Teacher Education and the Role of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand
by the Teacher’s Council of Thailand“Quality Teachers leads to Quality Education”. The Ministry of Education Thailand
recognizes that quality of teacher is an instrumental factor in pursuing quality of educationin Thailand. Currently, Thailand has approximately five hundred thousand teachers. Eachyear there are approximately fifty thousand student teachers (pre-service teacher) graduate
from the one hundred and fifty Teacher Education Institutions and universities in Thailand.
To ensure the quality of teachers, the Teachers’ Council of Thailand (TCT) was set up in 1945
to oversee the teaching profession in Thailand. At the beginning, the Teachers’ Council ofThailand had 3 major functions: 1) oversee teacher’s license, standards of teachers andteachers’ ethics, 2) serve as a Printing House and 3) manage teachers’ welfare. Until therestructuring of the TCT in 2003 which divided the TCT into 3 organizations according to its
function. All of the three organizations are under the supervision of the Ministry ofEducation, Thailand
At present, the Teachers’ council of Thailand has four main objectives. 1) issue
teachers’ license, 2) set up standards for Thai teachers, approving teacher education
curriculum of the Teacher Education Institutes based on the Thai teachers’ standard, 3)
oversee the teachers’ ethic and 4) promote and recognize professional practices ofteachers.
The Government of Thailand recently launched the new, Thailand strategic plan. In
this new plan, Goal #3 emphasizes on developing and strengthening capacity of Thai citizen
in cognitive, mental, physical and environmental development. The Ministry of Education,
Thailand inherits the plan and spells out the 2017-2036 Educational Goals that gear toward
quality of life of Thai citizen. The quality of life that involves sufficiency economy theory andthe changes of the 21st century. To achieve the goals, teachers play an important role in thedevelopment of students who will become quality and compatible Thai citizen. In thisregard, the Teacher’s council of Thailand (TCT), strives its policies, plans and activities toaddress to ensure the quality of Thai teachers to attain the above mentioned goal.
The Teacher’s Council of Thailand realizes that the change of today’s educationallandscape such as ASEAN Community, global citizenship, and new technologies/digitalplatform affect teachers. These new educational landscape indicates that teachers require
more and new skill sets, so that they will be able to help their students prepare for thefuture. With these in mind, the Teacher’s Council of Thailand implements its policies,programmes and activities toward Teacher Education of pre-service and in-service teachers
as follows:
1. Took Part in the Development of the Southeast Asia Teachers Competency
Framework (SEA-TCF): The Teachers’ Council of Thailand partners with SEAMEO
Secretariat, SEAMEO Regional Centre for Innovation and Technology (SEAMEOINNOTECH) and 11 Ministries of Education in Southeast Asia to develop theSoutheast Asia Teacher Competency Framework (SEA-TCF) in March 2017. The SEATCF is a set of common skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attributes which Southeast
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Asian teachers need to have. The SEA-TCF was approved by the Council of Southeast
Asia Ministers of Education in July 2018. Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia
and Thailand have used the SEA-TCF with their National Teachers Standards.
The Teacher’s Council of Thailand believes that there is a need for regionallyappropriate standards which Southeast Asia teachers can use as guidelines forteacher education and teacher professional development. In addition, the SEA-TCF
can also be used to enhance teacher exchange and teacher mobility within theSoutheast Asian region.
The four component of the SEA-TCF are 1) know and understand what to teach 2)
help my students learn 3) engage the community and 4) become a better teacher
every day. These four components are developed with students at the centre as
joyful learner.

The publication can be download fromhttp://www.ksp.or.th/ksp2018/2019/01/2720/.
2. Set the Thai National Teachers Standards for Teacher Education Curriculum: Setting
Thai National Teachers Standards is one of the objectives of the TCT. The
Professional Standard Committee was set up to develop the Thai Teachers
Standards. Throughout the years, the Thai Teachers Standards is used by Teacher
Education Institutions (TEI) to develop Teacher Education Curriculum. The
Professional Standard Committee adjust the Thai National Teachers Standards
periodically. In November 2018, the Professional Standard Committee of theTeacher’s Council of Thailand revises the Thai National Teachers Standards which
formerly had eleven components to four components to align with the SEA-TCF. This2

is to ensure the relevancy to the need of the 21st Century skills and the global
practice. The three new components of Thai National Teachers Standards which arein line with SEA-TCF are 1) Knowledge & Pedagogy 2) Practice 3) Professional ethics.
The standard serves as a guideline of Teacher Education Curriculum in Teacher
Education Institutions and Universities that offer teacher education degree. Prior toopening any teacher education programs, Teacher Education Institutes have tosubmit their teacher education curriculum to the Teachers’ Council of Thailand toget approval. The Bureau of Teacher Standard of the TCT is responsible for ensuringthat the teacher education curriculum have the criteria that meet the Thai National
Teachers Standards. The student teachers who graduate from the approved Teacher
Education programs will automatically receive a teacher license. For in-service
teachers, the Teacher’s Council of Thailand is in the process of working together withrelevant Offices to use the Thai National Teachers Standards and the SEA-TCF forcontinued professional development and promotion. With the unique SEA-TCF andthe new Thai National Competency Standard, Thai teachers can leverage theircapacity to fit national, regional and global needs. In turn, these teachers can be thedriving force of quality education in Thailand.
3. Set Examples and Cultivate Global Mindset in Teachers: The Teachers’ Council ofThailand collaborates with Teacher Associations in Malaysia, the National Union ofthe Teaching Profession (NUTP) and Brunei Malay Teachers’ Association (BMTA),
implemented Teachers Exchange programs in 2018. The cooperation isimplemented under the ASEAN Council of Teacher (ACT) + 1 (South Korea) Network.
The goals of the program are to broaden the world view of teachers, help themdevelop a better understanding of other ASEAN countries, and improve theirteaching pedagogy. The program give opportunity for teachers to be in the context
of schools in other countries and teach. Through the experiences, the teachers cangain skills such as problem solving, cooperation and analytical.
During the program, teachers have to teach in the other partner country for twoweeks. The program started with the participating partners agree on the subjects
and grade level of teachers. Once it is agreed, schools and teachers are selected.
The program is on cost sharing basis. The host school and/or teachers will cover thecost of accommodation, meals and transportation of the visiting teachers. While thevisiting teachers will cover his/her own airfare. Each week, the activities are plan inadvance starting with observe the classroom, assist in teaching, teach and reflect at
the end. Based on the feedback of teachers who took part in the program, it is a very
useful program and an eye-opening experience for them. Their view and teachingpedagogy have changed because of the experiences in teaching with students inother countries. The teachers said that the experiences make them aware of theteaching methods and select the most effective pedagogy. They also learn newteaching techniques and understand the culture of other countries including school
system.
Moreover, the Teachers’ Council of Thailand promotes the practice through Annual
Forum and Conferences that the TCT organize to set examples for other teachers3and other teacher associations. The TCT believe that teacher education is a life-longlearning process, teachers can learn from sharing experiences with others.
4. Establish the Teacher Professional Development Institute (TPDI) for In-ServiceTeacher Education: In June 2017, Dr. Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, the Minister ofEducation, Thailand issued a policy of “Teacher Coupon” for in-service teachers inThailand. It is a policy for teacher professional development/education which
involves several offices of the Ministry of education such as Office of Basic Educationand the Teacher Professional Development Institute (TPDI) of the Teacher’s Councilof Thailand. The Teacher Coupon Policy states that every Thai teacher is entitled toenroll in a training course for continuing professional development, valued 10,000
baht which is equivalent to approximately US $312 per year. The Office of BasicEducation Commission (OBEC), Ministry of Education Thailand is the key
implementer and provides budget for this policy. Since the launch, more Offices at
the Ministry of Education such as Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC)
has joined.
The Teacher Professional Development Institute (TPDI) which is an institution under
the supervision of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand plays a role as a quality
assurance body that approves the training courses. The process begins with a
training agency or university submit the courses to the TPDI for approval. The TPDI
set the criteria for screening based on pedagogy, content and knowledge (PCK). The
approved courses will then be sent to OBEC who will select the courses that OBEC
wish to improve the teachers’ skill and knowledge. The selected courses are posted
online via OBEC website for teachers to enroll in each semester. However, teachers
have to select the courses that are relevant to their subjects teaching with theapproval from their school directors/principals. Since the policy has beenannounced in June 2017, the TPDI had approved 1,837 courses (regular courses
1801, 38 online courses) and 291,747 teachers have enrolled in the courses. Thereare 283,864 teachers enroll in regular courses which offered face to face while 7,883
teachers take part in the online courses. (information as of 1 November 2018 byTPDI)
Monitoring and evaluation process has also been conducted by OBEC for continuing
improvement of the process and courses. The feedback received from the teachers
are that they view the policy as a very good policy which enable them to improve
themselves. Some constraints are with limited courses for selection and theregion/areas that the courses are offered. OBEC, OVEC and TPDI are closely working
together to improve the implementation process to effective deliver this policy tofully benefit teacher continuing professional development/education in Thailand.
5. Encourage and Promote Teacher Education through Professional Learning
Communities (PLC): One of the Teacher’s Council of Thailand’s mandate is topromote and enhance network of professional practices. The TCT encourages
continuing professional development among teachers through an approach called,
Professional Learning Community (PLC). The PLC is a collaborative method forteachers to work together to help each other solve classroom problems and help4

students learn. It can be in a format of peer-coaching, mentor, groups or networkthat share common teaching practices.
The Teacher’s Council of Thailand activities that promote PLC are such as 1)
providing funds to teachers, school inspectors, school heads and Teacher Education
Institutes to development PLC networks/clusters; 2) supporting Teacher Education
Institutes to develop contents for PLC online for student teachers; 3) create platform
for sharing best practices and 4) documenting the practices in the format of PLC
guidelines development.
Currently, there are 144 PLC organizations network receive funding from theTeacher’s Council of Thailand and 28 PLC university network. These network notonly serve as mentor or coach for other teachers but also assist the TCT to monitor
and evaluate the implementation of PLC among the teachers and network.
6. Recognize and Promote National and Regional Best Teacher Professional Practices:
The Teacher’s Council of Thailand plays a key role in promoting professional bestpractices through Awards. The awards are such as Award for Subject Teachers,Award for Teachers with Good Ethics, and Princess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA).
These awards are set up to recognize outstanding teachers and their excellent work.
The awards are given annually at the Thailand Teachers Day, 16 January.
The most prestigious award which the Teacher’s Council of Thailand involved, is thePrincess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA). The TCT is the Committee member and part ofthe Secretariat team. The award is established to commemorate HRH Princess MahaChakri Sirindhorn 60th Birthday Celebration in 2015. The PMCA is given to bestteachers from 11 countries in Southeast Asia (ASEAN and Timor Leste) who change
the students’ lives. It is a well-recognized award given once every two years by HRH
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Ministries of Education of 11 Southeast AsianCountries select their best teachers to receive the award. After the award is given,
the Teacher’s Council of Thailand works closely with the PMCA Foundation topromote and scale up the practices of these awardee teachers.
The TCT encourage and enhance Teacher Education through documenting bestpractices of these awardees teachers. The publications are disseminated to Teacher
Education Institutes, library and teachers to serve as useful resources for teacher
education in Thailand. The Teacher’s Council of Thailand also organizes annual
Educational Symposium to be a platform to showcase these Awardees of bestpractices.
7. Establish Networks to Enhance Teacher Education through Partnership both at theNational and International Level: The Teacher’s Council of Thailand believes thatpartnership is one of the important strategies to strengthen Teacher Education inThailand. The TCT works with both local and international partners to implement
policies and activities for Teacher Education and Professional Development. The
local partners are such as Teacher Education Institutes, Teachers Associations, British
Embassy, Bangkok and private sectors in Thailand. The international partners are5

such as UNESCO, SEAMEO Secretariat and SEAMEO INNOTECH (GURO 21 Online
Training course), National Institute for School Teachers and Staff Development,
Japan, and ASEAN Councils of Teachers +1 (ASEAN+1). The activities that the TCT
work with our partners are such as co-organizing training courses, study visits,workshops, Forum, and Conferences.
“Quality Teachers lead to Quality Education.” The Teacher’s Council of Thailand
have been working very hard to be one of the key institutions that support quality
teacher education programs to ensure quality teachers for Thailand.

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