Total Quality Management (TQM) and Thailand's English Program (EP)

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In the course of a decade, the world has tremendously experienced rapid change in various aspects which eventually led to the globalization of economy and the transformation of society. Competition became a cliché in all aspects from economy to education and others.

Realizing the current condition of the world, the National Education Act of 1999, which is the blueprint of the modern Thai educational system, has profoundly expressed, “The urgently needed reform will undoubtedly redeem the country from the downward spiral, so that Thailand will rise in the immediate future as a nation of wealth, stability and dignity, capable of competing with others in this age of globalization” (ONEC, 2007).

Heeding the latest national education reform which calls for competency among Thai citizens in the global arena, the Ministry of Education spearheaded the transformation of the education system through a strategy based around enhancing moral and ethical values together with a core program of enhancing the quality of education in which the transformation of language learning is one of the focuses. The learning of English language has been given main focus through English Program which aimed at providing full Thai curriculum subjects in English (Thailand MOE, 2004).

However, as an emergent practice in the field of basic education, a plethora of problems has stricken the operation of the program and has caused several impediments in achieving the nation’s goal for its citizens. These problems include difficulty in finding textbooks that would match the Ministry of Education’s curriculum, hiring qualified teachers to teach the subject matter in English, low level of students’ conception over the subject matter, lack of motivation to learn the subject matter in English among students, internal conflicts among teachers and school administrators resulting to low level of teachers retention, lack of awareness of the program’s vision, mission, goals and objectives among most of the stakeholders and dissatisfaction of some parents over the operation of the program. Beyond the school organization, there is a pungent competition among the basic education institutions offering English Program.

The abovementioned problems are supported by an array of local researches and literatures which reveals the current status of language education in Thailand especially in the English Program. As pointed out by Wiriyachitra (2007), with all the efforts to enhance English language teaching and learning, Thailand is still facing many problems that inhibit her from standing tall in the “Knowledge” societies. She further revealed that one of the factors that inhibit Thailand’s capability to be in the “Knowledge” society is that foreign teachers in the English program are less qualified. Hence the students, on average, do not excel in mathematics and science.

Furthermore, a study of attitudes and problems in teaching and learning English in Islamic religious schools in Yala conducted by Rattnanayart, Charumanee and Chiramanee in 2006 has revealed the following results:

1. English teachers in the three school sizes perceive English teaching problems mostly at a critical level. These problems, ranked in order of seriousness, are those concerning teaching and learning materials, evaluation and testing, students, and workload.

2. All administrators agree that they have not yet succeeded in their management; they want to improve the quality of teaching and learning English to make it more effective.

3. School administrators face similar problems concerning financial support from the government, students, English teachers, curriculum, the environment, teaching and learning facilities, and assistance from the educational authority in charge.

The problems cited in the previous paragraphs are few of the dilemmas which can be addressed by a well-implemented TQM Program. However, even if TQM can be a panacea of the various problems facing the English Program in basic education institutions, it has to be understood that TQM is not a solution which ordinarily comes out of the blue. As mentioned by Sallis (2003) in his book Total Quality Management in Education, "TQM is not an imposition. It is not something which can be done by somebody for you and for the others. TQM needs to be implemented by individuals who are of utmost commitment in achieving the customer-focused vision of the program."

TQM, in general, could be an answer to Thailand’s dream to redeem itself from the downward spiral and become a country capable of competing with others in this age of globalization. As pointed out by Fitzgerald (2004), “Now that the technologies of transportation and communication have replaced national economic systems with a global economy, nations and businesses that do not practice TQM can become globally non-competitive rather rapidly.” He further divulged, “This march towards non-competitiveness can be avoided if citizens are helped to become TQM practitioners.”

References:

Fitzgerald, Ron (2004). Total quality management in education. Minuteman career and technical high school. Retrieved December 18, 2008 from http://www.minuteman.org/topics/tqm.html

Rattnanayart, W., Charumanee, N., & Chiramanee, N. (2007). A study of attitudes and problems in teaching and learning English in Islamic religious schools in Yala. ThaiTESOL Bulletin, 20 (1-2), 73–100

Ministry of Education(2004). The education system in Thailand. Towards a learning society in Thailand (pamphlet of the Bureau of International Cooperation). Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://www.bic.moe.go.th/fileadmin/BIC_Document/book/MOEleaflet/Thai-ed-system.pdf

Office of the Education Council (2007). National Education Act of B.E. 2542 (1999). Office of the Education Council. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from http://www.onec.go.th/publication/law2542/index_law2542.html

Sallis, Edward. Total quality management in education. Kogan Page Ltd. London: 2002

Tan, Hedda (2009). English language teaching in Thailand: where do Filipinos fit in? Filipinos in Thailand: Filipinos living, working, traveling in Thailand blog. Retrieved February 20, 2009 from http://www.filipinosinthailand.com/english-language-teaching-in-thailand-where-do-filipinos-fit-in/

Wiriyachittra, Arunee (2007). The present perfect for the future perfect. ThaiTESOL Bulletin, 20 (1-2), 101–110

Learning Assessment: From Theory to Practice

This article is the first part of a condensed series of discussions on Seminar-Workshop in Ethical and Legal Issues behind Students Assessment presented for Seminar in Ethics and Legal Issues in Education class at St. Theresa Inti College- Bangkok Campus.

The seminar-workshop aims to provide better understanding towards learning assessment – its definition and purpose/s, the transition from traditional to modern assessment methods, the teachers’ roles in assessment for students’ learning. Built upon the foundation on understanding the basic theories and practices in students assessment, case studies on ethical and legal issues teachers’ prejudices in providing authentic assessment among the students will be presented and analyzed.

What is Assessment?

In this context, assessment is primarily regarded as gathering relevant information concerning the learners (e.g. learning styles, needs for improvement, learning difficulties encountered, and students’ progress) in order to evaluate their existing knowledge and assist them in impending learning endeavors .

To define learning assessment in the general context of education, I adopted the definition of The UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (2000) in its Code of Practice as cited by Harvey (2004-8) which states:

Assessment is a generic term for a set of processes that measure the outcomes of students’ learning, in terms of knowledge acquired, understanding developed, and skills gained. It serves many purposes. Assessment provides the means by which students are graded, passed or fail. It provides the basis for decisions on whether a student is ready to proceed, to qualify for an award or to demonstrate competence to practise. It enables students to obtain feedback on their learning and helps them improve their performance. It enables staff to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching.

The abovementioned definition of assessment attempts to discuss the three kinds of assessment happening in the classroom level which will be discussed in the following section of this article.

Kinds of Assessment and their Purpose

As cited by the Government of British Columbia (2007), there are three current approaches, as literature suggests, to classroom-based assessment that can be used in conjunction with each other to support student achievement.

1. Assessment FOR learning refers to formative assessment through which teachers collect information about student achievement and use this information to plan follow-up classroom activities.

2. Assessment AS learning refers to the active involvement of students in assessment of their own learning. Assessment as learning assists students in understanding what they might need to improve upon in order to successfully meet learning outcomes.

3. Assessment OF learning refers to assessment practices that take place at the end of a lesson or unit so that student achievement can be reported.

The three approaches to classroom-based assessment stated above are the two general types of assessment referred to as formative assessment (numbers 1 & 2) and summative assessment (number 3). Formative assessment, as defined by Tan (2008), is the one designed to provide direction for improvement and/or adjustment to a program for individual students or for a whole class. Formative assessment generally takes place during the discussion of the subject matter in order to provide learners with immediate feedback on their progress and inform development.

For instance, in my Mathematics class with young English as Second Language (ESL) learners, I give students worksheets and other activities to work on wherein I give immediate feedbacks and provide support (scaffolding) to those who are showing difficulty in doing the activity. Before presenting the activity (worksheet), I communicate with my students the expected output and encourage them to do the activity by their own and ask for my assistance if ever they will encounter any problem in doing so. I always assure them that such activities are given in order to help them understand the lesson better so they have nothing to worry if they get high or low marks. When students submit their works, I observe for possible errors and give them time to go over their work for correction in which they are happy about especially when they are able to correct their own mistakes.

The second type of assessment is a very common one and is not difficult to understand. Summative assessments are given after finishing a certain chapter and/or a course/subject. The purpose of which is, primarily, to provide information on how much the students have learned and/or how well the subject matter was taught.

Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment

Traditionally, assessment which is typically done in a form of test or quiz provides negative notion among the students. More often than usual, traditional assessment methods merely expects the students to recall knowledge through multiple choice tests, enumeration, identification, and others. Such method of assessment usually causes anxiety among the students which hinders them from giving accurate response as to what they have really learned – thus, hampering valid formative assessment and feedback.

On the other hand, authentic assessment or alternative assessment usually entails tasks in which the students will be involved and an accompanying rubric which will be used in evaluating their performance on the specified tasks. Wiggins (1993) as cited by Mueller (2008) defined authentic assessment as engaging and worthy problems or questions of importance, in which students must use knowledge to fashion performances effectively and creatively. The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the kinds of problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the field.

In other words, authentic assessment is the provision of direct application of knowledge learned through practical tasks designed to evaluate the students’ ability to apply learning (transfer of learning). According to Mueller (2008), authentic assessments, on the other hand, offer more direct evidence of application and construction of knowledge compared to traditional assessment. Going back to my Mathematics class with young ESL learners as concrete example, along with mastery in the fundamental mathematical operations the students are also expected to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills while studying Mathematics. When I taught “Money and Budget” among the learners, I assessed their ability to solve problems related to money and their ability to integrate the four language skills by asking them to look for a practical problem which involves money. I asked my students to write them down in paragraph form, interpret and express them in mathematical symbols, and then present their problems and solution in class. I developed a rubric to evaluate their works (oral and written) and communicated it with them beforehand. That way, I was able to provide authentic assessment among my students for their presentations have reflected how much they have learned and my feedback (which was based on the rubric) was clear with them beforehand, thus, learning what needs to be improved next time.

References:

Harvey, L. (2004–8). Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International. Retrieved, February 7, 2009 from http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/

Mueller, J. (2008). What is Authentic Assessment?, Authentic Assessment Toolbox. Retrieved, February 7, 2009 from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm#definitions

Province of British Columbia (2007). Classroom Assessment, British Columbia: The Best Place in Earth. Retrieved, February 7, 2009 from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/classroom_assessment/

Tan, H. (2008). 7 Ways to Assess Effectively FOR Learning, Teaching English Literacy: A TEFL Blog by Hedda Tan. Retrieved, February 1, 2009 from http://www.heddatan.com/7-ways-to-assess-effectively-for-learning.html

Eat it Up and Spit it Out

OPINIONS. We couldn't avoid them, could we?

Every time I open a newspaper or a magazine, I couldn't deny myself from opening the opinion page. Away from those factual articles which, oftentimes, give me up-to-the-minute information, opinion-containing essays give me insights on how people perceive certain issues that confound life. Sometimes, the writers' opinions also invoke me to give out my own point of view of the issue and compare it from theirs. They often leave deliberations in my psyche which encourage me to rummage around for facts.

Lately, I have discerned that, indeed, life could never be separated from opinions just like a newspaper without editorial is not newspaper at all. As long as we do not isolate ourselves from others, we could never take fudge from those opinions which would either construct or destruct our characters.

Being an educator at a very young age, I often receive both positive and negative opinions from other people – my friends, colleagues, family, and superiors (as they call it). Naturally, I feel conceited when I hear positive opinions and inhibited when I hear negative ones. However, I always try to patch things up by not focusing on those things for I don’t believe the necessity of living an opinion-driven life. My initial reactions are just part of the so called sudden and instinctive human response.

However, people’s judgment biologically keeps on bombarding us as we live life from day to day. Seclusion could be a very good deterrence to those sharp gazes but we could not desert the reality that we are irrefutably created for one another – we live not for our own selves. The world is systematically functioning in which each one is conscientious for a particular mission.

Other people’s opinion would never stop bearing us down unless we look at it in a positive way. Opinions are away from our sway and we could never say that they’re right unless supported by facts or wrong just because they don’t coincide with ours. What the world needs is respect – an unfailing deference that would not necessarily buy other’s opinion but rather the one that could listen to others and understand how such things happen. We are uniquely created and so what works for me would not necessarily work for others.

As Stephen Covey suggested in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” the first habit that we have to develop to become personally effective is the habit of becoming PROACTIVE. According to him, proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them.

Certainly, we have direct control over problems caused by our own behavior. We could solve it by changing our habit. However, we have indirect control over problems caused by other people’s behavior. We could not dictate them what to do and how to do. The best way in dealing all those perplexities in life is to set ourselves as examples – a model worthy of emulation. As an old adage says, “Win your enemies by making them your friends.”

Meaningful Learning from a Personal Experience

David Ausubel, in his theory on meaningful learning says that learners can only learn when they find the lesson to be learned meaningful to them. It’s not only true for elementary and secondary school students but it is equally justifiable to all learners. As for me, being in the field of Mathematics teaching, I find it more important and meaningful to learn Mathematics and teaching related topics than any other agenda. Teaching has been a part of my life and I do it everyday that is why materials related to teaching are so meaningful to me.

When I was in college, I hate this subject called Probability and Statistics. I don’t know whether it was because of my astigmatism which always attacked me those days or it was because of my negative attitude toward those copious data. Honestly, I feel dizzy dealing with those data which I deemed absolutely irrelevant. I could still remember how I stopped answering a certain statistical problem at the middle of the exam. However, I found out that Probability and Statistics is not really irrelevant at all. I did handle plenty of data when I had my undergraduate thesis and used statistical computations a lot when I was in an actual teaching situation doing the marks of my students. Later on, I started to learn statistics by my own for I knew I could not really escape from it. It seems like I am thrown into a lion’s den.

The experiences I had was just so useful in a lesson on Data and Probability I had recently with my fourth graders. The thoughts have helped me to think of strategies how to engage my students in data gathering and analysis. I knew that in their young minds, they would not be able to understand if I would tell them how important the subject matter is in the field of physical sciences, meteorology and business. They are ten-year old kids and lots of them are still up for cartoons, games, TV shows, online battles and all those childish things. So here is the engaging scenario: “I am a cartoon fanatic who wants to know if they also like the cartoon characters that I like. I want to gather data of their favorite cartoon character/s and from it we have to identify which cartoon character is the most popular and least popular among us.”

The students became so excited to tell me who is their most favorite cartoon character. Everybody is raising their hands! The atmosphere became so active and everybody is engaged in the classroom discussion until we reach to the point that we have to analyze the data we have gathered. After the students have learned the ways to gather and organize data, they conducted a survey of their own. They were the one who chose the topic. The following period, they presented the data they have gathered and shared their analysis. They did exactly what I want them to do although there were some problems in the use of language.

It should be a realization of every teacher that teaching is not merely sharing to the students what we have got. As teachers, we should be cognizant of our students’ nature and needs. We have to be aware of their interests. Our students would learn more if they know that their teacher is for them and not against them. What the world needs right now are teachers who have genuine interest to their students. Living in this world is very remarkable and it is even more remarkable when we teach.

Pedagogue’s Fondness

Standing in the hub of the throng,
In a horde which I mull over as life
Nurturing their infantile and inventive psyches,
Taking them to greater heights
Where they could be in a paradise.

I hear unpretentious words from them
Which I appreciate and tweak.
Yet I have to be careful as I preach
Because they are fragile and special
To me, their understanding is vital.

They’re like lilies blooming in the pond,
Unique with each one’s beauty and stance.
Forty of them are individuals.
Forty thoughts, forty feelings, forty dreams
Oh! How lofty am I to come to grips with them.

Pedagogy is life and I live with it
It’s like drizzle sprinkling the lilies in the pond
Making them grow into magnificent bloom
Teaching is endowing the learners a feeling of being special
Shaping an edifice of trust for themselves and for everyone.

My Speech During the Recognition Program of Dagohoy High School

The following is the speech that I prepared and presented as a guest speaker during the Recognition Program of Dagohoy High School last April 1, 2008 at Dagohoy Cultural Center, Dagohoy, Bohol.

To the OIC-School Principal− Mrs. Virginia R. Macul, guidance counselor-designate− Mrs. Teodora D. Salces, to the Federated Parents, Teachers and Community Association (FPTCA) President− Engr. Ranulfo Sepe, to the teachers and non-teaching staff of Dagohoy High School, parents, students, visitors and guests… my warmest greetings to all! Maajong buntag kanatong tanan! First of all, I won’t miss this moment to express my heartfelt thanks to my Alma Mater− Dagohoy High School for giving me this opportunity. As an alumnus of this institution who is now a fledgling member of the family of educators, I found this chance as an honor and privilege. It is my honor to be back to my Alma Mater to inspire our dear parents and students who will soon bring pride and glory to Dagohoy High. My dear parents and students let me share to you this short and simple story which has been my source of inspiration and guidance for years now. While maintaining the simplicity of the story, let me use our very own dialect as I relate it to you. (This story was spoken using the Cebuano dialect. Cebuano is one of the dialects in the Philippines spoken by the most number of Filipinos in different parts of the country. The language is more prevalent in the central region.) There was once a fisherman fishing with his grandson on a very fine day. There was a high possibility of catching good fish that day because the weather was so pleasant. Without any thought, the fisherman immediately threw the hook unto the water and after a few minutes, he got a big fish of good quality. But the fisherman removed it from the hook and threw the fish back into the water. His grandson just looked at him with bewilderment. And then, the fisherman threw the hook again unto the water and the same thing happened− he got a big fish of good quality. He did the same thing again and again and finally, he got a small fish which he kept in his boat. His grandson was not able to stand what was happening anymore. Puzzled, he asked his grandfather, “Lolo, I really don’t understand what’s happening! We’ve got big fish earlier but you threw all of them back to the sea. Now that we have a small one, you would like to keep it.” And then the fisherman answered back his confused grandson, “Don’t you know? Our pan is so small. How can we cook those big fish?” My friends, that story might sound very funny but it tells us very important lessons in life. How many times have we thrown our big fish away? How many times have we neglected the blessings which life has offered us because we have been so unthankful and preferred to focus on our resentments? We might have or have not noticed them; we wake up each day with abundant blessings in life. The fact that we have another day to keep our life going and to keep building on our dreams is more than enough reason to be thankful. Rejoice! Celebrate every little achievement that you have in life even if those achievements are not worth a celebration for other people. Maintain a thankful heart. That way, we are maintaining a healthy image of a healthy person ready to face all the challenges in life. There are so much more reasons to smile than to frown and smiling is much easier than frowning. We won’t be happy if we always feel sorry for ourselves for not being to do something we have expected. Life is life and what is past is past. No matter what, life goes on. Another inspiration that we could get from the story is the inspiration to dream. Our power to dream is limitless, thus, we should enlarge our vision. Let’s not be limited by the size of our pan. Whether our pan is small or big, we can cut the fish into small pieces. It’s the same thing in life. Let’s not let our meager resources be a hindrance to dreaming big things. We can attain those dreams little by little until our pan would feel sorry for us. Anyway, we can buy a bigger pan afterward. I believe it is in this principle that my parents stand through in raising their five children. I am very proud to say that I have been raised by two people whose income is so fickle to support the education of their five children. My father is a farmer and my mother is a plain housewife. But even though, they did not mind their meager resources in pursuing their dream to send their five children to college. And true enough, they were able to produce five professionals out of their very little income. HOW? I think they dreamt of it. Students, there are so many ways, if we only explore, in order to attain our ambitions in life. All we have to do is to believe that we will be able to do it and one day we will be standing triumphantly. Parents, I am very sure that these students here have their own aspirations in life. You don’t really need all those money to send them to college and realize their dreams. All that you have to do is to guide them, support them and inspire them to achieve what they are able to achieve. After all, each one of us is capable of achieving something. Presently, I am teaching in Thailand and I am sharing my expertise as a foreign teacher abroad not because of an accident. I have dreamt of it and my parents gave their all-out support ever since I conceived that dream in me. What I have and what I am right now might not be an achievement worthy of a celebration for other people but for me, it is something that I could dream somebody at my age can achieve. Thank you very much…

SEMESTRAL BREAK IS COMING

Few days more to go and semestral break is here. As a teacher, I am doing the usual end-of-the-term-rush. Plenty of papers to evaluate, projects to check, test papers to make, and a whole lot more which keep my life as a pedagogue going.

This week, I will be conducting listening, speaking, reading and writing tests to my 2nd graders and will be doing a lot of checking afterwards. Good that I was able to finish the test paper and the marking rubrics last week so everything would be very fine this week. I have got not so much with my 4th graders for I won't conduct any formal test this term. I have been using authentic evaluation techniques to assess how they have been going in terms of listening, speaking, reading and writing in my Mathematics ESL class. Things might be eating me up in few days but for sure, I won't be out of breath.

This time, I am planning to keep myself away for a while from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Although I am in the outskirt of Metro Bangkok, I can feel it as I see the traffic jam inside the school every morning and afternoon. The traffic officer's always whistling. It even woke me up at times. I think I should retire from hearing those whistles sometimes. I should find time for myself so I could reflect on the things that had happened in the previous semester and think of ways in improving it fot the second semester.

SEMESTRAL BREAK is coming... but I couldn't think of a lengthy break this time. But at least, I could start ticking my calendar now.