Just as some tourists boldly bare their bosoms without fear of offending locals, many Thai employers blatantly boast their racist, sexist and otherwise dubiousat-best job requirements without a thought to foreigners’ interpretations.
Being fair, TEFL teachers are guest workers; we can leave if we don’t like it. But cultural relativism needn’t be a one-way street and advertising repugnant requirements isn’t exactly a great way to attract conscientious teachers.
So what are the ugliest “isms” and how do they relate to job requirements?
• Sexism mostly relates to teaching young learners. Gender roles are still clearly defined here. Because mothers take care of children, females take better care of young students. Thais see younger males and those with experience teaching kids as the best alternative.
• Ageism also relates teaching to young learners but it can have an impact in other areas too. Your average Thai associates youth with energy, being tech savvy and generally cooler in every way. Ageism also works the other way, with employers demanding teachers be of a certain age for
fear a young twenty something is too immature. The silver lining here is that of all the prejudices, age is the easiest to overcome.
• Nationalism is a barrier to employment as it relates to who is and who isn’t a “native” speaker
of English (NES). According to the Teachers Council of Thailand (TCT), only passports holders from the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are native speakers – nothing else matters. Due to pure ignorance, many feel only native speakers should be teaching EFL, worse yet, some native speakers still do too.
Nationalism also plays a role in setting salaries. While South Africans and Europeans can find teaching jobs in Thailand that pay the same as NES teachers, other nationals, such as Filipinos, tend to earn far less.
• Racism is as much a part of Thailand as is phad thai. Schools want white teachers standing at their gates and Caucasians (farang) obviously fit the bill. Teachers of African and Asian descent have a tougher time but compared to years past, this seems to be improving – particularly for NES teachers.Racism is particularly troublesome for those of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.
Surprising, perhaps understandably, many teachers affected by discrimination report a preference for the Thai approach. They’d rather know who and what they’re dealing with instead of attending interviews they’re never going to pass. Perhaps that’s a silver lining on a dark cloud looming over
TEFL employment but that’s no reason to accept it.
Discrimination from Thais themselves is one thing and there’s not much that can done about it in our lifetime. But discrimination from Western employers is repugnant on any level – not just a politically correct level either.
Thailand’s foreign teacher community ought to be calling out Westerners who post discriminatory job ads. If we can’t fight Thai culture, at least we can fight those who ought to know better.
To read and extended version of this article, please visit: www.teflcampus.com/teachingEnglish-in-Thailand-racism.