Overview
The British Council is pleased to announce its call for UK-Thailand Digital Innovation Grants.
This Call for Grants aims to foster partnerships between Thai education institutions and UK ELT/Ed Tech organizations to explore a more inclusive and accessible approach to developing provision of English language teaching and learning in Thailand, particularly through digital education technology. The maximum funding available for each project is £30,000. The projects should be implemented from February/March 2023 – March 2024. The results should generate new research, insight and/or innovation to support the Thailand Ministry of Education in its ambition to improve the teaching and learning of English in Thailand by 2025, and beyond.
Background
Thailand context
The Thailand 4.0 strategy aims to internationalise, develop skills, nurture creativity and innovation to develop a high value economy and greater social equality. English is an important foundation for this strategy, yet 75 per cent of teachers of English in Thailand have a level of English, as measured by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) of only A2 or below. English teaching in Thailand has been grammar-focused rather than communicative, resulting in poor outcomes for students. This strategy leads to government demand to improve the quality of English teaching in the school and university system including curriculum, materials, teaching methodology and assessment.
The emergence and escalation of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has had significant impacts on teaching, learning and digital provision across the globe, including Thailand. Click here for global reports. The pandemic has presented both constraints and opportunities in the domain of technological and digital responses to not only maintain teaching and learning but also widen access to those who may be disadvantaged.
After the disruption of Covid-19, the MoE has launched some quick-win strategies and new policies to respond to the pandemic situation, including preparing teachers and learners for post-pandemic education. A professional development scheme has been developed for teachers to be equipped with 21st century skills, focusing on English proficiency and digital literacy skills. The scheme includes professional development activities for 430,000 Ministry of Education (MoE) personnel, which includes teachers, Educational Service Area (ESA) directors, school directors, supervisors, and MoE administrators.
Recently, promotion of Active Learning approaches has become a key policy at both school and tertiary levels, to enhance student learning outcomes. Some guidelines have been provided to teachers so that they can have a better understanding on how they can adopt the approach in their real classrooms.
Educational Technology has become a crucial tool to transform education including hybrid/blended (face-to-face and online) teaching and learning. Self-access and online courses have been provided as the main approach to teacher development, with less emphasis on pure face-to-face delivery. In 2022, for example, the e-Learning Programme of English Language Proficiency Development Project (CEFR levels A1 - A2) launched by OBEC has been offered to all subject area teachers including MoE personnel online.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) is one of the key CPD activities for Thai teachers. The participation of teachers in PLCs is mandatory for their academic career promotion. Together with school directors and/ or supervisors, teachers participate in PLCs regularly to share and reflect on their teaching practice and discuss solutions. The PLC network is mostly conducted at a school level (face-to-face), rather than at a provincial or a country level.
About UK - Thailand Digital Innovation Grant
We are inviting collaborative applications in response to this open call from organisations across the UK and Thailand. In light of the impact of Covid-19, which has accelerated the digital transformation in education delivery in Thailand, we are now seeking applications which spark innovation, and inspire new ways of working, through a technology-enabled approach.
We also want to encourage collaborative new ways of working between the UK and Thailand through this new fund – bringing together the likes of Higher Education Institutions, ELT suppliers, education publishers, EdTech providers and others. We are particularly interested in collaborations between organisations of differing scales who may not traditionally work together, from both the UK and Thailand.
The overall objective is for UK and Thai organisations in EdTech and ELT sectors to generate new learning and insight through co-designing and piloting of digital innovations which will support the improvement of English language teaching, learning, and assessment in Thailand.
This Call for Grants aims to foster partnerships between Thai education institutions, and UK ELT/Ed Tech organizations to explore a more inclusive and accessible approach to develop the provision of English language teaching and learning in Thailand, particularly through digital and education technology. The maximum funding available for each project is £30,000. The projects should be implemented from March 2023 – March 2024. The results should generate new research, insight and/or innovation to support the Thailand Ministry of Education in its ambition to improve the teaching and learning of English in Thailand by 2025, and beyond. Opportunities may be categorised under the broad theme below
Theme: Supporting Teacher CPD (Continuous Professional Development)
- Teacher education – teachers, teacher educators (e.g., curricula, practicum, etc.)
- Remote, blended, and self-access models for CPD for teachers and teacher educators (pedagogy or language improvement)
- Video content
- Digital CPD resources that scaleable and sustainable
- ICT applications
- Teacher networks and Communities of Practice (online and social media)
- Research and insight to respond to specific questions about remote or digital capacity building during post Covid-19, not yet investigated in Thailand
- Developing and mapping digital/online resources with the current policies of (OBEC) the Office of the Basic Education Commission.
Key dates
| Milestone | Date |
| Application window opens | Closed |
| Submission of clarification questions | Closed |
| Briefing session (with British Council and MoE representatives) | Closed |
| Application deadline | Closed |
| Evaluation process: Clarification questions to applicants and interviews (as appropriate and if necessary) | Closed |
| Successful applicants informed and grant agreements issued | Selected |
| Project and activity window | February/ March 2023 – December 2023 |
| Programme evaluation | January 2024 – March 2024 |
*Key dates may be subject to change