10/26/2009 - Thai teachers visit Pinckney schools in cultural exchange
While it’s not uncommon for local school districts to host exchange students, Pinckney Community Schools decided this year to take its exchange program one step further.
Last week, three Thai teachers concluded their two-week teacher exchange visit to Pinckney Community Schools under the AFS Visiting Teacher Program with a stay at Pathfinder School in Hamburg Township.
According to AFS coordinator Ann Ruhman, the program is essentially a pilot effort designed to teach foreign educators how education works in America.
Pinckney Community Schools was one of four school districts in the country to participate in the two-week program.
“It’s widely known that AFS has a high school exchange student program, but this is a special program; it’s the first time we’ve done this,” Ruhman said. “There’s been a lot of interest by other countries to do this.”
Thai teachers Chekmae Biru, Jiropong Keeratithanarut and Aswanee Mathawee listened in on Pinckney Community Schools classes starting Oct. 10, and frequently interacted with students and teachers.
Mathawee, a high school English teacher in Thailand, said public schools in the United States and Thailand are set up similarly, but she noticed major differences in class sizes and parental involvement.
In Thailand, she said, her classes usually range from 40 to 60 students. Although Thai teachers host parent-teacher conferences, Mathawee said there is otherwise almost no interaction between parents and teachers.
“In my country, parents stay out of education. When I have questions, I do not go to them,” Mathawee said. “We learned here that parents in the United States are very involved. It gave us ideas.”
Mathawee also said the Thai teachers picked up organizational skills from their American counterparts at Pinckney Community Schools. Mathawee said she’ll leave the area with a better method for organizing individualized student information.
Of course, Mathawee said, there are gaps that aren’t easily remedied.
In her school, for instance, Mathawee said there is only one computer for every four students. In addition, she said, Thai students tend to behave differently — in a more respectful manner toward teachers — than what is customary in the United States.
The Thai trio also did some educating on their trip, answering a variety of educational and cultural questions from seventh- and eighth-graders at Pathfinder School.
“I guess we’re not all that much different,” said eighth-grader Ben Hogendyk. “There are some differences, but not as many between (our cultures) as I thought.”
While schooling is similar, Pathfinder students were surprised to learn Thai students cannot wear makeup or nail polish to school, that boys and girls must have their hair cut short and that school uniforms are mandatory for public school students.
“Some things seem a little crazy,” said student Becky Brown. “But it’s been very interesting learning about Thailand.”
Link to AFS Thailand
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