Action Planner
1. What do I want to improve?
I want to improve how I teach ‘English For Science’ lessons for secondary school students.
2. Why do I feel that something could be improved in what I am doing?
This is a new project that I have been offered a few months ago but I had yet to make progress. My challenges are 1. this class has rarely been taught before in Thailand at secondary level. There is not national standards for what this class yet. 2. I am required to use a specific ICT package designed to incorporate Inquiry into children’s learning of science. This package uses English only, but it is designed as a tool for Science lessons, not English lessons. 3. I have limited time with the children, only 2-3 sessions, 2 hours each session.
To face those challenges, what I have going for me are 1. My experience as a scientist and science learner 2. I have a little experience with the ICT package 3. My English (and Thai) language skills and my passion for language learning 4. My experience teaching university students and leading sessions for secondary school students on short workshops, similar to this setting. 5. Small class size: 20-30 students. 6. The ICT package is well designed: it lets students explore science concepts of any chosen topics themselves at the paces they want. It has attractive graphic. Many activities are framed like simple computer games, while connecting science concepts to everyday’s life.
I am excited about this project. Thailand has recognized the importance of mastering the English language for a long time, and there have been various efforts in improving children’s learning of English, to varying degrees of success. My current work and my previous experience as a scientist, and as a student in science classroom means that I am rather familiar with science education program for gifted secondary students. Like most people in Thailand, I learned English as a second language and continuously work hard to improve my English. An avid reader since childhood, I read and write down unfamiliar words (a word only becomes ‘familiar’ when I have used that word in conversation and/or in writing a few times.)
One personal memory that may influence my overall learning and teaching is of my teacher from grade school. He would write stars on students’ worksheets if we finished work quickly, and solved the problems correctly. Students could collect these written stars and exchange them for paper stars and, eventually, paper Suns. One wall was used to displayed these paper stars and Suns won by individuals and groups. The implication was that learning could be Fun!
3. What could I do that might improve what I am doing?
At the beginning of this project, I felt my allotted classroom time was the major limitation. While in Action Research workshop, I began to look for action to counter this limitation. My new goals are to 1. motivate students to incorporate English and science and 2. show them how to get more information when they are motivated to do further research (self-study). I will include classroom activities that requires self study. I will reduce the contents to cover and provide more online resources.
What cultural and organizational influences do I have in my environment?
An outstanding characteristic of Thai culture is seniority, which pervades over every aspect of lives from family, career, to social gathering. The concept of seniority is not unique to Thai; it can be found in different forms in other parts of Asia (China, India, Vietname, etc.) and some western cultures. In Thailand, the idea of ‘respecting your elders’ includes letting the more senior people speak first, do not argue, and wait for your turn. For the seniors, it is expected that they would, under ideal circumstances, help the junior members. The practice of seniority applies not only to age, but also status, wealth, and education.
When it comes to education, the Thai have a near-religious devotion to it.
Thai, having received cultural influences from China, value those with education. (In Feudal China, the only way a peasant could elevate his and his family’s status from simple farmers to government officials was through acing the Scholar Exam.) In practice, the respect for education could mean that educational degrees are often valued more than direct experience on the issue.
The focus on education also means families would be willing to invest heavily, financially and emotionally, on education. With such high value of investment, parents and children expect tangible results and they want them fast. This leads to the emphasis on grades and test scores, and increase the need for tutoring schools.
