The pass or fail decision in Thai schools

Many intelligent teachers from foreign countries teaching in Thai schools have articulated their frustration with a system in which they are not allowed to fail the students and an educational culture in which the pass or fail criterion does not play the kind of overarching role it does in their home country. They face the difficult task of teaching in a context in which certain elements of the educational culture of their own youth is absent. It's a cross-cultural thing and these foreign teachers must make an effort to adapt to their foreign students even as the students and the school system try to adapt to their foreign teacher. The demand by teachers that Thai education conform exactly to their particular experience in another country is self-serving. Besides, the pass or fail decision is an administrative one and not a teaching function. The teacher's job is to motivate the students to learn, to channel their curiosity and catalyze their imagination, to actively participate in their learning, and also to provide the necessary feedback to students, parents, and administrators as to the extent to which the learning objectives have been achieved. The fear of failure and the lure of passing or of passing with distinction do offer a carrot-and-stick mechanism that makes classroom management easier for the teacher but they are not essential to the art of learning or teaching.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand