THE
STATE OF
STEAM
EDUCATION
A Q&A WITH
KIM LANGEN AND
DR. PORNPUN WAITAYANGKOON
T
he following is a excerpt of
the Q&A recently conducted
between Kim Langen and
Dr. Pornpun Waitayangkoon,
an educational reformer
based out of Thailand and director of the
Institute for the Promotion of Teaching
Science and Technology (IPST), about the
state of education not only in Thailand,
but across the world.
Q: HELLO, DR. PORNPUN. IT’S
GREAT TO BE ABLE TO TALK
TO YOU HERE TODAY. WHEN
WE MET AT THE WORLD
MATH FUSION OLYMPIAD
AND I HEARD ABOUT YOUR
STORY, I KNEW I NEEDED TO
TALK TO YOU. IT SEEMS LIKE
YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING
VERY SPECIAL. COULD
YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT THAILAND AND YOUR
STORY? WHERE YOU WERE 20
YEARS AGO, WHERE THINGS
STAND NOW, AND MAYBE
WHERE YOU SEE THINGS
GOING IN THE FUTURE?
4
Dr. Pornpun (A): Thank you for having
me today. I think that 20 years ago was
the start of real educational reform.
Before that, things were just stagnant
and with a low level of technological
literacy. We were really struggling
to adapt to the modern professional
and educational environment. I think
Thailand could have gone further and
faster were it not for limitations in
budgeting and resources. Thus, the pace
was slowed, and when you compare our
advancement to developing countries, it
hasn’t been as quick.
Q: HAVE YOU SEEN
SOME REFORMS IN THE
COUNTRY IN THAT TIME?
A: Yes. Though many reforms have
been focused on the environment or on
business, educational reform has come
as well. In 1999, one reform aimed to
decentralize many things. During the
time that the reform began, schools were
entirely run by the government and they
did not utilize regional services. A lot
of areas weren’t prepared to take charge
and were slow to adapt to the change.
That’s where the second reform came
in, which aimed to attract more teachers
to the field.
Q: WHY DO YOU THINK
PEOPLE WERE NOT GOING
INTO TEACHING AS ONE
WOULD EXPECT?
A: It could be because being civil
servants as teachers, they receive a
very low income when compared to
medical fields or engineering. The
new generation, as a result, goes to the
university to become those types of
professionals and choose to teach as an
afterthought, if at all.
Q: WHERE DO YOU SEE THESE
EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND
CHANGES GOING IN THE NEXT
20 YEARS?
A: Well, based on my own experience,
I think that the roles of teachers need
to be changed. Teachers need to be able