Lamplaimat educational system

[hhfarang]

This is a news item but I'm putting it here because it is education related. I haven't heard of this system before. Anyone have any experience with it? Does it really work better than the traditional system?

More schools to adopt the Lamplaimat system
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation

Khon Kaen Municipality to follow unconventional style

Having experimented with an unconventional teaching method for eight years the Lamplaimat Pattana (LPMP) School now feels it is ready to share some of the lessons it has learnt about its rare but fruitful style with other schools around the country.

Over the past two years, only four schools under the Office of Basic Education Commission have seriously adopted the LPMP model.

However, this constructive concept now looks set to spread to many more schools. The Khon Kaen Municipality, for example, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the LPMP to introduce this unusual teaching style to five schools under its supervision.

What have made the LPMP model outstanding?

At LPMP, students do not sit each class at the ring of a bell. They do not bring textbooks and there are no exams. Teachers speak to students with soft voices to reflect compassion and love.

Every day, students and teachers hug to make them feel good and relaxed.

Teachers encourage students to develop their potential, to value themselves, to boost their spiritual quotients, and learn to how to survive without taking advantage of others.

The students learn by doing assignments like reports, compositions, sculptures, handicraft, charts and embroidery.

Some assignments can take students as long as one year to do complete research.

At the school, students wear colourful uniforms that reflect local arts and culture. Their parents are involved in the learning process too because the LPMP model has recognised that the school alone cannot shape children's behaviour.

The LPMP model has worked magic for its students. All are happy and selfconfident. Their academic knowledge is also good.

In national tests last year, their average scores were higher than the average in Thai, maths and science.

The school, meanwhile, got a "very good" grade for 13 indicators in an assessment conducted by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment last year. It got a "good" grade in the other indicator.

Nakhon Khon Kaen Municipality deputy mayor Thawatchai Ruemromsiri said his local body was interested in the LPMP model because they shared the same ideology.

"We believe that education is not a competition where children who fail are to be eliminated. Education must help lay down a good foundation for a human. They must learn how to live without taking advantage of others," Thawatchai said. So far, he said six other schools under the supervision of local bodies had experimented with other teaching models including the Individualised Education Programme (EP) in a bid to explore methods best suited for local children.

Chaimongkhon Akaponpaisal, a school executive who joined training on the LPMP, said the traditional framework had hurt many children because it did not recognise the different abilities and talents of people.

"We had long trained to admire academicallycompetent students and to ignore those who were not as good," he said on Facebook. "We have to stop."

LPMP principal Wichien Chaiyabang said the training for school directors and executives from Khon Kaen Municipality was intended to make participants reflect on what they had done in the past and where they could improve.

"Then, I encouraged them to pursue their goals," he said.

Wichien is happy to see the LPMP model spread on to an increasing number of schools. "I can make a huge impact alone. So, I want to lead by example and let others adopt this model. It works."

He said some schools in Chiang Rai, Lampang and Phuket also planned to introduce the LPMP model in the upcoming academic year.

Hemaraj Land and Development Co Ltd had also sponsored 30 LPMPthemed classes at schools in Chon Buri and Rayong.

"This is in line with our philosophy. The more the teaching concept is expanded, the more benefits the country will reap through the higher number of quality resources," Wichien said.

He hoped all 30,000 rural schools in the country would learn and use the LPMP model.


-- The Nation 2011-03-14

[Spitfire]

Hmmmm.......All sounds fine from him giving it a pitch and if it has been assessed by the MoE and got good scores then fine, but whether it would work on a national/larger scale here, don't know (bit sceptical really). It may have worked in a certain given environment orchestrated by the developers of the idea, who would obviously be passionate about it and do it correctly, but I'm always suspicious of these 'touchy-feely' methods. What the Thai system really needs to do is to adopt internationally recognised methods like ESOL for English study etc and limit the number of students in a class by law, rather than always trying to go everything alone as if the rest of the educated world is wrong.

Can't help thinking that this type of teaching method mentioned in the report would need most of your average Thai teachers to retrain and it would also be open to certain abuses. However, it may work on a small-scale level offered as an option at expensive private schools and the like, not so confident about it being mainstream, just too many students everywhere plus there is the idleness factor to contend with and this style of teaching would simply encourage it unless the students are all closely monitored, which would hard if introduced on a large scale.

However, I've no direct experience of this approach and others may have more insightful comments that have done it or something similar. My comments are simply a reaction to the face value of the article above.

[hhfarang]

That's the kind of response I was looking for (from a teacher?) before delivering any opinion of my own. I agree Spitfire that it probably won't work for all.

There are many people (left brain?) who need more structure and guidance in life and don't get on well with the go at your own pace methods that others (right brain?) will thrive on.

[Spitfire]

Yes HHF, generally, most learners fall into one of 3 sections of discription as to what type of learner they are. These are visual, audio or kinesthetic.

Most people/learners are visual (70%), audio is about 25% and kinesthetic learners make up about 5% of the population. This is one of the main reasons ESOL and other internationally recognised methods teach that lesson approaches and content of lessons must vary.

Kinesthetic learners learn through 'doing' things/activities/moving around whereas the other two sections are more self explanatory.

One glove does definitely not fit all.

Having read and thought about that what which is being presented in the report as "The Lamplaimat System", I can't quite help thinking "Isn't that what they should be getting at home from parents and siblings?"

Maybe the problem is elsewhere in society/culture too, not just the schools.

[STEVE G]

I know very little about education but I had a look on the net as Lamplaimat isn't very far from my partners home town and I found this review of the school:
http://mechaifoundation.org/Downloads/U ... ew_Eng.pdf