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Pros and Cons to Kids Learning in an International School
Welcome Lia to the job2teach hotseat. Background, Lia I and have know each other for over 4 years from when I used to help me on some of the back end of the recruitment needs. Lia has recently qualified as a teacher and has been working at two international schools in Phuket. She has 3 lovely kids and has been balancing studying, teaching, working and motherhood.
1. Lia, tell me about this teaching qualification course, what is it? Where did you get? How long did it take and how much did it cost?
Although I am from England, I spent half of my life in America and was more familiar with courses that were available there. I did a Bachelor of Education with certification online with the University of Phoenix in Arizona. It took me 3 years and at the end I did a 4 month placement at the American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The course was very thorough and prepared me well. The university worked closely with my mentors and supervisors to ensure I met all course requirements. I really turned my nose up at online courses before, but I would highly recommend them, especially to working parents or non-working parents too! The issue for me was expense. It cost me about 20,000 pounds. I used student loans. I was well worth it.
2. As a mum and teacher of 3 kids what do you think are the pros and cons to having kids in international schools in Phuket – feel free to let rip !
I am going to answer this based on living in Phuket and not just attending international schools in Phuket.
Let’s start with the pros. My kids have friends from all over the world. As a result, I think they see the world as a very small and accessible place. It’s very cheap to travel around Southeast Asia. They have been to Bali and Singapore. They have seen things I never would have dreamed of. Do they appreciate it? Hell no! All they want is to visit England or America and go shopping! They want to delve into the land of consumerism. Thai toys break in less than 30 seconds and quality toys are imported, so the price tends to be 3 times what it is at home. We don’t buy them! We try to live a simpler life in that respect. Our money is spent on travel and entertainment. Again, I don’t think they always appreciate this, but they will when they are older, I hope. My kids are bilingual as a result of living here. They are half Thai and can quite easily adapt into Thai culture when they are with their Thai family. They live an expat life in their father’s country. This can be strange for him. We are a western family and live like one. When my husband mixes with his local friends, he becomes one of them completely. When I go into this environment, I adapt. I enjoy this as I get to experience both cultures in one place.
Ok, cons. Expats live in a bubble! Most of us are not immersing ourselves into the local culture. We cannot even when we want to. We’ll never be accepted. Our skin colour and look prevents this. It doesn’t matter how fluent or knowing you are of local customs, you just won’t ever be one of them. I love expat life. I too have friends from all over the world, but I wonder though how it really affects children. They live in somewhat a dream world, a sub-culture, where they exist almost with a different set of rules than everyone else. I make my kids wear seat belts, but the locals have their children practically hanging out of the pick-up truck. Babies sit in the front seat of the car on mum’s lap, often practically crawling around on the dashboard. They don’t see accidents coming, yet we are raised to expect them. This is just one example.
You could send your child to a Thai school, but this is like going back in time 100 years. They teach through rote learning only. Students are not allowed to ask questions as it is considered disrespectful. They listen and regurgitate. They don’t ask why or how. They just accept. Skills are often beat into the children aswell. Ok, the more progressive local schools don’t beat children. They simply smack them on the hand with a ruler when they get the answer wrong!
Most expats have home help at home, some even have a whole staff to manage the home and the children. Many families have a live-in nanny/maid. Children grow up used to this. They drop their clothes on their bedroom floor and what happens to them afterwards is a mystery. Everything magically makes its way back in the draw. Dirty plates get left on the table and nobody cares when they leave toothpaste smeared all over the bathroom sink. The bathrooms are always spotless, because there is someone there picking up after the family all the time. All this costs no more than 200 pounds a month, so why on earth do your own dirty work? Why? because if you don’t, your kids will be clueless, lazy slobs. I used to have a maid come Monday to Friday for about 4 hours a day. We left the house in chaos and returned to peace and perfection. This was great for me, but one day I asked my 11 year old to open the gate for me as we were pulling into the driveway. His response was, “Why? Let her get it. What do you pay her for?” I was mortified. I now have a cleaner twice a week to do the floors and bathrooms only. My kids have chores and have to pick up after themselves. It’s more work for me, but better for them in the long run.
Many expat children here in Phuket grow up with very little contact with Thai people. The only contact they may have with local people is with those who serve them and the teacher assistants in their classroom. This sends out all kinds of mixed messages. The funny thing is a middle class family can live a very wealthy life here, but what happens when that child at 18 returns to their homeland for college? They are just like everyone else and have to do their own dirty work. They have to start at the bottom doing manual labour just to pay for their rent. For us, this is part of young adulthood. We look forward to the experience and learn and grow from it. A child who has grown up in an expat community may not have the basic skills to run a home or take care of themselves for that matter.
Now, it doesn’t have to be like this. It’s up to the parents to maintain a sense of reality at home. Children will model what they see. My family and I enjoy the benefits of expat life, but also enjoy the Thai culture as locals do too. I try hard to get my kids home every Summer, so they see how ‘white people stack shelves too.’ They see a real class system here and can easily feel like they are at the top of the hierarchy. You have to bring them back down to earth once in a while- make them appreciate what they have.
In Phuket, children see way too much too quickly. All we have to do is drive up the road and we’ll see bar girls squealing at passers by, sitting on the lap of some sweaty, old tourist. There are many lady boys out and about making a living perhaps at a restaurant or 7/11. Then some are dressed to the nines in the entertainment industry. The kids are very aware of what is going on. They are used to sex tourists and lady boys. It’s kind of a family joke! Another issue is road accidents. People drive like crazy, they put a whole family on a motorbike without helmets. Nobody looks when they pull out. Motorbikes drive down the wrong side of the road. There are accidents, many of them. It is a common occurrence to see a deadly accident on the way to school in the morning. This is tough on the kids. Sometimes I worry they see too much and then I reassure myself that that they are far more resilient than we give them credit for. I grew up quite sheltered and I don’t believe it did me any favours personally.
Even though my list of cons is way lengthier than the pros, the good really outweighs the bad here. It’s just important to keep your children grounded. Get them as much contact with local culture as possible and instill in them the importance of respect and the joy of cultural diversity.
3. Do most schools in Thailand include your own school kids’ education fees?
Yes, usually a single teacher gets 2 children for free and a teacher couple will get 3.
4. If they let your kids in the school for a discounted rate or even for free, do you earn less than other teachers ?
No, the package will be the same. Your salary should be based on your qualifications and years of experience.
5. Would you say schools are looking for a certain type of teacher / package?
There are many international schools all over Thailand now. The schools that offer the best packages are looking for teachers with high qualifications and at least 3 years of experience in international schools, usually. They do most of their hiring overseas through job fairs. Their ideal employee will be a teacher couple. They like couples with children because they are likely to stay in the position for longer than their initial 2 year contract. Also, the school saves money on housing with a couple. It’s almost like buying one and getting one free! Next, they look for single teachers. If your partner is also a teacher, you will definitely have an edge on the competition. The least desirable candidate is a single teacher with children, someone like me! Although I am married, my husband is not a teacher. It will be difficult for me to get a job with 3 children as an overseas hire. This is not an issue for me as I am happy to stay in Thailand. I will always be a local hire as I am already here. Often this means the salary is the same, but you lose out on benefits, such as a shipping allowance, flights back and forth to your home country, and sometimes, accommodation.
6. Languages – Are you kids bilingual?
Yes, they speak English and Thai. Their father is from Thailand, so it was important for us that they be able to relate to Thai culture. You need the language to do this. However, they are by far more Western than Thai.
7. Any plans to send the kids back to the motherland for some UK life training?
This is so important! Ideally, they go home once a year during the Summer holidays. Unfortunately, finances don’t always allow it. This year I sent my 12 year old son home to stay with his grandmother for a month. Because expat children live in somewhat of a bubble, it’s so important to get them back to the West as much as possible. They need to see how hard people work, the undesirable jobs young people do to make ends meet etc. My kids will go to college in the UK, USA or Australia. We aren’t sure yet, but they will have the choice. Once they are about 15, I hope to get them home each year to do a Summer job. There are no opportunities for students to work here, which is a major drawback to raising teenagers here.
8. Are you settled or do you have wanderlust to go teach in any other countries?
We are settled for now. At this point, I am just planning to gain experience and work my way up to one of the more desirable schools that will offer a better package. This should take about 2 to 3 more years. Once my kids are in college, I plan to teach in other countries. As a teacher, you can work anywhere in the world!
9. How do you and the family spend the weekend?
We are usually happy just to relax. We have the beach, plenty of resorts with swimming pools for the kids. They prefer going to Central, a large mall, where they can cruise around and be ‘cool.’ We go to the cinema often. My oldest plays football, so most weekends we have a match to watch. The kids have sleepovers with friends. We also have lots of family friends we spend time with in the evenings. These are times when the adults have fun and the kids can run wild too- suits everyone!
10. What do the kids do for extracurricular activities?
They do football, kung fu and singing at the moment. They used to do hip hop and tennis also. In the past they have also had guitar and keyboard lessons. There are plenty of activities for kids through their school’s after-school activity program and also in the community. The bonus is that that all these lessons are so much more affordable than at home.
11. Your eldest son has just won a scholarship at the PIA, how proud are you!?
Ah, it’s a dream come true. The facilities at this school are the best, plus they have the contacts and resources to give kids all the opportunities in the world. It’s an International Baccalaureate school which is a bonus as their focus is on international mindedness and molding global citizens. I have totally fallen for their mission statement! I hope to teach there eventually.
12. Please give us your top 5 skills to install in your children ?
For me, the focus is more on attributes, rather than skills. I encourage (and try to model) responsibility, respect, honesty, compassion and international mindedness.
As far as skills go, I have to say I think the focus these days has to be on technology, multilingualism, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Our kids are going to be forced to face challenges that we cannot even imagine at this point. They have to be able to think for themselves. I also think we are going to have to face challenges with a global and humanitarian outlook, so the skills will be useless without the character traits I mentioned first.
13. What’s favourite thing about being an expat teacher ?
My favourite thing is facilitating a classroom full of kids from all over the world. We learn so much from one another. When there is no norm, everyone is accepted and celebrated. There are no prejudices.
One issue I have teaching at international schools is that quite often, you are working with very privileged children. To balance this out, I believe it’s imperative that schools reach out to the local community and share their resources. This goes along with promoting responsibility in students. Most international schools require that older students participate in community outreach programs. At my last school, I organized a clothes collection for an orphanage in Northern Thailand. I also initiated a relationship with Sunshine Village, a home for children without parents, one I hope the school will continue to build. It’s important for kids to mix with other children from lower-socioeconomic situations, especially with children from their host country. Both groups of children have so much to learn from one another. So, in answer to your question, my other favourite thing about being an expat teacher, is finding opportunities to work with local children. This work is even more rewarding than working in the classroom!
14. Do you have any plans to do an MA or open your school !?
I won’t be opening my own school, although I would be up for opening and running a school, as long as someone else took care of the business side of things. My husband is self-employed and I just don’t want to go back down their route. Opening a school in Thailand is a real headache. The bureaucracy is never ending!
I plan to have an MA by the time I am 40, so I have 5 years. I am hoping to find a school/employer that wants to pay for it
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