not a job for me, it’s my passion. Young kids are kids
everywhere in the world; they want
to feel safe, be loved and above all
else have fun while learning. Asian
kids go to school for longer hours
and for more days than in the West,
so I feel compelled to at least make
learning as engaging as possible based around students’ interests. But I can’t do it alone; I need the Thai teachers’ full support,” she says. Mr. Sinchai Sumpanporn,
the Director of Anubanchonburi School, which employs 200 Thai teachers and 36
foreign teachers for 4,000 students in Grades K through 6, is behind her 100%. “We need to improve the
co-teaching
relationship. We
want to implement
student-centered
instruction, but it will
take a big change in
the way Thai
teachers think,” Mr. Sumpanporn
expressed. “When Rebecca shares the
video recordings of
her and her Thai
teacher co-teaching, Thai teachers can easily and quickly see that change isn’t as difficult or confusing as they originally think.”
As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community begins to open
up its doors to the global markets, Thailand is finding itself playing catch-up to its
neighbors in their educational rankings – specifically in terms of Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
skills and overall English speaking ability.
Thailand’s Education Minister has “…personally attributed the failure to the unchanged teaching
style which focuses on memorizing rather than
understanding, making students unable to
analyze…” (Thai Financial Times, 2011). Mrs.
Petersen, better known as ‘Teacher BeckEEE’
in Thailand, says that the cultural differences
are bigger than they first appear from a tourist
on the outside peering in. “At first you see the obvious; huge class sizes – 40 plus – the lack
of space and TEFL materials applicable to Thai culture, and just an overall lack of
cooperation between ‘us’ and ‘them’. And students still get hit by rulers or slapped in
the back for not obeying and/or not knowing.”
But Mrs. Petersen firmly believes that it’s not her role to judge or say what is the
‘right way to teach’ and she quite often mentions the delicate balance of
incorporating global and local culture. “It’s not Thai culture for students to get up and
out of their desks, to work in groups, to
speak up or to even ask questions. So
I have to find creative ways to teach
interdisciplinary skills such as inquiry,
research, problem-solving,
communication, and design and
construction.”
Mrs. Petersen is thankful for UNI’s MAE Elementary Education online
program to get the needed help,
support and guidance from her
professors, as well as her colleagues in
her cohort group. “I’ve been flying solo for so long now, that as soon as people
show an interest in what I’m doing I get super excited. I’m amazed at the amount of time my professors and classmates give me in helping me solve problems
to the many obstacles I face. Online learning has taken on a whole other dimension
when we have teachers located not only in Iowa, but other states like Colorado, New
Jersey, North Carolina, etc. and now me in Thailand. We use technology such as
VoiceThread so we can even hear each other talk freely about current issues and
trends…it’s like we’re all sitting in the teacher’s lounge sharing a cup of coffee. It’s fascinating to discuss education from a global perspective.”
Mrs. Petersen is often asked to provide training to the Thai and foreign teachers.
She said this is one of the main reasons she went back to UNI to pursue her
Masters. “I kept getting asked to give teacher trainings, and the attendees kept growing and growing. I
couldn’t help thinking ‘Why should these teachers listen to
me just because I’m American?!”
So when Mrs. Petersen gives
her upcoming training on what
she just recently learned in her
current course regarding
integrating curriculum she
says, “I feel more confident
that when I’m talking now - I
have a little bit of UNI standing
behind me.”