World Education

A group of Filipino teachers composed of Filipinos and Friends in Chiangrai, SiamPinoy, and Association of Cordillerans in Thailand met for the 2nd Filipino Educators' Conference at Ruamrudee International School, Bangkok on March 16, 2008. The theme was "Empowering the Community of Filipino Educators in Thailand through Renewed Commitment, Courage and Competence." Right after the morning Welcome Address by Ms Hedda Tan, the participating teachers busily filled out the seventeen-page questionnaire, formulated by Mr. Abel Cadias, on needs, issues and resolutions related to Filipino teachers' employment in Thailand.

In the afternoon session, the Keynote Speaker, Ms. Sue Misner, Curriculum and Professional Development Director of Ruamrudee International School, Bangkok, as introduced by Ms Hedda Tan, assured that the Filipino educators already have the commitment, courage and competence. Her inspirational talk sparked more courage on the part of the attendees to air out their concerns on employment, such as categorization of Filipino teachers as Class C, next to the Caucasian native (Class A) and non-native speakers of English (Class . Job postings of low salary on the internet, about half of the Classes A and B, and some discriminatory treatment by Thai employers, parents, teachers and students were discussed. Other issues such as the need for professional development on the part of the teacher were pointed out. Ms. Hedda Tan, Mr. L. P. Nielsen and Mr. Rolly Obedencio tried their best to answer all the questions moderated by Mr. Abel, covering on the need to organize, collaborate, and equip teachers for their work.

Dr. Edward Roy Khrisnan, Psychologist and International lecturer, talked on teacher efficacy and affective teaching with enthusiasm, making the whole group highly inspired. Ms. Sida Jarungjitpracharom of St. Theresa International College offered information on how teachers could continue growing professionally through their graduate programs.

The conference was filled with encouragement from the officers of the Philippine Embassy, especially from Ambassador Rodriguez. Consul Stevie Valera and Embassy Officer Beth and Mr. Ernie, amidst busy work week, were able to attend in the afternoon.

Mrs. Mars Sawatsewi and Ms. Melinda Agana generously sponsored the conference with their donation and help, without them the conference wouldn't have been successful. Much gratitude was indebted to them.

The objective of the conference was met, as closed by an inspiring talk by Mr. Rolly to move forward with the emphasis on the attitude which determines altitude. It was indeed a very successful conference!

____________________
Rolly C. Obedencio
MA-Religion (Biblical Studies-Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Languages)
ESL teacher, Assumption College Thonburi

Rolly has been teaching ESL in the Philippines, China and Thailand for about nine years. He has earned a Certificate in TESOL. He is presently pursuing his second MA in Educational Leadership. He lives in Bangkok at the moment.

By

Rolly C. Obedencio

Introduction

W. A. Ward (as cited in Thinkexist, 2007) has been popularly quoted: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” But how can a great teacher inspire students to learn, especially, ESL (English as a Second Language) if the students’ motivation is dependent on some possible factors, such as ability to understand, language proficiency level, the degree of involvement or participation in any activities related to English study, and some other factors? It has been a problem, however, among foreign ESL teachers to motivate high school students to study ESL (Cerda, n.d.; Obedencio, 2007a).

A natural query would arise, “Why are most Thai high school students unmotivated to learn ESL?” What could be the possible factors affecting their motivation to learn ESL? What could be possible strategies to motivate Thai high school students to learn ESL? It seems that there is a need to investigate the possible factors affecting motivation among Thai high school ESL students, and propose possible strategies or solution on how to motivate them to learn ESL.

This paper uses the bibliographic descriptive method. Sources are limited to secondary written documents on hard copy, such as books and other printed matters, and electronic copy, such as, the World Wide Web internet. This study does not claim to be exhaustive in its scope and methodology, but it attempts to outline some seminal facts which could be bases for further study.

Concept of Motivation

Motivation “is a reason or set of reasons for engaging in a particular behavior” (Motivation, 2007), either consciously or subconsciously, which can either be internal (i.e. self-motivation) or external motivation (i.e. motivation from others, such as teachers, school requirements, rewards like good grades, high scores, and praise) (Brown, 2002, 17). In ESL learning, motivation means “having a real purpose in learning English, or really wanting to learn English for a reason” (Brown, 2002, 17).

Some Factors Affecting Thai High School Students’ Lack of Motivation to Learn ESL

Some factors are known to be affecting Thai high school students’ lack of motivation to learn ESL:

1. Laziness to read books - Motivating Thai high school students to learn ESL is not as easy as elementary students (Stoneham, 2003), especially in getting them to read books. Reading doesn’t seem to be a good habit among high school students.

2. No-fail policy – this is perceived by most foreign teachers to be one of the causes of lack of motivation (Teaching, 2007). Students in elementary and secondary schools in Thailand cannot fail exams, thus causing the student’s lack of motivation to learn ESL (Roeland, 2005; Morales, 2007).

3. Failure to see the rewards (Brown, 200, p. 161).

4. Lack of interest in learning – this is because there is clash of interest between the students and their parents (Krishnan, 2007).

5. Fear of mistakes and ‘losing face’ (Noppakunthong, 2007).

6. Failure to see the relevance of ESL to their lives (Noppakunthong, 2007). Students’ intention was only to pass the course without realizing the importance of English speaking and listening in the real world or career and higher education (Tananuraksakul, 2003).

7. Lack of volition – Thai students only study when told to do so by a Thai authority figure, not a foreigner. Students don’t have any aspirations to learn English for whatever purposes. Besides, they will be able to graduate anyway without being proficient in English, because their administrators let them pass (Motivational, 2005).

8. Lack of listening comprehension skills in their lower grades (Prkuehn, 2007).

9. Teacher factor – a too serious teacher that gives pressure students causes a lack of motivation among Thai students to learn (Suanpang, n.d.).

10. Parents factor – this one sounds paradoxical that students study because it is their parents’ choice, but many Thai parents do not care much about their children’s homework, as indicated by their children’s absence of any homework. Students are left on their own to raise themselves (Ralphlsasser, 2007).

11. Inappropriate level of methodology and approach during their earlier grades, when for instance, they were taught past participles and arduous notes (Russellsimpson, 2007).

Proposed Strategies for Motivating Thai High School Students to Learn ESL

The following are the proposed strategies for motivating Thai High school students to learn ESL gleaned from the same level of age group from different contexts based on some factors affecting their lack of motivation to learn ESL:

1. Instill in children the desire to learn – expose the children to the rewards of learning and lifelong satisfaction (Krishnan, 2007). Create in them the desire to read books so they will develop the habit of reading, which in the long run a motivation itself.

2. Even if there seems to be a no-fail policy among schools, emphasize the desire to learn without being dependent on this policy by using intrinsic motivation, such as the value of learning ESL in the real world.

3. Let students visualize the reward of learning ESL. Students could be asked what it is that they see in the near future as a result to English study.

4. Have a Parent-teacher’s association so that things regarding their children’s interest can be discussed and that the children and the parents’ expectation meet at the center.

5. Create an atmosphere of confidence and congeniality where each one may take the risk of speaking up without being afraid of making mistakes. Emphasize to them that mistakes are fine as long as they speak up.

6. At the beginning of each term or semester, students could be motivated by asking them the relevance of studying ESL. You may take note of this or record this on video and tell them that you show it to them at the end of the term whether they meet their intention or not.

7. Foreign teachers may be proactive in the classroom that they are an authority figure too as the local Thai teachers, and that they can suggest to the students that they go to the library or do their homework. They may seek support from the Thai teachers in exercising such an authority among students.

8. Even if listening comprehension is expected of the lower grades, it is not too late to train secondary (Mathayom) students in their listening comprehension. Skills that have been missed in their earlier years can be made up at this level. Increase their level of exercise until they reach their appropriate level in listening comprehension.

9. The role of the teacher is very important in motivating students. The value of “Sanuk” (fun) among Thai students should be put in mind so an ESL teacher has to be fun all the time, thereby avoiding the tendency of being serious.

10. Use a variety of instructional methodologies suited to ESL teaching and learning. Vary them each week or as often as the need arises to change strategies.

11. Spark the students’ motivation at the beginning of every lesson (Waxler, 2007). Inform the students about the objective (Ross, 2007).

12. Use critical thinking questions, which don’t necessarily need a right or wrong answer to get them interested (Waxler, 2007).

13. Motivation breeds competition – open multilevel competition has been reported effective to students’ motivation to study ESL (Noppakunthong, 2007).

14. Use music to teach (Waxler, 2007). This is very appealing to young people of this age.

15. Use video – use short clips, but be wary of getting it abused or misused (Waxler, 2007).

16. Relate what students are learning to what is going on in the "real world" (Waxler, 2007).

17. Use technology or rather, have the students use technology to learn. Have them create podcasts, videos, web sites, brochures etc. (Waxler, 2007).

18. Use an audio-lingual method by teaching the spoken language through dialogs, drills, mimicry and memorization (mim-mem) with an attention of correct pronunciation (Tananuraksakul, 2003). Begin with a controlled dialog which introduces only a few new vocabulary items. Let students listen to the dialog as a whole from a tape cassette, a CD or a teacher. Let them repeat it sentence by sentence, and act it out or do a role play as a whole group and then smaller groups. After that, let them drill grammatical points connected with the dialog, for instance, polite questions employed in requests. The drills practice a structure repeatedly with some variation of vocabulary based on the assumption that language is habit formation. Tananuraksakul gives some examples of drills:

1.
Teacher:
What language do you think it is?
Students:
It is Spanish. (Cued by a Spanish song)
Teacher:
What language do you think it is?
Students:
It is Thai. (Cued by a Thai song)
Teacher:
What language do you think it is?
Students:
It sounds like Japanese. (Cued by a Japanese song)
Teacher:
What language do you think it is?
Students:
It sounds like Chinese. (Cued by a Chinese song)

2.
Teacher:
What language do people speak in Brazil? …repeat
Students:
What language do people speak in Brazil?

Teacher:
Germany
Students:
What language do people speak in Germany?
Teacher:
Korea
Students:
What language do people speak in Korea?

3.
Teacher:
In Brazil, people speak Portuguese… repeat
Students:
In Brazil, people speak Portuguese.
Teacher:
in Germany
Students:
In Germany, people speak German.
Teacher:
in Korea
Students:
In Korea, people speak Korean.

4.
Teacher:
Who is the girl on the right? …repeat
Students:
Who is the girl on the right?
Teacher:
on the left
Students:
Who is the girl on the left?
Teacher:
in the middle
Students:
Who is the girl in the middle?
Teacher:
in the back
Students:
Who is the girl in the back?

19. Give students a chance to succeed from the simpler level to the higher ones (Topper, 2007). Their success in the lower level gives them motivation to succeed in the higher level.

Conclusion

Motivating Thai high school students has been a challenging job for an ESL teacher. A teacher has to understand the concept of motivation for him/her to understand some factors affecting the lack of motivation to serve as basis for proposing strategies. The proposed strategies are not exhaustive, but are guiding strategies to motivate students in their own level, learning styles and context. Further studies should be done in this area using action research or survey to determine a more objective data on the subject.

References

Brown, D. H. (2000a). Principles of language learning and teaching. 4th edition. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Brown, H. D. (2002b). Strategies for success: a practical guide to learning English. New York: Longman.

Cerda, H. (n.d.). In An overview of the TEFL situation in various countries. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~nx6h-ykt/overview3.html

Krishnan, E. R. (2007). Lack of motivation or lack of interest. Bangkok Post, July 24, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2007, from http://www.bangkokpost.net/education/site2007/cvjl2407.htm

Morales, A. (2007). Breaking the controversies behind Thailand’s “No Fail” Policy. Ajarn. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.ajarn.com/Filipino/articles/nofail%20policy.htm; http://www.siampinoy.com/ed-exchange/breaking-the-controversies-behind-thailand-s-no-fail-policy-5.html

Motivation. (2007). Wikipedia. Retrieved December 16, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

Motivational Issues. (2005). Tesall. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.tesall.com/international/index.pl?noframes;read=2163

Noppakunthong, W. (2007). Zealous to speak English. Bangkok Post, Sep 11, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008, from http://www.bangkokpost.net/education/site2007/cvse1107.htm

Obedencio, R. (2007a). A case of unmotivated students: Grade 9/5B. Retrieved December 16, 2007, from http://worldeducation.blog.co.uk/2007/11/29/a_case_of_unmotivated_students_m3_5b~3368827

Obedencio, R. (2007b). Challenges for a “non-native” (L2) esl teacher. Retrieved December 21, 2007, from http://ajarn.com/Filipino/articles/challengesforanonnativeteacher.htm

Prkuehn. (2007, December 7). Motivating Mathayom students [Msg 1]. Messages posted to http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/classroom/27102-motivating-mathayom-students.html

Ralphlsasser, (2007, December 7). Motivating Mathayom students [Msg 11]. Messages posted to http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/classroom/27102-motivating-mathayom-students.html

Roeland, P. (2004a). A week in the life a[sic] an English language teacher. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from http://www.ajarn.com/Contris/philiprowlanddecember2004.htm

Roeland, P. (2005b). The magical land where students cannot fail exams. Ajarn. Retreived January 7, 2008, from http://www.ajarn.com/Contris/philiproelandnovember2005.htm

Ross, J. (2007). Designing Lessons for EFL Listening Comprehension Classes. English Teaching Forum. Vol 3, p. 30-33

Russellsimpson. (2007, December 7). Motivating Mathayom students [Msg 6]. Messages posted to http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/classroom/27102-motivating-mathayom-students.html

Stoneham, N. (2003). Dare to read. Bangkok Post. Retrieved December 21, 2007, from http://www.bangkokpost.net/education/site2003/cvjl1503.htm

Suanpang, P. (n.d.). Students’ experience online learning in Thailand. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.stc.arts.chula.ac.th/cyberethics/papers/Full%20paper-Pannee.doc

Tananuraksakul, N. (2003). Classroom-based research report on “The Effects of Audio-lingual Teaching Method on the Freshman Students’ Listening and Speaking Skills at South-East Asia University”. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.sau.ac.th/main/research/report.pdf

Waxler, A. (2007). Strategies for motivating students to learn. Ezine Articles. Retrived December 21, 2007, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Strategies-for-Motivating-Students-to-Learn&id=863582

Teaching in Thailand Guide. (2007). Teach Asia online.com. Retrieved December 21, 2007, from http://www.teachasiaonline.com/pmwiki/index.php?n=Main.TeachingInThailand

Thinkexist. (2007). William arthur ward quotes. Retrieved December 9, 2007.

Topper. (2007, December 7). Motivating Mathayom students [Msg 10]. Messages posted to http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/classroom/27102-motivating-mathayom-students.html

By

Rolly C. Obedencio

Introduction

Among the many theories or models of leadership and management which share some common characteristics, emphasis and descriptions, it is a challenging task for a leader to use either one or a combination of several models, or use his/her personal model to be employed in his leadership context. Hence, this writer proposes his personal model called “Christian Leadership.” The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to formulate this writer’s personal model of leadership and management, and (2) to propose an implementation plan of this model in the context of a Catholic educational institution. The purpose of the study is achieved through the following plan: analysis of the context, definition of the proposed model, and its implementation plan.

Analysis of the General Context

General context in this study refers to the organizational, religious, and socio-cultural contexts. The following is a short description of this context.

The institution where this writer is currently employed as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher is governed by St. Gabriel Foundation of Thailand, a prestigious century-old private Catholic educational system led and managed by Brothers. The general motivation of the system, as claimed, is service toward the poor through excellent quality education (St. Gabriel Foundation, 2001). It is interesting to note that none of the philosophy, vision, and mission statements mentions about Jesus’ commission. It shows some weakness and arouses a question whether this is the right vision.

With Permission from ACT

Assumption College Thonburi, where this writer currently is working for, is one of the sixteen schools governed by St. Gabriel Foundation of Thailand. Perhaps it has the second largest population of students among these schools, around 5,000 students (St. Gabriel Foundation, 2001), next to about 20,000 students at Assumption University in 2006 (Charmonman, 2006). The students are predominantly Buddhists. The school’s vision was verbalized by the outgoing director during the last meeting on April 27, 2007: “to be the number among schools in Thailand.” This vision is incongruent to the vision of St. Gabriel Foundation of Thailand, which is service.

Both the director of the college and the head of Foreign Language Department are Brothers, Catholic priests. The Thai faculty and staff are mostly Buddhists. The forty-three foreign teachers are a mixture of interdenominational faiths, such as Roman Catholics, Baptists, Church of Christ, Church of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventist, and other unknown groups. This religious atmosphere which is seemingly interdenominational gives a fluid occasion for Christian leadership to reach out the neighboring Buddhists and other groups.

Socio-culturally, this writer is directly in contact with most foreign teachers and just a few hours with students daily. He spends most of his time in the faculty room where there is a mixture of an international culture among foreign teachers composed of Westerners, Africans, Indian, Chinese, and largely Filipinos. The Thais in the room are the two super-visors and two caretakers. The atmosphere seems quiet and formal as each teacher looks busy planning the lessons in front of a computer. As if everybody is careful not to make some mistakes in the presence of the supervisors. There is an element of much respect, though, especially in front of the Thai superiors. Talking is limited most of the time. Teachers do not exactly know each other very well on a personal level. Only during lunch time that teachers break the impersonal atmosphere, but then they tend to be in small groups. Towards the end of each day, most Filipino teachers tend to speak their vernacular, thus breaking the atmosphere of formality and influencing other teachers to speak their respective language too. It is at this time that teachers start knowing each other on a personal level, thus an opportune time for Christian witness.

The atmosphere in most classes is very opposite, though. Thai culture is fun-loving called “Sanuk”. Adamson (2003) observes that “Sanuk” is influenced by Theravada Buddhism, which also influence the learning and behavioral aspect of the learner. It is very important that “those who have integrated sanuk into their activities may then be viewed as having ‘intrinsic’ motivation” (p. 8). Foreign teachers are to be careful not to touch the head of the students, not to point using one’s foot, not to step on a coin, to remove footwear inside a house or a temple, to be respectful by showing “wai” to the elderly and those in authority (Culture of Thailand, 2007), and not to display of public affection as in hugging and kissing (Syles, 2007). Respecting this culture and being sensitive to these customs may help ease in exercising Christian leadership.

Proposing a Christian Leadership Model

Christian Leadership is very closely similar in its concept and characteristics to R. K. Greenleaf’s (as cited in Hine, 2006) servant leadership model. The term “servant” has to be changed to “Christian” to address the critique raised by McCrimmon (2007) that “servant” is misleading because it is slavish or subservient. Luke 22:24-27 is often misunderstood by many, because it seems to say about a leader being a servant in the sense of a slave. A careful reading of the original Greek text, however, shows that it does not say anything about Christ’s changing status into a servant/slave. It is, however, a sheer teaching demonstration of how to become a humble minister/deacon and an emphasis or adoration of Jesus’ divinity which is greater than anybody else sitting at the table:

(24) A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. (25) But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. (26) But not so with you; rather the greatest (Gk. “ho meizon”, the eldest) among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves (Gk. “ho diakonon”, deacon, minister, an official who has the control in rendering helpful service). (27) For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves (Gk. “ho diakonon”, deacon, minister, an official who has the control in rendering helpful service)? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves (Gk. “ho diakonon”, deacon, minister, an official who has the control in rendering helpful service) (NRS Luke 22:24-27, NAS).

Clearly, Jesus was humbling the hearts of His disciples (v. 26), so they wouldn’t consider themselves as great as the dominating/controlling kings of the Gentiles (v. 25), but a humble deacon/minister or an official who has the control in rendering helpful service (v. 26), while directing His disciples’ attention to the greater leader—Himself—who was demonstrably ministering to them (v. 27). Jesus didn’t literally make himself a slave (Gk. “doulos”, bond servant), but a minister/deacon (Gk. “ho diakonon”, a church servant or an official who has the control in rendering helpful service) who is greater than the one sitting at the table, because He was their Lord and Saviour (Luke 2:11). He merely demonstrated the humble spirit of a servant, who looks after the needs of everyone. Therefore, it was a sheer teaching demonstration of Christian/ministerial leadership, and not a servant/slave leadership.

The same idea is seen in two passages:

But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (Gk. “diakonos”, minister, deacon, an official who has the control in rendering helpful service). (Matthew 20:26, KJV). (This means let him be great in helping or service.)

And whosoever will be chief (first) among you, let him be your servant (Gk. “doulos”, a slave or bond servant being controlled by another person). (Matthew 20:27, KJV). (It means let him be a follower.)

This model shares some characteristics of servant leadership as what Patterson, Redmer, and Stone (2003, p. 5) outline as influence, vision, trust, credibility and competence, delegation, honesty and integrity, modeling and visibility, service, stewardship, communication, persuasion, pioneering, appreciation of others, encouragement, teaching, listening, and empowerment, and what Advanced American Communications (as cited in Hine, 2006) lists as empathy, healing, awareness, conceptualization, foresight, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.

The mission of a Christian leader is to preach the Gospel of all nations, making them disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19). He has to be a minister in whatever area he is engaged in and whatever context he is in (see Chadwick, 2003).

Since a Christian leader is minister/servant, there should be no feeling of superiority or inferiority between him/her and the members. Everybody is treated equal, as members are leaders in their own right too. Leaders and members are all the same parts of the body whose head is Jesus.

Based on the analysis of the context above, Christian leadership model may also be implemented in a Catholic educational institution which claims a Christian by name and service. Since the motivation of the governing body is service, while the local school is “to be the number one”, then the objective of this model is to apply the principles of leadership to align both visions of the St. Gabriel Foundation and Assumption College Thonburi and make it realization. Hence, it is ideal that the leaders of this institution learn and realize how to be real followers/servant/minister of Jesus in reaching out the people inside and outside of the school.

A plan in implementing this Christian leadership model can be carefully carried out either formally or informally. Formal and explicit plan is not within this writer’s jurisdiction since he is not in the management position to do so. Should he be granted this vested leadership role in the future, the following plan may be taken. First, there should be a redefinition of the philosophy, vision and mission of the school or of the specific domain this writer will be assigned from the top level to the bottom. Second, it is important that the leaders and members of the school know where they are in reference to their philosophy, vision, and mission. Some kind of inspirational talk, promotion, or leadership workshop will do with some definite purpose and results. Third, the leader has to exercise patience, tact and prudence in effecting change and carrying out new plans that it respects both international and Thai cultures. With a tone of humility and inspiration, he has to grab any chance when the administrators open for some suggestions in a meeting. He has to make everybody a part of the suggestions that the credit will be given to them instead of him. Fourth, it is important for this writer to exercise caution in any situation at any time he is with the international group of teachers, and especially with the Thai staff, supervisors and students.

This writer, however, can do some kind of informal plan to carry out the leadership role in his own capacity as an ESL teacher. His exemplary life in all aspect is an inspiring influence to the foreign teachers, Thai administrators and staff and students. He may influence the administrators through close interpersonal interaction on a close personal level, such as friendship, being active in all the activities, starting from a small leadership activity until it naturally grows into a more defined leadership role. It may be faster to carry out plans when one is at the top position, but it is not impossible to carry out exercise leadership even when one is at the lower level, though. It may be called groundwork, or grass-root operation or leadership. Obtaining a position is not the goal of exercising leadership and implementing plans, but focusing on and realizing a vision, which is meeting people’s real need to realize the vision of the organization, is what compels leadership to function.

Since there is a regular monthly social meeting among faculty and staff, this writer has to take this privilege of influencing everyone with his mission in the aspects of time, foods and drinks, recreation, entertainment, disposition and attitude. He has to be ever ready at all season to give the reason of his faith. Dr. Neil Chadwick’s Christian Leadership Charge (2003) will be a lot more helpful.

Any plan can be evaluated periodically. It is important for this writer to evaluate his leadership daily, weekly, monthly, by term, or annually. He may make some evaluation or achievement chart to determine how close he is to the goal and vision.

Conclusion

Several steps were taken towards Christian Leadership in a Catholic educational institution. Analysis of the general context shows some incongruence and weakness between the vision of St. Gabriel Foundation of Thailand, which is service, and that of Assumption College Thonburi, which is to be number one. The diverse religious culture, predominantly Christian groups such as Roman Catholics, Baptists, Church of Christ, Church of Latter-day Saints, and Seventh-day Adventist, gives a fertile opportunity to reach out the neighboring Buddhists and other groups. The seemingly fusion between international and Thai cultures gives a fluid occasion to exercise Christian leadership roles.

Due to some degree of ambiguity of the servant leadership model and diverse other models, a personal model of leadership and management has been proposed: “Christian Leadership” instead of “Servant Leadership” with practically common attributes of Servant leadership. Due to this writer’s limitation of leadership role, the model and its implementation plan remain a proposal until a more definite leadership position will be assumed. This low-level position, however, does not deter him from exercising his leadership within his capacity.

A more thorough study on the subject is necessary to obtain a complete picture of the context and its appropriate leadership model. More specific plans should be formulated and carried out in a top-level leadership position to make its implementation definite.

References

Adamson, John. (2003). Challenging beliefs in teach development: potential influences of Theravada Buddhism upon Thais learning English. Asian EFL Journal. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http://www.asianefljournal.com/sept_03_sub2.JA.pdf

Chadwick, Neil. (2003). Christian leadership charge. Retrieved May 6, 2007, from http://www.joyfulministry.com/lcharge.htm

Charmonman, Srisakdi. (2006). Elearning and human resource development. Unpublished position paper, World Teacher Conference, Impact Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand on October 6, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http://www.charm.au.edu/SCPaper/WorldTeacher6Oct06.doc

Hine, B. N. (2003). Selected monographic resources on servant-leadership. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http://www.greenleaf.org/Mono_Resources06.pdf

McCrimmon, Mitch. (2007). Critique of servant leadership. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.leadersdirect.com/critique.html

Patterson, K. et al. (2003). Transformational leaders to servant leaders versus level 4 leaders to level 5 leaders—the move from good to great. Unpublished paper presented at CBFA Annual Conference, October 2003, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.

St. Gabriel Foundation of Thailand. (2001). Retrieved May 5, 2007, from http://www.sgf.au.edu/background.html

Styles, Megan. (2007). Thai culture: some dos and don’ts in the land of smiles. Retrieved May 6, 2007, from http://customsholidays.suite101.com/article.cfm/thai_culture

Wikipedia. (2007). Culture of Thailand. Retrieved May 6, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Thailand#Customs