Reflection on the passing year

As we'll be sailing into 2022 soon, I'd like to end this message by reflecting on what's been going on with this email group and me na ka.

First, amid the covid19 which allows us to have more time staying at home, I've managed to do quite well doing some little projects to keep myself busy ka. I have to admit that once in a while, I ask myself how much longer I'll keep this egroup alive after over 20 years since I started. The answer is what you've seen ka....my weekly email as always though I decided not to fix any day of the week. Will write only when there are issues or stories that I really feel passionate to share ka.

Second, for the past few months, I've begun to think of 5 things I feel grateful for everyday. So for this year, I also with to share my 5 things on top of my list ka:

1) More family time despite covid19 keeps me feel gooood!

2) This egroup and Podcast, 'Learn Plern Plern' are alive! For the Podcast in particular, the final episode for this year is Ep 82 ka... all possible  with sharing and help of over 80 guest speakers (in the programs and behind the scenes).

3) Singing is still on and I've signed up for the 4th month in January already. I was asked if I could sing well. My response was 'Sing a little better but I feel I know a little more about singing ka.'

4) I feel thankful for opportunities to help give talks, design and try some new activities,  and continue my monitoring project; all of which have enhanced my desire to learn and ponder as well as an increase in listening to many podcast and youtube programs ka.

5) Through all the above activities and some social gatherings, I feel connected to many friends and networks while making new friends far and wide ka. 

Happy holidays na ka. See you all in 2022 ka.

Bonds and generations

 Dear all, hope you all have more festive moods ka....don't consume too much news to help you boost the moods kaa.

A little get together of my ship group was organized over the weekend (Our batch participated in the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program in 1985) and so I had a chance to talk with our younger ones who came with their parents ka.

One girl (still our 'girl' in our eyes, even though she's a professional chef!) said her mom loves this ship group a lot and she's heard her mom talk about it very often since she was young. She along with another girl from another family admired us for our strong bonds after all these 36 years.Both agreed it was so different from their generation as they don't really know how to nurture this type of relationship and how they wished they could do it as they have their smart devices to make life easier. 

When many research studies show clearly that after all, relationships matter and they help us live longer, I can't help but think of how our younger generations define and will define their happiness and contentment in life na ka.

What's best our older generations can contribute mai ka? Or life goes on and we can simply let go?

What's your response ka?

Happy Monday ka.

Near-death experience story

 Hello all! Get your festive moods already? Amid worries about COVID 19, it seems people are relaxing more na ka.

I have one story to share from talking with a junior friend lately ka. 

He said he felt tired very easily and one morning he got up with a very cloudy brain so he drove himself to a hospital to learn that his blood was 1/3 gone.

As he had to be admitted immediately and was asked to sign a consent letter for the treatment, he decided to sign it without consulting anyone. He didn't tell anyone in his family either. His mind then was telling him, 'When I came to this world, I was on my own and if I have to leave, I leave alone too.' 

Luckily, the treatment was successful and he told his family after he was discharged. He said he was on the verge of depression and got back to his whole self after a friend kind of forced him to change his environment. To make the long story short, it turned out to be a blessing with an unexpected academic offer ka!

His Near-death Experience (NDE) led us to talk about a few things in life. I was telling him about one of my favorite books, 'Chasing Daylight' (introduced to me by Ajarn Chaiyod years ago) and the circles the author drew to classify people who were close to him to spend his last months with. Amazingly, my junior friend has this similar note for him to show his gratitude, well before this experience na ka. I'm honored to be included ka.

He's redesigned his life, making it clear to care for relationships over business and giving more time to his inner circle.....spending longer hours on one-on-one meet-ups with friends. I admired him for taking time to plan and arrange a delightful visit to a museum for his PhD advisor and her husband. His to-do list is gradually completed too.

I've learned about life again with several keywords ka: time, relationships, gratitude, to-do list.

Yours?

Happy Thursday ka.

Integrated communication skills

 Happy Wednesday ka!

I devoted the past 4 months of my podcast program to sharing about communication skills from listening and speaking to reading and writing ka!

It was fun and challenging how to present them and all turned out quite well with over 17 guest speakers and more behind the scenes.

The finale was given by Dr. Romyen Kosaikanont or Mo, Director of SEAMEO RIHED whose sharing showed clearly that after all, every skill is linked. If proficient, we’ll be able to put them to great use in work and in going through hard moments in life ka. In any case, we all need practicing, not just the four skills but also the main objectives of communication, ability to observe, know social etiquettes, and how best to act on specific occasions.

In addition, here is the synthesis of the 4-month learning I’d like to include in this week’s note ka:
- Start from the skill we're good at to develop further to link with other skills...though listening stands out loei ka. Looking for role models is helpful too.

- All good communicators are storytellers  whose stories make it simple for listeners to get to the points and feel touched.
- Links between skills mean increased deeper learning and more opportunities to form firmer relationships.

- Use our 'heart' to communicate which will show our sincerity ka.

Any more thoughts to add mai ka?

The Great Reform Forum

 Happy Monday na ka!

From Friday-Sunday, I registered to attend a 3-day forum on 'The Great Reform', organized byt The Standard ka. Learned so much and wish to go back to watch some sessions both I've attended and those I missed ka....see how impressed I was na ka nia!

It's hard to digest all to share but let me give you 3 repeated keywords and several key points for us to know what all sectors have discussed and raised na ka.

The first term that came up in all sessions I listened to is 'mindsets'. Basically, panelists talked about mindsets of leaders in all sectors, especially politics, government agencies, especially those at the national level and businesses who are trillionaires. 

Global mindsets of all must start from day 1 so we move forward not just thinking of our country or even region, but go beyond regional borders to the international community.

Leaders dare to listen and learn, accept what's been key issues in the country and see regulations that don't impede development. 

The second term is 'opportunity' that must be given to help with equality in education and initiatives in businesses.Young gens feel strongly about it and they find they need to be heard and provided with some safe space.

The third is 'collaboration' from within and international, from within and across different sectors. Talent pools should be sought from within and outside the countries.

On some key points, here they are ka:

- Government agencies lost touch with the real world and must be reformed soonest.

- Nepotism, cronyism, patronage systems, and political power are key factors that are hard to eradicate....but can be lessened. Yet, individuals and the haves must be more conscious to have some heightened roles for shared prosperity.

- Seems all have been frustrated about our own administration and progress that don't seem to keep pace with the world's changes and challenges. The term 'Metaverse' is now more common and both Khun Surakiat and Santitarn Sathienthai were using 'Retroverse' to signify quite a few national (political/government agencies) only thinking about the glorious past instead of being future-oriented. 

- Hard to integrate work from different government agencies to serve better as units work in silo, strictly follow outdated regulations and hierarchical steps while some senior leaders of government agencies don't dare to make decisions.How I wish some mentioned corrupt politicians and those who only want to have their 'new policies' announced and publicized.

- Hope seems to come from leading private companies (with some concerns about monopoly) as we have quite a number of companies that have adjusted and we do have our talented gens.

Many to learn ka. Would it be possible to have some national quality virtual forums similar to this that go beyond strict traditional protocols, ridding unnecessary processes of less productive time of opening, taking care of VIPs with fixed seatings, closing, and others?

Storytelling session with a Master

 Good morning ka, everyone.

These days, I've never been on any fixed day to write as I'm getting to be more and more choosy mung ka? Will start writing only when I feel the substance is quite ok to share ka. 

Last night, I attended a one-hour session on Storytelling by Khun Piriya Kulganchanacheewin (He's one key curator for TedTalk for 8 years laew ka!....passionate and skilled...young ka...about 30 years old.)  It was fun, rich with tips and stories, and inspiring ka. 

It all started from Taejai, which is a platform for people to carry out their projects through crowdfunding ka. Nong Ada Chirapaisarnkul who's the Managing Director and her team are systematic in making sure that all projects are well justified with enough support till evaluation at the end.

I spotted one project on 'Class Buddy'.....allowing us to pick one session/workshop to learn from  8 Masters in different areas after our donation of over 500 baht and the money will be used to buy online learning equipment for kids ka. It was hard to decide but I guess my life has been involved in storytelling most so I went for it ka.

Here's what I wish to share na ka.

- Storytelling is an effective tool to communicate as humans were born to seek meanings in life. It allows us to communicate emotions, not theories.

- Khun Piriya stresses the key role of leaders and he uses 'HUMAN' as the acronym to introduce storytelling ka.  
H -- Honest-- the storyteller has to be an honest guide who's trustworthy to engage the teams. I think it requires authentic leaders to accept they have failed and they don't know a lot of things too ka.

U -- Understand your audiences to know their pain points-- sounds simple but when he asked us  3 questions about some groups of people like vendors (I got this one), gen Z, pre-retirees...who could be their idols, what vocabulary they often use, what stuff they want to possess. I got stuck and couldn't really empathize ka. Felt lost nidnueng how distant I've been from them ka.

M -- Map the journey, using 'KFC' — Key message, Find your story, Call to action to lead the participants to get to the planned objectives ka.

A -- Adapt and Improve..for this one, he talked about 'rehearsal' a lot to lessen our stage fright and deliver concisely.

N -- Normal conversation — talked, not recited ka..several tips are:  rule of 3, show not tell, Hall of FAIL. He was referring to Khun Rawit (Srichand)'s daughter who said to him, ' พ่อจับมือถือมากกว่าจับมือหนูอีก'. This statement was real and really powerful ka.

He also added a little about TedTalk, saying that it's meant for anybody who wishes to have a platform to share his/her story. 

Any comments mai ka?

Empathy

 Happy Tuesday to all ka.

I've just read an article about 'The Empathy Trap' by Anne Helen Petersen, August 2/9, 2021 issue (you can tell how slow I've been catching up with my reading lately ka...obsessed with YouTube for several years now.).So, let me highlight some of the things I like about this article with a story shared by my niece ka. 

In fact, I've been touching on this topic for some years now and it seems the more AI is rising to be more influential in our lives, the better we have to get a good hold of our own lives to stress empathy too.

- We have yet to have mutual understanding about 'empathy' and even some US companies have thought of seminars and personal conversations especially during this COVID19 challenge, the big trap is how to lead people to 'bring their whole self to work' ka.

- Empathy goes beyond, 'Hey, care about other people', and 'making space for other people to make mistakes.', said Chelsea MacDonald at Ada. 

- A few keywords drawn for us to think further are.... Empathy could be regarded as 'friction', 'expectations', 'communication', 'wellness' (to include mental health), DE&I (Diversity Equality, and Inclusion), and 'fairness'. This is based on American company cultures, dominated by white males still in many situations na ka.

Then comes a story shared by my niece who works for one of the Big 4 companies ka. 

Basically, they work from home for over a year now. Each team looks at what happens with other teams in the office. Once, they noticed that one team leader gave a tumbler to each of his/her team, out of the personal pocket. This stirred discussions from other teams to the point that some team leaders started giving it too. My niece said, 'We complained not because we wanted the stuff but because we need to get some warm thoughts.' 

This story made me think much harder loei ka. Each leader has his/her own ways of showing how caring and it also depends on how much they know about their team members' needs and styles na ka.

Empathy means, 'genuine caring and small gestures of it, understanding about others' needs, and timeliness' too mai ka?

Any comments mai ka?

Perspective of life and work in Singapore

 I happened to zoom with a highly capable young lady who's working on her post-doctoral research in Singapore and have found quite a few things to share ka.

1. Singapore has loosened up to stay with COVID19. Earlier on, they were strict with everything like closing the lab once there was a visitor who later was notified to be infected. Right now, even when one in the lab got the virus, it's business as usual. 

I feel because the people are more disciplined and responsible for themselves and others too na ka.

Why do we tend to doubt our own people and what could we do to inculcate discipline? We've been on the wrong track for long mai ka?

2. Singapore is good to have opportunities to get monetary benefits for younger ones to save up....enough to come back to Thailand to spend the rest of her life. 

How could we use our unique 'sabai box' to create sabai space for work and life in constructive and productive ways?

3. She found that many countries care too much for publications when the real value of the research findings could be far more than just that. She's changed her mind from originally wishing to be a scientist to become a science communicator. Can't agree more with her and it's needed in our social media era to get/send short messages that could cause misunderstanding and confusion, especially in times of natural disaster and pandemic....and when metaverse is part of our daily living world tool.

We discussed quite a bit about rankings and 'what to get from the race besides numbers of publications and academic titles'. 

Being in the ranking race could be useful if we can answer our 'why' more deeply!

Science communication can become one big area for a few new jobs na ka. Thinking of a Fulbright alum who's now studying to be a medical communicator who says there's a high demand for this career track ka.

Any comment mai ka?

ASEAN digital generation survey report

 Hello all. Hope you had a very relaxing long weekend ka. 

I had a chance to watch a vdo clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44EtvVvtXUY), discussing the ASEAN Digital Generation Report: Pathway to ASEAN’s inclusive digital transformation and recovery, presented by Dr. Santitarn Sathirathai (Dr. Surakiat's son who's working at Shopee, Singapore). 

The survey involved 85,908 people from six ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam), predominantly from the youth

(77%), aged between 16 and 35. You'd be able to tell right away why I was highly interested in this report na ka...the survey included our country and the younger gen lae ka.

You can read the full Insight Report, October, 2021 if you wish to pursue further na ka. 

Here are the key takeaways I wish to share ka:

1. Most believe the covid 19 will stay on with severe impacts, both economically and mentally. For mental health, more women are believed to be affected than men ka.

2. It would be a 'markedly' different world after the pandemic. 

3. I feel better to see that many ASEANers showed clear signs of adaptation and a significant transfer of skills relating to broadening digital inclusion.

4. MSME entrepreneurs in particular, recognized that digitalization is needed for economic recovery. "Those who were “more digitalized” tended to be more economically resilient during the pandemic."

5. Digitalization has a “flywheel effect” (I had to google to get it ka....need the momentum to make it move on its own). This means life will be more and more digitalized ka.  

6. There is a high demand to further digitalize finance, especially among MSMEs.

7. We still see access to digital infrastructure and digital devices the largest barriers to further digital adoption in our region ka..

8. We need to step up efforts for the reskilling and upskilling of the ASEAN workforce.

It could seem to some that we've known several of the findings. Yet, one big question is, 'how far have we been alarmed to the point that we could seriously create disruption in our circles one way or another?'

I also think the older gens sure have much more to learn and keep up if we are to be helpful to our younger gens na ka.

Quotes about reading

 Dear all, Hope you're enjoying your long weekend ka.

For my podcast program this month, it's a series on 'Reading' and I learned a lot with some good quotes from my guest speakers to share with you ka.

- 'My father handed me news clippings on such issues as economics and politics. It was the start for me to become interested in various subjects.'

- 'My mom was a teacher and because of her, I read a lot from my very young age.'

- 'I started reading newspapers when I got tired of cramming the lessons for an entrance exam to find that I grew my deep interest in economics and politics.'

- 'When I plan to write an essay to compete for an award to dine with Professor Amataya Zen, I already had some points I wanted to make so it wasn't hard then.'

- 'Reading is like putting on someone's brain for me to learn another set of thinking and perspective.'

- 'Listening to people reviewing books is good but one has to be cautious as the reviewers share from their own analysis and synthesis. If we want to digest some books carefully, we have to read them to come up with our own sets of thinking and analysis.'

- 'Graphs and charts are living things when we continue tracking them and linking them with related and seasonal issues.'

- 'If the world didn't have any book, I'd listen to podcast programs.'

Happy reading the quotes ka. Any you like best mai ka?

interview questions and my singing update

 Hello all! Hope you had a very good weekend ka.

I have two things to write today.

First, the past week offered some good interview lessons to share with you ka.

I happened to be on an interview panel to hire a senior leader and I think what could be great for you to use in the future are as follows:

1. Questions I got from listening to several podcast programs seemed to work quite well and they are 1) For introduction: What else do you want us to know besides what you wrote in the application 2) Three words that describe you/ your leadership 3) What is the toughest feedback that you've got from your team?

2. Time left about 10-15 minutes at the end for the interviewees to ask questions was effective to learn more about the persons and their interests.

Second, for my first singing assignment, I managed to send it to the teacher and felt so sorry for him to listen to my out-of-tune singing ka. The teacher was very kind to give encouraging feedback that I must have listened to the singer too much to sing with his key...don't know what the right term in English is na ka. I'll have to try harder by listening to the music and practice my own singing ka. 

For this week, we learned 'Jambalaya' by the Carpenters ka. I think it seems to be easier but again, once I sing with the music, it could be disastrous again. Wish me luck na ka....this is truly a challenging task for my poor ability and my aging brain!

Enjoy your day na ka.

Singing class

 Dear all, did my subject get your attention?

Yesterday, I attended an online singing class for the first time ka, following a suggestion by my best friend who said the class is only for those 50 up, for 2 hours every week for one month.

I was nervous but thought it was another great way to go out of my sabai box to try something different ka. I love watching singing contests but can't sing kaa! Before I signed up, I told the teacher that I had a very low skill in singing and he said out of the 4 songs for the 4 weeks, the lowest skilled students could get like 2 songs at least. Will see ka.

The class was on LINE with 15 students, me included as the newcomer ka! The teacher started from breathing exercises, massaging key vocal areas like neck and lips, and singing to the main vowel sounds before going to the song, 'Because I love you' ka. He taught us about the song components (verse, pre-hook, hook), and how to pause, combine words.

During the first half, I felt I may not be able to do it and could decide to quit ka...I knew then this was the obstacle I had to cross like many others who don't want to change ka. I then thought that I personally enjoy listening and singing on my own so if I felt sanuk, I could go along without caring too much about my slow learning and low skills ka.

After the teacher taught us, we each had to sing part of the song to him and the group so he could tell us what our 'key level' was. My hands were cold loei ka...so funny. Felt embarrassed about my out-of-tune singing ka.

During the week, we have to practice on our own to record through 'WeSing' app and send to him ka. 

I know I'll struggle but will keep telling myself it's sanuk sanuk for my brain to be activated further too ka.

Do-Re-Mi Me!

Asia-Europe Meeting on Mobility (2)

 It's me again to share what I learned from the second day of the ASEM Youth Learners' Mobility Workshop ka.

Because of the time difference, we only had our sessions in the afternoon for 2-3 hours  and the second afternoon was on design thinking exercises for us adults to design types of programs that would be best for our younger generation.

We, adult participants, were divided into 4 groups, each had representatives of both Europe and Asia ka.

The main organizers (SEAMEO RIHED and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) asked Khun May and her team from LUKKID to lead and facilitate the design thinking process ka.

Each of the 4 groups had to interview one young participant who may or may not have had exchange experience before.....heard that one didn't like the idea of mobility at all even. 

My group welcomed a young Cambodian girl who was passionate about exchanges mak ka. She shared her exciting opportunities, power of networking, and how she witnessed global problems that struck her ka. In fact, she's a real global citizen laew la ka.

We then had to identify what we heard to craft into questions and then brainstorm freely to come up with key issues/needs we should focus on before designing a poster we should launch to meet the interviewee's empathy for presentation to the four young representatives for their feedback ka.

When looking back, this was a productive exercise for adults to take kids' needs and experiences as priorities, not what adults think and are used to doing....their ways. It'd be great to see the opposite end having kids interview adults and let them identify what they learn too ka. I'm curious what they'll find.....could be both surprising and shocking mai ka?

The workshop left a very positive impression on me loei ka.

Asia-Europe Meeting on Mobility (1)

 Happy Monday to all ka.

I shared my perspective on 'Learning Mobility in the Agile World' the past Thursday in an ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Workshop on Youth Learners’ Mobility in an Agile World:an SDG 14 “Life Below Water” Learning Programme as Case Study via videoconference ka.

Let me talk about a few points ka:

1. Limited time to talk about such a big issue -- within the 70 minutes and 6 speakers plus moderator, each of us had 7 minutes to talk on my topic ka. I used pix a lot and my ppt was awesome (with help from Director Lakhana from MHESI). Yes, I improved my ppt and practiced my presentation quite a bit loei ka.I managed to speak for 6.28 minutes ka.

2. The focus on internationalization (IZN) and Internationalization at Home (IaH) will enhance life-long learners to have skills and experiences to learn how to learn and learn how to live together.....stressing more of the human side like empathy and balancing with how to maximize AI capabilities while caring more collectively about climate change issues.

3. For the How, I emphasized on the following: See the big picture together, Engage cross generations on cross-cutting issues across regions for heightened cross-cultural understanding too, Be systematic yet agile, and Have shared goals with purpose and SDGs.

4. Since covid has led us to think more of virtual mobility, my point was to experiment different ways and platforms like startups. I used, 'Life is a  LAB -- L-Learn, A-Act, B-Broaden for all to dare to try, retry, fail and try again ka.

Others on the panel focused more on experiences and lessons learned from the projects and activities plus the availability of technologies available which made the whole session a complete picture to get ready to move forward into the future ka.

Will share more tomorrow na ka.

Light Friday with a series and a question

 It's Friday again and even for a retiree like me, weekend seems to give me a different feeling still ka.

Let me share 2 things that aren't linked to each other ka:

I just finished watching a series, 'Downton Abbey' which went back to 2015 and so some of you may have watched it ka.

Love it maaaaak unbelievably and thought it could be because it was about cultural dimensions....more too ka. It was about the life of an Earl and his family in 1920s ka. 

Some of the lessons I learned are: how normal to see people resist change, how women were excited to be gradually empowered, why butlers have been regarded highly, why 'classes' stay on/ disappear in our world, etc. I do love how the Earl showed kindness and generosity to people who did farming on his estate, and how loyal the butler, footmen, and maids were to their bosses (and yes, it had to be two-way ka.) I can go on and on kaa.

The other is sort of a question too ka. We're working on some statements of Thai senior leaders that could become inspiring or wise quotes. 

What social media outlets do you think will be the best to reach the mass in our higher education community ka? Hope to get some responses on this issue na ka.

Happy weekend ka.

Qualtiy speaking skills

 Happy Friday ka! Each week just flies by and I recall my friend's father who said those who think time goes by fast tend to be the elderly....errrrrrr!

Let me share with you several key points I learned from my podcast on speaking series this month ka. Khun Anothai Udomsilp, former Director of  Academic Institute of Public Media, Thai PBS is one speaker I've admired since I knew him 3 decades ago. Little did I know that he worked real hard behind the scenes to make sure the presentations would be most updated and could send his messages across ka. I'd like to point out 2 tips I got na ka:

1. Self assessment is crucial when deciding which events/ activities we can serve as speakers/moderators/MCs, etc.  said he was most comfortable to work in a more formal setting because of his deep-voice quality , personality, and past performances. He practiced a lot and as a news anchor before, he watched his own recorded sessions to lessen his weak areas of delivery ka.

2.  After a few years of retirement, he thinks of stopping being a lecturer or speaker, reasoning that only around half of what he's known is applicable, which means he has to search for the other half of the knowledge. It led me to think of the younger generation who may find our generation's knowledge and experiences not as useful na ka. I also thought of a Time magazine article in which a 30+ year-old executive said there was no need for him to seek advice from more seniors as he could just try out himself! The world has turned into this picture laew na ka.

Khun Pirada Techavijit is another guest speaker on this series ka. Currently, she works as Policy Analyst, MHESI. Her huge challenge is how to communicate to policy makers for them to buy-in the initiatives for funding and try-out ka.

Her keyword is to 'crystalize the ideas' through practices on topics of interest. She's been fortunate to get some diverse exposure in unique ways from her passion in space missions to internship in India and master's in France.

She said it's tough to communicate on policy issues as it means confidence not only in presenting the ideas but in making the audience feel confident that the proposed project would work. This, to me, needs an advanced level of speaking skill na ka.

Any comments mai ka?

Thai higher education and its future

 Hope you're enjoying a nicer morning with less rain ka.

I got an article that I simply can't let go because it's also about the future of oru Thai higher education ka.

The title is '5 Ways Higher Ed will be Upended' by Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt, August 25, 2021 from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The authors point out the following ka:

1. Institutional control will decrease, and the power of consumers will increase.

This is easy to understand as when we look around, we know consumers' voices are much louder...whether our higher education institutions listen, listen enough to take the right actions is another story. 

I also think we still see some holding a 'university knows best' notion far too tightly na ka.

2. With near universal access to digital devices and the internet, students will seek from higher education the same things they are getting from the music, movie, and newspaper industries.

Simply put, learners of all ages have many more choices to release them from traditional ways of getting higher education. 

What the authors share is about the sharp drop in the number of undergraduates living in college housing, taking part in on-campus social activities, using campus facilities, attending academic and professional club meetings. 

3.New postsecondary entities will enter the marketplace, driving up competition and driving down prices.

Along with other providers like Google, Alibaba, Cisco, etc.; Coursera is cited as one popular platform because of its highly interesting and relevant content. Museums also offer their own short training courses. 

Have these 'Alternative providers with their world-class quality' caught our serious attention enough to feel concerned and the urge to take proactive practices?

4. The industrial-era model of higher education, focusing on time, process, and teaching, will be eclipsed by a knowledge-economy successor rooted in outcomes.

It'll gradually move away from fixed-time to fixed-outcomes, not to focus too much on the process (normally, could be much longer in sequence na ka....go from 1-12 semesters with some fixed units and courses to take too mai ka?)

5. The dominance of degrees and 'just in case' education will diminish; nondegree certifications and 'just in time' education will increase in status and value.

Degrees are less valued while courses must come in all shapes and sizes with convenience in terms of time and space as well.

Two more points the authors raise ka: thinking more of focusing on learning and outcomes when discussing competency-based education; and transition to competency-based will take time with changes to quality control, assessment, tuition, and even with a shift to numbers of faculty members.

How I wish our higher education institutions will take changes seriously, be less complacent and bridge 'the trust gap' within each institution for long-term planning. Need to move away from traditional mindsets of brick and mortar plus decade-long practices that could no longer work laew ka.

The 5 ways are already here and will be shown very clearly soon ka. Scary and difficult to cope but our higher education people are highly capable to be ready with our collective efforts toward decent shared goals ka.

Listen with your heart

 Good Wednesday to all ka.

As you may know, my Learn Plern Plern podcast series for August is about listening. Again, Fulbright alumni always have willingness to share their experiences. This week, our guest speaker, Ton, was a TG flight attendant for 13 years and has now become an ajarn at NIDA ka.

This is how the story goes ka:

On a flight from Bangkok-Sydney,  two Indian passengers were on their way to visit their two kids in Australia, one daughter about 40 and one son about 17-18 years old. Two hours before they reached the destination, the mom died on the plane after lifesaving efforts. 

Their children were paged and led to the plane. Once the son saw his mom lying on the floor, he knew right away what happened.Out of shock and deep grief, he cried loudly while walking to be alone at the restroom area. Ton was asked to comfort the boy to calm him down. 

Ton told me he was saying to himself he could only listen. The son was pouring out many things on his mind when Ton acknowledged by saying, 'I know', 'I'm sorry'... In about 10 minutes, the young boy stopped crying, gave him a faint smile, and walked to join his family. 

It may end this story here but it didn't ka. Ton went to get his prayer beads with a cross to give to the sister. He told her it was Sunday and it meant God had welcomed their mom to His Arms.

I was in tears with mixed feelings ka...feeling so sad yet touched with how Ton handled such a tough situation. I asked him how he knew the family was Catholic. He said the parents said earlier they planned to go to church with the kids.

The story shared taught me the following:

 

- Listening with his heart of empathy soothed the son's shock and sadness.

- Listening attentively helped him connect much more easily with the children from his own background to express and offer what was most meaningful.

Over to you to see what you think and how you feel ka.

Listen listen listen

Staying home longer, it seems na ka...in any case ka, it's the best for now.

Let me share with you several things I've learned from my podcast program this month ka.

When I started thinking of what to offer next in the program, I ended up going back to basics of learning....all 4 skills from listening, speaking to reading and writing. Then I decided to go for each skill per month to start with 'listening' ka.

Nothing is new....I've had lots of contributions from my Fulbright circle. 

Because we have a five-week month in August, I started the first episode to tell the audience about 4 pillars of learning from a Unesco publication (1996) entitled, 'iLearning: The Treasure Within', led by Jacques Delors. Then, the emphases were on, 'Learning to Be, Learning to Know, Learning to Do, and Learning to Live Together'. I now would love to add the fifth pillar on, 'Learn How to Learn' to survive healthily in our changing world ka.

I shared what I reflected about my own experiences acquiring the 4 skills to find that my family was the source of these skills. While I always say I can't claim I love reading, I think I've read quite a bit and part of my interest in English was from my mom who subscribed to 'Bangkok World', an afternoon English newspaper for us to read after school. My appreciation to her has been endless jing jing ka. 

Thanks to my work and the Ministry of University Affairs when it started offering email addresses to us. I wrote my daily message to the international cooperation group since 1997 and the tradition has further developed to be this egroup till today. Admittedly, I sometimes don't know why I keep doing it to think of what to share every week but after all, it's become my habit mung ka. 

For this month, I got 4 guests to share their listening skills. The first is a trainer on listening and he stresses the importance of listening to what isn't said to know the emotions of the sender. When in cross-cultural settings, set aside our own thinking and values to let our minds open for deep listening.

This week, it's from a former judge who left her job after over 17 years ka. She shared what she heard in the courtroom. It was clear that listening was the key for her to offer her judgement by listening without judging to identify the main objective(s) of the trials. She said she had to look them into the eyes to help them relax and build trust in her that she was ready to listen.

She has practiced it further in various ways from reflecting to the time she attended UC Berkeley for her master's and doctorate. Her professors listened attentively with the desire to learn more from the students while guiding them if it was out of the way. She learns from her current boss who only says in meetings that he's ready to facilitate...simply telling him the arising issues and how to be solved, and he listens all through. Her community service has also helped her listen even better by listening to the real needs of the disadvantaged from much differing backgrounds from her.

It was really interesting to know a number of listening approaches in different contexts ka. I learn with fun and will share with you two more guests' contributions later na ka.

Cheers to deep listening ka.

What matters mom most?

 Hello all!

As it's a Mother's Day holiday, let me share one story I learned from my niece na ka.

She was telling me about a mother who couldn't be happier with her kid's WFH duration ka. 

Normally, he works hard basically on his computer, he doesn't talk much and would tend to stay in his room after long days of work. Mom, on the other hand, stays home alone to have one simple life.

Now that her son is home, she can feel more comfortable and doesn't even think twice about turning on an air-con as the cool air can be shared with him. She enjoys having a variety of food from food delivery services her son introduces to her. During the break from work, they two can chat more. She now knows how to use line for purchase after her son taught her.

My niece called her, 'คุณแม่สายบวก', meaning 'Mom with a positive mind'. I can't agree more ka. Deeper down, we realize how much mom must have missed being with her son, how much she has appreciated quality time to talk and learn from him, how happy she is with his presence, and all have made money the least important factor to think about.

What do you think ka? 

Happy Mother's Day ka, everyone.

Good questions for you to answer?

Swasdee ka! Hope you all are doing well na ka. While I was thinking of what I wished to share this week, a former Fulbright Board Member sent me something I really like ka....very happy loei.

It’s an article in the Guardian on August 3 by Sirin Kale entitled: "You’re not snowflakes’: baby boomers answer gen Z’s biggest questions", about generational gaps between Baby Boomers (aged 63-68) and Gen Z (17-24) in the form of questions by Gen Z for BB to answer ka. 

Here's the link in case you wish to read the full version na ka:

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2021/aug/03/baby-boomers-answer-gen-z-biggest-questions?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I selected quite a few for you to see what you think and what your answers will be. Keywords and short answers were included in italic ka. Here they are:

1. What do you admire in younger people today?

Tenacity, adaptability, confidence in IT, how they’ve coped with the pandemic

2. Do you think young people are overly sensitive and privileged?

Depending on how one defines sensitive and privileged, resilient, adaptable and more aware of their world’s issues, not snowflake (slang meaning easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions -- weak and melt or give up as quickly as a snowflake melts…..explanation given by the sender ka!)

3. Why do you hate selfies?

Love it but not constant selfies which could be a bit tedious

4. Would you have chosen to live your life differently if you were born in our generation?

Take more risks and not to simply follow what others expected

5. What is your best advice for how to achieve financial security?

Invest and do different things not just full-time job, buy life insurance policy

6. Why do you always get to the airport so early?

Think ahead and plan for possible eventualities, gen Z literally leaves at the last minute

7. What mistakes did your generation make and what can gen Z learn from them?

Attitudes toward pregnant women out of marriage, how we treat gay people, how we act on climate change, listen to everything teachers and parents tell us

8. What’s your view on TikTok?

Massive/amazing tool for creativity 

Even though this article is Western (England), I have some thoughts after reading it, learning from the questions how the younger think of the older, and how the older see the world from growing up in their contexts and environments….some issues are quite similar to Thais na ka.

What’s your favorite question and which one(s) do you find most challenging to answer mai ka? 

Wonder what will be our kids’ questions na ka.

 

Meaningful Chaiyo!

 Happy Tuesday ka.

As I've mentioned earlier, my podcast program for this month of July is my modest contribution to celebrate the 75th Global Fulbright Program anniversary. This Tuesday is the final one and I've asked one alum (Pok) to chat with his mom about her Fulbright experience ka.

Pok said it was a long time ago (over a decade laew in fact ka!) and her mother said she couldn't really remember much.

It was a short yet touching chat ka.

She recalled how she was very excited to prepare her dress as she had to go up on the stage with her son to receive a congratulatory letter from the US Ambassador. She said she was so amazed how tall the Ambassador was and when she looked at Pok, she thought of how smart her son was.

Before Pok left for the US, he prepared skype for his parents to contact him....this too was something his mom mentioned ka.

Like most moms, no matter how old one's child has grown, she can't stop feeling worried about him/her. Then she said, 'ก็อยากจะบอกแม่ทุกคนนะคะว่า ถ้าลูกเราได้เดินมาถึงก้าวนี้แล้ว เราต้องให้กำลังใจเขาต่อไป เขาจะเดินไปถึงไหน เราก็ต้องเดินตามหลังเขาให้ถึงที่สุด แล้วเราก็ยืนเชียร์เขาข้างหลัง ไชโย๊'......literally meaning what I'd like to tell all moms is that even when our kids have come this far, we continue to give them encouragement...wherever they go, we keep walking with them all the way, standing behind their back to give our support and shout 'chaiyo'! (joyful cheers!)

No matter how long the time has passed, the impressions and love stay on beautifully!

This July series makes my heart real happy to learn more about relationships of our alums and their loved ones. 

Chaiyo to the Fulbright Program which has generated many more meanings than monetary value ka.

If you wish to listen (in Thai ka), go to 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xkozENsZlZ8eEdieafkZC?si=459b4fd5b7b343b9

So far yet so close

 Hello all to a happy Thursday na ka.

During the peak of pandemic, let me simply go in the opposite direction to share some nice stories from my weekly podcast program ka. This one is called, 'ไกลตัวใกล้ใจของคนฟุลไบรท์', literally meaning 'Away physically yet so close to the heart of our Fulbrighter' ka.

This is an episode that I found so touching (some will say, again ror ka, Khun Porntip 5555!) It was from one Fulbright alum (Nong) who had to leave behind her two-year-old boy (Por+ Por) with her husband (Phet), to go to the US for 6 months, doing her research as part of her doctoral dissertation in a Thai university ka....of course, academically and cross-culturally, she achieved a lot but I'd skip this part na ka.

Nong never went abroad alone so Phet flew with her to help get started and before he left, he wanted to make sure his wife knew her way to the university. He quietly followed her before he flew back and was relieved.....like a movie scene mak, thinking of Nong's face to see Phet at her university with another goodbye ka.

When she was on her own, a very little task like making the bed became a challenge. She said then she realized other little things Phet has been doing and helping all along and got to appreciate him even more ka.

Phet was a real caring and loving husband who encouraged his wife to apply and accept the grant even deep down inside he felt worried how he could really handle their boy on his own. He shared that he didn't tell his wife before that one night, Por+ Por asked him to read three times, the same story about a child who got lost from Mom before he burst out crying missing her. Like Phet, I was in tears when I heard the story ka.

Por+ Por also contributed in his cute way ka...he could tell the names of the grant (thumbs up!), state, and country.

So far yet so close mai ka?

If anyone wishes to listen to this episode, here's the link ka.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tyYm8XPl0uSvU3VMInwV9?si=7a783f3565f448d8

Cheers to some little things that warm our hearts na ka.

Opportunities and growth mindset

 Happy Wednesday na ka!

My podcast episode this week got a lovely bond with inputs from a Fulbright daughter (Bo) and her active mom ka. I have one little story to share ka.

The two reflected on the 60th anniversary celebration of Fulbright Thailand at the main hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which Bo sang the newly composed Fulbright Thailand song, 'We Learn to Care'. Her mom said she couldn't believe that one day her girl would be singing in the audience of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Bo had to sing with an orchestra from Mahidol University and a chorus. 

Her mom said it was a grand and spectacular event. She made a nice green dress for her daughter, went with her to give strongest support, and in this chat told Bo that it was a fine success ka.

What I wish to share further is this ka.....Bo wrote on her Facebook page that in looking back on the event,  'I wondered what made Pi Tip choose me to be the lead singer as I only sing karaoke songs.'

My key point here is that Bo took up this opportunity and went to be trained by a singing coach ka. 

Then, I only knew that she invested and got very serious with this assigned task.  With the coach and great chorus who helped sing along, it turned out so beautifully ka.

I learned from her sharing on this episode to realize how bold she was to get out of her sabai box to push to the limits na ka. She's one great example of a person with a 'growth mindset' very much required in our world ka.

Let them therefore link this story to an article I read yesterday entitled,'Why A Growth Mindset Is Essential For Career Success' by Caroline Castrillon in Forbes, Jul 9, 2019. 

These are the 5 ways we can foster a growth mindset with our right attitude ka:

1. Embrace failure for more positive rather than negative
2. Become a lifelong learner 
3. Seek out challenge opportunities to grow
4. Go beyond your limits by pushing ourselves beyond what we think we can do
5. Ask for feedback

Bo's experience has fit perfectly with numbers 3-5 loei ka. Currently, she's been a highly successful professional whose growth mindset stands out mak ka.

Any comment mai ka?

Family ties through reflections

 I was thinking of sharing the gist of an article about creativity but after I was almost done reading and jotting key points, I didn't feel so special about it so I simply deleted it ka. เป็นคนเยอะ ka:))!

I now have something special to write instead, talking about Fulbright family bonds ....the inner family circle with Fulbright ka.

The thing is, earlier on, Fulbright Thailand told me this is the year to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Global Fulbright Program and the 71st anniversary of Fulbright Thailand. It came at the right time when I've been thinking of Thai grantees who're preparing to go to the US so I devote my 4 weeks in July of my podcast program, Learn Plern Plern to gear to families with its specific meaning of immediate family members like parents and grantees, and husband and wife ka.

Today we started with one episode contributed by Daddy and his Fulbright girl (Dr. Chiranit and Ms. Napakamol Havanond). Both are judges and went to Harvard so they have more common topics to discuss like life in Boston, study in Harvard, and Super Bowl. 

It was a lovely time to follow their reflections in this family chat ka. I've got three key learning points ka:

1. Little things that Dad recalled about his girl's Fulbright years show love, caring, attention paid, and hope.....warming my heart loei ka.

2. Family relationship is precious and must be enhanced especially in the social media era to allow our younger generations to survive with strengths and warmth.

3. Purpose to bringing justice to all in the world of diversity is high on these two guests, and I can't be happier to know how Fulbright could play a small role to promote understanding of diversity ka.

Happy heart me again ka.

Leaders in time of crisis

 Hi all ka...hope you're starting your Wednesday in an ok mood ka.

 

I've had a chance to read several articles about leadership in time of crisis and wish to share these two na ka:

 

1. Harry Kraemer (March 23, 2020) pointed out 2 mantras leaders have to keep repeating it by heart:

 

Mantra 1: You’re going to do the right thing, and you’re going to do the best you can do.

I think it's good to boost our own confidence while keeping our morale high knowing we'll decide what's best for all in such a situation ka.

 

Mantra 2: You’re going to tell people what you know, what you don’t know, and when you’ll get back to them to discuss what you didn’t know before.

In today's world, people can access information from different sources and leaders are the ones to build trust with accurate information at the right time. 

 

So personally, we need to know who to team up with, how to verify data and info, what and when to deliver....all to keep our communities informed and cooperative.

 

If it's something new, people can accept it when we inform them, we don't know and will keep them informed about the learning process and the findings.

 

This is the link in case you wish to read the full article ka:

https://harrykraemer.org/2020/03/23/two-principles-for-leading-your-organization-through-the-covid-19-crisis-article/

 

2. Based on Michelle Buck's insights (October 30, 2020) on, 'How to Develop a Leadership Mindset for Uncertain Times', these 4 principles are shared ka:

·       Leverage the power of reflection as our values and purpose can give us consistency…..and hopefully our leaders are good people to do for the communities ka.

·       Think about how they can generate transformation from adversity to benefit from the situation.

·       Create a sense of safety for those around them to help them feel comfortable to speak up and be creative.

·       Embrace ‘both/and’ thinking as opposed to ‘either/or’ with open-mindedness that may lead to productive solutions.

Source: https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/leadership-mindset-uncertain-times 

 

The two articles were written last year and I think in normal or abnormal times, leaders need to learn to look within to know themselves better and to stay strong/sane while going beyond their own selves to listen and decide with empathy and facts.

 

Tough to lead in normal times but super tough in difficult times to อยู่รอด na ka. Dr. Santitarn Sathirathai uses three terms for leadership in different times as อยู่รอด อยู่เป็น อยู่ยาว ka. Now, I have to keep my mouth shut before referring to some particular groups we've been seeing kraa.

Promise and partnership

 Good morning to all ka. Hope your Wednesday is awesome. 

I’ve got an article from my friend who I mentioned much earlier about his responsibility as then President of Marlboro College to close it amid many world changes and domestic challenges. The College was closed and it sure treated its student and staff with dignity. 

This is the article called, ‘Promises to Keep: Marlboro’s Search for a Partner’ by Kevin F. F. Quigley and you can follow the link below if needed to read in further detail na ka: 

https://www.higheredpartnerships.org/promises-to-keep-marlboros-search-for-partner/ 

I’ve drawn some essence of the marathon-like partnership exploration process this college took before finalizing its alliance with Emerson College in the summer of 2020. 

He offered advice on partnership and what to be aware of ka: 

1. Focus on Mission: strategic partnership – one needs to be clear on their educational mission and not on maintenance of their independence. 

2. Time is Not Your Ally: as it could put students at unacceptable risk. 

3. A Long and Winding Road:  He pointed out that due diligence is required while efforts must be made out of intense opposition from key stakeholders, including students, faculty, alumni, neighbors, faculty, and perhaps legislators. 

4. Know What You Have and What You Want: he stressed that the prospects for a successful outcome are significantly enhanced if the Board has clarity about its goals and an unwavering commitment to stick to them. 

See what its institution can bring to the table that might be a distinctive identity like a ‘particular academic program or technology, certain well-known faculty, or an attractive campus.’ and to be clear about what it is looking for in a partner.  

The steps started with a participatory self-assessment involving one-on-one interviews with Marlboro trustees and senior administrators, focus groups with students, faculty and staff, as well as an on-line survey.

Then three essential goals identified were: intent on preserving Marlboro’s identity; protecting its distinctive approach to interdisciplinary, self-directed learning; and commitment to supporting students and faculty in an emotionally challenging process. 

5. Trust, but Verify.  Developing trust requires respect, empathy, honesty and transparency, from both institutions. 

For me personally, I think this is helpful for us to take up when entering partnership with targeted universities/industries and who knows, it offers us some good thought and suggested actions if there could be some forms of alliances or M&E in our higher education circle ka.

Any comments mai ka?

Sharing essence from 'The Great Remake'

 Hello all! Hope some of you have been vaccinated na ka. I’ll have to wait and see how things go this week ka.

I just read one new book in Thai entitled, ‘The Great Remake สู่โลกใหม่’ by Dr. Santitarn Sathirathai (Dr. Surakiat’s son), and really enjoyed it ka.

When I heard his interview about the book on a podcast program, I pre-ordered right away because it sounded easy enough for me to understand ka…not too much about economic terms and jargons. More importantly, he touched on universities and people ka!

Here’re some of the things I’d like to share from a non-econ person na ka:

1. The huge waves driven even faster by COVID-19 that we need to be aware of and get prepared to handle the changes effectively. They consist of 6D: Debt, Divided, Deglobalization, Divergence, Digitalization, and Degradation of Environment. I think all the 6D’s are obvious when mobility is limited and tech advances have helped shape different ways of work and life and on the other end, have left quite a number behind and have harmed environment. Asia, basically through China and Vietnam have performed well recovering their economies.

2. The world economy will be reformed by these three factors: Finance (พี่ใหญ่), Digital (พี่รอง), and DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain is one best known- น้องเล็ก). Each has a different character from highly careful and risk taking/innovative to advanced capabilities to develop DeFi (Decentralized Finance—no need for intermediary body to do transactions ka)

3. We must learn how to survive Covid19 (อยู่รอด), how to stay amid existing and other possible risks (อยู่เป็น), and how to be sustainable (อยู่ยืน)

4. My focus is on the last chapter which is about human development ka. Throughout all the chapters, repeated keywords are digital and data-driven. Yet, after all, it’s our own mindsets and qualities that matter most ka. From what’s left in my mind are these “How’s” ka:

- How universities could find their ‘souls’, what exactly they and only they can offer.

- How to shape our people young and old to have empathy and humility; to develop growth mindsets and keep learning; to respect and benefit from diversity; to have endless creativity without feeling scared to express or put into experiments; to be resilient; and to link what is learned with their work.

- How to create Social Learning and aim for Collective Intelligence.

- How to adapt (ธาตุน้ำ) with drive to be competitive (ธาตุไฟ) while tending to the disadvantaged (ธาตุดิน) so as to become sustainable (ธาตุไม้)….all with the need for appropriate data/ management (ธาตุลม) ka.

There’re lots more in the book which is a good read ka.

Enjoy your Monday ka.