My plan was to update them on the fast development of technologies and AI and link it back to their interest in intercultural communication so my topic was, 'Intercultural Communication for Creative and Cultured Citizens'. My key messages were to encourage them to keep nurturing their creativity and a bit more on empathy for humans to have increased interactions through their own international focus.
I was sharing a story about an American grantee who never saw the whole fish served and got real scared to see it almost every time they ate out. I asked the class what the Thais did and they got it all wrong to say that the Thais would turn the head away from their American colleagues! The Thais in fact found it so fun that they kept ordering fish on purpose and turned the head right to her eyes! Later she learned to make it a joke and covered the fish head up! I recall this issue was incorporated in the orientation the following year for the host teachers to learn about our own reactions to come up with ways to handle it in a more cross-cultural friendly way ka:))!
We discussed a little further how some could feel so upset based on their own contexts and the main Ajarn said she too got scared when piglets were served. The Austrian student said he is used to it and in his country, the whole fish dish would be quite costly.
This little story ignited quite a few more stories and thoughts loei ka. I liked it when the main Ajarn jumped in to share her thinking too. I also realized that I have to be more aware not to be too fast to generalize people on my minds particularly westerners to mean Americans and Europeans ka! I learned more and learned repeatedly this key lesson ka!
Some more I've got from this class:
- This statement from Fulbright is classic and worth discussing still ka....'How Thai people can be so cold when it’s 80 degrees outside but not cold when it’s 50 degrees inside'! One foreign student agreed right away and said in Malaysia, they're well aware about the global warming and so the air-con won't be turned to be so very cold like ours! The Austrian student observed that this cold temperature seems to be quite common in hot countries.
We included sharing about 'how Thais are so much into taking pix'
Do Thais have a good answer to give to our foreign friends mai ka?
- Even when we think the younger gen grow up in a 'healthier' environment than our time, one student said she has been told since young that she wasn't creative.
We may need to be more aware of what we comment or advice as it could hinder our kids and students take it so seriously that they lose their opportunities to sharpen their potential in some particular areas that may have been their real strengths.
- Touching on issues concerning development in other sectors than education helps students know the world has much more knowledge and experiences for them to learn and prepare their own future beyond their own specializations. As I talked more about the algorithms and AI, they were amazed with the advancement and how the world would look like 5-10 years from now. One expressed, 'worried' so I told the class to feel excited, knowing more about the world progress (and yes, I'm worried, especially about our kids in less quality schools and environments).
- The students are in a very advantageous position to learn about people, culture, human interactions as these are the key components of our being human when robots will become our 'now normal' and life with smart devices will distance human beings from one another further. This is a good group to learn more creative ways to nurture empathy in people too ka.
- Cross-sector and cross-generation approaches should be seriously added on the agenda in our education circle and we have to make sure that it's a real two-way sharing.
Have a lovely weekend ka.
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