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When I first came to Thailand in 2001 I got a job teaching English at Rajinibon School, an upper-class, private, all girls school with 2,000 students. At first I taught Grades 4-6, then accepted an offer to teach Grades 10-12.
Greg and a young student work through senses
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I taught at Rajinibon for more than a year and enjoyed it immensely. Two years have passed since I left and I’m still in touch with a number of my students and several of my co-workers. My current job, working for a corporate teambuilding company in Bangkok is exciting and I enjoy it a great deal, but most elements of the average workaday life just cannot measure up to the unique high you get from teaching.
When Dan and Scott asked me to take part in a three-day volunteer teaching program at a public school in eastern Bangkok, I jumped at the chance. Not only because teaching is a vastly rewarding thing to do, but I was also quite curious to see how the ‘other end’ of the teaching spectrum was. My girls at Rajinibon were fantastic, but were very well off and had nearly limitless resources at their (or rather their parents) disposal. What would it be like teaching at a school that’s attended primarily by students whose families live for a year on what an average working stiff would make in a few months in Canada?
At assembly on the first morning of the program as I stared out across 700 strange, young faces, I could hear the usual tittering, giggling and the odd whisper of ‘farang’ (foreigner). Surowa Huamark Noi School isn’t usually frequented by white people, and as such, we were a bit of a curiosity here. Everyone knows what white people look like of course, but not too many people in this particular community had ever talked to a farang, much less sat for an hour and listened to one speak. As I made my way up the stairs and through the hallways of this basic, but very clean school I saw out of the corner of my eye craning necks and excited smiles. Every thirty seconds or so one of the braver children would get up the courage to wave their hand in the air and say “Hallo!”
As I stepped through the door into my first class I flashed back to that scene in Kindergarten Cop, where now-Governor Schwarzenegger walks into class and is met by silent awe as his students tilt their heads back with mouths wide-open. On cue as they’ve been taught the entire class of 40 stood up and said in unison, “Good morning teacher, how are you?” The correct answer to this question is, “Fine thank you, and you?” “Fine, thanks” comes the response. You then tell the kids to sit down (you have to tell them, or they’ll just stand there) and begin your lesson.
Dan and Scott came up with a cool and interactive class based on the five senses. This started with going over each body part and what it does (Nose = Smell, Mouth = Taste, etc). After a half-hour of quizzing, repeating-after-me and generally trying to confuse and entertain them with fun games and prizes, the class was split into five groups. Each group then took a turn at one of five different stations - each to do with a different sense. For taste, the kids had to stick their hand into a sealed-off box, dip their finger in salt, taste it, and discuss what it was. For smell, they had to take a whiff of a bottle with crushed garlic in the bottom, and so on. Each answer was written in English and when everyone was sitting at their desks again, we went over the answers, reinforcing the appropriate English wording as we went.
It's all hard work
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Not only did educating take place in the classroom proper, but often outside as well. At lunch and break times when I was wandering around the school or just sitting in a chair, I would have a pack of kids following me. Some were brave enough to try and talk to me and some just wanted to watch from a distance. One day I brought my yo-yo with me, which quickly found an audience of about 70 students all wanting to watch my limited repertoire of tricks, which were then followed by appreciative “oohs” and “aahs”. Often some kids would reach a tentative hand out and cautiously touch the hair on my arms (which Thai men generally don’t have much of), while three our four courageous ones gave me some chocolate and even an eraser that had “I love Mister Greg” written on it. If it wasn’t for my tiny bank account, I would have felt very much like a rock star.
One thing I noticed immediately was that in terms of behavior, these lesser-fortunate children were as good if not better behaved than the privileged youngsters I used to teach. There was no pretense and no haughty behavior these kids knew that it was sometimes a very thin line between spending their days in a classroom or under a bridge. Learning was definitely an experience that some don’t get to have, and to be taught by and interact with a foreigner was an opportunity that only the very lucky get to experience.
I saw 14 different classes, ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 6 over the three days, in addition to participating in a mini-Olympics and an arts and crafts period. By the end of the third and final day, I was very tired but also very fulfilled. It sounds cheesy, but there really is something magical about making a small difference in a young person’s life. Especially when what you’re called on to do is so easy and enjoyable.
As got in our car on the last day, we were followed out of the gates by a small group of admirers who wanted to practice the cool handshake I taught them just a few more times. Three or four young girls came to the window and said “Ja ma eek mai?” which means, “Will you be coming back?” I nodded my head and said “Chai.” Just to make sure, one of them held up her fist with her little finger extended a pinky swear. I wrapped my little finger around hers and shook hands. As I waved goodbye to the students behind me, the car rounded a corner only to be met by another small mob that had run up the road in anticipation of us passing them. With my head out the window I gave them one last, big wave and a loud “Bye-bye!” The sounds of their shouting and laughing followed us all the way to the end of the road.
Learn more about Surowa Huamark Noi School.
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