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.