My Journey to becoming Teacher S

“How do you want kids to call you?”

“Teacher Esra”

“Thai kids will have a problem pronouncing your name… think of a shorter name”

“Perhaps I will use one letter... Teacher S, is that okay?”

And that is how I became ‘Teacher S’ in Thailand folks! I would have never thought that I would get a ‘rebranding’ after leaving the Philippines for the Land of Smiles. Just like our names that vary, they say that a teacher wears different hats in school - friend, cheerleader, and counselor to name a few. We can be all these things in a day, three years into teaching and I am convinced. Teachers take on different characters because we have big responsibilities. Some may say that teaching is an easy job. If that is the case, then anyone could do it. Real teaching calls for someone who has a brave heart to educate a group of kids with different backgrounds; likes, dislikes and opinions - and not lose him/her self in the process. Ergo, who can keep a SANE mind at the end of every school day. 

Sandwiched between two of the best teachers in the world, my Mama (mom) and Lola (grandmom) | May 2015

Group photo with Pre-service teachers Majoring in Special Education, UST | March 2015

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for kids. From an early age I was already exposed to this field of educating. My Mom, who teaches in a government school used to bring me along to her classes. I just sat quietly in the back and listened as she taught the parts of our digestive system. At age 8 I knew that apart from the stomach, we have small and large intestines which aid in digesting food. My Mom answered questions and explained things in ways her students and my young brain could absorb. My Grandmother and some of my Aunts are equally amazing teachers just like my Mom. This may sound too uncool, but I am one of the few people who enjoys going to school, likes learning new things and loves taking exams. I owe my love of learning to my Mom, Grandmom and all my great teachers. Hence, when I had to choose a course in university, a degree in Education was my first choice. I love learning and I want to inspire students with my passion for education. Consequently, I got a degree in Bachelor of Elementary Education and Majored in Special Education from the University of Santo Tomas. A couple of months after graduation, I took and passed the licensure exam for teachers.

Proud smiles ‘cos we got our teacher’s license | Dec 2015

In my first teaching job I handled students with autism, learning disabilities, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. As their special education teacher, I made IEP (Individualized Education Program) for each student; considering their respective developmental pediatrician’s recommendations as well as their parents’ views. I worked with other specialists (occupational therapists, speech pathologists, etc.) and have learned so much from them. My greatest take away from working with a dynamic team was that no man is an island. Although I wanted to do things on my own for my students, I realised that I may be shortchanging them because I may not be exceptionally well in doing some things. Hence, I learned to ask for help. To outsource and find other people (e.g. therapists) who can do better. Teaching kids with special needs is very challenging and very fulfilling at the same time. Whether big or small milestones, all are equally celebrated by parents and teachers.

Behavior therapists joined Angels Walk: a walk for autism | Jan 2016

On Thursdays, we (were asked to) wear ‘Thai dress’. | Nov 2017

Aside from teaching, I also trained and worked as a behavioral therapist for a year, following Dr. Lovaas’ Applied Behavior Analysis therapy. Through such training and experiences, I have developed key strengths in handling both kids and adults with behavioral problems. As a behavior therapist, I had to teach students in a one-on-one setting for at least two consecutive hours in a day.  Parents often pressure us therapists to perform well because such therapy sessions are costly in the Philippines. Some would even pull their kids out of the special needs school and just rely on therapy for intervention. This new kind of work environment made me continue to spread awareness and clear SPED misconceptions of families that I have worked with. I had to explain the difference between the two a countless amount of times; why both are essential and one can never compensate the other. Philippines has still a long way to go for special education awareness. I just hope that more laws and bills will be passed to benefit people with special needs in the future.

In 2017, I decided to move to Thailand. During my first year, I taught conversational English to Thai students in a small town located in the northeastern part of Thailand: Sikhiu, Nakhonratchasima. I lived in Manila for 7 years but I never felt safe there. Surprisingly, this small town which some Thais would not even be familiar with, made me feel secure from the very first day. The people there were some of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met. Our Thai co-workers tagged us along on their temple visits, brought us to provinces in the north, explained their Thai culture and love for King, and made us eat sticky rice using bare hands. The most important value that Thai people hold to is respect. Respect for the King, respect for elders, parents and government officials. Hence, most of my students in Sikhiu are well-mannered and respectful of teachers. My first year in Thailand was great because of the wonderful memories I have had with them. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. I had to leave them and find a place where I can help more kids and serve a bigger purpose. I found out about PHBGTU through my college friend and colleague - Vezah, who happened to have joined same volunteer work as mine back in the days in Uni.

Volunteers in action: Vezah and I during Starkey Hearing Foundation event and Ursuline Christmas Party | Dec 2013

So far, it has been a pleasure teaching English to Thai kids in Baan Kalim School and RPG 36. I, myself, have also learned so much from them. They taught me how to become a better teacher amidst the language barrier.  I have gained wonderful relationships not only with the students, but also with their Thai teachers. I enjoy after-school coconut club activities and look forward to Saturday swimming just as much as the kids. I feel grateful that I am part of this wonderful organisation that helps underprivileged students. I am very much looking forward to continue inspiring youth through Phuket Has Been Good To Us.

Saturday swimming with Mathayom residential students at Thanyapura | June 2018

-Esra aka Teacher S

 

Teaching Anuban in Baan Kalim School | May 2018

Teaching for a Nonprofit - by Teacher Caitlin

The first thought that comes to my mind when I think about the children that Phuket Has Been Good to Us works with is:

Resilience.

Many of the children, particularly the residential students, have been through so much hardship in their short lives but are still able to smile. I am often in awe when I see the little community that is created among the children who live at the school. Without parents to help them, they depend on each other. Working at RPG 36 Kamala School is not always easy as there are often underlying psychosocial issues that are not addressed properly. As one would expect, working with children of diverse histories is challenging but also incredibly worth it. Nothing that is worth it is ever easy, right?

To be a teacher is to be a role model, a leader and a person to turn to. The ultimate goal for me is to make a safe space for these children; a space where they are free to be children, to play, to learn and to grow. I believe that it is crucial for children to be able to play and have time to simply be young and carefree. When we let children play they develop the skills needed to thrive in our world. That is why Coconut Club, PHBGTU's afterschool and weekend programme, is essential. Residential students can join after school and just relax and be kids. With activities including drawing, cooking, and sports- we are enabling them to have fun and explore their own interests while practicing English with us in an informal atmosphere. Coconut Club becomes a safe space to be just like any other child and to bring normalcy back into their lives. 

Coming from an International Development background with a focus on Children and Education, working for a non-profit is an integral part of who I am. I doubt I would ever teach English at an International school simply because, for me, there needs to be a greater purpose. I believe there needs to be an overarching goal we strive towards. I feel comfort in knowing that the Foundation seeks to improve the lives of children through a supplementary English programme so they can enter into well-paid jobs in the tourism industry once they graduate.

Tourism is the fastest growing industry in Thailand, and the largest industry in Phuket, generating more than 145,000 jobs with more being created each day. English is necessary to communicate, negotiate and make transactions with tourists. If a person can speak English and are able to have conversations with foreigners, then they are much more likely to obtain a higher paying job securing economic stability. 

 Is teaching English a long-term solution that will fix all the ongoing development issues in Thailand? No.

 However, the Foundation has the potential to change hundreds of children’s lives by improving their employability and opening doors where there would not be otherwise.

It may sound silly, but my favourite part of being a teacher is being able to give positive support to the students that come into my classroom each day. Being able to encourage my students to believe in themselves is something I cannot take for granted. Seeing their smiles and giving them a high five (or 10 high fives) for a job well done is often the highlight of my day. When we lift children up and teach them that they can do anything, we begin to instill a sense of hope and possibility beyond the school gates.

I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far and am learning a lot about what kind of teacher and role model I want to be moving forward. I feel grateful and blessed to be a part of such a wonderful organization. I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store!

Teacher Caitlin's Primary 1 class at RPG 36, Kamala School is made possible by a grant from XL Catlin. 

The Road Less Traveled

Let me introduce myself through an excerpt from my all-time favorite poem written by Robert Frost:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by…

    I am Jerraleen J. Balais, a teacher by profession and human rights advocacy is my passion. I was born and raised in the Philippines, grew up in a simple, loving family with parents who have shown us that although life is not easy, there is always something good that we can do for others.

    I had an amazing but challenging high school life and was surrounded by teenagers like me having the same teenage issues and pressures and in the middle of all these, we’ve had teachers who despised us and we’ve had those who made us realize that although we cannot control all the situations in our lives, we can use our experiences to learn more about ourselves and understand others better. 

Childhood, teenage years, it is a very critical stage in anyone’s life. Some children do not have a safe home or family, and I am thankful that schools exist because it can be the closest place for us to have that nurturing environment with caring people. It is because of these teachers, my heroes - that I was inspired to be one.

I graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in Character Education and School Guidance. I started teaching high school students in the Philippines and volunteered in different non-profit organizations in our long holiday. I studied at night and took a Diploma in Social Work at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

I worked part time in Childhope Asia Philippines’ prevention, recovery and rehabilitation program for street children through organizing youth activities in the slum areas of Manila and teaching basic, functional literacy in a temporary shelter for street girls who have been sexually abused and in need of rehabilitation. In all these experiences, I realized how education can change the lives of people one single to collective effort, one policy, one step at a time.

In December 26, 2004, the devastating Tsunami hit so many countries including Thailand. I went with the Daughters of Charity to visit and distribute relief goods in the evacuation camps of the displaced Karenni community in Phuket in April. My journey also took me to the refugee camps along Thai-Myanmar Border and to the nameless mountains in Mae Ramat to visit the stateless people. Before I left my country, I had so many complaints about the government, politics and more…here I was humbled and met people who are peaceful, happy, strong, surviving even if they are ‘unwanted’ in every country they go. They don’t have freedom. They don’t even have a flag to be proud of. I was still in my last semester in my Social Work course but I decided not to go back home to finish it and proceed to the Master’s program but instead spend my time doing in real life what we were taught in class. I helped organize a school for street children, mostly of the indigenous peoples and Burmese migrants. It felt selfish for me that in reality, the people that I have met and their stories of courage taught me more about life than I have taught them in the class. How little I know about humanity, about people’s pain and suffering. I can’t change their past but education can help them start anew.

In as much as I wanted to continue volunteering, I had to find paid work to support myself and family back home. From the north of Thailand, I moved to the south and worked as a teacher in private and government schools. In 2007, I was a teacher and also the liaison officer representing the principal and the board of directors in an international school in Songkhla province. I taught English, Character Education, Arts, Science and Information Technology to primary and secondary levels.

I traveled back and forth Thailand and Malaysia as the Liaison Officer and also the Primary Years Programme Coordinator of our IB (International Baccalaureate) School in Penang Island. I was involved in school management, curriculum planning and development, guidance and counseling, teacher training, events and charity projects of the school. 

I was working with the same company for 7 years. I loved my work, the children and my team, yet in the middle of those busy days and administrative tasks, I was missing the hands-on teacher and human rights advocate in me. I left my job gracefully in September of 2015 and headed back home for a brief rest. My parents asked me what I wanted to do next. I knew what I wanted – I wanted to be back in the classrooms again and I wanted to do more than teaching.

It seems that fate has brought me to Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation. It feels like all my experiences in the past, all those stops in the ‘road less traveled’ have a significant connection to what the Foundation does. When I’ve read that the Foundation was started after the Tsunami, that their main mission was to provide better life opportunities for the children through education and that in their biggest school- Rajaprachanugroh 36 (RPG 36), there are more than 170 residential students needing help, I told myself - “This is my next path.” And I couldn’t be any happier.

I started working in the Foundation in February 2015. I was amazed how a small group of teachers and a small team in an office could do so much not only for the 3 government schools that it is working with, but how it slowly helps the local community. In April 2015, I was offered the role of the Senior Teacher.

My favorite time of the day is being with the children either in classes or at Coconut Club. I am teaching Grades 3 and 6 as well as Year 2 and 3 in secondary level. Some days are tough but as a teacher, I know that those who have behavioral issues in class are the ones that need my understanding and attention the most. Happy days are those times when you see your students write their own names independently, or hearing them say “I can”, or seeing them do a task they haven’t done before confidently. It is when children who started out quiet and aloof suddenly share with you what made them happy that day, or when they run to you to tell you they’ve lost their baby tooth and a new one is growing or come to you to confide and ask you to help them save a stray cat at the end of the day. I wake up for those moments.

Most of them have gained the confidence in starting and engaging in simple English conversations. The school initially only wanted us to focus on teaching conversation and vocabulary words. However, we felt that these are not enough because students can indeed respond to questions, express their thoughts and feelings in the most basic ways but sadly, the current educational system’s choice of assessment is mainly in written form and they mostly fail because they are very weak in reading, comprehension and writing.

In 2015, we began incorporating phonics in our curriculum. I have modified the curriculum to follow the requirement of the Thai Ministry of Education, and at the same time also incorporated Cambridge Primary English as a Second Language Curriculum Framework which was developed from the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This is to have a point of reference as to where our students are in terms of their language skills. Within 2 years of working on the students’ reading skills, we have seen improvement as most classes in the primary level have acquired the skill of simple blending of 2-5 letter words. 

It is still a long way to go but it is definitely a progress especially that RPG 36 has also opened the English for Integrated Studies (EIS) programme where other subjects are taught in English language. Since the EIS programme’s inception, our teachers have also been teaching Science and Math for Grade 1-3 classes. Some of our primary and secondary students who had to relocate for various reasons have also been accepted in private schools and well-known universities where a good level of English is required. Although we are sad that we’re missing them in school, we are happy to know that they have found better opportunities elsewhere. This year, we are working with the Youth Career Initiative (YCI) and local hotels to help the Year 6, secondary level students to learn skills in the tourism industry as an alternative for them to secure jobs in the future.

Working with Thai schools is not without challenges but more than the obstacles that we have been facing, it is inspiring to meet so many local and foreign people from all walks of life wanting to make it better for the children. No matter how different our perspectives, our strategies, our ways are, we all have the same goal – to help improve the chances for all of these children through education.  We have also initiated teacher training and sharing sessions with the Thai teachers on classroom management and teaching strategies. They too are an essential part of the team. Some days, it gets really difficult but there’s nothing a team of dedicated staff and teachers will not be able to overcome for the children. If it’s easy, we won’t be here.

With all of these small steps, moving forward we have a vision of making the parents and the local community more involved as well in the progress of the children. The 3 key factors affecting children’s overall development are family, school and community. It may be a long shot but it is worth trying…we are getting there. Our Foundation does not receive funding from the Thai government, it is through our own projects, fundraising events and generous support of amazing people that we are able to continue what we are doing.

…And that has made all the difference.”

Sincerely,
Jerraleen J. Balais