Sarasas Ektra School

Sarasas Ektra School (Thai: โรงเรียนสารสาสน์เอกตรา) is a Catholic bilingual co-educational school located in Central Bangkok. In 1995, it became the first bilingual school to be approved as such by the Ministry of Education in Thailand. As of 2009, the school has approximately 2900 students, and conducts a fully bilingual program in Thai and English from Kindergarten 1 (3 year-olds) to Matayom 6 (17 year-olds). The school is located over three campuses in Bangpongpang sub-district of Yannawa District. A Nursery class for two-year-old children was introduced in May, 2009.

Sarasas Ektra is one of 24 schools in the Sarasas Affiliation, 15 of which have bilingual programmes.

Curriculum

The model of bilingual education applied at Sarasas Ektra is known as parallel immersion. Students are taught three key learning areas (Mathematics, Science and Social Studies) in both English and Thai - learning the content first in the mother tongue (Thai) and then covering the same or similar content in English. The Thai and English lessons are taught by different teachers and no language-switching occurs in either lesson. It is expected that the Thai-medium lesson will provide content and conceptual knowledge at a deeper level than the English lesson, as the former is in the students' first language. The English-medium lesson will give more emphasis to the language specific to the content. On completion of schooling at Sarasas Ektra, students are expected to be equally able to pursue higher education in Thai-medium or English-medium courses.

This model has also been described as "mother-tongue content instruction followed by English for academic purposes". However, a school-based study in 2006 indicated that this is not really accurate. (See http://conference.nie.edu.sg/2007/paper/html/OTH260.html) The study revealed that English-medium teachers do not regard the subject content merely as a vehicle for teaching language, but as having value in its own right.

Criticisms and realities

It has been argued that because the core subjects are taught in both languages following similar curriculum requirements (Thai national curriculum - education standards), there is not enough time given to academic input in contrast to language development. However, the school has found that this does not really constitute a problem. Results from national examinations over the past few years indicate that the cognitive and linguistic benefits of bilingual learning appear to outweigh any disadvantages that might result from repetition of academic content. In any case, the school would argue that there is sufficient flexibility in its outcomes-based curriculum to ensure that the English-medium lessons are not simply repetition of the Thai lessons. Rather, they cover the same or similar units and topics, but in a different way. (See the school's website at http://www.ektra.ac.th.) Content detail, teaching methods and language vary from that which occurs in the Thai classes and the language transfer that occurs as a matter of course in bilingual learning is believed to be academically as well as linguistically beneficial. (Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners, Report of the National Literacy Panel or Language Minorities and Youth, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC, 2006, p. 397)

However, it does appear that the attainment of academic bilingualism to a high level takes rather a long time. (Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. Evaluating Bilingual Education, 1982, cited in Lin, A.M.Y. and Man, E.Y.F., Bilingual Education: Southeast Asian Perspectives, University of Hong Kong Press, 2009, p. 20) It is hard to quantify, as studies have not been done on the amount of time required for students in Thai-English bilingual programs to attain the levels attained by students in, e.g. French-English bilingual programs. However, it is likely that it would take longer for Thai-speaking students to attain those levels because of an assumed greater language distance between Thai and English than between a European language and English. If that is so, students who are likely to do well in a Thai-English bilingual program are more likely to have started bilingual education at an early age or have begun later but with a better than average background in English at the time.

In fact, results of national tests for English, Thai, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies for students in Year 6, 9 and 12 show that Sarasas Ektra students score very highly in English, clearly above the national and school district mean in Thai and above or at about the mean in the other subjects. (All subjects other than English are tested in Thai.) (These data are retained in the school and made available in approved circumstances.)

The Music Program

Sarasas Ektra has currently 44 music teachers at the school, mainly Thai, but including 10 Filipinos, a French and a United States national. All students are expected to learn at least one instrument, preferably two, to a good level of competence. The school has a 130+ piece traditional orchestra, as well as a classical orchestra, strings orchestra, wind ensembles, brass bands, choir, etc.

After finishing second in the Ninth Asian Symphonic Band competition at Mahidol University, Bangkok, in 2008, the school's symphonic band was invited to perform at the Beijing International Band Festival in July 2009.

Music is felt to be complementary to the bilingual program as another form of expression and a contributor to cognitive and emotional health.

Name of Project: Participating in International Wind Ensemble Competitions. Purpose of project:

1. The students of Sarasas Ektra Symphonic band will consistently develop their skills in music.

2. The students of Sarasas Ektra Symphonic Band will experience participating in international competitions.

Details: Sarasas Ektra Symphonic Band started in 2007. One of the objectives was for the band to have experience and exposure performing for the public. In the same year, the SESB participated in the 9th Asian Symphonic Band Competition (ASBC) held by Mahidol University. The band achieved Fourth Runner-Up prize. It was considered a success for the band to enter for the first time an international competition having international ensemble experts as jury. The competition was joined by thirteen bands. The following year, the band participated again in the 10th Asian Symphonic Band Competition and attained the First Runner-Up prize. In 2009, the band entered the Thailand International Wind Ensemble Competition (TIWEC), the new name of the competition, though still organized by Mahidol University. After evaluating and learning from the previous competitions, the band was determined to make it to the finals. And, as expected, SESB finally won the First Prize, the King’s Cup and 1,000,000 baht.

Achievement of the project: Sarasas Ektra Symphonic Band won First Prize, the King’s Cup and 1,000,000 baht, in the Thailand International Wind Ensemble Competition 2009 held at Mahidol University.

Multiple Intelligences

From Kindergarten to Year 9, there are regular activities designed to discover and express students' different intelligences. The program is based on Professor Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences framework and the outcomes are presented to parents each year in the form of performances and displays of students' work on a given theme.

Administration and Staff

The school is managed by the Director, Mr Pisut Yongkamol (M.Ed Queensland U.T.) and a team of Thai Vice-Directors supported by a foreign administration team. There are more than 200 Thai teachers and just over 100 foreign teachers.

Of the foreign teachers, just under half are from the BANA countries (Britain, Australia/NZ, North America, i.e. USA & Canada). About 30% are from the Philippines (including the 10 Filipino music teachers). The remainder are from other European and African nations and a small number of highly English-competent Thais teach in the English-medium program. Japanese and Chinese teachers are employed to teach those languages.

External links

• Sarasas Ektra School Website
• Topic: Sarasas Schools- All campuses
• http://www.freelancetefl.com/forum/index.php/topic,258.60.html

• http://www.freelancetefl.com/forum/index.php/topic,258.15.html