Year-end reflection

 Hello all. Have you done with your reflection? I'm using this egroup as my reflection outlet kaa! Please see if some match with yours or not na ka.

Highlights of the year include:

'Fun' is a group show (singing, dancing, and acting) for the 80th birthday of our dear friend's sister. 

'Inner Peace' is when I attended  a training on 'Facing deaths'. It gives more meaning to think even more seriously about relationships especially with family and best friends ka.

'Academic success' is from organizing two events, one for Fulbright-Hays with 16 high school teachers, and the other was for Thai and Indonesian University Presidents Associations. Much less successful was the keynote I delivered about DEIB.

'No yet good to know stats' is what Spotify has identified for me......I spent almost 50,000 minutes listening to different programs and songs ka......true yet untrue in a way. True because I listen to learn ka..... world trends and AI as well as personal development. Untrue because some programs are for me to listen to when going to bed, meaning not much attention paid kaa:))! ..... can refer back to the book 'factfulness' and how much we can rely on stats ka.

Key learnings I got consist of the following:

- Team design that caters to detail helps so much with the smooth operation and increased learning about the work, teamwork, and about my own self ka.

- Ability to adjust ourselves is really high these days and working on new challenging projects, both for fun and work, enhances this side mak and so I feel blessed to hold tight with the podcast show every Tuesday ka.

- Me and my relationships is what has always been so close to my heart and this is what I need to continue to strengthen with the ones I love and those I wish to keep closer ka.

- Health can go without saying but I have to be true to my own physical and mental states to be sure of my healthy aging with the least to trouble others in much older age.

One word pops up about me and that is 'วินัยชีวิต' my life discipline from my daily routine, projects, and preferences ka. This will be the term that I'll carry with me along with the learnings in 2024 into next year to have a more proper balance in work and play with happy learning and living ka.

I'm sure we all have got some real joy this passing year and wish you all an even more joyful life in 2025 na ka.

What is happiness?

 Merry Christmas na ka, everyone!

To celebrate Christmas, I've come up with this word, 'happiness' as I just got an article about it from my friend ka.

Ajarn Varakorn Samakoses wrote it under the title, 'What is happiness?' 

These days, I think I've heard this question raised very often and it led me to think of an article I read almost 20 years ago about what the future would look like in 2015. One of the predictions was that people would ask about 'the philosophy of life'....why we were born. I was thinking then that it must have been from the pressure and stress in life. 

Looking back it was quite true but it is even more so when we're getting closer to 2025 with the challenges all around from climate change, wars, geopolitics, economic slowdown, and widened inequality.

Back to Ajarn Varakorn's article, I find the following quite interesting to share ka:

- Some psychologists say that New Year's resolutions cause unnecessary stress.

I won't have any for next year 5555! Actually, I haven't set any for some years now ka. 

- Several suggestions that I like include: 

           - asking deep questions, e.g. 'What makes me proud?', 'What to let go?, 'What to make me happy?' I'd go for the second one. You?

            - list down what experiences we wish to have or do without setting any expectations.......I seriously think that many more people, especially our younger generations tend to have more expectations that make them feel much less happy ka.

             - write down 3 things we're grateful for every day. I think quite a few people do so. I do too but for 5 things daily which helps me feel how good my day is....normally more good than bad ka, thank goodness.

             - intend to learn at least one new thing in the coming year. I think of it seriously ka....love going to some workshop(s) though I haven't registered for any one short course yet. 

His last sentence is great ka....'be happy with what we have instead of being unhappy with what we don't have yet!'

Do you think these 4 points will give you happiness mai ka?  What else has brought or will bring joy to your life ka?

English proficiency: trick and treat

Hello all. I wasn't in hibernation na ka. It seems life has been added with little things to do, which turned out to take up some time lae ka.

One task has started for one week now and may go for a little longer is to help my youngest nephew with his English.

He wants to enter Mahidol International College and the prerequisite is to pass English courses required. He also aims to take the IELTS. If he can pass it successfully, he'll be able to enroll in the regular program right away ka. He chooses to write an essay every day which may be assigned by his IELTS teacher.

The daily essay turns out to be filled with more (and intentionally more) comments for him to learn. It doesn't stop with that ka. To make sure he reads and understands the comments, I ask him to draw lessons from them ka.

In addition, I urge him to read a one-page article out loud without any need to understand what the text is about. He agreed to do it right away. and sends his reading clip to me without fail. Can you guess why? 

I told him that if he sends his read-aloud homework, I'll give him 10 baht and if the article is kind of difficult, I'll give him 20! He sure picks the hard ones and already completed 6 days of reading to earn 120 with some more tips about reading from me.I hope his reading aloud activity will become automatic for him to remember some patterns and vocabulary for his writing and silent reading....similar to how I learned my English.

Any comments about this story shared mai ka?

Watch 'A Man on the Inside' mai ka?

I finished watching one Netflix series called, 'A Man on the Inside' and wish to encourage you to watch it too ka.

It's about a retired professor in engineering who decided to answer an ad from a private investigator to go undercover inside a San Francisco nursing home, trying to identify who has stolen a ruby necklace. This 8-episode series goes for half an hour each so it won't be too long for you ---cheer na doo ka! 

A few thoughts I've got and I'll try my best not to be a spoiler:

- I feel quite connected because of a few reasons ka: my age to understand much better how the elderly act, my direct exposure from visiting my friend's parents at the hi-so nursing home, my years at Fulbright with increased experience about American culture, my own routine like playing 'Wordle', my empathy for those suffering from Alzhiemer's and their caregivers, especially spouses.

- It's so challenging in many ways to manage and work for a nursing home, facing many issues and many stages of sickness including deaths.

- Promise, when it can't be kept for any reason, could hang on our minds ....and may stay with us till the last day with regret for not being able to fulfil it.

- After all, relationships particularly with our family members and good friends, are essential. Despite some hard or awkward time, better straighten them in a straightforward yet heart-led approach.

- I think even more about life, my own and my caregiver in case it has to go for too long! How to get prepared and feel ready.....hard na ka....learning more about Buddhism sure helps.

Watch loei ka sanuk and funny too na ka!

AI Upskilling in Thailand: Issues and Approaches

 t was about 'AI Upskill: Preparing the Workforce for Tomorrow' by Dr. Karndee Leopairote , Virot Chiraphadhanakul (Skooldio), and Parit Wacharasindhu.

Key messages are:

- Thailand isn't behind in terms of AI awareness but not much in favorable actual actions that can drive the country forward forcefully.

- Mismatch between university education and industry needs stays on as a big gap for employment. Another big gap is still the digital divide which includes access to AI and access to free and paid AI.

- Selected age groups for upskilling need data and specific contents as well as platforms....like Singapore to offer vouchers to 40 up knowing that it's the age most needed.

- Market-driven force can help offer best training programs, not to center around what the government wishes to offer. The government must not take control of the thinking instead of the market. It must offer funding support and helps steer the upskill/reskill needs by mobilizing interdisciplinary expertise to heighten the quality of training. Vouchers must be given according to specific needs and groups as well as types of skills.

- Fundamental skills go beyond digital literacy, critical thinking, but have to include human skills especially interpersonal skills, and yearning to learn.

- Singapore and Indonesia are raised as success stories and I gather that it's because of their database, tracking and monitoring systems. The Thai government must be the open platform for quality programs offered, give directions and vouchers, help match the right training for individuals and groups, and I'd like to add ka -- monitor the results with the developments and world trends.

While I was listening to this session, I couldn't help but think of how to ask the right/quality questions and tackle the challenges away from the one-size-fits-all approach. For example, when talking about the digital divide, we need to look at access to the internet of the mass and which specific groups and their needs, the gap between those who can afford to pay and those who can't to get differing results. It isn't just about life-long learning, but the right questions must be how to enhance people's curiosity to crave for learning besides how-to-learn skills.

One most important thing each of the three wants to see is our country's change: educational reform; the desirable role of the media to sharpen brain power; public service reform, especially new budgeting approaches, rid of silo ways of work, and proper market competitions without corruption.

My one wish is for our government to synergize its efforts beyond one or several ministries or specific private companies, focusing on people development with sincere wishes for our national growth.

You la ka?

Learning from Singapore and university leader

 Hello all. The past Thursday, I participated in SEAMEO RIHED's Inter-Regional Research Symposium on, 'Transforming HIgher Education: Towards Sustainable Development'. There, I had a little role introducing one keynote speaker, Prof. Tan Tai Yong, who talked about world trends, Singapore, and his university (Singapore University of Social Sciences-SUSS). Our little group of 'TPop Plus' also had dinner with him and his wife, which gave us even more joy to ask him some leadership questions.

Setting the context this way, here is what I've chosen to tell you, including a few questions from my curiosity ka.

- As a small country, Singapore has its main focus on the quality of its people. The most significant is its visionary leadership to have lifelong learning as a national movement paving paths from primary education to the world of work, with SkillsFutureSG started as early as 2015. Now they have vouchers and urge people over 40 years old to upskill/ reskill.

I researched about it quite a while ago and was quietly jealous of Singapore how they could manage to do it ka. A good number of us from different sectors went to visit them. Yet, not much is mentioned and no actions are obviously seen from the learning. We also repeatedly mention upskilling/reskilling but it needs to be one macro policy with strategic and monitoring actions and assessment na ka. I recall Khun Tonson said that Singapore also has some issues about course providers but they tackled them right away. Ours hasn't really started systematically nor continuously na ka.

- Accountability is high on the agenda. Prof. Tan was citing an issue of one minister who was jailed because he took gifts worth more than $311,882 while in public office, which included tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Brompton T-line bicycle, alcohol, and a ride on a private jet. Such a high profile person and enforcement have sure built trust for the Singaporeans and their collaborators to work together na ka.

There was also another case about a university chair who stayed for over 20 years and was abusing his/her authority. Those higher-ups removed this big shot.

- Out of my curiosity, here are some questions and responses, not exactly wordings na ka:

I really wanted to know who he asked to go with him when taking up the SUSS presidency. He said he had his secretary with him as she's been working with him for over 30 years and can help manage his schedules, who to meet, and what best to do.

When asked if he had any plan to do in his first 100 days? It was some actions about his vision,. communication to the community and meeting 1-1 when needed, cutting down what seemed to be repeated processes, etc.I also asked him how he could identify who to be trusted. Besides walking around to meet his team members, he has his lunch in the canteen to get to meet more. It could also be that there were several cases popping up to identify who must be fired (he took action after probing them and preparing the processes carefully!)

I really like his vision, 'To be a university that inspires learning for life and impacts life' He said it's to stress life-long learning but more powerful to think of two aspects when putting it as,'learning for life' to mean lifelong and for an impactful, productive living ka. The Values are short to cover key desirable qualities (RAISE: Respect, Adaptability, Integrity, Service, Empathy).He even checked his workforce for mutual understanding na ka. I asked him when he came up with them. He said when he showered ka.

Sanuk mak but so ตาร้อนมากค่าาาาาา!

Keynote not with key notes?

Hello to all ka! I plan to write another egroup message after I delivered a keynote speech yesterday at the in Chiang Rai.

The delivery wasn't so bad but I felt that my content didn't really respond well with the needs and interest of the participants ka. The theme was, 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) in English Language Teaching (ELT)'. So I created my topic as, 'Belonged' to move from DEI to DEIB with 'belonging' as the 4th principle, following this added aspect that's been around for some years and the recent agreement of ASEAN and SEAMEO to promote the four ka.

My intended messages were to ensure that ELT offers what AI can't do, focusing more on feelings like empathy, caring, etc. The world issues can be used as contents in all the teaching and learning to integrate these four principles through storytelling, different sides of the situations like the feeling of a Caucasian in a black-dominant community, the addition of LGBTQA+ in some less acceptable contexts, and the use of personal stories. This could make the meaning of 'teach' change into a less strict sense. The human-to-human with heart-to-heart approach will nurture the sense of belonging for us to enhance our global citizens with global mindsets ka.

After the talk, I graded myself a B- as I felt that the content seemed to be too simple or less connected with them ka. I was thinking of what to do if I had to offer another speech in this forum of language teachers and several things I'd have to add would be to come up with key takeaways in all key slides. For example, why the world situations need to be put into consideration in English teaching as it isn't just understanding the issues, but what goes deeper down in the issues where communication strategies and human aspects have to be taken up. Tough to cover all in 20 minutes kaaa!

Well! Despite my disappointment of my own performance, I've learned quite a bit and felt less upset, knowing I did my best and I helped the organizers to have one keynote almost at their last minute ka.

Youth as global multicultural influencers

 Hello all. As some of you may know, I've just become a member of the John F. Kennedy Board in Thailand. Several days ago, we had an event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the JFK Foundation at the JFK Library, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani campus.

Besides the professional setup of the exhibition and the trendy clips, there was a panel discussion on, 'Youth as global multicultural influencers'. The panelists consisted of Ajarn Diyaporn-Nok, a Fulbright alum teaching at Thaksin U; Ajarn Fuadi Pitsuwan (Khun Surin's son) who's a visiting fellow at Chiang Mai U; and Mr. Muhammad Maseng, President of the PSU Pattani student club; moderated by Dr. Bordin Wealateh, Vice President for Student Development, Pattani Campus.

I'd like to share some of the key points I got from the discussion ka.

- The discussion was managed with the very capable moderator to capture key points and make follow-on questions (with a fine sense of humor too ka!).

- Ajarn Fuadi asked the meeting to prioritize individual identity from race/ethnicity, religion, language , nation, gender, jobs, online self. It turned out the top 3 were race/ethnicity, religion, language ka. The result could be different depending on the nature of the audience. 

I myself was surprised not to think about race/ethnicity much at all even I'm of Chinese descent. Anyway, I thought about it after a short while and it got into my 4th priority ka. What about yours ka?

- Respect for diversity and open-mindedness have been high on the sharing from the three. By being so, everyone learns much more for more harmonious coexistence. After all, respect others as human beings.

- Some terms like nationalism vs patriotism, language proficiency vs idea excellence were raised for definitions, trend projections, and self improvement.

- Going out into the world through reading, volunteering, and courage to get out of the comfort zone is encouraged to expand perceptions and understand real-life issues. This could help all feel more empathized, have more friends regardless of age and differences, etc.

- Everyone could be an influencer and all can start from doing some little things that would mean a lot to the communities.

- Skills needed are: privilege awareness (knowing that each of us has some privileges in life over others like access to higher education), public responsibility, professionalism, provocative mindset, dare to mingle in the real world, ability to appreciate people, open-mindedness to lessen bias, flexibility.

I heard often about 'No man is an island.' but I never knew it's a poem by John Donne. It's so touching to teach us about empathy as one kind human being ka....  death of anyone, known or unknown, brings sorrow to our hearts.

This was one wonderful session to enhance us as quality human beings for a better multicultural world of ours loei ka.

Advice from 'How Leaders Learn'

 Monday morning hello ka, everyone!

Earlier, I shared with you my first book review, 'The Diary of a CEO' for the Learn Plern Plern podcast. It went a little longer than expected from 2 to 3 episodes ka. Timing was kind of right as the author, Steven Bartlett, came to Thailand for Woody's event....5555! it didn't have any influence on the book review kraaa!

Anyway, I worked on my second (and last for now) one favorite book entitled,'How Leaders Learn' by David Novak and Lari Bishop. As I'm his podcast fan to listen to quite a few interviews of world leaders, this book has given me more stories and advice to pick up. This book goes for 4 episodes for my podcast and I had to delete several things I wanted to include. So I choose to share them with you along with several other key messages ka.

Here they are na ka:

-- David Novak coins the term 'active learner' (not avid learners) for leaders to mean those who not only are curious and enjoy learning, but they put what they've learned into practice ka.

Many of us tend to be only avid learners.....learned and done mai ka?

-- David stresses for us to simplify our efforts in 3 areas: 'simplify your strategy, purpose, or mission; simplify your communication; and simplify the situation, circumstances, or approach down to the essentials of success.'

The author wrote this book using simple language with lots of great stories ka. Sanuk mak!

-- Learning has to be fun and joyful! When he reflects on views from world leaders, this is what he found ka: 'Learning is their mindset, their differentiating skill, and their approach to life and the world.' 

He shares the 3 essential building blocks or behaviors:

1. They learn from anybody and any experience that has something new, interesting, or valuable to offer.

2. They learn to maintain an open, curious mind and positive relationships, and 

3. They learn by doing the things that need doing or that will make the biggest difference.

I wish our higher education system would focus on nurturing learning mindset, opening up the world, and enhancing reflection habits, keeping these building blocks in mind ka.

-- What is most important is people and his strong belief is 'Taking people with you!', meaning that give (good and capable) people's matters a higher priority over profits and rankings. His actions include recognition as culture, deep listening to understand situations and build trust, caring and giving, etc. 

Lots to share and if you're interested to hear fun and touching stories, please listen to the Learn Plern Plern podcast episodes to start tomorrow ka.

I'm done with two book reviews as intended and I think it'll be a longer while to do it again for several reasons ka: get the books I really enjoy reading, and have some time to think back and synthesize from the big picture for key messages of my preference.

Learning from Transformation Game

Good day ka! I attended a 2-day workshop on 'Transformation Game' this past weekend.

Wish to share with you the following ka:

1. Transformation Game (TG) is a board game developed and used to help us know ourselves better from our ways of life to our potential, relationship, and pain healing. 

It started from my niece who was interested and asked me if I'd join in. I agreed without delay though at first I was hesitant as I thought it would involve some board game skills (I sure lack them almost completely ka.) The thing is this game only needs us to bring our true self to the session and the facilitator will lead us to complete the mission ka.

2. The TG requires that we set our two specific aims (one to get and one to give) so as to proceed with the game having one aim to achieve for a better focus and learning ka.

As one board game allows up to 4 players to occupy each corner, it is kind of special to share in a smaller circle. We had 3 in our group with the fourth as our facilitator ka. It was really helpful as we were reminded to look back at our aim, especially the 'get' one when moving forward after rolling the dice with some specific instructions, both for individuals and the whole team.

3. Prayers and celebrations happened along the way, making me feel that life needs mindfulness, recognition, and support in one form or another na ka.

4. I love that the group had our angel guardian which was 'responsibility' and individual angel guardians.....mine were 'awakening' and 'simplicity'. I noticed that the angels each player got seemed to fit them perfectly loei la ka.

We also ended the game with one more pick for our 'pocket angel' who will go with us anywhere and mine is 'Adventure', which I interpreted as 'I'll continue to have my work and life journey with some new and unknown projects coming their way' ka.

5. With the facilitator, the game proceeded smoothly and I couldn't help admiring her ka. This is a real complicated board game and she sure managed it very well ka.

6. I learned about myself and from others that:

       - As humans, we all are vulnerable so accept it, live with it, and so we need to forgive ourselves and others when doing something wrong too.

       - We should offer our help when others need it, meaning that when we want to do it, ask the other if he/she wants to take it up ka.

       - Bias is when we judge, using our own 'scale' that may not meet with the background story and contexts of others.

       - When one is very systematic, there's a tendency to be distant from using our intuition or other emotional/mental/spiritual strengths to cope with issues.

       - 'Fear' and 'Guilt' are natural. It could be regarded as positive for both could have 'love' in it ka.

7. Reflection has been an integral component that enables us to look into ourselves, our stories, and our aims while offering our perspectives about other players to add to their consideration about their own selves ka.

8. I also learned how to craft good questions like, 'What is your understanding about this card?', 'How does it link with your aim and with any story to share?', 'How do you think you would solve it?', and 'What if....?

It's another workshop that opened my mind to different sets of learning ka.

Me a book reviewer, possible?

These days when I was planning on what to do next for my podcast shows, I was advised to do book reviews since I finished reading two recently (after a long while of reading only magazines articles and more on listening/watching youtube ka)

So, let me share with you what I've done with the first book, 'The Diary of a CEO' by Steven Bartlett ka.

In brief, I like the book because of the fun stories shared. I also like the design to read more easily: short chapters,  bolded sentences, one page with handwritten keywords, and hand-drawn pictures ka.

For the key learnings, here they are ka:

- Self-story is ours, not others!

Self-story must be from our own self search, not from what others tell us about us or what the society expects from us.

One sentence can be so negatively powerful ka. The author said when he was learning to swim at the age of 8, one boy said to him, 'Did you know Black people can't swim.' Took him 18 years after that to get over it and know how to ka!

- Think bolding and differently

The author started his marketing career in his early 20's and invested lots on his office, especially a huge slider to go down to a ball pool from the mezzanine instead of stairs. It was a blast!

- Little things mean a lot

One barber made his last check walking around his client's head with his 'final trim'. Even when he cuts nothing (more often than not), the client would be pleased to feel that the barber takes very good care of the haircut.

- Three levels of learning

 Yogi Bhajan is quoted which read, ‘If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.’ 

- Be a rebel:))!.... my own term ka!

The author shares ideas that go against what we know and do. For example, don't have a backup plan (so we're truly focused lae ka!) or you must be an inconsistent leader (to treat people according to their potential), or you must never disagree (to tackle the issues together not to fight against each other)

- Pressure and stress

He quotes a response of Billie Jean King, world known tennis champion how she handled people's expectations of her. She said, ‘Pressure is a privilege—it only comes to those that earn it.’

Lots more from the book and I could come up with 3 episodes ka. 

What I wrote here is drawn from a few points I gathered for the podcast ka. Only one is on and two others will follow. Let me share the first with you in case you wish to listen to na ka: 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/22wRUnCwZFTZEuQfHAv6x7?si=1e171135a13c49dc

Happy long weekend ka.

Happy conference with substantive outputs

 Swasdee kaa, everyone.

The past Thursday and Friday, our little team and I had an opportunity to conduct our designed sessions and workshops in an event organized by Prince of Songkla University, hosted for the annual conference of Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) and Council of Rector of Indonesian State University (CRISU).

For the context na ka: the theme was on, 'Charting the Path to Sustainable Universities: A Holistic Approach to ESG Integration', which sounded challenging. In fact, what was more challenging during our planning was how to make sure most (Presidents/VPs and deans.....students may have the tendency to be present) would stay on after the opening and how to engage the two sides (Thai and Indonesian Presidents, Deans and Students) to have productive and fun time with actionable results from joint learning and sharing. Each group went to their own breakout rooms and the exercises were similar. Our team had to play by ear once we met with the participants ka. We also had an ambitious plan to capture gists from the three groups, synthesize and crystallize key points into one big picture on a huge 8 wide x3 high m canvas, which we called, 'synergy tank'. 

We were lucky in a few ways ka:

- Fullest-est-est support from PSU, both high level and working teams (esp. key coordinators)

- Highly capable young co-facilitators from a national project of MHESI called, 'WiNS', who were prompt to fill in the gaps seen even when there was no definite division of labor

- The majority of presidents, deans, and their reps were present and most stayed on till the end. Yayyyyyyyy!

Lessons learned from this event:

- Alignment, communication, mindsetting games bring better results!

Nothing could stand on its own from keynote speeches to workshop and conclusion.  The design was crafted to make sure that all sessions were aligned. A slide to communicate the whole picture of the two days including what to expect from both the participants and this conference. 

Communication also included voices from all participants. In addition, we started from having two games for them to play and heard that the two set their minds free with fun, ready for subsequent discussions ka.

- 'Play by ear' and 'expect the unexpected' helped practice our mindfulness and boost our flexibility

As we couldn't really know how many participants in each group would show up plus what key topics voted for before lunch, we were really alert to come up with numbers of subgroups and managed workshop materials as fast as possible. In my president group, we also cut short our planned process since we felt their attention span was already used up ka! Happy to say, though, that their wonderful participation surprised us ka. 

- 'Authority is really something!'

Reflection of our team enhances lots of learning for me ka. I'm reminded that being in different contexts shapes people's thoughts and behaviors. 

            -- For me, being at the ministerial level made me feel quite comfortable to work with university senior leaders as I consider them 'partners' not 'bosses'. I wasn't really aware before that those in the university would have more hesitance when conducting a workshop for their 'bosses'.

           -- From the 'dean' group, to make sure that those who represented their deans could feel comfortable, our team asked them to 'wear invisible dean jackets' for them to participate fully without feeling awkward ka.

           -- Our three groups of presidents, deans, and students clearly showed their focuses according to their roles, namely, presidents leaning more on policies with much fewer activities, deans playing a tough role of accommodating and coordinating with both the senior leaders and students, and students for more activity-led thoughts and actions.

- Stories to share

              -- We had a jigsaw puzzle game which worked effectively. Each small group would be given different numbers of jigsaw pieces and only one question was asked, 'what kind of animal is it?' For my president group, we got a penguin box ka. Just one group got the complete pieces of the penguin head which would be much easier to guess than others. We saw a group intentionally choose the fewest and another chose the opposite. Most of them worked within their own group to guess what could be the answer. We in fact, put the jigsaw box and paper showing the jigsaw picture on the stage where they could see clearly if wished. We were surprised not to see much mobility across any group so our conclusion was a series of questions to them: why no collaboration?, why silo?, why no further info searching like looking around or from the phone? One answer hit me and I think hit them too.....'we were busy and working hard!'.......we didn't have time to discuss this response much but it sure reflected the real situations for many ka. We hope the group learned some key lessons ka.

              -- The students were amazed to know that all the three main groups went through the same games and discussed the same issues as voted. It was a surprise to me to hear it ka. Kids may have thought of being given different things most of the time. This event, it seemed they could feel included with the same assigned tasks. Knowing this makes it easier to think of more effective communication strategies and decide inclusive activities in the future to offer similar activities that could draw various perspectives.

              -- Another story was about students' responses when asking about their learning from the conference. I asked 6-7 Thai kids and most took long to think of an answer....only one classic answer was given, which was 'having new friends'. We do need to have reflection sessions so they can think further and respond faster mai ka. 

Anyway, one CMU student's response made me proud ka. She said it helped her understand the roles in the university more clearly when thinking of university leaders and faculty. For example, When the topic of curriculum development was chosen, she saw no need to discuss it. Yet, after the workshop she asked herself, 'if the faculty and administrators didn't think about it, who would!'

Our team together with several PSU key senior leaders helped capture key points, summarize them according to the three groups' outputs and synthesize all into one big picture to put into our synergy tank....this part did take longer than expected but it turned out to stun the participants for they would have the results about ESG to work on within their own and across universities plus through the CUPT-CRISU platform. PSU announced its initiative to get started.... proactive and timely mak ka.

Hope it sets the new chapter for this partnership to be even more solid with key substance for many actionable projects to come. Can't help but add one more thing ka: we included on the canvas the loop of M-E-L-I for them to make sure that monitoring and evaluation that draw learning must be integrated in the big picture for missions to align and vision to be reached ka.

              

Relieved and relaxed I am laew kaaa!

Learning from Kunming trip

 Hi to all of you kaaa!

I took a 6-day group tour to Kunming, Dali, and Lijiang, came back yesterday evening and am still tired, reminding me of visiting China while I can ....lonnnnnnng walks and thin air are the toughest kaaa

Got some learning about this part of the country plus several others from the trip to share with you na ka.

- Surprised to find English proficiency level of people in the tourist attraction places and it makes me feel a little better about our own vendors and hotel receptionists ka.

I used a house phone in one Hyatt chain hotel to ask for a golf car.... to find it hard to communicate in simple English ka. I had to press my poor brain to give them both the name of the building and the room number in Chinese. 

- Our tour guide, as expected, was really fluent in Thai with an expansive vocabulary. She told us stories about different tribes in China.... My most impressive/unimpressive one is about the Naxi tribe. Here it goes ka:

              -- In this culture, guys have the advantage of being so very sabai since wives will take responsibility for being the main income earners of the families. We saw women sell apples, peaches and other fruits in season to tourists, carrying two buckets in two hands. This culture requires plump women strong enough to earn money and do housework ka. The husbands enjoy their time at home, drawing or reading and drinking. Some wives would have to go to look for their drunken husbands and bring them home.

               Even though I understand how familiar the Naxi women are with their own context and culture, I couldn't help thinking of today's world on gender equality. Glad I was born a Thai, not this tribe. If I were born there, I'd be a rebel, keeping slim and urging guys to go work too kaa !

- One little thing about food ka.....we were spoiled with too much food to eat and I couldn't help but feel bad about the food waste. On the last day when we had lots left, the restaurant offered lots of boxes to bring them back home. For us in Thailand, we'd be giving to our drivers or even our own selves. There, we couldn't give it to the driver. He wouldn't accept it and would consider it an insult ka. OUr guide would only offer to security guards or bring back home ka.

- China has been so advanced in many aspects and I can see the visionary leadership of the government from the investment on infrastructure, housing, and systematic approaches at the tourist spots like specific time and numbers for group visits, etc.  Definitely, there are gaps between main and smaller cities but things are developing much further. People have to sacrifice their own privacy since CCTVs are everywhere, making them more disciplined and life could be safer in a way because the government can go after thieves or those with misconducts quite easily.

It's good to go abroad once in a while to come out of our sabai box, meeting new peoples and cultures. Among the group members, I learned quite a few stories that reflect today's Chinese Thai business and families too ka....very interesting and glad to see them stay close to one another ka.

Touching and funny stories

 Hello all! Let's start Monday with some nice and light stories ka. I'd like to share several from a few social events to become nostalgic that warm my heart/to make my heart smile ka.

- A reception to welcome the new Executive Director of Fulbright Thailand brought quite a few alums to be there.....greeeeed! greeeeed! after many years. Several came with little stories back to their grantee time.....learning from me how to read palms, being told about late marriage, reminded to be 'proper' in formal settings.

Sounded like I was a fortune teller plus homeroom teacher, very far from being an executive director mai ka?

- My high school kids invited teachers to a little reunion. Again, I had a chance to have a longer chat about their lives ka. Two dropped out after they finished grade 8.... a little while after I left for the US. 

One has become successful selling spare parts to buy them from Japan. When I taught him, he skipped classes, often feeling cool to do it. Yet, the side story was that he had to help his parents who had to raise 12 kids (from one same mother). He never got back to school since then as most had to help with the family livelihood. He told me that he never skipped my class and it was the only one that he handed in all the assignments. So thrilled to learn about it as I only knew the story partly as a homeroom teacher ka.

Another has gone international to establish his own law firm. Then, he went to school late every morning as he had to help his parents carry their stuff to the market....did that even when he was a law student at Thammasat ka. Those days, the penalties kids would get at late arrivals could be caning or deducting their behavior scores, mostly the former by discipline teachers. Unfortunately.....no question asked ka. 

Success stories sure came from their persistence and meaningful study/life goals. I can't be more happy for and proud of them ka.

- Now, a story about my 8-year-old grandnephew who was born and raised in London by a Thai (my niece) and Italian (her husband).. The other day, when he was talking with his Italian dad, he mentioned about,  'much friends'. When his dad corrected his word to 'many friends', this little rascal asked him if his dad was more British than him. Sab mai ka? 5555!

Happy Monday na ka.

Interviewee experience

Hope this message finds you well kaaa! Monday again which could mean much less to a retiree like me....nidnueng! The only thing I feel happy about Monday is that I can get to listen to my regular news programs lae ka. You?

Last Friday, two American Fulbright alums to Thailand (Dr. Kevin Quigley and Dr. Bruce Svare) asked me for an interview to be published in their online 'Fulbright Chronicles'....this is the quarterly newsletter both have initiated, volunteered, carried out since early last year. This requires lots of 'heart-work', a wide network, time and energy ka.

They've come up with a special interview section and so when I was asked to do it, I couldn't say no......both had their ways to prevent me from turning it down. I prepared responses on my notebook, skimmed through several times and the following is what I learned:

- Like when I do my podcast to send my guided questions, I don't strictly follow them. I think there could be 1-2 questions asked from their earlier sent list. Good thing we three know one another quite well and that made me much less nervous. My podcast experience also teaches me to expect some side questions when we touch on some stories that could be interesting to pursue/highlight. Sure it challenges interviewees lae ka

- If I have to rate my own responses, it could be like B-. I'm not tough on myself na ka but I think this is my weakness when answering questions ka....have to think faster, have some ready examples to make it more concrete and understandable, and answer right to the questions ka. Need more practice but not sure if I want to do more interviews 5555! 

Seriously, it's a good way to challenge myself to get a higher grade ka!

- Kevin used Zoom's AI to capture key points, which made life easier to get started. It needs a more thorough review like using the pronoun 'he' for me, transcribing some words wrong when using specific Thai places or from my pronunciation ka. 

- I reflected after the interview to find that I could have come up with a short list of only keywords about the Fulbright Program to include some stories for each of the keywords too....it could help make the responses much stronger dee lae ka.

Happy Monday ka.

Creative ways with AI

Hello all, It's Monday again na ka.....so fast the time has passed by!

I watched one sanuk YouTube video the other night and it caught my (almost full) attention ....the little lost moment was from my addiction to social media 5555! Two MIT graduates who discussed use cases of AI were Ta-- Virot Chiraphadhanakul, MD of Skooldio; and the other, P -- Pat Pataranutaporn, who just got his doctorate from studying at the MIT Media Lab.

What I like and still remember are:

1. We won't be less intelligent from using too much AI help as long as humans have critical thinking to know what to be the best inputs and check AI outputs. AI could help sharpen some  of our skills and when we've got it, it's no longer in need and we have more time to take up many other unimaginable tasks.

Don't fall into the trap of believing AI far too easily as it has been trained to please humans according to what information we put in. It's better to have AI ask questions to ignite our thinking and ideas, which would enhance learning.

2. Deepfake could be dangerous and destructive. Yet, if we use it wisely, it could be one effective learning tool ka. It could be used to link us with and listen to 'guru's in each particular discipline or even people in history, especially those who are our idols like Einstein so it would seem we could talk with them directly. That could inspire us with more learning motivation. It could also apply to learning history with more fun.

For some, by deepfaking someone they don't like, they may find it a drive to compete to beat the person in a favorable/positive way.

3. Nong P talked about his project working on self reflection for us to talk with our own selves in form of AI like us now talking with AI -- our older version. That could help us look back to assess ourselves and come up with what we should do now.

4. Nong P has been working on Thai Khon dances, decoding their dancing steps  with Pichet Klunchun ('.....he bridges traditional Thai Classical Dance language with contemporary sensibility, while keeping the heart and wisdom of the convention.......efforts in contemporizing Khon). The work is amazing and what amazes me even more is the way Nong P looks at Thai classical dances ka.

On one hand, it was good to preserve the traditions while on the other, it's made us become more like AI. His wish is to have new steps to share and perform from our creativity that goes beyond traditional limits ka.

Follow this link if you wish to listen to the talk na ka:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoMZ4FNTSGM

Enjoy your day ka.

Generative AI and Speed Learning

Hello hello all! I got to listen to a very recent talk on "Using Generative AI to Strengthen and Speed Learning", at the Faculty of Engineering by Prof. Barbara Oakley ka. She’s an engineer and a global leader in educational innovation with over 3.5 million learners on Coursera.

From her session, it proves clearly why she’s been so popular ka….I enjoyed it very much and in fact, plan to watch it to see her slides, which really caught my attention when I saw it briefly.

For this message, I’ve got some key points on Dr. Proadpran Punyabukkana, our Fulbright alum from Chula’s Engineering Faculty too na ka. Here are ‘our’ learning points’ ka:

·          We need to stress repeatedly what Fei-Fei Li said and quoted by Prof. Barbara that AI doesn't replace people, but people who use AI will replace those who don't.

Even we’ve heard educators talk about it, not so many in education and classes have started and continued using it ka.

 

·          She mentioned ‘Suno’ to generate a song. I’ve already tried with my prompts and come up with 5 songs..….amazingly fast and impressive. Have used them as birthday gifts…..learning by doing loei ka.

 

·          I like the way she used metaphor, making this AI topic so simple to understand, e.g. comparing the use of different Generative AIs like Claude, ChatGPT to types of cars from different manufacturers. All have their unique strengths and different characteristics so we need to know and select what matches with our work best ka.  

Khun Tonson/Santitarn also loves doing it and how I wish many more teachers would ka.

 

·          She told us that she was asked by a publisher to write a foreword for a Japanese version of her book on 'Common Sense Teaching'. As she had no idea about Japan teaching in Japan, she uploaded the book on Claude, asking how it supported and gave insights from a neuroscientific perspective into teaching in Japan. Her piece surprised the publisher how much she knew about Japanese education when she didn't ka!?!

 

·        She said concept maps wouldn’t be as good as the flashcard technique as the latter enhances memory retention similar to what Generative AI can do to help.

Obviously, learning is best when we can understand and register it in our brain for more thoughts and actions.

 

Let me end here before it goes on and on. If you wish to watch it, check out this link ka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCuAe7UY0A

Happy Monday.

Generational perspectives?

 Hello all. Hope you've started Monday with a marvellous mood na ka.

I was involved in two activities (one to conduct a workshop with my junior friend and two Fulbright alums, on Leadership in the AI Era for about 60 'international' students -- 1/3 are Thais) and to share my view on the topic as a panelist) at a leading university. The following are some stories I wish to share:

1. We used a CVS story as our case for their discussion. As its vision was, ‘To help people on their path to better health!’ while they were planning to be a full-fledged pharmacy. Yet, one major earnings was from cigarette sales ka. 

Two similar group responses were given ka. One was clear to say, 'Business is business so we should continue selling cigarettes. When people get sick, they'll be back to our store to pick up essential drugs and we can earn more. It's their choice to smoke or not. Those who are health-concerned, they could pick up vitamins instead.'

Honestly, my junior friend and I were shocked and I was thinking hard of how to send my message across. 

First I told them what CVS leaders did....stopped selling them completely with the prompt support from their Board of Directors.

Second, I said then the company would have to change its vision as otherwise, no one would trust their leadership.

Third, I told them two stories about one 'upsetting' sales strategy to sell less expensive beer to university freshmen so they get used to that particular brand to be their loyal customers after they graduate. The other was about a Thai company to add more nicotine to their cigarettes and sell in another country, hoping the smokers would get addicted and go back to buy their products which would cost more.....shame on them to tell one diplomat at his residence and shame on them and Thailand to do it kaaa!

Then, I moved on to the next slide....leaving the stories for them to think ka.

2. The use of palm reading works quite a bit in this workshop besides getting their attention and helping them network in their own small and big groups. 

One came to me to say her palm shows she's a person of principles (in other words, stubborn). She was wondering how it could work with her leadership as no one followed her even after she set the goal for the group. I told her to listen more and in some cases, she had to compromise to let others do what they wanted for the sense of ownership. I also said she didn't need to lead all the time and being a follower was also good not to 'take too much responsibility' ..... 5555! not good advice but to loosen her up nidnueng ka.

Will be too long so let me stop here ka.....any comment mai ka?

Internship fee?

 Hello everyone! Happy Thursday ka.

I just finished preparing one podcast episode and wish to share it further with you ka.

As the one-month program funded by the US Education Department was challenging in terms of design, networks, and time, we managed to have one intern (Nong Keng -- เก่ง) who's a sophomore at the Faculty of Political Science, Chula. Since the program included a trip to the south, Keng's mom had to be responsible for the airfare and accommodation.

We zoomed to hear not only his reflection but also his mom's view about the overall internship experience ka.

Here are a few things captured from the session ka:

1. Keng said he was quietly thinking of having some money from his internship, which wasn't the case. His mom said money was important but the experience and how he used his time during the school holidays meant much more ka. At the end of the program, he said we need to think of the gains beyond the money.

2. He considered himself a 'demo' to show to our team what he could do and help so he tried his best. It was admirable that he was very responsible to deliver work in time, was observant to offer his help before being asked, and was eager to learn more when he saw some room to participate.

3. His mom mentioned that her son is a mature young guy who acts as he promises so she didn't have that much worry about his internship.She was glad to see how he has learned with fun from playing quite a few roles which could help him see the work in real life. 

4. One best thing he got out of this internship, he said the first was the friendship he got from the US teachers as well as from our organizing team and Fulbright alumni. 

A few American teachers told us how they liked him and one wished he could visit her state when he attends the 'Work and Travel' program next year.

5. He felt good to have room for expressing his views and to know that his voice is heard.

The younger gen wants to show their stand on issues discussed and the older gen must be open-minded, allowing them to do so....in fact it's great to learn with and from them too ka.

6. Several things he thinks he needs to strengthen further are a more systematic thinking process, solving unexpected issues onsite, and asking good questions.

Would you pay for your kids to be our interns mai ka?

Learning captured as educators

 Hello all. Hope you had a great long weekend ka.

As I was preparing for my podcast episodes, I'd like to share what we got from our reflection session at the end of our program, 'Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad' for 15 American high school teachers.

We gave them these questions ka:

1. What have you got from this program as an educator?

2. What have you learned about yourself?

3 One word you wish to say about Fulbright Thailand.

In this email, I'd like to talk about the first question ka.

Here were some of the responses na ka:

- It's clearer to picture Thailand's current and future situations as the program offers holistic experiences.

- Thai people seem to know Sufficiency Economy Philosophy quite well and have linked it with SDG and BCG ka.

- It's good to learn about one's own country better from other people's perspective.

- How Thais manage their environmental sustainability is worth sharing with students and the state.

- Their own excitement to learn new things should be passed on to support teachers to instil in their students' eagerness in learning back home!

- A sense of global responsibility is higher.

- Thailand gives the picture of 'WE', not 'ME' as in the US.

- How could she teach her students about 'caring' like how she's felt from this trip (she was one who got sick ka).

- It stresses teachers' role as  models and their credibility is essential.

- Inclusivity in Thai society should be shared.

Which one is what you like most and why ka?

Thoughts from an International Seminar

 Hello all. I have several things to share and wish to touch on an international seminar on 'Thailand's Education Competitiveness in Global Environmental Changes' ka.

1. I really like what was shared by Khun Kobsak Pootrakool, Director and Senior Executive Vice President Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Bangkok Bank. His topic sentence was, "Thai People's Skills are the Key to Thailand's Growth'. He told us that the world has changed so much and workers are no longer needed in many advanced industries where AI can well replace them. Here are the views he shared ka: 

- We are the ones creating the inequality from our attitude, ways of appreciating successes (quantitative basically), insufficient awareness about the real challenges, and overemphasis on social sciences out of easier achievements.

- Key success factors are the quality and skills of our people, not just the numbers of training and people trained.

- Lack of integrated efforts within and across sectors

- For 'How?', he proposes that we reconsider managing the root causes, i.e. the whole process of skill building of our people, starting from early childhood to boost their brain development along with other needed skills, quality of compulsory education, and increased dynamism of higher education along with deep understanding of the new world to identify the best approaches we need to take up and do it differently ka.

2. The seminar discussed extensively how AI has come into education and other sectors and how it impacts us all. Yet, it was more of a 'top down' to teachers and students without much about leaders/senior administrators themselves to be 'learning partners' in their respective settings, be they schools or government offices ka.

3. As a speaker, my talk stressed on the role of leaders to have increased understanding about the world trends/ macro pictures and their implications. They must have their own hands-on experiences on the use of AI, their initiatives to change from 'the ones who know all' to 'the ones who are curious to know' with evidence of actions before they demand their communities to follow. They must reflect well and have increased self-awareness before expecting others to do it ka.

Busyness with Learning

 Hello All! This is the busiest time of the year for me ka!

Fulbright Thailand has agreed to organize a 3-week program for the US Department of Education called, 'Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad', welcoming 16 high school teachers from all over the country, including Puerto Rico.

With the theme on, 'Transformational Thailand: Toward a Sustainable and Inclusive Economy and Society', we crafted a program with seminars, talks and discussions, visits, and workshops in 4 provinces from BKK to Songkhla, and now in Chiang Mai followed by Chiang Rai to close the program in Hua Hin. 

It's in the middle of the program and I've learned so much ka.

- Quality program is from creativity beyond limits to identify quality speakers (and talk them to be with us); and from our Fulbright alumni and networks.

- Great speakers are those who put things in simple terms, not only to be easy to understand, but also to inspire the audience further.For example, it was the very first time for me to understand so much about Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and how it could be closely linked to the business world ka.

- It's still true about 'it takes two to tango'. Most of our participants are so curious to learn about everything we offer, from SEP, BCG, and ESG to local wisdom, startups and inclusion. We're really happy about it and our speakers were very pleased too.

- Consistent communication helps so much ka....we ask participants to read from the folders set and follow announcements to make sure all have mutual understanding. Definitely, several fail to do it (sigh!)

- Health is the key to achieving going through such a program for both the organizers and the participants ka. It's advisable to have a little break between travels to each province ka.

I myself know much better where my limits are....still a very indoor person with some good breaks in between ka. 

- After all, for me at the moment, our teamwork and spirit of working cross-culturally must be present kaa!

Learning more about AI (2)

 Hello all. This week, I'll be real busy so let me share more about AI from an HBR article on ‘AI and Machine Learning: 4 Types of Gen AI Risk and How to Mitigate Them’ by Öykü Isik, Amit Joshi, and Lazaros Goutas, May 31, 2024, along with several others na ka.

According to the article, here are what we should stress:

1. Governments’ role: It points out that ‘governments are scrambling to come up with reasonable frameworks and laws to manage this technology and its downsides’ It proposes a high-level framework that will provide executives with a way of classifying the potential challenges within the gen AI landscape and then mitigating them.

This leads me to think of what Khun Tonson Santitarn Sathirathai said in several programs, suggesting our authorities not to have too rigid laws, which could hinder progress of our efforts to learn and excel in the use of AI ka.

2. Generative AI Risks can be classified based on intent (deliberate malpractices) and usage that are put into 4 types, namely, misuse (unethical or illegal exploitation of gen AI capabilities for harmful purposes), misapply (prioritizes plausibility over accuracy and can create inaccurate outputs – hallucination), misrepresent (output created by a third party is purposefully used and disseminated, despite questions about credibility or authenticity), misadventure (accidentally consumed and shared by users who are not aware of its inauthenticity).

3. The authors call for leaders in both public and private enterprises to become proactive and to mitigate these risks as follows:

3.1 Mitigating content creation risks to avoid the misuse and misapplication by developing the capabilities to detect, identify, and prevent the spread of such potentially misleading content.

Actions include strategies to align between organizational values and AI principles, mandate all entities that create gen AI content to watermark their gen AI output for transparency traceability and trust plus the empowerment of users to confidently make judgements on the authenticity of the content they come across, and create a controlled gen AI environment within the organization (curate training datasets, ensure their de-biasedness, and have privacy measures).

3.2 Mitigating content consumption risks to avoid misinterpretation and misrepresentation

Actions include gen AI demystification and awareness training opportunities, validate AI output through labeling and warning mechanisms, damage mitigation plan setups for situations that are not contained.

In the AI world today, it seems that the private sector has stepped up much faster than the governments, which is similar in our country….though we seriously need more ka….instill sense of urgency and understanding in our key leaders/authorities for proper policies and support, upskill our leaders and people for experiments and actions, invest in our infrastructure, and speed up in all dimensions.