Chai Son, mid 30s, is a former primary school teacher in Thailand. After several years in the classroom, he turned to an academic career. He is now a lecturer in education at a university in a region of Thailand that is home to a diverse range of ethnic groups.
"We are not comfortable with change in Thailand. I was a primary school teacher at a public school for eight years. It was my dream to design a curriculum based on the local context. So, my lessons would include multicultural content. I reached out to the local community, making site visits with the children and inviting speakers to come and talk to my class - local wisdom is important. Sometimes I tried to implement this kind of lesson, but it was not very popular at school. Other teachers feel that I am not teaching the content of the curriculum, that by doing things differently I wasn't being a good teacher. They didn't blame me directly but, you know, I have the sense that they are not happy with me, that they …
