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.