BGU Lecturers Return to Thailand to Aid Education Reform

Academics from Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) are returning to Thailand on Friday to continue their overseas consultancy with the Thai government on improving teacher development.

Professor Chris Atkin and Dr Nick Gee, Head of School of Teacher Development, will be participating in a workshop hosted by the British Embassy in Bangkok to build on recommendations for initial teacher training first presented to Thai government in August 2016. Other participants include representatives from the University of Ulster, the University of Leicester and the University of Aberdeen.

Supported by the Thai Minister for Education (who championed BGU’s original recommendations) and the UK Foreign Office the event will cover a number of training ideas to aid teachers in understanding the impact of their work on students and communities. It will also mark the launch of a new competency framework for teachers in South East Asia.

In addition to launching the framework the workshop will offer an updated review of initial teacher training in Thailand and look to encourage further opportunities for collaboration between BGU and the Thai Education Sector. Having led the original review in 2016 Professor Atkin is delighted to see the project is having such a positive impact:

“The success of the initial review has placed BGU at the heart of educational policy reform in Thailand. It is a distinct honour to have our experience and expertise as providers of teacher training so emphatically recognised by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Thai government.

“It is a responsibility we do not take lightly. At the heart of successful education are highly trained teachers. We look forward to continuing our part in supporting trainee and experience teachers across Thailand.”

Supporting educational reform in Thailand is just one part of BGU’s activities in South East Asia. Following the initial review in 2016 BGU Vice Chancellor, Revd. Canon Professor Peter Neil, visited Thailand last December. During the visit he exchanged a memorandum of understanding with Phranakhon Rajabhat University in Bangkok and met with members of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand as well as colleagues from the country’s 38 Rajabhat universities.

Dr Emma Pearson, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at BGU, is also leading on a number of research projects focussed on the development of early childhood provision in South East Asian with a number of regional partners.

In addition Professor Atkin will travel to Hong Kong in March in his role as an external examiner at the University of Hong Kong and in May as the external discipline expert on a Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualification (HKCAAVQ) reaccreditation of a BA in Social Sciences.

You can keep up to date with all of BGU’s projects in Thailand and across the world on our news page.