My Least Favourite Memory of Teaching in Thailand
In response to my last post about teaching ‘There Are Some Really Terrible Teachers in Thailand’ I received a few comments. One of them was from Martyn over at Beyond the Mango; he said-
If you are considering any future posts on teaching then how about one on a typical day in the life of a TEFL teacher in Thailand. I think that would make a good read.
This is something that I would like to write about more in the future, but in the meantime I’d just thought I’d share this vignette. It was written over a year ago when I was still teaching here in Thailand.
http://thehistoryhacker.com/category/literature/ The Little Slips of Paper That Can Completely Ruin My Day
Most mornings in our staff-room there is a little ritual which I have grown to loathe. It involves little pieces of paper no bigger than bus tickets. These harmless looking slips have the power to completely ruin my day; written on each one is information about any substitution class that I will be expected to cover. On a bad day I could end up with as many as three of these loathsome notes. This means three extra hours of work that I hadn’t been expecting and won’t be getting paid for. Apparently it is just part of the job which needs to be accepted. After all, students can’t be left without teachers now can they?
Unfortunately it is difficult to avoid developing a negative attitude towards the person bringing the bad news. Last year it was the same teacher all the time who gave out the substitution slips; I developed a Pavlovian response of inwardly groaning every time she approached me. This task is no longer her responsibility, but the response is so hard-wired inside my mind that I still automatically worry if she walks near my desk. My face always betrays my emotions; she must think that I don’t like her. This year the Thai teachers take turns with this task so anybody approaching my desk in the morning raises my suspicion.
I don’t begrudge covering classes for sick colleagues. I don’t even mind covering when people just fancy self-awarded bonus holidays – I wish that I’d the courage to do this. Sometimes though…it is just difficult to not feel disappointed when you come to work expecting to finish at noon but need to stay till four. There aren’t many perks working in a Thai school so the occasional early finish is always appreciated.
At the moment we are in the middle of the cold and flu season; swine flu mania is also in the air. Many teachers are unable to make it to work so the substitutions will likely become even more and more frequent over the coming weeks. It is tempting to just go hide in the toilet until the lady with the substitution slips has finished her rounds. This would only be delaying the inevitable though; the note would still be waiting for me when I got back to my desk.
I suppose the only way to deal with the situation is for me to arrive to school with the attitude that I will have extra classes. That way there won’t be such disappointment when the notes arrive on my desk, and when I’m actually not given extra work it will come as a bonus. Avoiding colleagues in the morning is just not the best way to approach the problem.
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After nine years on the classroom I stopped teaching (a little over a year ago) to join “Corporate America.” Even my worst day now is usually a far cry better than my best days at teaching. I loved my job- I was quite good at it- but we all have that person who “brings us those little slips!”
Hi Drew, I suppose that it can’t be easy for those giving out the notes either. If you get the impression that people want to run when they see you approaching it must dent the ego 🙂
Paul when I last taught in the UK I would shudder in the morning briefing(worked in a college-we had one very day) when there were empty chairs.
Covering for “sick” colleagues is fine but when you know they are taking a days unofficial holiday it rubs a bit thin.
Can’t say I miss that but I DO miss the kids who for the most part were great to work with.
I think having to work because others are sick can be stressful – especially if you suspect that they are taking the “yellow watery stuff”. I rarely took sick days and always felt guilty when I did. Even during the worst of my drinking days I’d be able to drag myself into work most of the time. When I worked in Saudi we had to visit the Emergency Room at our hospital and get a doctor to sign us off work.
Paul thanks for the link and I’ll look forward to your future post on a typical day for a TEFL teacher in Thailand.
Reading your post highlights the fact that teaching abroad is not all glamour and sparkle, there’s a lot of hard work and unpaid hours to put in. I’m sure many new TEFL teachers quickly realise that teaching English in a foreign country is like most other jobs, hard graft and long hours with little monetary reward at the end of the day. Dedication and a love of your job are probably the best tools any prospective TEFL wannabe could have.
Hi Martyn, I think a lot of people see teaching in Thailand as a cushy number with no real responsibility. The real problem is that a lot of people actually bring this attitude with them to the job. This is why you have people turning up to interviews in their beach clothes, stinking of booze, and carrying a dodgy degree certificate from Oxxford (I honestly did meet a guy who did just that).
We had it different at our place. A friend of the “sicky” would usually pick up a marker pen first thing in the morning, all heads would turn and follow him/her as she walked purposefully towards the white board then write “So-and-so is sick”
Prathom 2, Period (1)_________________
the big blank line of course being for volunteers. And then, office hierarchy kicks in, nobody wants to put their name down,you pray to god that you don’t have a free period at that time . . . you do have a free period, which, of course, means you now don’t.
Yep, I don’t mind doing extra lessons too much, it was always the last-minute notice that got me upset.
Hi Ray, it seems worse that you feel forced into adding your name to the note.