Are you teaching English abroad? Charlotte Ogilvie, who taught in a Thai school last year through the British Council’s Thailand English Teaching programme, explains how to make the most of your time outside the classroom.
You are abroad to teach… but what happens when you aren't in class?
Free time. Is it a blessing or a curse? The choice is yours. Your spare time is what you make of it. Yes, some factors will affect the way you will be able to spend your time off: teaching timetable, the location of your school, the protectiveness of your mentors and your finances. But ultimately, your attitude will be important in determining the nature of your experiences.
Your contract states that you will be timetabled to teach or assist for 15 hours a week. That sounds manageable, quite relaxing even. Some people even have Mondays off work. Others, who don’t have extra days off, but wish they did, make travel plans based on this dream being a reality. 'Maybe I could just do five hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday… and travel the rest of the time…', you may be thinking.
There will be time when you're at school, but not teaching
If this is the case and your wish has been granted, I take my hat off to you. However, for the rest of us -- and no doubt the majority of English language teaching assistants -- the truth of the matter is a little different. Though you are only scheduled to teach 15 hours a week, you will have already discovered -- or soon will -- that working at school is just that: working. This is now your job. You start first thing on Monday morning, and finish last thing on a Friday.
Some of you may be surprised, or even bemused, to hear that you are expected to be at school from the beginning to the end of the school day, even if you are only teaching one or two classes. Though your timetable may be sparsely populated with classes throughout the week, and you have a few hours off here and there, you have to stay at school all day every day.
Does that sound familiar? Are you wondering what on earth you are going to do during all the time when you’re not in class? If so, pay attention, as coming up with strategies for making the most of your ‘free time’ during the day, after school and at the weekends, is a must.
The school day is fairly short, and you'll have time off for holidays
If five days a week sounds like a lot, be thankful that you work at a school. Most official lessons stop before 16.00 at the latest, leaving some time to kick back and relax before it gets dark.
Another thing to be thankful for are the public holidays. This year, for those of you teaching in Thailand through the Thailand English Teaching programme, you will have two official long weekends. The first one falls on 11-14 July. Friday, 11 July, marks Ashana Bucha, a religious holiday celebrating the Buddha's first sermon, and Kaw-Pan-Sa, which marks the arrival of the rainy season, will be celebrated nationally on Monday, 14 July. The second national holiday, on 9-12 August, celebrates the Queen's birthday and Mother's Day in Thailand.
Take time to recharge during the hours that you aren't teaching
The majority of teaching assistants will teach between three and four hours a day, although I’ve recently heard of someone who has days with five hours of teaching. Teaching is tiring. There is no denying it. It takes a lot of energy and enthusiasm, which needs to be replenished in your free periods in between scheduled classes.
Essentially, these non-timetabled hours are yours. You can do whatever you want with them, within the school grounds, and within reason. Many people choose to plan their classes. However, if you only have a few hours of teaching a week, and especially if you are an assistant, then you won’t need all of your ‘frees’ for this task. If you feel that your teaching schedule is not full enough, by all means offer your services to other teachers, or if you are particularly confident, you could cover classes for Thai teachers who are absent. In my experience, a day without absent teachers is rare.
Use your spare time creatively
When I took part in the programme, I was more of a teacher than an assistant. I assisted in my first class at the school, and then taught all my classes solo. So I felt that I had enough contact hours, and chose to concentrate instead on writing. I wrote my blog endlessly, but also letters home, short stories and ideas that I had for the future: potential dissertation topics, jobs, places to go next.
This year, I'm working as an intern, supporting the Thailand English Teaching programme, and based in Bangkok. I planned to do a drawing or painting a day, but I have been here for over a week and haven’t yet managed to do a single one… yet. Other people choose to surf the internet, talk to people at home, upload their photographs, and practise their Thai by talking to other staff. Last year, one teaching assistant brought an e-book and read an article every day for his dissertation. Needless to say, he got a good degree.
If you are still officially a student, you could do some preparation before going back to university after the summer. If you are a graduate, you may have a little time to reflect on what it is that you want to do when you finish your placement in Thailand. Will you be doing further study? Looking for another job in Thailand, or Asia? Travelling? Facing a competitive job market back in the UK? Whatever it is you choose to do, try and enjoy it, and appreciate the extra hours that you have in your day to occupy yourself as you see fit.
Lunch at a Thai school is wonderful
What is the highlight of your free time during school days? I imagine that by the end of the programme, the answer for a large portion of you will be lunch. It became an important space and time for me to learn about Thai culture. It was a chance to meet, greet and eat with the other teachers at my school. The focus of the meal was a low table covered with various brightly coloured, spicy Thai dishes. As a vegetarian, my experience of Thai food at school was limited, and I only ever dared to dip into one or two dishes. It turns out that mouse-ear mushrooms, which genuinely look like their namesakes, are actually rather aroy (delicious). After a few days you will be able to work out your favourites. Savour lunch time: the food, the company, and the opportunities to pick up Thai from other adults. If you are learning Thai from kindergarten students, for example, you may end up speaking a very childish form of the language.
Don't be afraid to get to know your students better
Lunch is not only about food. It is also a valuable opportunity to spend some time with your students outside of the classroom. They tend to be more relaxed when you are not standing in front of them with a textbook or a pen in hand, trying to ‘teach them something’, and instead reveal a ‘less serious’ version of yourself. That is, assuming that you are relatively serious in the classroom, which you may not be.
One day I decided to go into school with one black contact lens, just to surprise my students. It worked. I was met by more stares than usual. Lunchtime is probably one of the most energetic times of the day, as people have generally stocked up on food and often sugar too. Make the most of this. Skip around gleefully; do handstands on the grass (if there is any… and you’re not inappropriately dressed); try your hand at Thai; dance like nobody's watching. Your antics may be met by subtle sideways grins as your students try to conceal their amusement, although others may giggle, whistle, cheer or take photos of their kru farang baaa (crazy foreign teacher).
Most importantly, don’t just sit in your classroom. You can sit in a room on your own wherever you are in the world. But you are in Thailand, so try to make the most of everything and everyone around you at your school.
What to do after school
Phew. Classes are done for the day. But wait, what do you do now? Often teaching assistants love teaching, but can’t wait until the school day is out so they can stop pretending to be animals, or just permanently moving around the room, surrounded by tens of excitable children -- or tens of glum teenagers who need hyper energy from their teacher in order to enthuse them. That said, evenings can be a challenge. They could also be one of your most enjoyable parts of your week.
There are over 200 teaching assistants placed throughout the vast country of Thailand, so everyone will have different experiences. How you pass your time will depend on whether you are on your own or with others; whether you live in a wooden shack or an air-conditioned town house; whether you live in an area which consists of a school, a few houses, a river and a corner shop, or in the centre of a loud and vibrant part of a big town; and whether your mentor has the time and the inclination to show you around, or is already occupied with other things or people. The people who tend to struggle with homesickness or loneliness most are those who frequently face long evenings with nothing planned and no-one to see. But that doesn't mean that these feelings can't be combated. Even staying on campus for an extra hour or two to chat and run around with your students can make all of the difference.
Even if you're in a rural placement, you will have magical experiences
Last year, I was placed in a rural area in central Thailand, Wang Sai Phun, a sub-district of Phichit. From what I have gathered, some Thai people have never heard of it. I was the only English teaching assistant at my school. My Thai mentor was (and still is) lovely. However, no matter how willing she was to spend time with me, her priorities were complicated, as she was completing her Masters degree in the next province. This meant that in her spare time, she had to concentrate on her studies, so she had less time for me than many mentors do. Occasionally I would be taken along to a barbecue with some of the school teachers. Although I usually ate peanuts (that old mistake of being a vegetarian) and crisps, I loved the atmosphere. We would sit under a tin roof, and some of the teachers would play guitar and sing, while we looked out at a vast rice paddy. As we sang and ate, the sun slowly melted away into darkness. However, this experience was a rare delight. We went twice in two months.
Keep busy and talk to other English teaching assistants
Some people are very lucky in that their mentors take them around their provinces, introduce them to their families and friends, and feed them with all sorts of delicacies. Some teaching assistants are able to return the favour by teaching additional after-school activities and evening classes for adult learners. Keeping busy tends to be one of the best ways of combating loneliness and homesickness. However, keeping busy when you are on your own in a place that is far away from the centre of things can pose a challenge.
One way I dealt with this was long-distance contact. I ended up phoning another teaching assistant on the programme most nights at 21.35 precisely, unless anything else came up, and that was a bonus that I could look forward to. It was really encouraging to talk to someone who was in a similar position, living in a ‘teacher house’ that was a little bit away from all of the action, and to know that there was someone who could understand my British humour.
If you get the chance, try to make friends with other Thai teachers too, not just your mentor. That way you will extend your network of friends and colleagues. You could suggest going out for dinner together, or inviting them to your accommodation, and maybe they will return the invitation.
What to do at the weekend
Weekends, you will quickly learn, should be planned relatively far in advance to avoid disappointment. It is fantastic to look forward to the weekends, but not necessarily to ‘live for them’ and them alone; after all, you are here to teach. Many of you will only be in Thailand for the duration of the teaching programme, so will want to make the most out of your weekends. Have a little think to yourself what you want to get out of them.
Do you want to stay at your project and get involved with extra activities at school? Do you want to learn more Thai or go to some traditional Thai festivals? Do you want to meet up with other teaching assistants and visit other projects? Do you want to go to the beach? Ride an elephant? Climb a mountain? Jump through a flaming hoop? Whatever it is that you want to do, make sure that you will be ready to be back at school teaching for Monday morning. Also, if your plans don’t involve staying at school, let your mentor know so that they don’t worry… too much.
If you want to travel, plan
Over the long weekends, which are national holidays, the whole of Thailand is off work and potentially on the move, so it's worth planning and making bookings. There's information on the Thailand English Teaching programme page about major travel hubs and different ways to get around. Wiki Travel and Lonely Planet are also very helpful. If you are struggling getting out of small or remote places, and there is no information available online, it is worth asking your mentors, as they will know best.
Many people say the first week working as an English teaching assistant is the hardest. What they don’t tend to say is that the last week is hard too. By that point, you have become very attached to your life in Thailand, your students, your mentors and your fellow teaching assistants in surrounding provinces. You are only here for a relatively short time, so try to embrace both the challenging experiences and the more exciting ones. One last thing: if you want to ride a motorbike, please wear a helmet.
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Read more on Charlotte’s blog.