learning to reflect

Hello all! Hope you've prepared for the relaxing opening up after lockdown ka. I saw some on the streets with no masks and I hope they too are careful for themselves and all around.

Just read the news about wearing masks.....westerners sure care to some extent about 'face' and Trump cares far too much for his face na ka!

This week's program is Ep 4 and it makes me feel so good to be able to do it for one month laew ka. I've learned my lessons and am improving it bit by bit while letting go some of the issues like keep talking even with some mispronounced words or pause to clear my throat.

In the academic world, people mention often about After Action Review-- AAR when for us in the international cooperation circle, I recommend the use of 'reflection' as it tends to include the emotional side. In fact, it teaches us about 'empathy' too ka....should stress it in the talk next time ka.

My passion to pursue Internationalization at Home (IaH) rose quite some time ago when I read an article by Jenny Lee (2013) and this is the statement that struck me ka:

"…….internationalize by educating their own domestic students on the value of internationalization and acquiring basic global competencies, such as being able to effectively communicate with individuals in foreign accents, possess knowledge about diverse cultures outside its borders, and network with those from overseas, as vital to success in this globalizing society." 

She didn't talk about IaH but the term '....own domestic students...' made me think about those who haven't had a chance or could in their lifetime only stay in country....or in their hometown. They must learn about the practical side of IZN for their international outlooks and applicability to their work and life.

This makes even more sense during the Covid-19 time. Those dealing with mobility could take advantage of the pause of physical mobility to reflect and learn how to make it systematic, which will enhance learning for the whole community, not limited to only a handful of students or ajarns who can benefit from them. 

My proposed approach is to use 'Rating' from 1-10 to gauge the ideas and feelings of people involved, to be followed by open-ended questions which may help identify some key points we need to address in the future. 

I sent my recorded clips to my friend who said she was following it carefully to see how she could use these two methods and I felt so good ka. If you want to listen to this episode, you can google, 'Learn Plern Plern' na ka.

Have a happy week ka.

Understanding internationalization to make it happen

I just finished recording my podcast program which emphasized on internationalization (IZN).....sort of for those who don't know what it is or don't know how to manage the whole process ka.

This gave me some lessons learned as well since I asked several people how they liked it and was told that I didn't make it that clear so I elaborated it a bit and hope it will work ka.

For many people, unfortunately, IZN like cross-culture, could be mistaken to think that they could happen automatically from mixing people of different nationalities together while some could think that IZN was similar to if not the same as, westernization.

Prof. Dr. Supachai Yawaprabhas put it nicely ka. He said IZN for the west was like an orchestra while ours was like a marching band or the so-called, วงโย lae ka. For me, I think we've come so far to stand quite visibly in the global arena that the marching band has become วงฟองน้ำ Orchestra with the smoother blend of both Thai and western musical tunes and selected instruments.

To get started, one/each institution must ask the question 'Why IZN?' to make sure we know the pro and con issues plus the real purpose to move it forward. I referred the question 'Why' to Simon Sinek who said sales people tended to start their sale talking about the products instead of pointing out of the need. I really like it and in fact, I also linked it to 'purpose'.....didn't say it in the podcast ka 5555!

The 'Why' question comes with the consideration for 'definition' and I cited the one crafted by the Bureau of International Cooperation Strategy, MHESI, as an example. The keywords were 'process', 'global citizenship', and 'preferable soft skills...with 'respect' as the one I highlighted. We could also table out activities universities around the world carried out to promote IZN and then look backward to see why they chose to do that...could be because of the visibility, need for intellectual development, etc.

Then it would go on to answer what and how, which again could be drawn from the process of forming a definition. I do think that not every institution needs to have a definition if they think they can make the community understand and that they know how to measure the success. My 'how well' by indicators came last ka.

Cheers to all who have been trying hard to make IZN achieve our goal of nurturing quality global citizens ka.

Time for IaH to shine

Hello all! I was invited by Dean of PridiBanomyong International College to be a panelist on Zoom last week, sharing my thoughts on 'Internationalization at Home--IaH' together with 3 other panelists. It went for almost 2 hours with some real interesting points to write to you all ka.

This was the first time I listened to Dr. Karndee Leopairote and was very impressed ka. She said the private sector has moved forward fast without waiting for the government's help. She showed some of the stats about the perspectives of both the employers and employees on preference to WFH. It showed that 44% of organizations and 67% of employees preferred WFH. She also stressed that the younger generations, especially gens Y and Z find it comfortable to Learn from Home as many are digital natives who are used to AR and VR plus digital tutor and virtual teachers. Organizations with much space may turn it to be training centers in the future.

I thought of many implications when there's much less need for more space: 

- offices would reduce space rent to be much more economical....and what would WeWork do to survive?

- co-working places in many areas would go out of business or not?

- real estate owners would need to think hard how to manage space for people to work from their condos.....heard that more people are looking for homes, not condo rooms so what will happen with those being sold?

- new sets of instructions about WFH to ensure productivity while not being overworked or underworked must be put in place. Dr. Karndee touched on 'Meeting protocol' ka.

- human interactions to enable 'hybrid working cultures' need to be managed in some creative forms.

Many more we can think of and what about our universities ka?

Two other issues I'd like to mention were:

- Organizations not only have to ensure they have ways to recruit talents, but they have to create 'learning path' for this particular group.

- Companies need to 'humanize' their teams while handling their well-being and cultural engagement.

- Is it possible for our universities to work 'wall-less' together (my own words na ka!)

Worrying about our universities and their management loei ka.

Our national education policies and university directions must be future-oriented and this is the time for foresight to shine brightly ka. At the national level, the international cooperation bureau has come up with 'The Future of IZN' from its cooperation with a Fulbright future studies expert. It has yet to enhance IZN and now that mobility is a challenge along with other issues caused by COVID-19, Internationalization at Home (IaH) will play a more visible role for the mass in the universities to become global citizens without having to go abroad.

Besides Dr. Karndee, 3 others are involved in higher education, me included ka. Keywords shared among the 4 are:

- 'global citizens' with intercultural competence to work with anyone, anywhere in the world; 

- 'learners (to include faculty and staff, leaders, and communities)' with the faculty as the most important people to drive IaH forward by changed mindsets to get ready for new challenges;  

- 'redesign' our approaches to teach and manage which will ensure relevance and practicality of the projects/ activities undertaken; 

- 'diversity in focus' both in and outside the class settings to maximize resources for mutual understanding about our own selves and others.

It was an enriching session that I liked....and will share on the podcast too ka.

Again, lots to do but before then, can we keep abreast of the world changes and trends ka? Big question in question!

Bitter stories from a Black President

Happy Monday ka.

After I recorded my first podcast episode, my mind has been bombarded with a lot of questions (and challenges for sure ka.) With no professional tools and prior experience, I'll struggle for a while before it has become my routine!

Anyway, this is what I've decided to do ka. I think my egroup messages will align with podcast episodes unless there's something so interesting/exciting to share that I couldn't sit still! You now have another channel to choose what could fit you best ka. 

For the first episode, I talked about the first thing I thought of once COVID-19 was announced pandemic to lead the listeners to think and link with what they're doing. I then moved on to the current protest in the US about racism. 

Just at the right time, thanks to my American friend and Fulbright alum ka! He shared with me a letter from President of Emerson College, Lee Pelton and his stories made me feel so bad and sad ka.

Let me quote some stories from his message na ka:

"........I have been spit on by a white parking lot attendant. I was stopped 20 feet from my house by two white police officers in their cruiser, the searing heat of their spot lights on the back of my neck, guns drawn on either side of my car because I looked like a black man who was alleged to have stolen something from a convenience store. When I was living on the West Coast, I was pulled over twice in a single night by police officers because, according to each, I didn’t turn on my turn signal the proper feet before a stop sign."

Not so often do we hear those stories from the source to realize how he has been mistreated and how long he has been in such pain despite being a Harvard graduate and holding presidentship in several higher education institutions.

This statement shocked me when he mentioned 'lifetime' and 'every' na ka:

"In my lifetime, I have been called the n-word by white people in every state and every city that I have ever lived in."

The following upset me most ka:

"As President of Willamette University, two teenage boys drove up on the sidewalk to block my path home because I looked like someone who was suspected of stealing from neighborhood homes. When I asked what that person looked like they described someone more than twenty years younger than me."  

This issue was from two teenage boys and if the two had such a prejudice against black at that young age, what must education offer before it turned to deeply rooted discrimination and hatred?

My first episode touched quite a bit about the need for each of us to be aware of our own prejudice and to make increased effort to reduce it ka.

Podcast program soooooon

Just a brief note to let you know that finally, I'll have my podcast program in Thai starting next Tuesday, June 9, with a brief intro and every Tuesday for about 15-20 minutes from then on.

It's called, “Learn Plern Plern เพื่อ turnaround คนรักงานต่างประเทศ by พี่ทิพย์”, literally meaning learning a sabai sabai way to help turnaround missions of those with international cooperation passion by Ptip. I sure hope to have some guests from sources like Fulbright and SEAMEO RIHED networks sometime in the future, even for now, it's really simple from my phone ka.

Will give it a try and I know there'll be several who may wish to become my duo or trio too ka....volunteers welcome too na ka.

Excited to see how it goes as it needs much thinking, and planning as well. Thanks to Nong Noi, Warunee from Mae Fah Luang University, my honorary technician and super great supporter, who has made it happen and will be around to help for the future episodes ka.

If you're interested and not on Facebook, here are the channels ka:

Search the following apps for “Learn Plern Plern”: Apple Podcast, Youtube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Podbean na ka.

Any comments, suggestions, or discussion issues can also be sent to  Facebook Fanpage: Learn Plern Plern https://www.facebook.com/Learn-Plern-Plern-103785848007834/

Happy Tuesday ka.