Self assessment session for 'Who am Í?'(2)

Hello again ka!

I'd like to share one action I took following what I learned from this 'Who am I?' na ka.

A former student of mine has been in deep financial trouble for some time and teachers along with his classmates have lent a hand. I heard that he's still in the same trouble and he told one teacher that every time there's a miracle with someone/ group send him some money.

Somehow, I don't like this 'miracle' idea at all as he can never depend on others and miracle all the time. I was really hesitant to transfer some to him. I started thinking of the ways the Catholic Father taught us to identify the root cause of the issues faced by our own selves, not to concern others-- what exactly makes us feel upset and why. I looked at one of my own Being's (ธาตุแท้), which is to help others and thought of why I was so reluctant. The amount of money wasn't too large to spare so it wasn't the money issue. I then thought about the term 'miracle' and what it really meant to me. I realized that I did mind his using this term because I was afraid he would spend it carelessly in time of trouble since it was sort of some 'easy money'

After I was clear about my own thought, I had my solution to write and let him know I worked hard for this amount of money and I cared for him and family so he had to make sure he spent it carefully. I was relieved and the money was transferred.

It's the same principle as the 4 Noble Truths อริยสัจ 4. Yet, the ways this exercise gave us were easy to follow....and sort of similar to EdPEx too lae ka!

May I also share some of the remarks and statements that ignite more thoughts and actions ka.

- 'There're 11 books for me to read.' Father said to us all the 11 participants and he listened to all our stories attentively while working on his own to share with us at the same time.

Each person has lots to share no matter who he/she is.....immediately, it led me to think of the term, 'diversity' and how KM will be a great mechanism for maximum learning from the rich resources we have 'in us' and around us.

- 'Knowing our 'Being'-- ธาตุแท้/ตัวตน enables us to increase our positive energy.'

Lots of fine qualities are given to all of us since we were born and we should be contented about who we are to treasure and maximize what we've been given!

- 'The need to be recognized isn't negative and following others' expectations isn't a crime.....yet, it's essential that we be honest with our own 'Being'!

In our context, we see many parents expect their kids and cause some unnecessary pressure. It'd be great for parents and kids to strike some balance so the kids can 'follow their hearts' so their 'being' will shine!

- 'We're married to our physical self as it's with us all the time and will die with us......so make sure you do take care of it ánd don't treat it as a machine and at the same time, don't be far too particular about your own physical self to enjoy the meaning of life.'

I knew I didn't care for my health that much and I now am married to it laew ka.....by trying to do more exercises daily......see how far I can be committed kaaaa!

'If we accept a person as he/she is, we set ourselves free and become our full selves.'

- No imposition should be made on others as they too behave and act within their contexts. I think it's very ÉdPEx' ka.. We can only offer advice/ suggestions for universities to decide. We'll be happier and feel more relaxed to explore further to offer more ka!

What do you think about my lessons learned out of these 5 days ka?

Self assessment session for 'Who am Í?'(1)

Hope you all had a very nice Chinese New Year celebration ka.

I had wonderful time with my family and felt quite relaxed after a series of activities that were far too interesting not to share ka:))!

On one end, I've heard of a course entitled, 'Who am I?', a 5-day session under the whole program called, PRH drawn from French and its English version is Personality and Human Relations, which has been introduced since 1970 and to Thailand in 1979. On the other, the more I work on EdPEx -- a quality framework and internationalization (IZN), the better I appreciate self assessment processes.

Finally, I decided to spend 5 days at its venue in Ladkrabang area, meeting with 10 other participants from different sectors, mainly private, and learning from a Catholic priest (we called him 'Father'.....by the way, this session is sort of psychology-oriented and isn't related directly to any religion but when we talk about human beings, religious teachings can be cited from time to time, out loud or in my mind too ka.

I have a few exercises that I like but let me share several ka:

First, we determined our 'Being' (ธาตุแท้)....they have to be all positive, showing that every human being has some excellent qualities in themselves and if we all can identify them, we can maximize the great qualities to lead our lives to the best we can ka.

Seriously, I felt shy to think of the nice qualities in me but it was a nice exercise to learn what's been hidden or outstanding ka.

Second, I loved sharing about our 'character or fear' that may have been rooted from very young age. This exercise asked us to think of our own selves what we are afraid of or how we behave. I thought of my own fear of crossing streets (and no desire to learn to drive). Now it's confirmed that it must have been because of the accident occurred when I was very young, waking up to find myself and my family members lying down on the street. Father said if we could trace back to find the cause, we would be able to heal the pain/rid the fear/correct the habit. Normally, with right methods, it can take about 10 years to be healed ka.

In this particular session, several were in tears talking about what they thought could cause their particular behavior.....really interesting to see one 40+ guy cry like a child and the other in his early 50s feeling really hurt!

I shared this activity with my family for them to explore what they may have felt from their younger days and how they should also think of their own children ka.

Third, we thought of those who were close to us and who bore impacts on us. Strange enough, I learned that the ones I wasn't so comfortable with, after all, were so distant from my life that I shouldn't have taken them seriously loei ka! I felt much better after it and know who else I should pay my attention to ka.

Lastly, on decision making, an exercise introduced us to ask several questions:

- Are we making our mind basing on our own inner feeling/our 'being', not on others' expectations?

- Have we used the best of our own 'being' to do that particular task, or do we do what has exceeded our abilities?

- Are we sincere to our own selves to decide what to do or are we simply yearning for 'recognition'?

More to follow soon ka.

hopeful with gen z

Happy Monday afternoon ka. I just had a chance to sit down and share my most recent experience talking with a gen Z kid.

This morning, I was asked to 'sort of coach' a high school student who'll go through several scholarship interviews. Instead of being a coach, I learned so much from him ka.

He may look so much like a nerd whose whole life will be tied to his passion in Physics. But after some chats, he loosened up to shine and be his funny (555!) self. He linked his piano skills to Physics and explained to me in some simple terms I could understand!

When asked what he has prepared for his interviews, he said the very first is about 'Thailand 4.0' and it needs the effective education system to nurture students and their learning.

He was saying that if there was a question he wanted to ask adults, he would ask what they thought about 'more time to play, less time in class'. He thought it was a good idea but it could never be successful because of the curriculum design and content. Students had to study a whole lot and with less time in the classrooms, teachers had to set up extra time to rush to finish what was required.

He has his dream to return to develop our country. I asked right away whether he felt so or just had to say so as part of the patriotic image! He said it was what he felt since he was in his late primary school time, thinking why Thai people couldn't enhance our development when our brains are second to none!

Such thought has led him to take part in various activities, several started from encouragement from his parents and later he decided to work on student council to learn how to cooperate with people from diverse backgrounds and thinking. He had to manage his time effectively to study and do the activities he enjoyed with time to play games for stress reduction.

He regards his father as his role model because of his father's flexibility and comfort to cooperate with people.

He has seen the world in many dimensions I found amazing for a high school kid who doesn't go to the EP or international school!

My three lessons learned ka:

1.Quite a number at the university level may not be able to respond and react the ways he did. It could be because he has been reading, thinking, and working hard (he said so himself that he's hardworking) on what he is passionate of while many kids haven't known what their passion is.

2. Parents have to encourage kids to try different activities in various platforms and who knows, their kids may become passionate from some of the exercises that will benefit his own life and the wider community.

3. We can't judge too fast simply from the first impression and personality for we may miss an excellent opportunity to learn. Skills to help loosen people up could become real useful in our social media-led world.

It was me to be coached how to deal with gen Z kids ka!

Now I wish him luck and feel hopeful our country will have another highly capable Physics professor/researcher with IQ/EQ and many other Q's (including lots of questions!)

PLC and Growth Mindset

Good morning Tuesday ka.

With the kindness of Ajarn Mor+ Vicharn Panich, I read his two books on, ''บันเทิงชีวิตครู'' and ''เลี้ยงลูกยิ่งใหญ่'' and have already sent my thoughts to him ka.

Let me now share what I learned and thought about the two books na ka.

The first book promoted the Professional Learning Community (PLC), which enhances cooperation among teachers from different subjects to work together, aiming at the development of their students while allowing both teacher and students to learn together.

As I'm writing, I think of the term, ''facilitator'' more. We've heard about it for some good years now and it isn't so easy for our teachers to become ones and part of it is due to our own cultural traditions. This book mentions a bit about culture and I couldn't be happier! Many root causes are from our own traditions that may need to be adjusted in some situations. Our seniors mean well but traditionally, the society expects a lot from them so our ways of interacting with our younger ones tend to be more of the top-down approach like boss and staff somehow for boss to think and order, and staff to obey and take actions. Good thing is that more and more teachers seem to welcome more active interactions....though more of those are still needed in many classrooms. 

The second book is a useful one for teachers and parents to understand how to handle different types of kids and how to train themselves too. Ajarn Vicharn offers lots of links which are so useful for further reading and discussions. I can't help but think of one column I just read. Ajarn Witayakorn Chiangkun urges that we all read more (from classics one, literary works, to novels, etc.), create more space and use libraries smartly for reading, whether for pleasure or learning.

We do read much less so ACOP-- Across communities of practice:)) perhaps increases its importance mai ka? We can share a summary with questions to ignite thoughts and lively exchanges of ideas.

One lesson I learned is about the "growth mindset'' to nurture the persistence in our younger kids to enhance successes...what is very much needed in our speed-craze world ka. The more we stress ''results'', the more we tend to leave out the appreciation of ''efforts made along the process''. Definitely, balance of process and result has to be made. Yet, the sense of appreciation needs to be there too, which could also promote engagement.

Any books you read that you want to share mai ka?

2017 as Internationalization Year?

Happy New Year to all ka!

I visited a senior relative who's 93 this year. He was in a great mood, telling me that he's started using a cane to help support him. His positive thinking must be from his decades of practicing meditation. I was reminded again and again to take it up seriously ka. I promised to try my best and have been trying and need to try harder ka:))!

On an academic side, 2016 saw many more universities become quite active with internationalization (IZN) process and so I think my 2017 will focus much more on this very aspect ka.

An introduction to open this IZN platform is that we need to understand what we mean by the term, 'global citizen' and by the numbers of outbound and inbound students and faculty, it doesn't mean that the participating individuals could become international competent. There are systematic processes for them to go through, to learn, to share, to unlearn and relearn.

As stated in the article, 'A Learner-centered internationalization of higher education', by Robert Coelen, an analysis by Behrnd and Porzelt (2012) showed that 10 months was critical for developing increased intercultural competence. It also appeared that students must be given the opportunity to reflect on their feelings and their attitudes toward what's happening as they encounter another culture....in each step of the learning process. Learning materials on international awareness and knowledge about foreign countries and cultures must be explicit and programmed into the curriculum for the desired outcomes to be achieved.

Honestly, I didn't have much faith in the use of curriculum but after some more reading and discussions, I now think that part of the IZN efforts has to be devoted to curriculum design and implementation along with relevant training for faculty to transfer the content effectively. Delivery approaches have to care more for 'diversity' of both local and foreign students in order for them to stay engaged and learn. 

Looking at IZN, we can see how it's related with many dimensions of EdPEx from systematic processes to diversity, engagement of learners and faculty, and learning outcomes. I also wish to add that they do need senior management and support to drive IZN forward ka!

Cheers to 2017 as IZN Year dee mai ka?