Random Thoughts on International School Education Part 1: The Beauty of Performances

Since my piece on how we chose my son's school a last August, Noah has almost completed his Nursery 1 academic year, and what a year it has been. Being the dependent boy who grew up solely with his parents as his main caretakers, Noah has manned up considerably over time. His tearing in the morning has reduced from everyday to closer to a couple of times a week, with only the occasional tantrum before leaving home for school.

Through our daily commute to and from school, I observed with interest the interaction between staff, parents and students in an educational institution that calls itself an "international school". The concept of international education is relatively new to myself and I believe, most of my readers, so I have decided to share my thoughts on it from time to time.

If you had followed my thought process when I chose the school, you will realize that I do not have the "Tiger Mum" spirit. At this stage of my children's life, it's more important that the student-teacher ratio is good (16 to 3 ratio for nursery level at Noah's school), the teachers have a genuine love for little children and the school provides ample opportunity for learning through play.

After 1 year, I have to say that the school has delivered on most aspects. One point that stood out the most is the ceaseless efforts of the teachers to prepare the kids for one large-scale performance per term (3 terms per academic year). Every single event I witnessed was planned with much attention to detail, from stage decoration, music selection, choreography to even the costumes of every single student. The collective energy from teachers to make it happen at such a frequency is nothing short of amazing.

Really not in the mood that day.

Any school can teach little kids to grasp languages and master mathematics, but I believe not all schools can give every child the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a considerable audience frequently. I can see many advantages of such an arrangement in school:

1. By practising consistently for the performance, kids can experience the importance of teamwork, and appreciate the hard work behind the scenes before a successful show on stage.
   
2. As most performances revolve around music, singing and dancing, kids can practise their physical coordination through the choreography as well as learn new skills such as singing techniques and playing musical instruments.
   
3. Even though not every kid is born to love being on stage, such events give them a chance to know, from a young age, whether they enjoy performing or not, and of course, sieve out the talented ones from a very early stage of their growth.
   
4. Give every kid precious precious performance opportunity, which were few and far between when I was growing up. Overcoming stage fright and being able to perform adequately under the pressure of being watched by important people is probably one of the most vital skills I would like my children to acquire during their school life. It would be great to start young.

As for Noah, I saw him grow from someone who did not really know what was going on during his first performance, to a bubbly boy who enjoyed every minute of this preparation for his most recent gig. Even though his well-prepared bubbly self did not show up during performance day, I know that he is slowly but surely grasping the concept of performing. At this rate, by the time he reaches Primary 1, he would already have the experience of at least 12 major performances in his pocket. Whoa!

As a Daddy who really loved the limelight (I won't deny it) during my heyday (I was in the Chinese Orchestra during secondary school, Choir during Junior College and sang for couple of 5-piece bands along the way), I can hardly hide my excitement as I look forward to Noah's next performance, which should come really soon!

We will always be supporting you korkor!

Sharing the experience of choosing an International School for my child in Bangkok

*Disclaimer*
Throughout the entire research process for Noah's school, my wife was the one doing all the work. I only made visits to a selected few and took part in final discussions before making the decision together. This piece represents my personal view only, sharing my after-thoughts after the whole exercise.

Of the many obstacles we have to overcome being a foreign family in Thailand, our children's education proved to be one of the trickiest ones. Unlike in Singapore, where parents have their hearts in their mouths while waiting to see whether their children have been given a place in their preferred primary school, Thailand presents a set of completely different challenges.

Firstly, the public education system is simply not a choice. It's largely monolingual in a language we do not understand, so we have to look to international schools.

Secondly, once it comes to international education, we have to decide which curriculum to go for. Established ones will naturally be the American, British, and yes, you guessed it, Singapore curriculums. We ended up opting for the Singapore curriculum not because we feel it's the best one, but because Singapore international schools here focus on both English AND Mandarin, while most British and American schools only conduct classes in English, with limited emphasis on other languages or offer them as out-of-curriculum options.

Thirdly, Bangkok is not a place blessed with good traffic, especially during peak hours. As much as we would love to send our kids to the best school possible, it is more important not to end up spending half the day on the road. It is logical to choose the most suitable school out of the ones near our residence.

Lastly, international schools are expensive. No matter how much financial mileage I get from living in a "cheaper city", it will eventually be used up in my children's education. International schools hire foreign teachers (all foreigners have a high minimum salary which varies with country) and all language teachers are native speakers. On top of that, the student-teacher ratio is kept very low, so we could easily look to spend between 650-2500SGD per month in school fees for our child, depending on the school and the kid's age. We need to start spending this amount per month from age 2.5-18 before spending another bomb for University education. Take this, consider inflation and rise in school fees over 2 decades multiplied by the number of kids I have, my children's education fees can LITERALLY BANKRUPT me.

Having considered all the factors above, we visited every school that offered the Singapore curriculum around our apartment.

School A:

We were greeted by a huge moving water display, a sign of good 风水 (especially for the school after seeing their fees). It was followed by a rather impressive visit of the facility, with particular emphasis on their "Wall of Fame" showcasing the usual suspects' proud academic achievements in international competitions. It was really a 'back-to-Singapore' experience, which was what I was NOT looking for since we were already out of the island. I personally grew up in a similar atmosphere, with a relentless emphasis on academic performance. Ultimately, even though I benefited from my results to a certain extent, I am sure I would be better served in an atmosphere that focused more on actual learning than results.

School B:

The closest to our house, which would make the most sense for us if it proved to be fitting to our requirements as well. It is relatively new, so the campus is pretty small, not a big issue for me if other things fell into place. However, everything started to fall apart after sitting down with the principal.

A brief boast about the academic achievements of her children was followed by an extended interview on whether my company will be paying for my children's education expenses. When I told her it would be unlikely, she started discussing with me a whole range of reasons why I should be reimbursed and even sounded a bit impolite towards my bosses who have given me everything I have since I moved to Thailand. My head hurt a little when I left the office, as it was more of a HR meeting than a meeting with my son's potential school principal.

School C:

The furthest of the 3, but still within reasonable driving distance. A humble but rapidly-expanding school campus. I do not remember hearing of any wall of fame nor any HR lecture, but something about them keeping their fees reasonable by not spending any fees on marketing and re-investing their earnings into more facilities for their students. Music to my ears indeed. It also helped when we already had 2 friends who put their kids there and did not have bad things to say.

In the end, our choice was pretty clear. That said, Noah will not formally start class with them until next week, so it is a bit too early to pass judgement. Let's just hope for the best.