FACULTY OF EDUCATION

GRADUATE SCHOOL
EDU 504 ASSIGNMENT 2
SUBMITTED BY
SIMON EFANGE ID5709458

Course Instructor: Dr. Supinda Lertlit

1) Describe the overall environment of Ladprao Bilingual School you visited on

December 19, 2014.
Ladprao Bilingual School known by its acronym LBS, is an international
education provider for young learners in kindergarten right up to the last year
primary level. This school is located in the heart of Ladprao city in a densely
populated neighborhood. Looking at its infrastructure, there are two major
buildings; a 9 floor and a 3 floor building. Generally speaking, the immediate
surroundings of LBS is ecofriendly, with ample space for recreational activities.
The school is separated into two major environments; Kindergarten and Primary.
Kindergarten is divided into 10 different classroom; PG Bee, Beaver, Penguin,
Carrot, Tomato, Papaya, Rose, Jumbo, Sunflower and Jasmine. As for the primary
environment, there are six classes from Primary 1 to primary 6, each class being
divided into two streams i.e. 1/1 and 1/2 etc. The school has a central cafeteria
used by all the students simultaneously during lunch. The space designated to flag
pole activities is closely packed, yet it allows parent to witness their kids
participate in morning activities. The air isnt too stuffy, hence conducive for
learning. LBS do have a modern up to date library, as well as a science laboratory,
a multimedia room with cutting edge equipment at the disposal of the students.
The school environment is clean both internally and externally. There is a small
food stall that provides the students with snacks at reasonably low cost, to keep
them going before lunch time. The staff rooms are well organized as well as their
conference room. In conclusion, the school has a very good environment for

learning, since its not located on a major traffic jam area and little or no noise
which will interrupt with students learning process.
2) State the pros and cons you have observed from various classes.
Well to kick off this section, one outstanding feature of the classrooms is that, they
are not densely packed. The class sizes are very moderate. The dcor on the
classroom walls is another positive aspect. For young learners, this helps them to be
more concrete in their thinking. The siting arrangements are done so that the kids sit
in groups, hence developing the spirit of being a team player. Some classrooms have
shelves at the back of the classrooms for the students to pack their stuff hence a
clean classroom. Their lessons were quite interactive with hands on activities.
Almost all of the classes, one could notice the use of visual aids to enhance students
learning, another positive aspect complimented. One could also notice the presence
of 2 Thai teachers and a Foreign teacher in the classroom, which goes a long way to
simply learning within the classroom. In as much as classroom appraisal goes, there
were some few noticeable loop holes. In one of the classes, the teacher was centrally
located and just keep on going and going while some kids at the back were being
distracted by a kid who was crying. Another loop hole that I noticed was the issue of
being inconsistent in classroom management. Also at the science class, I could easy
notice unlabeled chemicals which is very dangerous for kids at that age and should
be kept of reach for the young learners. The classroom also uses computer aided
teaching hence exposing the students to the use of modern technology and its role in
education. The classes also make use of the student centered approach in lesson
delivery.

3. Compare with your present school where you are working at on the pros and
cons concepts you mention in item (2).

From an analytical concept, its quite awkward to compare my present school and
Ladprao Bilingual School, since they both differ remarkably. Ladprao Bilingual School
is a primary school and my school is a government secondary school with a much more
mature age group. That notwithstanding, a few points can be drawn all the same. Like
LBS, our classrooms are also arranged such that students sit in groups and learn to be
team players. In my school, no one owns a class unlike LBS where a teacher teaches
almost all of the subjects. At all time you will find just a foreign teacher in the class
with no co-Thai teacher unlike LBS where each classroom has two teachers, one being
foreign and the other Thai. Our teaching methods are also similar to those utilized at
LBS. We also use teaching aids in delivering our lessons so as to complement clear
understanding of the subject matter. Technology is an integral part of our lessons at
Boonwattana School, where I work. 90% of our lessons are computer aided. Most
teachers at my school make use of communicative language teaching (CLT) which is
where the world of language teaching is moving towards. Above all, even though the
two schools are to a lesser extent compatible, a few lessons can be drawn like the whole
idea of a spelling quiz every week, singing a few English songs in front of the flag pole
in the morning to stir up the students and prepare their minds for a learning day.

4. Explain the education system and administration as you perceived from visiting
the school.

Education is perceived as one of the principal motivating factors behind national

economic development and it is one of the most effective ways in which individuals can
ever hope to achieve better opportunities and a higher standard of living in
Thailand. For this reason, LBS has a pretty opened educational system. They have an
opened curriculum system where there is room for development. A handful of their
subjects are being taught in English, giving the students a head start in the world at an
early stage. At the primary level, the students are drilled in listening, speaking and
writing almost on a daily basis. It is worth mentioning that they do also have a bilingual
curriculum that opens a world of bilingualism to the students. They designed the
educations system such that it befits international standards and implement the idea of
specialized teacher for each subject at the upper primary level. IT starts opening the
minds of the students to specialization. This give opportunities for promising students
may be eligible for scholarships. The system of administration seems pretty flexible to
me. There is a record of students, teachers and non-academic staff, which are easily
accessible. They have a school principal and assistant principals. There is a foreigner
who acts as a liaison for the foreign staff and works hand in glove with the various
deputy principals in curriculum and development. Lastly, there is a chain of command

that follows sooth in the administrative system of the school. It is worth mentioning that
the school administrators and seasoned and qualified too.