Whose gap is it from New Normal effects?

Later last week, I gave a talk to a group of teachers (Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, and Thailand) who are alumni of Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA), co-hosted by Fulbright Thailand and the US Embassy. It was a good gathering for them to network, share, and learn. 

Again, I talked about New Normal in the VUCA world. I began my talk by using  a quote by William Arthur Ward sent to me by my student and I was relieved it worked fine and ignited fine sharing. It reads,

"The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires."

During the Q&A session, several had questions/comments by relating to the quote ka! On the whole, there were quite a few questions and experience sharing, making it a lively learning forum. What teachers found very challenging were how to nurture the  understanding of their own cultures and be ready to be part of the ASEAN Community, how to read more for the sake of learning from reading, how to drive their students to learn wisely through their smartphones. 

It was quite clear to me that in our New Normal, several basics have to be redefined, especially the terms, 'book' and 'reading' ka.

There's one specific comment I like to share here ka. A Thai TEA alumna said she learned a lot from her 6-year-old grandson who knew how to use the tablet well while getting bored with the traditional way of teaching at his school. She said teachers could have the mix of the four from mediocre to great. There was no need to be great all the time.

I really like her thought as it's so true in the VUCA world when things have become our 'New Normal' but it's so very 'Normal' to the younger gens, especially the Z and A. It could be the widening gap of the older gen teachers who need to keep pace of the changes, to learn from and share with the younger. 

As a teacher, we should determine along with our kids what they need in their world of learning and select what best for us to do through telling, explaining, demonstrating, or inspiring approach. Yet, when teachers want to be great, it shows their deep intention to do their role at their very best, which is so touching and admirable ka.

It was an hour I also learned how enthusiastic our teachers have been to lead and help their students....reading is always an issue that can be taken up as a big challenge for teachers to define reading in their 'new normal' world ka.

Health literacy

Today, I happened to attend a consultative meeting on health literacy strategies to enhance healthy lifestyles in ASEAN. Some of you may wonder why I was involved....hae! hae! me too ka.....was an invite I couldn't say 'no' (I know I still have to learn how to ka!)  and was thinking that I could learn more what's happening ka.

I sure learned and was impressed how the Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University has been actively doing ka.....giving me some bright hope of our country!

My learning ka:

- Like education, health needs to be for all and all for health....how could we link the two sectors closely to each other? Well! discussion was around 'how' to work with the ministry of education:((!......seems working with the ministry of public health could be much less challenging? true?

- Health literacy is so closely connected with 'media literacy' too and again, we do need to bring key stakeholders to work together.  Education ministry, institutions, and community MUST play a crucial role ka!

- When mentioning about 'lifestyles', I tend to think of the younger generations from the M on to Z, and A. We can no longer think under our old frame of thinking and have to move beyond 'brick and mortar' to other platforms like co-working space and 24-7 working hours. The younger ones seek more autonomy with more options to feel less imposed by traditional ways of working.

- While Gen Y in particular are creative and independent, I can't help but think of one I just met who said he's been through depression. He found that quite a few of his friends went through the same issue ka! When talking about health, more and more attention needs to be paid to the mental side laew na ka. Our younger ones may need closer bonds and more moral support than they realize.....yet, in different ways from what we are used to having or giving ka.

- Heard several good practices to promote good health like one in a Japanese institutional canteen, there's a program called, 'Table for Two', meaning that if students choose to eat healthy food, small amount of money will be donated to buy healthy food for the needy in another part of the world.....purpose larger than self, which seems to be effective to be used for M and Z.

From this brief attendance, I noticed myself being a little more cautious before picking food to eat....don't know how long it will last ka!

More than just international students

I just read the most recent article written by Jane Knight who is world known for her work on IZN, under the topic, ‘A look on the bright side of HE internationalization’ on University World News, April 6, 2018. Issue No. 500.

Let me quote what I like na ka:

·      Global issues such as climate change, food security, terrorism and epidemics are now national issues and many national issues are now global ones. Cooperation between and among countries and actors from different sectors is paramount to effectively address these challenges.

·      The topic of international students continues to monopolise the discourse on internationalisation. In fact, many equate international students to internationalisation. 

·      The recent forecasting and perhaps exaggeration of the ‘end of internationalisation’ due to travel bans and changing immigration policies in top recruitment countries exemplifies the dominance of international students in the discourse on internationalization.

·      While international students bring diverse benefits, the current driving rationales such as increased revenue, recruitment and retention of the brightest and best brains, increased standing in international rankings and a counter-balance to the fall in domestic enrolment rates due to demographic changes seem to outweigh academic, social-cultural and individual benefits for students and higher education institutions.

·      IZN is a multi-dimensional and involves a much richer and more varied set of activities both on campus and abroad than only international students…..

The article reconfirms the importance of IZN beyond international student recruitment that requires cooperation within and across sectors for the benefits of individuals, higher education institutions, and the globe. This is a small world we need to care for seriously and get ready fastest to pass a healthier one to our younger generations ka.

  

Happy Songkran ka!

 

Who Am I?

It's been two weeks of different activities and I'm sharing what's left in my aging memory box na ka:))!

1. Being on an EdPEx 300 assessment team enabled me to learn how serious each medical school has been. I've seen much development and many challenges and I can't confirm enough how context-specific approach has been real responsive. Time and collaboration are need to identify who we are and where we want to go. Asking 'why are we doing it?' is another good question to repeatedly use in our discussions.

2. It was my very first experience to be one of the interviewees by a recognition team from WFME (World Federation for Medical Education) who came to assess IMEAc (Institute for Medical Education Accreditation). The lead was very careful to think before asking questions and one focus stressed was  to probe whether there could be any conflict of interest. This issue is delicate as our context has a faint line in quite a few things we do as our common practice. Yet, it certainly needs explanation from our end and understanding about the context of the other. I immediately think again about context and cross-cultural understanding, highlighting diversity as an important keyword. 

3. A session on internationalization was given to a group of Srilankans from different agencies, ranging from National Cultural Fund and universities to its National Bank, Ministry of Finance and Coconut Board. This was quite tough as I usually focus on the education sector. Again, their diverse contexts on top of their national context were huge challenges. It turned out to be quite fun and I enjoyed the session with their eagerness to learn and efforts to try to answer (some were abroad for the first time and a few didn't have much English proficiency!) I admire its Skill Development Fund people for gathering the group for this study visit to broaden their perspectives and the diversity was so delightful for them to share more among themselves.

4. Lots to share after having attended a regional seminar, jointly organized by OHEC and SEAMEO-RIHED on Engaging Communities, Empowering Leaders.

On the whole, youth power and diversity in terms of LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex) were high on the agenda. I got to listen to many stories and insights shared and was very inspired by the strong passion of the younger generation who tried successfully to find who they were and have followed their passion with a strong wish to make their communities, the education sector, and the world better! 

It was wonderful to see many participants till the end of the program.....a great proof for our Thai context ka....and as Woody, a TV host, was a speaker on the last day, it attracted quite a crowd too. He delivered well but his honesty about his own self was the best for the audience to learn and appreciate ka....you can imagine readily how long the line was to take pix with him!

Looking back to the past 2 weeks, things have happened a lot here and there and even in my little circle, much learning has been shared. Personally, I got to learn and think much further about issues like positive side of the bad to leverage experiences, coffee journey, state capitalism, Geographical identification--GI, nature-based solution, life as a YouTuber, technology-led for individualized learning, and many questions to ignite thinking about our students being employable and ethical, 'protect tomorrow today!'.

After all, it does come back to one key question for us to explore and keep asking as time goes by, 'Who Am I?', making our specific contexts clearer and directions focused.