Tukie's Blog

ASAIHL Conference 2011 Nov. 10-12, 2011 Bkk, Thailand

2011-06-16T19:49:00.003+07:00

ASAIHL Conference 2011
November 10-12, 2011

• Conference Venue: Sripatum University, Bangkok, Thailand
• Paper Submission Due: September 10, 2011
• Official Website: http://asaihl2011.spu.ac.th

• Theme: "ROLE OF HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN ENHANCING GLOBAL COMPETENCIES"
1. Vision of ASEAN 2015 and The Role of Higher Learning Institutions
2. International Quality Standards Accreditation through National Qualification
Framework to Enhance Global Competency
3. Internationalization of Higher Education
4. Socially Responsible Global Citizen

• Organized By: ASAIHL Secretariat
Sripatum University

For more information, please go to: http://asaihl2011.spu.ac.th/paper-submission.html

Study: It's not teacher, but method that matters--Yahoo! News

2011-05-14T19:13:00.003+07:00

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer – Thu May 12, 3:42 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Who's better at teaching difficult physics to a class of more than 250 college students: the highly rated veteran professor using time-tested lecturing, or the inexperienced graduate students interacting with kids via devices that look like TV remotes? The answer could rattle ivy on college walls.

A study by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, now a science adviser to President Barack Obama, suggests that how you teach is more important than who does the teaching.

He found that in nearly identical classes, Canadian college students learned a lot more from teaching assistants using interactive tools than they did from a veteran professor giving a traditional lecture. The students who had to engage interactively using the TV remote-like devices scored about twice as high on a test compared to those who heard the normal lecture, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The interactive method had almost no lecturing. It involved short, small-group discussions, in-class "clicker" quizzes, demonstrations and question-answer sessions. The teachers got real-time graphic feedback on what the students were learning and what they weren't getting.
For more detail, click the link below!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110512/ap_on_sc/us_sci_teacher_or_tools

สรุปเนื้อหาจากการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการระดมความคิดเกี่ยวกับแนวทางการจัดหาครูชาวต่างชาติเพื่อการพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ

2011-05-02T22:23:00.002+07:00

การประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการระดมความคิดเกี่ยวกับแนวทางการจัดหาครูชาวต่างชาติเพื่อการพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ จัดโดยกระทรวงการต่างประเทศและกระทรวงศึกษาธิการ วันที่ 22 เมษายน 2554

สรุปเนื้อหาจากการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการ :
การประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการในครั้งนี้ จัดขึ้นเพื่อใช้ข้อมูลที่ได้จากการแลกเปลี่ยนความคิดเห็น ประสบการณ์ในการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษเพื่อประกอบการยกร่างยุทธศาสตร์การพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษเพื่อเสนอให้คณะรัฐมนตรีพิจารณา โดยยุทธศาสตร์ดังกล่าวประกอบไปด้วยหลายโครงการ โดยโครงการที่จะนำเสนอเพื่อการยกร่างครั้งนี้นั้นคือ โครงการจัดหาครูเจ้าของภาษาเพื่อพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในการเตรียมความพร้อมประเทศเข้าสู่ประชาคมอาเซียน ทั้งนี้โครงการดังกล่าวมีวัตถุประสงค์และเป้าหมายหลักที่สำคัญดังนี้คือ

วัตถุประสงค์1.เพื่อส่งเสริมและสนับสนุนการพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในการจัดการศึกษาระดับต่างๆ และแก้ปัญหาขาดแคลนครู
2.เพื่อส่งเสริมการพัฒนาความสามารถในการสื่อสารภาษาอังกฤษของนักเรียน/นักศึกษาในสถานศึกษา
3.เพื่อส่งเสริมการพัฒนาความสามารถในการสื่อสารภาษาอังกฤษและเทคนิคการจัดการเรียนการสอนของครูสอนภาษาอังกฤษในสถานศึกษา
4.เพื่อส่งเสริมและพัฒนาความเข้มแข็งของสถานศึกษาและเครือข่ายการพัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในพื้นที่

เป้าหมายการพัฒนา (ภายในปี 2558)
1.นักเรียน/นักศึกษาที่สำเร็จการศึกษาทุกระดับมีผลสัมฤทธิ์ทางการเรียนวิชาภาษาอังกฤษเพิ่มขึ้น
2.นักเรียนที่สำเร็จการศึกษาระดับการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน สามารถสื่อสารภาษาอังกฤษได้ตามจุดเน้นที่กำหนด
3.ครูภาษาอังกฤษในพื้นที่มีระดับความรู้ด้านภาษาอังกฤษและเทคนิคการจัดการเรียนการสอนดีขึ้น
4.โรงเรียนและศูนย์พัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ (ERIC) และศูนย์เครือข่าย ERIC Network สามารถจัดการเรียนการสอนและการพัฒนาครูภาษาอังกฤษตามภารกิจได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพมากขึ้น
5.กระทรวงศึกษาธิการมีหน่วยงานดูแลรับผิดชอบการดำเนินงานจัดหาครูเจ้าของภาษาที่เป็นระบบ

โครงการนี้เมื่อผ่านการยกร่าง และได้รับอนุมัติงบประมาณที่มีกว่า 1,590,000,000 บาท (รวมงบกลางและงบประจำปี 2555-2558) แล้วจะได้มีการจัดโครงการอื่นๆ ที่เกี่ยวกับการสรรหาครูต่างชาติเพื่อไปปฏิบัติงานในหน่วยงานที่จำเป็นต่อไป โดยหน่วยงานเป้าหมายที่จัดครูชาวต่างชาติเข้าปฏิบัติงานนั้นประกอบไปด้วย โรงเรียนในสังกัดสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน (ได้รับอาจารย์ต่างชาติมากสุด) ศูนย์พัฒนาการเรียนการสอนภาษอังกฤษ สถาบันภาษาอังกฤษ สถานศึกษาในสังกัดสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการอาชีวศึกษา และสถาบันอุดมศึกษา

สิ่งที่ได้รับจากการเข้าร่วมการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการ :
ในแต่ละหัวข้อจะมี panel ในการสนทนา โดย panel เป็นผู้มีความรู้และประสบการณ์ทางด้านการศึกษา การเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาต่างชาติและภาษาที่สอง องค์กรระหว่างประเทศ (Peace Corp, Fulbright) สถานทูตจากต่างประเทศ อาทิเช่น ประเทศสหรัฐอเมริกา นิวซีแลนด์ ออสเตรเลีย โดยสาระสำคัญในแต่ละหัวข้อย่อยสามารถสรุปได้ดังนี้คือ

1.General Experiences of Teaching English Language in Thailand
-การสอนภาษาอังกฤษในประเทศไทยที่จะทำให้นักเรียนและนักศึกษาไทยสามารติดต่อสื่อสารภาษาอังกฤษในระดับใช้งานได้และสามารถที่จะช่วยให้เกิดสัมฤทธิผลในการเรียนภาษาอังกฤษ โดยมีครูผู้สอนที่เป็นชาวต่างชาตินั้นค่อนข้างยาก เพราะเนื่องจากว่าปัญหาสำคัญที่เกิดขึ้นคือผู้เรียนไม่ค่อยเห็นความสำคัญของภาษาอังกฤษ ไม่ได้มีโอกาสได้ฝึกและใช้ภาษานอกห้องเรียน
-อาจารย์ผู้สอนมีภาระหน้าที่อื่นๆ นอกเหนือจากงานสอนจึงทำให้ไม่มีเวลาสอน และเตรียมตัวสอนได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ โดยในขณะเดียวกันผู้เรียนมีความคิดที่ว่าภาษาอังกฤษเป็นวิชาเรียนหนึ่งเหมือนกันกับวิชาอื่นๆ ที่ต้องเรียน แต่ไม่ได้ เล็งเห็นความสำคัญที่ว่าภาษาเป็นทักษะที่จำเป็นต่อการใช้งานในชีวิตประจำวันที่ควรจะฝึกฝนจนเกิดความชำนาญ
-ตัวแทนจาก International School Association ได้เล่าประสบการณ์การเรียนการสอนที่ประสบความสำเร็จคือ การเน้นให้นักเรียนที่เป็นคนไทยเข้าเรียนในโปรแกรม International ได้มีการเข้าใจและเรียนรู้ภาษาไทยไปพร้อมๆ กันกับภาษาอังกฤษ เพื่อที่ภาษาแม่คือภาษาไทยได้ช่วยในการเรียนและเข้าใจภาษาอังกฤษได้ดียิ่งขึ้น นอกจากนี้การจัดให้มีการร่วมมือการสอน (Collaborative Teaching) ระหว่างครูสอนภาษาอังกฤษและครูสอนรายวิชาอื่นๆ ทำให้การเรียนการสอนมี ประสิทธิผลขึ้น
2.Appropriate English Teaching Modality, Methodology and Curriculum for Thailand
จากการแลกเปลี่ยนความคิดเห็นและประสบการณ์ระหว่างผู้เข้าร่วมการประชุม ส่วนมากเห็นเหมือนกันดังนี้
-การสอนที่มีครูผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษที่เป็นเจ้าของภาษาโดยมีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อการพัฒนาทักษะการสื่อสารนั้น จำเป็นที่จะต้องมีการวัดผลและประเมินผลที่สอดคล้องกัน เช่นถ้าเน้นการพูด การวัดผลประเมินผลก็ต้องออกแบบมาเพื่อวัดทักษะการพูด
-นอกจากนี้การสอนแบบ Collaborative teaching approach เป็นสิ่งที่สำคัญที่ควรให้ครูผู้สอนคนไทยและครูสอนชาวต่างชาติ ร่วมมือกันสอน (Co-teaching) แลกเปลี่ยนความรู้ซึ่งกันและกัน เพื่อที่ครูคนไทยได้เรียนรู้ พัฒนาทักษะการสอน และสามารถนำมาช่วยในการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษให้ยั่งยืนยิ่งขึ้น
-ตัวแทนจากนิวซีแลนด์เสนอให้มีการจัด course for readiness for ASEAN community
3.Possible Target Groups to Provide English Teachers
ครูสอนภาษาอังกฤษที่เป็นกลุ่มเป้าหมาย คือ นักศึกษาที่กำลังศึกษาทางด้านการสอน ที่สนใจมาฝึกงาน นักศึกษาจบใหม่ทางด้านการสอนและมี Teaching certificate ที่ต้องการหางานสอนต่างประเทศ ผู้สอนชาวต่างชาติที่เกษียณอายุแล้วและมีประสบการณ์การสอน โดยจะมีการคัดเลือกสถานศึกษาระดับต่างๆ ที่มีความต้องการครูผู้สอนมากที่สุด ในทุกภูมิภาคของประเทศ
4.Qualification Recruitment Process and the Management System
ในที่ประชุมส่วนใหญ่ให้ความเห็นตรงกันว่าควรมีระบบการจัดการให้รอบคอบเพื่อไม่ให้เกิดการสูญเปล่า โดยมีประเด็นที่น่าสนใจคือ
-ควรส่งเสริมและจัดให้มี Orientation ที่มีคุณภาพเพื่อสร้างความเข้าใจในระบบการเรียนการสอนของประเทศไทยให้กับครูผู้สอนชาวต่างชาติ ควรใช้ประโยชน์ครูผู้สอนที่มีประสบการณ์เหล่านั้นให้สูงสุดโดยการจัดการอบรมการสอนโดยครูชาวต่างชาติให้กับครูคนไทย เพื่อที่จะสร้างให้เกิดการเรียนการสอนอย่างยั่งยืน เพราะมีความเชื่อเหมือนกันที่ว่าไม่มีใครที่จะสามารถสอนภาษาอังกฤษซึ่งไม่ได้เป็นภาษาแม่ได้ดีที่สุดให้กับนักเรียน/นักศึกษาไทยได้ดีและเหมาะสมที่สุดได้เท่ากับผู้สอนที่เป็นคนไทย
-การส่งเสริมและจัดให้มีการพัฒนาศักยภาพครูผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษ (Professional Development) เป็นสิ่งที่สำคัญที่สุด โดยทั้งนี้มีการจัดให้ครูผู้สอนที่มีทักษะการสอนที่ดีและความรู้ที่ดีช่วยอบรม สอนครูผู้สอนที่ยังต้องการการพัฒนาในด้านความรู้ทักษะการสื่อสารและทักษะอื่นๆ และที่สำคัญคือการส่งเสริม พัฒนาครูผู้สอนให้เป็นแบบอย่างที่ดีต่อผู้เรียนและมีความสามารถในการใช้ภาษาได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ เพื่อจุดประกายการเรียนภาษาของนักเรียนนักศึกษาเพื่อที่จะได้ไปเป็นประชากรที่มีคุณภาพของประเทศ ประชาคมอาเซียนและประชาคมโลกต่อไปอย่างยั่งยืน

International Conference organized by EIL (ภาค2)

2011-01-30T18:42:00.002+07:00

ผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษ
ประเด็นที่ได้ถูกกล่าวถึงเกี่ยวกับผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษโดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งอาจารย์ผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษในภูมิภาคอาเซียน มีอยู่ 3 ประเด็นคือ
1. คุณสมบัติของผู้สอน
2. การพัฒนาศักยภาพอาจารย์
3. การสนับสนุนการทำวิจัย

คุณสมบัติของผู้สอน
วิทยากรและ keynote speakers หลายท่านให้ความคิดเห็นว่าในการสอนภาษาอังกฤษของประเทศที่ไม่ได้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่นั้น ผู้สอนควรจะเป็นคนที่พูดหรือเรียนภาษาที่สองด้วย เพราะเขาจะรู้และเข้าใจการสอนภาษาได้ง่าย และลึกซึ้งมากกว่าผู้ที่พูดภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่ เพราะการสื่อสารส่วนใหญ่ในภูมิภาคนี้ต่อไปจะเกิดขึ้นระหว่างผู้ที่อยู่ในภูมิภาคเดียวกันมากกว่า เพื่อใช้ในการติดต่อสื่อสาร
นอกจากนี้ผู้สอนควรมีความรู้ภาษาศาสตร์และการสอนควบคู่กันไปเพื่อที่จะได้ช่วยในการเรียนการสอนให้มีประสิทธิภาพมากขึ้น และที่สำคัญคือการมีจิตสำนึกในการเป็นผู้สอน มีความคิดเป็นบวก ควบคุมอารมณ์ให้ได้ และคิดว่าผู้เรียนเปรียบเสมือนผู้ใหญ่คนหนึ่ง

การพัฒนาศักยภาพอาจารย์
ทั้ง Prof.Dr. Quifang Wen, Prof.Dr. Lui และท่านอื่นๆ ก็ได้สนับสนุนโปรแกรมการพัฒนาศักยภาพอาจารย์ เพราะถือว่าสำคัญอย่างมากที่จะช่วยเพิ่มศักยภาพผู้สอนให้สามารถสอนได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพมากยิ่งขึ้น เช่น ในประเทศจีน มหาวิทยาลัยและสถานศึกษาหลายๆ ที่ได้ส่งอาจารย์เข้าร่วมโครงการพัฒนาศักยภาพอาจารย์สอนภาษาอังกฤษ หลักสูตรเข้มข้น ถึงการเตรียมตัวสอน แผนการสอน และวิธีการสอน ซึ่งจัดโดยรัฐบาลให้อาจารย์ได้เข้าร่วมทุกๆ หน้าร้อน หรือแม้แต่การส่งเสริมให้อาจารย์ได้เข้าร่วมโครงการหรือสร้างเครือข่ายเพื่อแลกเปลี่ยนการสอนยังต่างประเทศ และมี community ให้กับอาจารย์ได้ retain ศักยภาพในการใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ

การสนับสนุนการทำวิจัย
Prof.Dr. Jun Lui ได้แนะนำบทความงานวิจัยเพื่อนำเสนอและตีพิมพ์ที่จะให้ได้ประสิทธิภาพและได้รับการตีพิมพ์ในระดับนานาชาติ เพราะว่าปัจจุบันนี้ปัญหาใหญ่ของนักวิจัย อาจารย์ในภูมิภาคอาเซียนมีปัญหาในการส่งผลงานตีพิมพ์แล้วถูกปฎิเสธ เนื่องจากการความบกพร่องในส่วนของ ปัญหาการเขียน การวิเคราะห์และสังเคราะห์ Literature Review คำถามการวิจัย ความน่าสนใจและ update ในสิ่งที่เขียน สไตล์ที่เขียน ผู้เขียนยังแนะนำว่าเราควรที่จะเริ่มเขียนตั้งแต่เนิ่นๆ และหาเวลาเขียนอยู่บ่อยๆ เพราะไม่เช่นนั้น momentum จะขาดหาย ในการที่จะเขียนโดยมีองค์ประกอบคือ
• โดยการเขียนเริ่มจากสิ่งที่สนใจและสิ่งที่เรามีความรู้ดีและสามารถทำได้
• พิจารณาว่าหัวข้อที่จะเขียนเป็น research based หรือไม่
• พิจารณาว่าใครจะได้รับประโยชน์จากบทความบ้าง
• ต้องทราบว่าขั้นตอนการทำ และขั้นตอนการเสนองานเขียนต่อสำนักพิมพ์เพื่อรอการตีพิมพ์

2. องค์ความรู้ที่เพิ่มขึ้นจากการอบรม/สัมมนา
1) แนวโน้มการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในภูมิภาค ASEAN
2) ทักษะที่ควรส่งเสริมเพิ่มเติมในห้องเรียนนอกเหนือจากทักษะภาษาอังกฤษ
3) โปรแกรมการพัฒนาศักยภาพอาจารย์ผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษ
4) เทคนิคการสอนในชั้นเรียน วิธีการใช้สื่อการสอน ICT มาใช้ให้มีประสิทธิภาพมากขึ้นในการเรียน การสอน
5) การทำงานวิจัยและการเขียนบทความเพื่อตีพิมพ์

3. การนำความรู้ที่ได้จากการอบรม/สัมมนามาใช้ในการพัฒนาการเรียนการสอน
1) สอดแทรกทักษะชีวิต (Life Skills) ในการเรียนการสอนเพื่อพัฒนาทักษะด้านอื่นๆ ที่สำคัญต่อการเรียนรู้และส่งเสริมการเรียนภาษาอังกฤษ
2) พัฒนาการใช้เทคนิคการสอนของตัวเองและใช้ ICT ในการสอดแทรกเพื่อเป็นตัวช่วยในการเรียนการสอนในชั้นเรียน
3) พัฒนาและนำวิธีการสอนใหม่ๆ และทัศนคติใหม่ๆ ในการสอน จากผู้นำเสนอผลงานในการสอนภาษาอังกฤษมาใช้ในการเรียนการสอน

4. ข้อคิดเห็นจากการอบรม/สัมมนาที่เป็นประโยชน์ต่อมหาวิทยาลัย
1)ควรจะจัดให้มีฝ่ายที่พัฒนาการเรียนการสอนและภาษาให้กับอาจารย์ผู้สอนภาษาทั้งในและนอกหน่อยงานในศูนย์ภาษาของมหาวิทยาลัย
2) ควรจะจัดให้มีฝ่ายที่จัดกิจกรรมพิเศษโดยเฉพาะให้กับนักศึกษาทั้งมหาวิทยาลัยที่สนใจ เพื่อได้ให้มีส่วนร่วมในการทำกิจกรรมที่ส่งเสริมการเรียนรู้ภาษาอังกฤษ ซึ่งจะก่อให้เกิดความสนใจ สนุก กับการเรียนรู้นอกห้องเรียน
3) จัดอบรมและเตรียมความพร้อมให้กับอาจารย์ที่สอนภาษาอังกฤษในเรื่องของความสามารถ retain ศักยภาพใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ พัฒนาความรู้ทางด้านภาษศาสตร์ พัฒนาความรู้ทางด้านการสอน วิธีการสอน เพื่อให้อาจารย์ตามทันกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงและการแข่งขันกับความต้องการของตลาดต่อการรับบัณฑิตใหม่เข้าทำงาน

2010-12-07T20:24:00.001+07:00

สรุปเนื้อหาการเข้าร่วมอบรม/สัมมนา CULI’s 7th International Conference 2010 Pathway in EIL: Explorations and Innovations in Teaching and Research (ตอนที่ 1)

เนื้อหาสาระที่สำคัญส่วนใหญ่ของการประชุมและ workshop ในครั้งนี้เน้นอนาคตของการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในทวีปอาเซียนที่ภาษาอังกฤษไม่ใช่ภาษาแรก โดย keynote speakers และผู้นำเสนอผลงานการวิจัยหลายๆ ท่านทั้งชาวไทยและชาวต่างชาติได้กล่าวว่าภาษาอังกฤษจะเป็นภาษาของ ASEAN แต่ก็ยังมีประเด็นของปัญหาที่ต้องแก้ไข ที่เกิดขึ้นกับการเรียนการสอนและประสิทธิภาพของการติดต่อสื่อสารภาษาอังกฤษของนักเรียน นักศึกษา โดยเนื้อหาที่สำคัญสามารถแบ่งได้เป็น 2 ประเด็นคือ
1. การเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ
2. ผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษ

การเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ
Prof.Dr. Jun Lui จาก University of Arizona, USA. ได้ยกตัวอย่างการเรียนการสอนในประเทศจีน ซึ่งการเรียนการสอนที่นั่นค่อนข้างจะเข้มข้น สิ่งที่เขาเน้นคือสนับสนุนให้อาจารย์จีนสอนภาษาจีนยังต่างประเทศเพื่อเป็นการเพิ่ม connection นอกจากนี้การสอนภาษาอังกฤษนั้นสิ่งที่สำคัญคือการไม่สูญเสีย identity ของตัวเอง นั่นคือการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในประเทศที่ไม่ได้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่นั้น ควรที่จะเรียนภาษาแม่ของตัวเองให้ได้ดีก่อน เพื่อที่จะได้ใช้ช่วยในการเรียนภาษาอังกฤษให้มีประสิทธิภาพมากยิ่งขึ้น ดังนั้นการเรียนการสอนใจภูมิภาคนี้ควรที่จะมีวิธี และรูปแบบ (model and approach) ใหม่ที่เหมาะสมกับผู้เรียนใน ASEAN และควรมีทักษะเสริม (Soft skills/ Life skills) ให้กับผู้เรียน เช่น การแก้ไขปัญหา การออกแบบ/ความคิดสร้างสรรค์ ซึ่งก็เป็นความคิดและแนวทางเดียวกันกับ Prof.Dr. Any Kirkpatrick ที่เสนอและสนับสนุนแนวการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษเป็นแบบ Lingual Franca คือภาษาอังกฤษที่ใช้ติดต่อสื่อสารกันในกลุ่มคนที่ไม่ได้พูดภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่กันทั้งสองฝ่าย ดังนั้น ภาษาอังกฤษที่ใช้จึงมีความซับซ้อนน้อยกว่า แต่เน้นการใช้ประโยชน์ในการติดต่อสื่อสารและความเข้าใจเพื่อให้บรรลุเป้าหมายของการสื่อสารเป็นสำคัญ ดังนั้นหลักไวยากรณ์ และ expression ของภาษาอังกฤษที่เป็นแบบสากล หรือที่เข้าใจกันคืออังกฤษ-อังกฤษ และอเมริกัน-อังกฤษ จึงไม่ได้นำมาเป็นต้นแบบในการเรียน การสอน และการติดต่อสื่อสาร ดังนั้นการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษจะเน้น Global Englishes ภาษาอังกฤษที่หลากหลายและใช้พูดกันในหลายๆ ประเทศที่ไม่ได้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่

Prof.Dr.Arthur McNeill ได้ยกตัวอย่างการเรียนการสอนใน Hong Kong University of Science and Technology เขาได้สนับสนุนการเรียนโดยการใช้ “เวลา” เป็นตัวตั้งในการกำหนดการเรียนการสอนและสิ่งที่ต้องการให้นักศึกษาของเราได้เรียนรู้ ซึ่งก็หมายถึง Learning Outcome นอกจากนี้ก็คือการใช้ประสบการณ์การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษของผู้เรียน (autonomous learning) การใช้กิจกรรมเสริมพิเศษนอกห้องเรียนก็เป็นอีกอย่างที่ Prof.Dr.Arthur McNeill ได้นำมาใช้กับนักศึกษา โดยกิจกรรมเสริมนี้มีอยู่หลายรูปแบบที่จะสามารถดึงดูดความสนใจให้ผู้เรียนเข้าร่วมกิจกรรมและใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นสื่อในการติดต่อและมีปฎิสัมพันธ์ หรือสร้างความสนใจให้กับผู้เรียนเพิ่มมากขึ้น

การใช้ Technology (ICT) ในการเรียนการสอนเป็นที่ให้ความสนใจทั้งผู้บรรยายและผู้ฟังการบรรยายเพราะเป็นสิ่งที่หลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้ ในหลายๆ ที่อาจารย์สอนภาษาอังกฤษในหลายๆ ที่ได้ใช้ ICT ในการเรียนการสอนส่วนมากในชั้นเรียน ทั้ง on-line exercise, online pre-class research และอื่นๆ โดยทั้งนี้ต้องเกิดจากการจัดรูปแบบ curriculum การสอนของอาจารย์ผู้สอน ดังนั้นผู้สอนจึงมีบทบาทที่สำคัญอย่างยิ่งในการเรียนการสอน ซึ่งวิทยากร และผู้เข้าร่วมการประชุมได้แสดงความคิดเห็น และแนะนำเกี่ยวกับผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษในโลกการเรียนการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในภูมิภาคอาเซียน

Why waterfalls are beautiful?

2010-09-08T19:28:00.005+07:00

ข้อคิดประจำวัน จากธรรมะสวัสดี / ภาพจากการท่องเที่ยว รู้ไหม... ? ทำไมน้ำตกถึงสวย...
Good thought from Dhamma Sawasdee....Why waterfalls are beautiful?

พ่อ : รู้มั้ยลูก...ทำไมน้ำตกถึงสวย...
Dad: Son, do you know why waterfalls are beuatiful?
ลูก : ก็เพราะมันเป็นน้ำตกไงคะพ่อ...
Son: Because it's waterfalls, Dad...it falls!
พ่อ : ไม่ใช่หรอกลูก...
… ที่น้ำตกสวยน่ะ... … เพราะน้ำตกไม่ยอมเก็บน้ำไว้ในชั้นของตัวเองต่างหาก...
Dad: Not true Son...
ลูก : หมายความว่าไงครับพ่อ...
Son: What do you mean Dad?
พ่อ : ลูกสังเกตไหมล่ะว่า..เวลาน้ำตกตกลงมาจากชั้นหนึ่งแล้ว...น้ำนั้นก็จะถูกส่งต่อลงไปอีกชั้นหนึ่งทันที...เพราะวิธีนี้ที่
น้ำตก...ไม่เห็นแก่ตัว..แต่ยอมส่งน้ำที่ตกมาจากชั้นอื่น..แล้วส่งต่อกันไปเรื่อย ๆ อย่างนี้… น้ำตก..ถึงสวย...และ
น้ำตก..จึงยัง คงเป็นน้ำตก...ที่มีเสน่ห์..ไงละ
Dad:Son, do you notice that when the water is falling...it's falling from one level to another immediately...for this reason, it's not selfish...but send the water from one level to others continuously...that's why waterfalls are beautiful and charming always!!!

ข้อคิดจากเรื่อง นี้...อย่าลืมน่ะลูก...ถ้าลูกอยากให้ตัวเองเป็นคนที่น่ารัก...ลูกควรจะเป็นอย่างน้ำตก..หากมีสิ่งดี ๆ ตกมาถึงตัวลูก...อย่าเก็บสิ่งดี ๆ นั้นไว้..คนเดียว..ลูกต้องเรียนรู้ที่จะ...แบ่งปัน...ออกไปให้มากที่สุด มีก็แต่คนที่ "ให้" ออกไปเท่านั้นแหละ...ลูก..จึงจะเป็นคนที่ "ได้รับ" อย่างแท้จริง..จากธรรมะ สวัสดี

Dad: Good thought from the waterfall story, Son...Don't forget...if you want to be pretty or handsome, you should be just like a waterfall. If you have received good things in life, do not just keep it for yourself. You need to learn to share...the most of it. Only will those people who love to "GIVE," "RECEIVE" good deeds...from Dhamma Sawasdee

ดั่งที่ได้อ่านกันมาแล้วข้างบนเมื่อคุณได้รับสิ่งดี ๆ แล้วก็อย่าเก็บไว้คนเดียวนะ แบ่งปันสิ่งที่ดีและสวยงามให้คนที่คุณรักและรู้จักนะ แล้วจะได้ความรัก สิ่งที่ดี ๆ นั้นกลับมาตอบแทน สาธุ

From the read, when you receive good things, do not keep them to yourself. Sharing those good things and beauty to your loved ones and those whom you know and care...then, you will receive good things in return.

On a personal note, I understand that some people who have experience heartaches from intimate relationship may not think the same. However, I do believe that only true love lasts. True love, to me, consists of patience, forgiveness, sharing and understanding. Love or without it in return...it's out of our control, but TIME heals and ease almost everything!

Let Go of Suffering!

2010-07-25T08:03:00.001+07:00

First and foremost, Happy Buddhist Day :-)

I just could not help but anxiously reached my office in the Sunday morning while perhaps most people are yet in bed to share some great thoughts from the reading I did this morning on the bus! On my untypical means of transport to work from home (as my car has decided to stop running and taken a little break from its owner who has been working 24/7, I, as that owner, had the chance to take the bus to work again in almost 5 years) I had this great book with me to read thinking to kill some time upon my journey. By the way "killing time is quite an insult to use with this book" I have to admit.

With my unrested mind of thinking about things in the past and worrying about things in the future that have not yet arrived, I have come to the present moment and now...the now with happiness and the now with hope!

This book is called Mind Management by V. Vajiramedhi, a well-known buddhist monk. This book is actually written in English. One of many teachings and thoughts I have read so far is about how to LET GO of SUFFERING. "sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya' is a mantra to recite to keep reminding oneself to let go of suffering. It means "One should not cling to things." With no attachement and no clinging no suffering entails. It is like having a pair of shoes. When you lose them, you feel so much distress because you think they "belong to you" and they are "yours" when in fact the shoes never think this. They never feel they have "an owner", so they do not suffer. It is you who takes this and that as yours and shows off ownership of this and that. When things are not as you desire, you feel distraught.

Buddhism teaches realism--how to view the world as it is, not as we want it to be. I believe if we all get what we always want, we will not be able to cherish the real sense of happiness and love!

Let start a life of blissful joy along these guidelines: "Ask not who in this life will give you what. Ask what and to whom you will give in this life." I truly love these guildlines and could not agree me. Happy Buddhist Day na kha :-)

Independence Day Celebration with the Summer Team cultural exchange students from America

2010-07-08T09:35:00.007+07:00

What is most important in life is keeping up with ourselves--not others...

2010-07-02T07:54:00.001+07:00

Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day

June 25

It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.
– Saint John of the Cross

Most of us cannot help comparing ourselves with others, at least now and then. In fact, this has become so entrenched today that in order to have self-esteem, it seems almost necessary to say, “I am better than he is, so I am good.” As long as we compete with each other and compare one with another, a certain amount of envy is inescapable. It is the very rare person who is completely free from jealousy.

But as our spiritual awareness grows, we will know that the Lord is present in everyone and that there is a uniqueness about everyone. The truly spiritual person never tries to compare himself or herself with others, or others among themselves. I have never been able to understand the compelling phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses.” It does not matter very much whether I keep up with Tom Jones or anybody else; what is important is to keep up with myself by making my today a little better than my yesterday.

We can keep this ideal before our eyes by not comparing ourselves to others, remembering that all of us have complete worth and value because the Lord is present in us.

Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love. – Saint Francis of Assisi

2010-05-14T11:25:00.000+07:00

Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day

May 14

Millions of people today suffer from loneliness. Here Saint Francis is saying, I know the cause of the malady and I know the secret of its complete cure. No matter what the relationship may be, when you look on another person as someone who can give you love, you are really faking love. That is the simplest word for it. If you are interested in making love, in making it grow without end, try looking on that person as someone you can give your love to someone to whom you can go on giving always.

Learning to love is like swimming against the current of a powerful river; most of our past conditioning is pushing us in the other direction. So it is a question of developing your muscles: the more you use them, the stronger they get. When you put the other persons welfare foremost every day, no matter how strong the opposing tide inside, you discover after a while that you can love a little more today than you did yesterday. Tomorrow you will be able to love a little more.

EBC's Cream of the Crop Project

2010-04-26T16:33:00.003+07:00

This project really meant a lot to me because I had the chance to find 15 students who are good at English, dedicated, and motivated to learn.
One of the kids said to me that he truly appreciated my initiative because he felt more valuable to others! I was so glad to hear that as I knew about his family background from his profile. He is just like me--we are from 'a half family!' Yet, we all have choices to maketo become a better person!

Secret for Good Health--Love!

2010-04-12T12:22:00.000+07:00

April 12

There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much.
– Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Our modern civilization is so physically oriented that when we hear the word hunger, we immediately think of vitamins and minerals and amino acids. It seldom occurs to us that just as the body develops problems when it does not get adequate food, the person who is deprived of love – or worse, who finds it difficult to love – becomes subject to problems every bit as serious.

This doesn’t mean just emotional problems, which of course are included. More and more evidence indicates that lack of love not only leads to loneliness, despair, and resentment, but also contributes to the deterioration of physical health. When spiritual figures like Mother Teresa talk about our need to love and to be loved, the need is not metaphorical. She is not talking about some vague spirituality; she is talking about good nutrition. Resentment, hostility, alienation, and selfishness are deficiency diseases. You can have all the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals known and unknown but if you cannot love, you are not likely to remain in good health.

Great thought from the Ghandhi of Cambodia in the Future of Peace...

2010-03-20T08:01:00.001+07:00

During the discussion between Scott Hunt and Maha Ghosananda (known as The Ghandhi of Cambodia), Maha Ghosananda stated, “If you look down upon people, are very proud and haughty, your mind will become ignorant. If you are respect everybody, because the whole world is your house and all human beings are your mother. Then you will become very wise. You must have su, chi, po, li. Su means to listen, chi means to think, pu means to question, and li means to record. To listen, to think, to question, and to record, these make you become very wise. If you don’t have them you become ignorant. That is the law of dharma.” Page 175

Maha Ghasananda also stated about working together that, “If we want to work together better, we must have four feet to stand. The first one is loving kindness (metta). The second one is compassion (karuna). The third one is joy (mundita). The last one is equanimity (ubekkha.)”

Reflection on a good read--The Future of Peace by Scott A. Hunt

2010-03-18T13:56:00.002+07:00

Great learning, understanding and acquiring new knowledge (in all subject matters), to me, come from unlimited and broad imagination. Without great imagination, children won’t be able to learn, to grow and to change. In the conversation between Scott and Jane Goodall, an internationally renowned primatologist and the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, they mentioned about suffering (dukkha in Buddhism) in two elements: one is that we want to escape things that make us unhappy, things that cause pain. The other one is our longing to be aligned with something greater than we are right now. This second thing is very important for us to recognize. Thus, the important thing is if we don’t strive to find it then life seems to lack meaning. Jane stated that our life is a series of attempts to get higher ad higher toward the goal, we can’t cope by ourselves. There is a real longing in people to reach up to this higher state of being. Yet, children these days seem to lack—connection with everyone else. Children in the West have so many things, from video games to cell phones, and yet they have a lot of loneliness and sense of anxiety. Children used to play and laugh and have fun and being creative, and they have a sense of connection with everyone else. We, as adults, seem to take all these things away from them. We are going to tell them they need a video game to be happy. Once children have grown up with the video games and the violent movies, it is very difficult to change their mind stream. Therefore, they need to be instilled the goodness or plant the seeds for goodness and peace—more meaningful and imaginative

Goodall talked about the state of togetherness and the tools for change that we needed to break down the artificial barriers we’ve created between the rich and the poor, between countries, between cultures, between religions, between ethnic groups, between countries, between old and young very often, and between humans and animals. If you imagine that I give you a seed and you take it to Tibet and you plant it, well, it will grow in Tibet only if it’s nurtured by the Tibetan people. And when the fruits come, they’ll be the Tibetans’ fruits. I can take a seed and plant it in Congo and the same will be true. When all these fruits and leaves blossom out there they will be something we all made together.” Page 325
Goodall also stated, “We have to stop obsessing on the negative. I keep telling people, get out into the air, do something positive, and live your life!” She also further mentioned, “doing something positive and living in communion with the goodness of life.”

President Obama to Visit Arcadia!!!!

2010-03-09T07:53:00.002+07:00

As an alumni of Arcadia University, I am so thrilled to know that the President of the United States is going to pay a visit the university. I am truly proud of the university and myself as a former student there!

Resource from the univeristy's website http://www.arcadia.edu/news/default.aspx?id=30602:

President Obama to Visit the Philadelphia Area to Discuss Health Insurance Reform
WASHINGTON, DC - On the morning of Monday, March 8, 2010 President Obama will visit the Philadelphia area and deliver remarks on health insurance reform at Arcadia University. This event is free and open to the public, however, tickets are required.

Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis on Saturday, March 6 at 3:30 PM in the Hospitality Room of the Kuch Recreation and Athletic Center at Arcadia University. ALL TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED.

What it means by love--actually Love is...

2010-03-07T13:18:00.003+07:00

Just wanted to share very good thought and contribution with others from Eknath's

Cheers!

March 7

Love, and do what you like.
– Saint Augustine

Learning to love in the way Saint Augustine is talking about is the most demanding, the most delightful, and the most daring of disciplines. It does not mean loving only two or three members of your family. It does not mean loving only those who share your views, read the same newspapers, or play the same sports. Love, as Jesus puts it, means blessing those that curse you, doing good to those that harm you.

Most of us do not begin by blessing those that curse us. That is graduate school. We start with first grade – being kind to people in our family when they get resentful. Eventually comes high school, where we learn to move closer to those who are trying to shut themselves off from us. College means returning good will for ill will. Finally we enter graduate school. There we learn to give our love to all – to people of different races, countries, and religions, different outlooks and strata of society, without any sense of distinction or difference.

A guest speaker at an orientation for the Thai students participating the cultural exchange in Soleftea, Sweden

2010-03-07T12:29:00.010+07:00

Saturday 6 March 2010

It was such a great honor to be invited to help prepare and teach English and share my student exchange experience as an AFS exchange student (Year 1997 in New Zealand) with the very lucky 16 high schoolers from varous high schools in the Bangkok area. This project was initiated by the Foreign Affairs, Department of Education Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The selected students are going to go visit their brother-sister schools in Sweden and Norway. In the frist group, students are leaving for Soleftea, Sweden March 15 and returning March 29, 2010. In the second group, students are going to Norway. One of the main purposes of this program is for the students to promote and exchange Thai culture and Swedish culture and become exposed to different cultures and peoples in other countries. The students are mostly good at traditional Thai dance and music and who are outgoing with great personality and of course English ability. With a little of my help and guidance, I hope they will be able to survive and have a great time there with the host families and things that they will be doing as once I had and did! Great memories indeed :-)

How to live a simple and happy life? The answer is...!

2010-02-22T09:55:00.002+07:00

Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day

February 21

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
– The Buddha

When the mind is at rest, we are lifted out of time into the eternal present. The body, of course, is still subject to the passage of time. But in a sense, the flickering of the mind is our internal clock. When the mind does not flicker, what is there to measure change? It’s as if time simply comes to a stop for us, as we live completely in the present moment. Past and future, after all, exist only in the mind. When the mind is at rest, there is no past or future. We cannot be resentful, we cannot be guilt-ridden, we cannot build future hopes and desires; no energy flows to past or future at all.

Past and future are both contained in every present moment. Whatever we are today is the result of what we have thought, spoken, and done in all the present moments before now – just as what we shall be tomorrow is the result of what we think, say, and do today. The responsibility for both present and future is in our own hands. If we live right today, then tomorrow has to be right.

General Knowledge Competition in English at SPU

2010-02-19T15:54:00.004+07:00

The Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sripatum University, held a General Knowledge Competition in English on February 15, 2010. The competition aimed to promote English, encourage high school students to improve their English through all the four skills,.....(will be continued)

Great saying from the Buddha!

2010-01-12T14:55:00.000+07:00

January 12

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
– The Buddha

Our destiny is in our own hands. Since we are formed by our thoughts, it follows that what we become tomorrow is shaped by what we think today.
Happily, we can choose the way we think. We can choose our feelings, aspirations, desires, and the way we view our world and ourselves. Mastery of the mind opens avenues of hope. We can begin to reshape our life and character, rebuild relationships, thrive in the stress of daily living – we can become the kind of person we want to be.

Charitable project with 4th year students

2010-01-01T14:27:00.003+07:00

Its content will be posted later!

Happy New Year 2010--Let's remake ourselves for a better person!

2010-01-01T13:18:00.003+07:00

What a great thought from the Buddha!

January 1

As an irrigator guides water to the fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives.
– The Buddha

Contribution by Eknath...
The glory of the human being is our ability to remake ourselves. The Buddha is very rightly called the Compassionate One because he holds out hope for everybody. He doesn’t say our past has been dark, therefore our chances are dim. He says whatever our past, whatever our present, the sky is bright for us because we can remake ourselves.

The Buddha says, be a good woodworker. Consciousness is the wood, and you can make it take any shape you like. Just as a carpenter works the wood to build a house or a fine piece of furniture, similarly we can fashion the responses and attitudes we desire: love, wisdom, security, patience, loyalty, enthusiasm, cheerfulness.

"My happiness and goodness will be preserved if our nation has prosperity, normalcy and stability."

2009-12-31T07:25:00.002+07:00

Happy New Year to everyone. This year, I would like to share with you one of the most wonderful speeches from our King.

"The Kingdom was filled with happiness on Dec 5 when His Majesty left Siriraj Hospital and travelled to the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall in the Grand Palace where he granted an audience to royal family members and key administrative, judicial and legislative figures.

The King delivered a short speech to the dignitaries. He said:

"My happiness and goodness will be preserved if our nation has prosperity, normalcy and stability."

by Bangkokpost

What gifts to get for your loved ones--something without anything in return!

2009-12-19T11:05:00.003+07:00

I whole heartedly agree with the thought and the contribution from Eknath. These days, we tend to have less time for our loved ones; therefore, we usually get things for them regardless their real needs. By doing so, we feel less guilty....

I personally love making others happy by doing things for them--cooking or baking or making things that are unique and special for my loved ones. Yet, I need to give TIME, my personal time, for them!!!!!

Here is the great thought and wonderful contribution from Eknath I would like to share with my readers.

Enjoy!

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more.
– William Wordsworth

This morning, when I was reading an important New York paper, I noticed an article on the dynamics of gift-giving. This article quoted a distinguished professor of sociology as saying that in every gift there is a reciprocal relationship, even if it is not conscious. In other words, when you are making a gift, you are expecting a gift in return.

Not only that, there are very subtle social gradations: gifts to longtime friends, to recent friends, to acquaintances, to possible benefactors. All these factors come into play when choosing the gift. No wonder shopping for gifts is so terribly time-consuming. No wonder people feel confused and inadequate about what to give.

But the spiritual approach is very simple. Whatever you give – it may be a check to a worthy cause, it may be clothes to a person who is cold, it may be food to the hungry, it may be medical help to the sick – do it without thinking of getting anything in return. Do it as a service to God, not reluctantly, but with joy.

What love is... from Thomas a Kempis and Great Contribution from Eknath

2009-12-09T15:56:00.002+07:00

Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day

December 9

Love is swift, sincere, pious, joyful, generous, strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, courageous, and never seeking her own; for wheresoever we seek our own, there we fall from love.
– Thomas a Kempis

Our English word love has become almost impossible to use. We say he’s “falling in love” as if it were something that could happen every day, like falling into a manhole. Is it so easy to fall in love?

Listen to our popular songs; look at our magazines and newspapers. When they say, “I love you,” that’s not what I hear; I hear “I love me.” If we could listen in on a marriage proposal with the ears of Thomas a Kempis, this is what we would hear. The man gets down on bended knee and says, “Sibyl, dear, I love me; will you marry me?”

There is a little undertone of this in almost all relationships. This is how we have all been conditioned, to put ourselves first at least part of the time. Most relationships begin with some passionate “I love you’s” and some undertones of “I love me.” But if we want our relationship to blossom, we’ll gradually change the focus from me, me, me to you, you, you. Then our selfish passion is transformed into pure love.

Fun Time Teaching Engineering Students!

2009-12-09T09:25:00.003+07:00

Love means ...

2009-11-22T13:55:00.001+07:00

I couldn't agree more with the passage below and the contribution of Eknath!

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God."
– I John

The idea of romance held by the modern world seems to be taken from the world of business. We are told that love should not be freely given, but that it is a commodity that must be bargained over. Some wary couples are even drawing up “contracts” to specify who will do the dishes and who will wash the car. As long as the contract is observed to the letter, peace reigns, but any breach brings serious consequences. We model our personal lives after our business lives. If it works when negotiating a contract with your supplier, why shouldn’t it work when negotiating with your domestic partner?

Yet no one is content with this state of affairs. None of us really wants to strike back at those we love. We do not get satisfaction out of hurting people who have let us down. We have simply fallen into the habit of brooding on wrongs done to us, until we finally explode.

Love means that regardless of what someone does to us, we will not strike back in anger.

U.S. Embassy of Thailand Documentary Showcase @ SPU

2009-11-15T08:28:00.007+07:00

It was such a great honor to host the film spcialists and filmmakers from the States at SPU for the screening of the documentary titled "Miss Navajo" by Billy Luther. There were SANDRA J. RUCH, BILLY LUTHER and STEVEN STARR over at the university to share their documenatry filming and knowledge in making a documentary with our students. Since it was the American Documentary Showcase week downtown Bangkok organized by the US Embassy, Thailand , they were invited to Thailand and were able to visit some universities and other places for the screening of their documentaries. The showcase is designed to promote American documentaries and their filmmakers at international overseas venues, including U.S. Embassy organized events and/or U.S. Embassy supported international documentary film festivals. A lot of our students from the Faculty of Communication Arts and Digital Media were then inspired by those filmmakers and their documentaries.

Sandra Ruch is the President of Elixir Consulting, Los Angeles, a full service consulting company to help documentary filmmakers with story development, marketing, distribution, festival, and outreach strategies.

BILLY LUTHER studied film at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and worked on projects for the Smithsonian Institution’s New York City National Museum of the American Indian Film and Video Center. A past honoree of Film Independent’s Project: Involve program, Luther was selected for the 2006 Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Fellowship, Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS Producers Academy at WGBH in Boston, and
Tribeca Institute’s All Access Program with his feature documentary Miss Navajo. The film had its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and its national television premiere on Independent Lens on PBS, and is the winner of Michael Moore’s 2007 Special Founders Prize. He is in production on the documentaries Grab and The Untitled Indian Marching Band Project. Luther belongs to the Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo Tribes.

Founder of the award-winning creator sustainability pioneer Revver.com, STEVEN STARR previously managed KPFK-FM, the largest community radio signal in the US, co-founded P2P pioneer Uprizer, user-generated platform LA IndyMedia. Prior to that, Starr was writer/director and/or producer of award-winning indie films such as Joey Breaker and Johnny Suede and co-creator/producer of The State for MTV/CBS. He headed the New York film office for the William Morris Agency with clients such as Ang Lee, Tim Robbins, Larry David, Joseph Papp and Andy Warhol, and started off as a concert promoter for Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Another great event that we have over here at SPU.
For more information on Miss Navajo go to: http://www.missnavajomovie.com/ and http://ir.spu.ac.th/

Putting others first is a vital key to eternal relationships!

2009-10-25T14:13:00.001+07:00

There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy.
– Lope de Vega

Eknath's Contribution:

It is good to admire beauty, but it is neither good nor practical to want to take beauty home, put it on a shelf, and say, “You stay right there.” When we see something beautiful, we may begin to want it for ourselves. It may be a dramatic house, it may be a lovely flower, it may be a graceful dancer – we just want it. If this wanting becomes a compulsion, it is likely we will lose what we want so much.

Jealousy comes into a relationship when we try to possess someone for ourselves. It is a very difficult secret to discover: that when we do not want to possess another person selfishly, when we do not make demand after demand, the relationship will grow and last. And it is something we have to learn the hard, hard way. This is the secret of all relationships, not only between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, but between friend and friend, parents and children. Instead of trying to exact and demand, just give, and give more, and give still more. This is the way to earn love and respect.

You are not the same, nor are you another. – The Buddha

2009-10-14T07:44:00.002+07:00

After reading the passage and the contribution from Eknath, I could not help but thinking of my readers. So, there it is for you to read and practice!!!

Eknath's note:

The Buddha is saying that we change from moment to moment. Personality is not cast in a rigid mold; the whole secret of personality is that it is a process. The nature of a process is that it can be changed. For a time, it is true, the changes you are trying to make will not seem natural. When someone is rude to you, you will still feel a wave of resentment inside. It does not matter; at the outset, it is enough to act kind, to pretend to be kind, to stage a sort of kindness performance.

Gradually, if you put your whole effort behind this transformation, using the tool of meditation, the seething will subside. Then it will not just be a flawless performance, you will actually transform anger into compassion. You will feel sorry for the person who has offended you. You will not be the same angry person you used to be; and yet you will not be someone else, either. To be patient, kind, and secure is our real nature; anything else is being false to ourselves.

International Conference: Reading Literacy for Quality Education

2009-10-13T07:40:00.006+07:00

International Conference: Reading Literacy for Quality Education,1-2 October 2009
งานประชุมนานาชาติ การรู้เรื่องการอ่านเพื่อพัฒนาคุณภาพการศึกษา

This is merely a summary from the speakers and what we all learned from the conference on Reading Literacy and Quality Education. I have to admit that we are, not only in Thailand but many others from around the world, encountering reading illiteracy and the poor quality of education. Therefore, we all in this academic world should seriously bring the issue to light and put it on the top list as a priority. It's only that if our children can't read now, they won't be able to read when they grow up; if our children can't read now, they will become blind from the global knowledge; and if our children can't read now, their quality of life will become doomed. And most importantly, if WE, as teachers and educators, don't do anything now, I just can't imagine what it would be!!!!

The summary in English is on the way!
For more information, go to: http://www.thailandreading.com/

1. สรุปเนื้อหาที่ได้จากการอบรม

การประชุมจัดขึ้นโดยสมาคมการอ่านแห่งประเทศไทย (Thailand Reading Association) สมาคมการอ่านระดับประเทศ (International Reading Association) และสมาคมการอ่านทางตอนเหนือแห่งประเทศไทย (Northern Thailand Reading Association) โดยสาระสำคัญของการจัดงานเพื่อการแลกเปลี่ยนการศึกษาค้นคว้า และข้อมูลในเรื่องของการอ่านของนักเรียน นักศึกษาทั้งในประเทศไทย และระดับนานาชาติ โดยการประชุมในครั้งนี้มีผู้เข้าร่วมเสนอผลงานและเข้าร่วมประชุมจากหลายๆ ประเทศ อาทิเช่น ประเทศสหรัฐอเมริกา ฟิลิปปินส์ มาเลเชีย ญี่ปุ่น เวียดนาม พม่า ลาว และประเทศไทย ในวันแรกเน้นเรื่องการเสนอผลงานวิจัย โดยมีผลงานวิจัยและบทความวิชาการในเรื่องของการอ่าน ที่สำคัญ 8 เรื่อง และในวันที่สองเป็นในส่วนของการระดมความคิดในการหาวิธีที่จะส่งเสริมการรักการอ่าน เนื้อหาสรุปของวันแรกและวันที่สองจากวิทยากรที่แลกเปลี่ยนความรู้มีดังนี้คือ
1. Professor Dr. Patricia A. Edwards, Professor of Language and
Literacy at Michigan State University International Reading Association, President-Elect 2009-2010 หัวข้อ “Reading Quality for Quality Education”
2. รองศาสตราจารย์วิทยากร เชียงกูล คณบดีวิทยาลัยนวัตกรรมสังคม มหาวิทยาลัยรังสิต หัวข้อ “Gateway to Reading Quality in Thai Society”
3. Professor Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak President of the Institute of
Future Studies for Development (IFD) หัวข้อ “Reading for Developing Quality of Life”
4. ศาสตราจารย์ ดร.ชุติมา สัจจานันท์ ผู้ช่วยศาสตราจารย์ ชนะใจ เดชวิทยาพร
ดร.อมรา ปฐภิญโญบูรณ์ อาจารย์ศุภมาศ ณ ถลาง ผู้ดำเนินรายการ : คุณวัฒนชัย วินิจจะกูล, TK Park หัวข้อ Reading Research Report: “The Study of Thailand’s Reading Promotion Policy: Comparative Study between Thailand’s Policy and Foreign Countries Policies.”
5. Brian E. Smith, School of Global Japanese Studies at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan หัวข้อ “Improving Discussion Strategies within a Reading Classroom”
6. Dr. Thadthong Bhrammanee, Phetchaburi Rajabhat University หัวข้อ “A Convergence between Reading Literacy and Semantic Web Technology”
7. Kanya Wuttikietapaiboon, Sam Houston State University หัวข้อ “Strategies for Reading Comprehension of Online Texts”
8. Dusadee Rangseechatchawan, Sam Houston State University หัวข้อ “Ah! This book has no word”
9. Professor Dr. Debra P. Price, Professor Dr. Mary E. Robbinsม Associate , Professor Leonard G. Breen, Department of Language, Literacy & Special Population, Sam Houston State University หัวข้อ “Comprehensive Reading Instruction” (ได้เสนอผลงานในวันที่สองของการจัดงาน)

จากการบรรยายของผู้บรรยายในแต่ละท่านนั้น สาระสำคัญที่ผู้บรรยายได้นำเสนอแบ่งได้ออกเป็น 3 ส่วน
1. ปัญหาของการการอ่านของนักเรียน นักศึกษา
คนไทยเฉลี่ยทั้งประเทศอ่านหนังสือน้อยกว่าฮ่องกง และสิงคโปร์ 7-8 เท่า น้อยกว่าเกาหลีใต้ 4 เท่า (สถิติการใช้กระดาษพิมพ์และเขียน ของยูเนสโก 2540) จำนวนหนังสือใหม่ที่พิมพ์ในรอบปีของไทยน้อยกว่าอังกฤษ (ประเทศที่มีประชากรน้อยกว่าไทยเล็กน้อย) ราว 10 เท่า เด็กอายุ 10- 14 ปี กว่า 60% ให้เหตุผลในการไม่อ่านหนังสือว่า ไม่ชอบอ่านและไม่สนใจที่จะอ่าน เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับประเทศเพื่อนบ้าน อย่างสิงคโปร์และเกาหลี ที่มีสถิติการอ่านหนังสือของเด็กต่อคนปีละ 40 เล่ม ส่วนเวียดนาม มีสถิติการอ่านหนังสือปีละ 60 เล่มต่อคน ขณะที่เด็กไทยมีสถิติการอ่านหนังสือเพียงปีละ 2 เล่มต่อคน ซึ่งตรงนี้ไม่นับหนังสือเรียนแต่เป็นหนังสือที่อ่านตามความสนใจของเด็กแต่ละคนใน 365 วัน เด็กไทยอ่านหนังสือเพียง 2 เล่ม นับว่าการอ่านหนังสือของคนไทยมีน้อยมาก
2. การอ่านกับการเรียนการสอน
ปัญหาคือการมีทรรศนะเรื่องการศึกษาแบบล้าสมัย คือมองว่าเป็นการสอนแบบอัดความรู้ให้กับผู้เรียน ไม่ได้เข้าใจว่าการศึกษาคือเรื่องการคิด วิเคราะห์ สังเคราะห์ ค้นคว้า วิจัย สร้างความรู้ใหม่ หรืออย่างน้อยรู้วิธีที่จะไปเรียนรู้ต่อได้
พวกนักบริหารการศึกษาไทยยังมองการศึกษาแบบแยกส่วน เช่น เน้นการของบประมาณเพิ่มขึ้น เน้นการแก้ไขปัญหาระบบบริหาร การพัฒนาหลักสูตรการเรียนการสอน การวัดมาตรฐานการศึกษา ฯลฯ ในระบบโรงเรียนและมหาวิทยาลัยให้ดูมีรูปแบบที่ทันสมัย มากกว่าที่จะเน้นเนื้อหาสาระว่า จะปฏิรูปความคิด ทัศนคติ สติปัญญา ครูอาจารย์ยังสอนแบบบรรยายให้ผู้เรียนจำไปสอบ ไม่ได้กระตุ้นเด็กและเยาวชนให้สนใจที่จะรักการอ่าน คิดวิเคราะห์ และการศึกษาหาความรู้ด้วยตัวเอง ปัญหาหลักคือ เมื่อครู อาจารย์เองส่วนใหญ่ได้รับการศึกษาแบบเก่า คือท่องจำสอบผ่านมาได้ โดยไม่ใช่คนที่ใฝ่รู้ทางวิชาการ ไม่รักการอ่าน ไม่ชอบคิดวิเคราะห์ ดังนั้นก็จะส่งผลต่อนิสัยการรักการอ่าน และประสิทธิภาพของการอ่านของพวกเขา (อ้างอิงจาก รศ.วิทยากร เชียงกูล)
3. วิธีการแก้ไขปัญหา

• รศ.วิทยากร เชียงกูล ได้เสนอแนวคิดในเรื่องการปลูกฝังการรักการอ่าน และเพื่อนักเรียน นักศึกษาสามารถอ่านหนังสือได้อย่างคล่องแคล่ว รวมถึงความสำเร็จของการจะปฏิรูปการศึกษาจะสำเร็จได้ ก่อนอื่นต้องหาวิธีผลิตครูและเปลี่ยนครูอาจารย์ที่มีอยู่ให้เป็นคนที่รักการอ่าน ใฝ่การเรียนรู้ให้ได้ก่อน พวกเขาจึงจะชักจูงให้นักเรียนนักศึกษารักการอ่าน การค้นคว้าซึ่งคือการเรียนรู้ที่แท้จริงได้ การเพาะนิสัยรักการอ่าน ใฝ่การเรียนรู้ การคิดวิเคราะห์ต่อ เป็นปัจจัยที่สำคัญที่จะทำให้คนเรียนรู้ได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ และจะนำไปสู่การเผยแพร่และสร้างภูมิปัญญาใหม่ที่จะสามารถหาทางแก้ไขวิกฤตของชาติได้ นอกจากนี้ต้องฝึกให้พวกเขารักการอ่านการเรียนรู้มาตั้งแต่ต้น เริ่มจากนิทาน การ์ตูน และค่อย ๆ ชี้นำชักจูงให้เขายกระดับการอ่านวรรณกรรมที่มีเนื้อหาสาระที่ดีๆ เพิ่มขึ้นตามลำดับ เมื่อเขาใช้คอมพิวเตอร์เป็น เขาจะได้มีนิสัยที่จะรักการอ่าน และใช้อินเตอร์เน็ทได้อย่างมีสาระประโยชน์เพิ่มขึ้น
• ศาสตราจารย์ ดร. เกรียงศักดิ์ เจริญศักดิ์ ได้เสนอแนวทาง ที่เป็นประโยชน์ไว้ 6 ข้อ เพื่อที่จะเพิ่มพูลการอ่านให้มีคุณภาพมากขึ้น นอกเหนือจากการที่ปลูกฝังให้นักเรียนรักการอ่าน เพราะการอ่านที่มีคุณภาพจะส่งผลถึงการใช้ชีวิตที่มีประสิทธิภาพ และยังเป็นการส่งเสริมการอ่านแบบยั่งยืนอีกด้วย
- Create habits of reading,
- Teach techniques of reading—slow reading,
- Create context that is conducive in the global activities,
- Create indicators for different jargon in different fields,
- Core courses in universities of English should be the frontier of knowledge from what who have learned, and
- The need to learn other languages to get the body of knowledge.
• ศาสตราจารย์ ดร. Patricia A. Edwards จาก Michigan State University ได้เสนอแนวทางในการส่งเสริมคุณภาพการอ่านและการศึกษาไว้ว่าควรจะเป็นความร่วมมือระหว่าง ผู้ปกครอง ผู้เรียน และ โรงเรียน ซึ่งหมายถึงตัวผู้สอนและสถานศึกษา โดยนิสัยการรักการอ่าน และความสามารถในการอ่านของเด็กๆ ส่วนหนึ่งก็เป็นหน้าที่ของผู้ปกครอง ที่จะช่วยกันกับครูผู้สอน ให้เด็กๆ หรือผู้เรียนมีความคล่องแคล่วในการอ่าน เพราะถ้าผู้อ่านยังไม่มีทักษะการอ่านที่ดีในระดับการศึกษาชั้นต้นๆ แล้ว ก็จะยิ่งส่งผลกระทบต่อไปเมื่อต้องเรียนในระดับที่สูงขึ้น และจะส่งผลต่อทุกวิชาที่เขาเรียน
• ส่วนผู้บรรยายท่านอื่นๆ ก็ได้เสนอแนะวิธีการสอน สื่อการสอนในรูปของสื่ออิเล็กทรอนิค เพื่อนำมาใช้กับการปลูกฝังการรักการอ่าน และคุณภาพการอ่าน และช่วยให้การเรียนการสอนโดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งการอ่านนั้นน่าสนใจ และเหมาะสมกับผู้เรียนมากขึ้น ตัวผู้สอนเองนั้นมีส่วนสำคัญที่จะเสริมสร้างการรักการอ่าน คุณภาพการอ่าน โดยการหาวิธีที่จะกระตุ้นให้ผู้อ่านมีความสนใจที่อยากจะอ่านมากขึ้น ซึ่งทั้งนี้ก็ต้องหาสื่อ หรือหนังสือให้อ่านที่เหมาะกับผู้อ่าน และการอ่านควรเป็นแบบการอ่านเพื่อความเพลิดเพลิน ไม่ใช่อ่านแบบเรียนเพื่อสอบ
• นอกจากนี้ทางห้องสมุดประชาชน และห้องสมุดโรงเรียนยังได้เสนอแนะวิธีที่เป็นประโยชน์ โดยการจัดกิจกรรมต่างๆ เพื่อรณรงค์การรักการอ่าน เช่น โครงการส่งเสริมนิสัยรักการอ่าน กระทรวงศึกษาธิการประจำปีงบประมาณ 2549 ตามวัตถุประสงค์หลักการดำเนินงาน 3 ประการคือ
- มุ่งสร้างพื้นฐานค่านิยมที่ดีต่อการอ่านสู่เด็ก เยาวชน และประชาชนทั่วไป
- มุ่งพัฒนาห้องสมุดสถานศึกษา/ห้องสมุดประชาชนหรือแหล่งการเรียนรู้ สนองความต้องการของกลุ่มผู้อ่านในพื้นที่
- มุ่งเผยแพร่วิสัยทัศน์จากการอ่านพระราชนิพนธ์อันทรงคุณค่าใน สมเด็จพระเทพรัตนราชสุดาฯ สยามบรมราชกุมารี และประชาสัมพันธ์โครงการส่งเสริมนิสัยรักการอ่าน

2. ประโยชน์ที่ได้รับและการนำไปประยุกต์ใช้
จากการที่ได้เข้าร่วมการประชุมดิฉันได้ทราบวิธี ข้อมูล และทัศนะคติที่ดีๆ ที่จะช่วยกันส่งเสริมการรักการอ่านและการอ่านอย่างมีคุณภาพในฐานะอาจารย์ผู้สอน คือ ได้ตระหนักว่าควรจะทำอย่างไรเราจึงจะส่งเสริมให้คนไทยทั้งประเทศใฝ่รู้ใฝ่เห็นและรักการอ่านเพิ่มขึ้น จากคำแนะนำของรศ.วิทยากร เชียงกูลที่เห็นได้ชัดคือ
• การเรียนรู้จะต้องอาศัยการรู้จักฟัง การอ่าน คิดวิเคราะห์ การซักถาม โต้แย้ง สังเคราะห์ วิจัย ค้นคว้าอย่างวิพากษ์วิจารณ์ เป็นตัวของตัวเอง ไม่ใช่การท่องจำตามที่อาจารย์หรือตำราบอก
• ควรเปลี่ยนวิธีการสอนภาษาและวรรณกรรมตั้งแต่ชั้นเด็กเล็กให้เกิดความสนุก น่าสนใจ ส่งเสริมจินตนาการ การคิดตีความอย่างหลากหลาย เพราะความรู้ทางภาษาเป็นพื้นฐานสำคัญในการจะเรียนรู้วิชาอื่นๆ (เด็กในโรงเรียนไทยที่จะเก่งวิชาอื่นหรือแม้ภาษาอังกฤษได้มักจะต้องเก่งภาษาไทยมาก่อน)
• การจะปฏิรูปกระบวนการเรียนรู้แบบใหม่ให้นักเรียนรู้จักรักการอ่าน การใฝ่ใจเรียนรู้ด้วยตนเองในหมู่เด็ก เยาวชน และผู้ใหญ่ไทย เป็นเรื่องจะทำได้โดยไม่ต้องใช้งบฯมากมายอะไร แต่ต้องใช้ความฉลาดและความตั้งใจสูง จะต้องกล้าเปลี่ยนแปลงปฏิรูปหลักสูตร วิธีการสอน วิธีการวัดผล การสอบคัดเลือกใหม่หมด จากที่เน้นการท่องจำต้องเน้นที่การอ่านเป็น คิดเป็น พูดเป็น เขียนเป็น หากนักการศึกษา ครูอาจารย์จะไปศึกษาแนวทางการจัดการเรียนการสอนจากโรงเรียนนานาชาติดีๆ ที่สอนให้เด็กหัดคิด ค้นคว้าโต้แย้งอาจารย์อย่างมีเหตุผลมีข้อมูลได้ก็จะเป็นประโยชน์ยิ่ง
ดังนั้นในฐานะอาจารย์ผู้สอนภาษาอังกฤษคนหนึ่ง ดิฉันเห็นว่าผู้สอนเป็นปัจจัยที่สำคัญในการกระตุ้นและผลักดันให้นักเรียน นักศึกษามีนิสัยการรักการอ่านและส่งผลต่อการอ่านอย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ สิ่งเหล่านี้จะเกิดขึ้นได้ก็ต่อเมื่อผู้สอนมีจิตใจรักในอาชีพการสอน มีจิตใจการรักการอ่าน และพยายามที่จะพัฒนาตัวเองในเรื่องการเรียน การสอนอยู่อย่างต่อเนื่อง ไม่เช่นนั้นแล้วผู้เรียนจะเป็นคนที่ได้รับผลกระทบตรงๆ จากผู้สอน

3. ข้อเสนอแนะ
ควรจัดให้มีนโยบายการรักการอ่านในสถานศึกษาอย่างจริงจัง จัดให้มีกิจกรรมอยู่อย่างต่อเนื่อง โดยผู้รับผิดชอบในด้านห้องสมุดเองก็ควรจะมีกลวิธีดึงดูดผู้เรียนให้สนใจการอ่านหนังสือมากยิ่งขึ้น

Good thought for the Day--the Law of Karma!

2009-09-28T07:58:00.001+07:00

I have to admit that I totally agree with the teaching and contribution of Eknath about consequences. We can all indulge ourselves for things; however, things that we do have their own consequences which we will have to be aware of. It should not be the gain of one and the lose of others! In terms of all relationships, it's crucial to put others first at times...put ourselves into their shoes. Many relationships have come to an end because they don't seem to think of others first--imagine, if each one of us thinks about others first...their will be all peace and long lasting relationships. This morning, I watch the news about a couple in Brisbane, Australia, have been married for 72 years. They were asked how they felt until these days, they said that they still love each other more and more. What's the secret then? It's patience and love for each other!!!!!! Love to give, that is!

--Tuk

September 26

A human being fashions his consequences as surely as he fashions his goods or his dwelling. Nothing that he says, thinks, or does is without consequences.
– Norman Cousins

The Hindu and Buddhist scriptures give us the same truth in what is called the law of karma, which is the psychological equivalent to the physical law that every action has a reaction equal and opposite to it. The Buddha says we can fly higher than the heavens or hide in the depths of the earth, but we will not be able to escape the consequences of our actions. Though we drive to another city or fly to another country, though we change our job or our name, our mistakes will pursue us wherever we go.

Paradoxically, the only way we can begin to escape from the consequences of our actions is to stop running from them and to face them with fortitude. In this sense, every difficult situation is a precious opportunity. When we find ourselves in some situation where we always make the same mistake, if we can manage not to make that mistake, the chain can be broken. Often, if we face it squarely, that situation will not come up again.

A Powerful Force to Get Me Moving and Staying in this Profession!

2009-09-01T18:40:00.005+07:00

I just wanted to share with you, my readers, that, in the teaching profession, the very imperative keyword to keep us, teachers, alive is PASSION in the teaching and imparting our knowledge and good virtues to our students. Seeing them change, grow and realise what is best for them is such a great encouragement. No matter how many students could see how hard you work or attempt to help them to accomplish, as long as only one to two can think of you as their idol. This is, what I call, a success!

Two of my students were granted a UMAP scholarship to take a full course in Hotel and Tourism with other students from around the world. Thus, I would like to share with you what they have to say:

University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) is policy of The Commission on Higher Education (CHE), Thailand, the aim is to promote student mobility in Asia and the Pacific region for better understanding of diverse cultures among the people and to enhance academic linkages between universities in the region.

For this year, there are about 80 students will come to attend a four-week course at selected Thai universities. They come from different university all Asia and the pacific including our Sripatum University. On behalf of Sripatum University, There are two students were selected to take part in the program which called Hospitality and Tourism Management in Thailand. The first one is me, Miss Suriyaporn Pariyati. The second one is Miss Sirimes Kangwan. We are a fourth year student, majoring in English Business for Communication.

At first, we didn’t know anything exactly about UMAP Scholarship. It may be because we didn’t pay attention well when our lecturers announced about this scholarship. And also we ignored anything, because we were in the moment of final exam. A week later after final exam has passed. My advisor is A. Piboon Sukvijit phoned to me and asked me to attend UMAP program. I thought this program is interesting, and also I was just staying home and have nothing to do. So, I decided to take part in this program. For this program, students are required to submit a 1,000-word essay written. A topic was to give opinion towards changes in hospitality and tourism management with respect to ethics and sustainable development consideration. We have got only one night to write it then submitted to the teacher in the morning.

I think this program is great and it can be the great experience for me and my friend as well. During a month of program I hope that I will gain a lot of experience and knowledge from UMAP as much as I can.

Special Thanks*** In this part, we would like to thank the peoples who gave us such a good chance like this. The first one is Dr.Prof. Gloria Widhicharearn-the Dean of the department of foreigner language. She always support her students to get every good experience. The second one is Mr.Vorasuang Duangchinda – the assistant director, office of International Relation. He helped us everything. He donated his time with us and giving us many good visions. He helped us figure any problems out. The third one is A. Piboon Sukvijit. She is our advisor. She helped everything as well. She phoned to urge us whenever she get something update about this program and a lot more of helpful. Finally, I would like to thank Sripatum University that always offer many good chances and good scholarship like this. These are some of their kindness that impresses us a lot.

For more details: http://blog.spu.ac.th/UMAP2009/2009/07/10/entry-1

International Conference on "Reading Literacy for Quality Education"

2009-08-19T14:38:00.005+07:00

There will be an international conference co-hosted by International Reading Association, International Development in Asia Committee, Thailand Reading Association, Thailand Development Foundation, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Non-Formal Education, Office of the Basic Education Commission, Ministry of Education and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration on Reading Literacy for Quality Education. The conference will be held on 1-2 October 2009 at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.

Our keynote speakers are Professor Dr. Patricia A. Edwards, Professor of Language and Literacy at Michigan State University International Reading Association, President-Elect 2009-2010.

Professor Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, President of the Instute of Future Studies for Development, will give a talk on "Reading for Developing Quality of Life". In addition, there are other professors,such as Prof.Dr. Debra P. Price, Prof.Dr. Mary E.Robbins and Assoc.Prof.Leonard G. Breen, from Sam Houston State University to share the best practices in promoting reading quality

Certainly, I myself was invited to be an MC at the event!

Morning Talk: Women's Leadership in the Changing World

2009-08-01T09:04:00.004+07:00

July 31, 2009

I was invited as an MC for the a special morning talk at Sripatum University called "Morning Talk at Sripatum University." Morning Talk is actually a TV program on air for more than 16 years to viewers throughout Thailand and across the globe, covering about 170 countries through the Thai Global Network (TGN). It's a variety English TV talk show hosted by five presenters from various field of works, leading by Dr. Valerie McKenzie, who is the anchor and lead presenter of the programme. (for more information about the program go to http://www.morningtalk.tv/)

The special morning talk at Sripatum today was organized by the Office of International Relations under the lead of Mrs. Chinda Tejavanija Chang, Director of Sripatum International College and Director of International Relations Office, Sripatum University and, and with the great and professional assistance from her staff including Ajarn Vorasuang Duangchinda and Ajarn Duangdao Artsomboon. The rationale behind this project was to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Sirikit's birthday and to commemorate Mother's Day of Thailand (Aug 12, 2009). This project was set to advance knowledge and skill of Thai women, and unite them for the future of Thailand, to make sure that women is equally recognized as men, to promote beautiful culture and tradition of being real Thai female and to elevate level of working capacity for Thai women.

As a novice in my teaching profession, I was so very blessed to be able to not just listen but to learn how to become successful. I guess these days, how to make women leadership visible is out of question; instead, how to retain the leadership and earn respect from men in the professional world are to focus! From listening to four leading and powerful women from public sector to media and educational sectors, I truly learned a whole lot and would like to share with others as well.

Khun Chantra Purnariksha, Secretary-General of Office of Insurance Commission, emphasised that we, as women, should always act like a lady yet be tough to ourselves in making things better and proving our leadership. She also stated that a good female should be open-minded and the most important thing is "No one is better than others, we should work as a team" and the other thing is "work hard, study hard and dedicate to the work you do."

The second speaker was Dr. Valerie MeKenzie, Top female executive at the International level, and Host of "Morning Talk" TV program, suggested some remarkable points of what make women become successful. She stated that women should be determined, be what they are and be sincere of who they are, be honest, open, understand and look beyond where they could be, believe in themselves, and, particularly for Thais, they shouldn't lose their nationality and the good traits that they have as Thai women.

The third speaker was Dr. Junya Pookayaporn, Assitant of the President of Sripatum University, and Leader in University Social Responsibility (USR). She coined down the word obtacles of being a leading woman as "challenges." She concentrated on positive thinking and compassion. Woman and us all should give compassion to ourselves and to others.

Great Passage and Thought which I cannot agree more and so wanted to share with others!!!

2009-07-12T09:18:00.002+07:00

July 11

The more we have the less we own.
– Meister Eckhart

We have been ruthlessly conditioned to think we can find fulfillment in possessions, to love things rather than people – so much so, that when we feel an emptiness in our hearts, we go to shopping centers to fill it up.

I am all for living in reasonable comfort, but when I go to shopping centers, I cannot help getting alarmed. Not at the money that is being wasted – there is enough money in this country to waste. But there isn’t enough will to waste. There isn’t enough energy to waste. When we hear of the energy crisis, this is it. All our vitality, energy, and drive is sapped and undermined by the constant propaganda: go after this, go after that, and you’ll be happy. Things are not meant to be loved. They are meant only to be used. People are lovable and loving.

English Camp for High School No. 2--Fun Activities!

2009-06-29T09:21:00.005+07:00

Imagination plays a great deal in learning

2009-05-20T12:22:00.001+07:00

Great learning, understanding and acquiring new knowledge (in all subject matters), to me, come from unlimited and broad imagination. Without great imagination, children won’t be able to learn, to grow and to change. In the conversation between Scott and Jane Goodall, an internationally renowned primatologist and the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, they mentioned about suffering (dukkha in Buddhism) in two elements: one is that we want escape things that make us unhappy, thinks that cause pain. The other one is our longing to be aligned with something greater than we are right now. This second thing is very important for us to recognize. Thus, the important thing is if you don’t strive to find it then life seems to lack meaning. Jane stated that our life is a series of attempts to get higher ad higher toward the goal, we can’t cope by ourselves. There is a real longing in people to reach up to this higher state of being. Yet, children these days seem to lack—connection with everyone else. Children in the West have so many things, from video games to cell phones, and yet they have a lot of loneliness and sense of anxiety. Children used to play and laugh and have fun and being creative, and they have a sense of connection with everyone else. We, as adults, seem to take all these things away from them. We are going to tell them they need a video game to be happy. Once children have grown up with the video games and the violent movies, it is very difficult to change their mind stream. Therefore, they need to be instilled the goodness or plant the seeds for goodness and peace—more meaningful and imaginative

Goodall stated about the state of togetherness and the tools for change that we needed to break down the artificial barriers we’ve created between the rich and the poor, between countries, between cultures, between religions, between ethnic groups, between countries, between old and young very often, and between humans and animals. If you imagine that I give you a seed and you take it to Tibet and you plant it, well, it will grow in Tibet only if it’s nurtured by the Tibetan people. And when the fruits come, they’ll be the Tibetans’ fruits. I can take a seed and plant it in Congo and the same will be true. When all these fruits and leaves blossom out there they will be something we all made together.” The Future of Peace,Page 325

The law of Dharma and the Learning of a second/foreign language...some connection there!?

2009-05-17T10:59:00.005+07:00

After the read on The Future of Peace, I could not help but quesioned myself of the connection between the teaching of the Buddha and teaching English as a second or foreign language. During the discussion between Scott Hunt and Maha Ghosananda (known as The Ghandhi of Cambodia), Maha Ghosananda stated, “If you look down upon people, are very proud and haughty, your mind will become ignorant. If you are respect everybody, because the whole world is your house and all human beings are your mother. Then you will become very wise. You must have su, chi, po, li. Su means to listen, chi means to think, pu means to question, and li means to record. To listen, to think, to question, and to record, these make you become very wise. If you don’t have them you become ignorant. That is the law of dharma.” (The Future of Peace, p.175)

Dealing with Difficult People--extra seminar activity for university students

2009-04-27T13:39:00.006+07:00

This seminar was initiated and aimed to help students with their lives after graduation, particularly to be aware of behaviors, what kind of people they are, and learn the "soft skills" through the teaching of Buddha . After spending and teaching them for three months, I found that they did not have any aim in their lives and did not know what to expect and how to deal with lives and negotiation at work. Thus, I kindly invited Dr. Janya Pookkayaporn, an expert in coaching and how to deal with difficult people, to give a special lecture on the topic of "How to Deal with Life and Negotiation after Graduation in the Midst of Economic Crisis"

Topics of discussion:
-Happiness at work
-Not Friendly Behaviors
-Dealing with Difficult People

What Gandhi can teach you about happiness at work?
So many of Gandhi’s teachings and life stories can be applied to our own lives and can help us find meaning and strength. Gandhi endured a lot of hardships and if we study those hardships we can derive the same truth from them that he did.

1. Making mistakes
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” - Gandhi
2. Understanding
“Hate the sin, love the sinner.” - Gandhi
3. Arrogance
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” – Gandhi
4. Forgiveness
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Gandhi
5. Becoming a leader
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Gandhi
6. Grudges
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” – Gandhi
7. Being truthful
“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” - Gandhi
8. Peace at work
“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” - Gandhi

กัลยาณมิตรธรรม 7 ประการ

-ปิโย = น่ารัก มิตรที่ชวนให้อยากไปปรึกษา มีความสบายใจเมื่ออยู่ใกล้
-ครุ = น่าเคารพ มิตรที่ประพฤติดี ประพฤติชอบ
-ภาวนีโย = น่าเจริญ น่ายกย่อง มิตรที่มีภูมิปัญญาแท้จริง เป็นผู้ปรับปรุงตนเองเสมอ ควรเอาอย่าง
-วตตา จ = รู้จักพูดให้ได้ผล รู้จักชี้แจงให้เข้าใจ รู้ว่าเมื่อไหร่ควรพูดอะไร และอย่างไร
-วจนกขโม = อดทนต่อถ้อยคำ มิตรที่อดทน ไม่ฉุนเฉียว ไม่นินทา ไม่วิจารณ์
-คมภีรจ กถ กตตา = อธิบายเรื่องที่ล้ำลึกได้ มิตรที่ทำให้เราเข้าใจเรื่องที่ยุ่งยากซับซ้อน
-โน จฎฐาเน นิโยชเย = ไม่ชักนำในอฐาน มิตรที่ไม่แนะนำเรื่องเหลวไหล หรือชักจูงไป ในทางเสื่อมเสีย

Not Friendly Behaviors:
-Warrior--Knows only one way to solve problems: by yelling and being aggressive.
-Unloader--Anger on a safe source. Might be angry at something else but vents anger on the person being talked to at the moment.
-Guiltmaker
-Child--Throws tantrums: yells.
-Blamer--Interested in finding fault than solving the problem. Most likely to ask to speak to a supervisor after the the problem was solved.
-Survivalist--Scared of what will happened if the problem isn’t solved. May whine and have difficulty shifting into a problem solving modes
-Parent--Patronizes, talks down to others. And uses insults. May use sarcasm.
-Pretender--Pretends not to be upset but will most likely tell friends about the university’s badservice.
-Gunny Sacker--Scared of what will happened if the problem isn’t solved. May whine and have difficulty shifting into a problem solving modes

Dealing with Difficult People:
1. Tank--Don’t counterattack or offer excuses, let them vent, hold your ground, demand respect.
2. Sniper--Call them on their sarcasm and have them explain what was really behind their comment; be honest and tell them their comment was rude and unkind
3. Grenade--Don’t show anger, let them vent, tell them you take their concerns seriously, give them a chance to cool down.
4. Whiner--Listen but don’t get drawn into their complaining; focus them on specific solutions; shift to problem-solving mode.
5. No Person --Don’t rush them or try to persuade them they are wrong; acknowledge their concerns and input.
6. Know-it-All--Acknowledge their expertise and competence, make your statements appear as if they are in agreement
7. Think-They know-It-All--Give them attention; be patient; don’t embarrass them.
8. Nothing Person--Try to draw them out; ask them specific questions without making them fell they are being attacked
9. Yes Person-- Encourage the person to be honest; make it safe for them to say no.
10. May be person--Help them learn decision-making skills; reassure them about the decisions they make; let them know it’s OK to take risks.

Feedback from students after the seminar:

"I got the knowledge about how to negotiate with other people. Somebody hard somebody easy to negotiate. I got ideas from example when Dr. Chanya said. I can solved the problem from my colleagues when I work in the future. I knew and remember about the moral of how to be a good friend. In the future in can face with other problems"-- Saowakhon Rattanarat

"I got many methods to behave or control myself follow the right way and hae learnt how to behave and stay with other in workplace or social life. When we have problems in workplace. The siminar gave me the ways or solutions to figure it out."--Suriyaporn Pariyat

Teachers are like signposts...

2009-04-03T13:50:00.001+07:00

The Buddhas do but tell the way, it is for you to labor at the task.
– The Buddha

Eknath's thought on the Buddha's statement,

Spiritual teachers are like signposts pointing the way to immortality, but it is we who must make the journey. This is quite reasonable. After all, when we pass a signpost on the freeway, we don’t expect it to get into the driver’s seat and do the driving while we lie down in the back to take a nap. On the first half of the spiritual journey, we cannot expect other people to pick us up and carry us along. It is up to us to meditate regularly, and practice the allied disciplines.

Sri Ramakrishna says that the first part of the trip is the “way of the monkey.” The little baby monkey has to hold on for dear life while his mother swings from tree to tree. If the little one loses his grip, he’ll fall and hurt himself. But the second half is the “way of the cat.” The little kitten just sits there on the road looking cute and helpless, saying, “mew, mew, mew,” and the mother cat picks it up by the scruff of its neck and takes it to safety. It is only on the second half of the journey that we are carried by a power higher than ourselves.

Fun activities at English Camp for high school students

2009-03-10T17:39:00.004+07:00

Liberal Arts, Sripatum University, was hired by Rattanakosinsompoat-Saraya in Nakornpathom province to run an English camp for their students in the Gifted Program. There were about 80 students participating the camp organized by me, others faculty members, foreign teachers, and student staff. The camp was held at Sripatum University on March 7-8, 2009. The purposes of this camp initiated by the high school teacher were to help their students to become better in English and get exposed to a university setting. The camp was very successful because all of the students had a great time and learned more vocabulary words and practiced their listening and speaking skills. They enjoyed the games tremendously; therefore, I would like to share them with others.

Games Descriptions

“Fastest is the Winner”
Work with your team, and think fast!
Find words and the meaning to be the winner!

“Game Zone”
How good is your acting? You’ll need to mime the vocabulary for your friends to guess! Funny gesture and movements will help you win!

“Eng & Art”
How is your drawing? You will need to draw funny pictures about vocabulary for your team to win!
Unity, teamwork and enjoyment are the idea of this game!

“Find It”
Can you speak English? This game has you speaking and listening. Saying words clearly can help your team win! Work with your team and enjoy speaking!

“Don’t Stop the Music”
Can you sing? Enjoy English songs and music. Recognize lyrics and tunes and see if your friends can guess the songs.

“What is it?”
How good is your vocabulary? This game aims to test your vocabulary skills. You will be asked to look at some drawings and guess the vocabulary words.

Give me a name- Or “Hangman”
It is simply the hangman game. Each group has to compete over vocabulary hidden on the chart provided.

“Gossip Game”
This game is to practice your listening and speaking. One student in each group will hear phrases or sentences and has to pass them along to his or her friends by whispering and last student in the group will have to say it out loud correctly.

ร่วมยินดี "ครูในดวงใจ" (Award for teachers)

2009-02-19T12:09:00.010+07:00

I just wanted to share my success with others. It was a ceremonial event for those teachers who were awarded a certificate of merit for teaching (or idol award for teachers)given by the Princess. It is in Thai since I have adopted the information from SPU websit (www.spu.ac.th). The English version will be translated soon!

ดร.รัชนีพร พุคยาภรณ์ พุกกะมาน อธิการบดีมหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม ร่วมแสดงความยินดีและเลี้ยงอาหารกลางวันแก่อาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม หลังได้เข้ารับพระราชทานเกียรติบัตร "ครูในดวงใจ" ประจำปี 2552 จำนวน 10 คน จาก ทูลกระหม่อมหญิงอุบลรัตนราชกัญญา สิริวัฒนาพรรณวดี จากจำนวนผู้เข้ารับพระราชทานทั้งหมดจำนวน 355 คน ณ ห้องบุษกร อาคาร ดร.สุข พุคยาภรณ์ มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม เมื่อวันที่ 13 กุมภาพันธ์ 2552 ที่ผ่านมา

สำหรับอาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุมที่ได้รับคัดเลือกเข้ารับพระราชทานกียรติบัตร "ครูในดวงใจ" ประจำ 2552 จำนวน 10 คน ประกอบด้วย...

1 อ.เจียมจิต สุวรรณน้อย อาจารย์ประจำคณะนิติศาสตร์
2 อ.ประพาฬรัตน์ อำประเสริฐ อาจารย์ประจำคณะนิเทศศาสตร์
3 อ.ชลลดา สัจจานิตย์ อาจารย์ประจำคณะบริหารธุรกิจ
4 อ.ณัฐกมล ถุงสุวรรณ อาจารย์ประจำคณดิจิทัลมีเดีย
5 อ.ประนิธศรี สาริกัลยะ อาจารย์ประจำคณะบัญชี
6 อ.วันชัย จันไกรผล อาจารย์ประจำคณะวิศวกรรมศาสตร์
7 อ.ไพบูลย์ สุขวิจิตร อาจารย์ประจำคณะศิลปศาสตร์
8 อ.อนพัทย์ หนองคู อาจารย์ประจำคณะเศรษฐศาสตร์
9 อ.กนกวรรณ อุสันโน อาจารย์ประจำคณะสถาปัตยกรรมศาสตร์
10 อ.จีระวรรณ วิสายอน อาจารย์ประจำคณะสารสนเทศศาสตร์

You are as you are!

2009-02-19T12:05:00.003+07:00

Here are the great saying and thought from Kempis and Eknath! After reading it, I could not help, but wanted to share with others of how true it is.

Do not let your peace depend on the hearts of others; whatever they say about you, good or bad, you are not because of it another, for as you are, you are.
– Thomas a Kempis

Even if you have ninety-nine people cheering you, there will always be a hundredth to boo. That is the nature of life, and to deal with it, we need simply to learn not to be always on the lookout for appreciation and applause. If people say, “Oh, there is nobody like you,” don’t get elated. Don’t pick up your telephone and call your friends to tell them what is being broadcast about you. That’s what most of us do, you know; that’s why telephones are so busy. It is also why so many people get dejected when fortune seems to frown.

My spiritual teacher – a simple, straightforward woman who didn’t mince words – used to tell me, “You can’t shut other people’s mouths.” It took me years to understand that. This unlettered lady knew that we don’t have any control over other people’s minds. You can control only your own mind. When you understand this, you know you needn’t be concerned about what people say about you: it doesn’t affect you, because your mind cannot be upset. You may feel hurt, but you will have an inner security that cannot be shaken.

Second Language Learners: Thought and Language by Vygotsky

2009-02-13T07:35:00.004+07:00

I have to admit that I was and am mesmarised by Vygotsky's doctine concerning second language and learners. Here, I decided to share my thoughts about his statement from the book I read once many years ago, Thought and Language I will certainly spare some time to read his work, as well as Piaget and Health, again and try to read more throughly about their works. This is just a small segment of my reflection.

In the book, it states at the beginning that "Vygotsky made it a point to argue that scientific concepts, far from being assimilated in a ready-made form,actuaslly undergo substantial development, which essentially depends on the existing level of a child's general ability to comprehend concept" (p. xxxiv)

I kind of agree with Vygotsky about understanding the concepts. It is true that scientific concepts (or any concepts that students learn) actually undergo substantial development, which essentially depends on the existing level of a child's general ability. This also reminds me of ESL students who learn second languages. These students would certainly undergo or face a difficulty in developing their second language skills if their own language ability or proficiency is poor.

From my experience as an assistant teacher at IELP, Temple University, I found that one student from Tibet was going through a very hard time learning English. She hardly gained or absurbed anything after 6 months of living in the U.S. I was very curious about why she did not understand any concept we taught in class. Eventially, I found out that she was illiterate in her mother tongue. As a result, she could not transfer her exising knowledge to English. This might perhaps help prove Vygotsky's theory.

Action truly speaks louder than Word!

2009-02-01T09:05:00.002+07:00

My post today is the Eknath's Thought for the Day! I truly agree with the saying from Sri Ramakrishna as well as Eknath's contribution. One action or initiative is more powerful than million words people say....

A devotee who can call on God while living a householder’s life is a hero indeed. God thinks: “They are blessed indeed who pray to Me in the midst of their worldly duties. They are trying to find Me, overcoming a great obstacle, pushing away, as it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a one is a real hero.”
– Sri Ramakrishna

To find a spiritual path, it is not necessary to give up our job, leave our family, change our religion, or travel to distant lands. We start wherever we are, not running away from society, but right in the midst of life. Whatever context we find ourselves in is a suitable one in which to overcome our problems and grow to our full height. We tend to look upon the other home as peaceful, the other couple as perfect, the other parent-child relationship as ideal, but this is not very likely. Everyone has certain liabilities as well as assets.

Everyone has done some good, and made some mistakes as well. This is part of the human condition. Saints and sages are loving realists. “Don’t wait for ideal conditions. You’ll never find them,” they admonish. “Begin! And the conditions you need will come to you.”

About 200 People from almost 20 Nations with Great Contributions to USRIC 2009 in Thailand!

2009-01-15T10:24:00.006+07:00

University Social Responsibility is a concept whereby a university takes all necessary steps to improve the quality of life for all its employees and their families, its students, its faculty, and the local community as well as society at large.
The purpose of the 1st University Social Responsibility International Conference 2009 (USRIC 2009) is to establish a dialogue between attending universities to address their responsibility to society to provide the best quality of life to all people.

The topics for conference discourse:

1. University’s Role in Social Responsibility
2. Cultures and Social Responsibility
3. Sustainable Development
4. Environmental Sustainability
5. Poverty Reduction
6. IT and Social Responsibility

Summary of the seminar

The seminar was held for two days with about 300 people participating from different areas in Thailand and overseas. There were six main topics related to the university social responsibility as follows:

1. Poverty Reduction
In this topic, the speakers introduced solutions that would help solve the problem of poverty, develop and bring the quality of life of people to a better level. In addition, during their talk, the speakers touched on other problems and obstacles that needed to be resolved urgently. Furthermore, they suggested, in particular, all universities to take a role in assisting, supporting and resolving those problems.

2. University’s role in Social Responsibility
The speaker suggested a path to the university’s role in social responsibility by considering three main factors as follows:
2.1 The objectives and roles that are similar and different between public and private universities
2.2 Research studies and other activities that could reinforce social responsibility
2.3 The utilization of the concept of CSR in a university level and its adaption to USR

3. Sustainable Development
In this session, the speakers suggested a way in developing a society to knowledge bank and sharing it to others in the same society for sustainable development. Here, the speakers shared with the participants their case studies from abroad, explained the problems and obstacles that occurred and suggested possible means to help resolve the problems.

4. Environmental Sustainability
As for the environmental sustainability, the speakers suggested ways and activities that could be undertaken by universities in terms of sustainable environment. University could motivate their students to help save and be responsible for both the environment and people around them.

5. IT and Social Responsibility
In this session, there were speakers from various business sectors—both from the government, such as NECTEC, and private business, such as Microsoft (Thailand)—national and international educational sectors suggested employing technology to help those who are in need in our society, for instance, disabled people. Developing and doing research to invent new hardware and software would possibly provide an ideal opportunity to facilitate disabled people in the society, so that they could have a better quality of living and career opportunity.

6. Cultures and Social Responsibility
In terms of cultures and social responsibility, the speakers suggested an ideal concept based on the Buddhist teaching in instilling good deed, faith and responsibility to oneself, family, and society. Moreover, the speakers suggested educational sectors to emphasize on the importance of cultivating their students in morals and cultures, so that they become better people in the society.

Besides, the participants from different business sectors and educational sectors had the opportunity to build a strong connection called USR Alliance. Its objectives were to, in unison, take part in activities for society, exchange knowledge and develop human resources by having Sripatum University as a leader to operate and coordinate among sectors in the alliance.

http://www.usralliance.org/usric2009thailand/vdo.html
http://www.usralliance.org/

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส และปีใหม่

2008-12-30T14:08:00.009+07:00

สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส และปีใหม่Wishing you a very Merry Christmas 08 and a wonderful New Year 09 from the Blogger (Tuk)

Great thought for the day by Eknath:

We are celebrating the feast of the Eternal Birth which God the Father has borne and never ceases to bear in all Eternity. . . . But if it takes not place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me.
– Meister Eckhart

The Lord of Love, immortal and infinite, comes as a divine incarnation in times of great crisis to rescue mankind from disaster. In age after age, whenever violence and hatred threaten the world, the Lord comes down to inspire and protect those who turn to him, who live in harmony with the law of unity. He comes to protect such people from the heavy odds ranged against them, and to reestablish peace on earth and good will among all.

Yet there is another level on which this divine birth can take place. Every one of us has this choice: shall I prepare for the divine birth to take place in my consciousness by abolishing my own selfishness? It is up to you and me to keep our doors open, to put up a little sign, “Ready for receiving an incarnation.” But our house must not be cluttered up. It must be empty of selfishness and self-will. Only then can the blessed child be born in our humble hearts.

Service Learning: What a fun, productive (yet exhusted) way to teach!

2008-12-22T14:42:00.008+07:00

A reflective writing after the read of Community-Service Pedagogy(writen in 2004)

First of all, I thought I understood what Community-Service or Service learning was when I started reading the first two pages of a textbook. I thought service learning was somewhat volunteer service or an intership. Students would search for their own community nonprofit and social service agencies and assist them to meet their needs. By doing so, students also learn how to deal with all the tasks they are assigned. Like my situation, I worked for a tourist police department as an intern for a two-month period without getting paid. Therefore, I take this as a service-learning. On the contrary, I came across a paragraph at the bottom of page 134 where it said that "Service learning is not national service, community service, or volunteer service or voluntrism, not is it the same as an academic internship or field placement." This relly bewildered me; I stopped reading for a moment; and thought about the distinction between service-learning that I understood and service-learning that Waterman explained. Now, I recalled my understanding about service-learning again. I still thought that it was some kind of services such as the Martin Luther King Day of Service, or tutoring and mentoring projects, in this sense, is not just that students helping communities willingly to meet their needs and their purposes, but students also gain knowledge, skills, and perspectives that broaden their understanding in the "real world writing."

Then, I cam across a passage where Julier mentioned that "Ira Harkery and Lee Benson also see service learning as a pedagogy derived from a theory of democratic education and schooling developed by John Dewey to replace Plato's aristocratic theory of education and society" (134)

After I finished reading the chapter, I had many questions in my head about how service learning can be employed in a classroom, how teachers can assign projects to students based on their various interests, how students can manage their time working for communities, and what the class will be like? One thing that I know of is that teachers are going to have to work harder to have to carefully assign the projects based on their values and other circumstances. Also, there is one more thing that I still doubt with, which is about the outcome(s)that students will get from the "real world writing" or communities. In other words, what would students really get from service learning, and how it would benefit in their writing class?

A recent reflective writing on the project with students (2008)

To be continued!

Compare our life to a woodpecker in regard to sustainable education and development--very sad but true!

2008-12-11T10:25:00.008+07:00

This is a reflective writing of the read Eknath's Thought for the Day. After reading Eknath's story and thought on a woodpecker, I couldn't help but agree with him on how dexterous, persevering, determined he is as just a bird! It is preposterous to say that a woodpecker conveys more valuable traits than some of us do, let alone teenagers in this generation and another generation to come. People these days seem to lack of sustained enthusiasm, desire, and passion. Perhaps, looking at the woodpecker pecking away a tree might do us any good! As for my view,talking about it in regard to my teaching avenue as a teacher, possessing a sustained enthusiasm and passion would help create a great deal of sustainable teaching and learning....

The following is a story about a woodpecker of Ekanth.

A few days ago I was watching a woodpecker, a creature I hadn’t seen since I left India. This one had a red turban. While I watched, he came and alighted on a huge tree. He was quite a small creature, and the trunk of the tree was enormous. I wanted to go up to him and say, “What, make a hole in that huge trunk with your tiny beak? Impossible. Preposterous!”

But this little woodpecker was not intimidated by size. He did not throw up his legs in despair; he just alighted and went about looking for the right place to begin operations.

It is the same with transforming consciousness; you have to look for the right spot. In some people it is a particular compulsive craving; in some it is jealousy; in some, blind fury. Some may be fortunate enough to have all three. Each person has to look for that spot where urgent work is most needed.

Let me continue with the story of the woodpecker. Once our red-turbaned chap had checked out possible areas for working, he settled down at what looked like a solid, unyielding spot and started pecking away rhythmically. He didn’t just give a peck or two and then fly off in search of a worm, not to return for half an hour. He went on pecking systematically, with sustained enthusiasm, until he was done. I was amazed at his dexterity. When he had finished, he left such a large hole that if he had gone on, I have no doubt the entire tree would have fallen.

That is the kind of work required to transform personality. For a long time, all we are doing in meditation is pecking away at what we want to change in ourselves. At best it is tedious; often it is downright painful. The problem is that we identify ourselves with the accumulation of habits and opinions, likes and dislikes, which we have developed over the years. We think this is who we are, and are not prepared to let it die.

“How Long Will It Take Me To Speak English Fluently?”

2008-11-15T07:09:00.001+07:00

“How Long Will It Take Me To Speak English Fluently?”

One of the questions that Thai learners, as well as other second language learners, always have in mind is “How long will it take me to speak English fluently?” This question is always in the back of the learners’ minds and never seems to disappear. After learning English or other second languages for awhile, the learners start to feel frustrated, disappointed, and become less motivated. As a result, the learners do not seem to gain language proficiency despite many years of learning it, especially in the speaking area because Thai and English are significantly different from each other. Therefore, this becomes one of the significant problems that hold back their potentials in learning English. However, instead of answering to the question, I’d rather restate it to “How will we speak English fluently?” Studying abroad? Paying a big ward of money to a language institute? Or Spending more time on reading something you like?

Certainly, my answer is reading. Generally speaking, it takes a long time, a lot of effort and endless practice in learning a new language such as English. Nevertheless, the learners can expedite the learning process by employing many different methods. One of them is reading. Reading is the key that helps second-language learners to develop their speaking skills. Most importantly, it is so cheap that sometimes it would not cost you a dime. By reading, the learners are able to expand their vocabulary and expressions used in every day conversation. Besides, they are vicariously and inevitably exposed to the new country and are able to understand its culture and people told in the story. Thus, this is another way to help the learners to be able to speak English correctly and fluently. Then, the new questions arise, “How can I start reading? And, what kind of book should I read?”

Based on a research, “reading is a habit which is developed at a very early age. If a child is in an environment where adults are always reading something, the child develops that habit. We need to have material that will entice the young to read more. It is from those romantic books that some of us have moved on to reading other things of importance.” This can be concluded that we should read at the early age. However, does it mean that it is too late for SPU students and other adult learners? No. Learning is never too late! The learners should start reading what they are most interested in. There are many numbers of books, magazines or articles for them to read. For beginners, they might want to read easy and short books, such as the penguin collection, that entice their interests. As soon as they gain enough vocabulary words, they might consider searching for more difficult books to read. If they like imagination, they might want to grab Harry Potter to read in their free time. Harry Potter consists of many episodes, and its next episode is coming out in a movie theatre next year. If they are interested in spiritual living and thoughts, they might want to find a book entitled Take Your Time by Eknath Eswaran. This book teaches them about how to live their lives to the fullest and how to put others’ first; it will certainly enlighten their restless minds! Last but not least, if they are in love, they might consider reading The Letter of Suzanne to Nicolas by James Patterson. This New York best-seller novel will surely bring them to tears, and you will understand the importance of love better.

Now that they know how imperative reading is and what books to read, they can get started on building the habit of reading and find a good book to read. However, they have to START NOW! NO PROCRASTINATING! Once their reading is sharpened, then their speaking will become superb and their writing will be remarkable. Although you should keep in mind that things do take time. If anyone has good books to share with me, please feel free to do so. By Ajarn Piboon Sukvijit

Learning through extra curriculum--English for Business Negotiations

2008-11-13T13:48:00.013+07:00

An English for Business Negotiation Project--A Hand-on experience on Negotiations

This activity was taken place in 2007 and was initiated in order to meet with the course objectives and provide the students an opportunity to gain more knowledge, practice, and performance by doing. I always attempt to see my students , especially forth year ones, brush up and employ their accumulated knowledge and skills to good use on their last year of the academic surrounding. Thus, this seminar was done by the students with the teacher providing the guidelines; it was also the integral part of the learning process, which is concentrated on learning by doing.

This course is designed to provide opportunities for forth-year students to improve both their negotiation and English language skills (especially speaking and writing). This is a ‘hands-on’ course where students will learn the basics of the negotiation process, including tactics and language required to conduct effective negotiations. Cross cultural awareness, including verbal and non-verbal languages, will be introduced to the students. Nevertheless, the focus will be on learning, practicing, and refining skills in using the English language in negotiations while reflecting upon performance so that the students can apply their skills to the ‘real world.’ The activities to be practiced will train the students to practice their speaking, listening, writing skills of English in correlation to negotiation process.

What is the Role of a Teacher in the Teaching of Grammar?

2008-10-30T11:43:00.000+07:00

The Role of a Teacher in the Teaching of Grammar

Having delved into an actual teaching arena as my profession, many questions about teaching pedagogies trigger my curiosity, especially on how to teach English as a foreign and/or a second language concerning teaching grammar while employing a communicative approach in a classroom setting. By reading Patrick Hartwell’s “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar,” it helps me to find the way out on how to impart knowledge to my students. In the book, I find that the issue of teaching in the classroom is crucially embedded in the article. By stating at the beginning of the article that “I would agree with Janet Emig that grammar issue is a prime example of ‘magical thinking’,” Hartwell notes that Students will learn only what teachers teach and only because they teach. In other words, he implies that the teaching of grammar has no more value than “making a prospective driver get a degree in automotive engineering before engaging the clutch” (216). In addition, he includes at the end of the essay that “it is, after all, a question of power,” which is “to take power from the teacher and to give that power to the learner” (228). Here, one cannot help but arguer with this notion by asking, “So, what is the role of a teacher then?” Certainly, the role of a teacher is to contribute an appropriate power to both native and non-native learners in a formal classroom setting.

For native learners, some elements of grammar are acquired by natural means in informal situations. It consists of rules, principles, etc, that are not available to conscious attention. Therefore, the teacher has to pay attention to the internal processes and knowledge the students are building up in their mind. In other words, the teacher’s role, according to Neuleib, is “to help students understand the system they know unconsciously as native speakers, to teach them the necessary categories and labels that will enable them to think about the talk about their language” (206). I totally agree with Neuleib that the teacher still performs an important role in a classroom, and I also believe that in playing this role the teacher must exercise the power in the classroom. I call this power a ‘passive power,’ which means the teacher is a facilitator or a shadow, observing the individual’s needs in writing. As Peal notes in her article, “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers,” that “Seen in this light, composing becomes the carrying forward of an implicit sense into explicit form. Teaching composing, then, means paying attention not only to the forms or products but also to the explicative process through which they arise” (39). Helping to bring an implicit sense into explicit forms, the role of a teacher is enormously crucial. Because the teacher s will not only teach them the forms or products, but they also have to concentrate on the processes they utilize. As Pearl suggests,

Teachers may first need to identify which characteristic components of each student’s process facilitate writing and which inhibit it before further teaching takes place. If they do not, teachers of unskilled writers may continue to place themselves in a defeating position: imposing another method of writing instruction upon the students’ already internalized processes without first helping students to extricate themselves from the knots and tangles in those processes (38-39).

The power of teachers here is projected as a passive one because the students do not notify the teachers’ actual role.

The teachers’ role as a facilitator, however, is insufficient to assist the second-language learners in “monitoring” of what they have already acquired in a formal classroom situation. Instead, the role of teachers is an ‘active role,’ taking an ‘active power’ to teach students grammatical rules. The teacher has to teach conscious grammatical rules to them in order for them to check whether the tense is right, for instance, in this sense, the teaching of grammar is drastically valuable. From my experience as a teaching assistant in an Intensive English Program, I see that the teacher plays a significant role in order to help second-language learners’ master the principle of writing in English, thereby the students can put the grammar they have learned to good use.

Obviously, it is unnecessary to take power from the teacher and give that power to the learner because eventually students need assistance from their teachers in making decisions in writing. As Murray notes in his essay “Tech Writing as Process Not Product” that “We (as teachers) share our students the continual excitement of choosing one word instead of another, of searching for the one true word” (4). Hence, the role of teachers is essential. It is, after all, a master of utilizing these two different types of power—‘active’ and ‘passive.’ The role of the teacher is then to provide the right power to the right students in order to put the teaching of writing to good use. As Hartwell believes that there are many meaning s of grammar, the teacher’s role is to select the best one that would be appropriate to their students.

The reflection on Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)

2008-10-28T08:12:00.007+07:00

The Pedagogy of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) by Susan McLead

After I read the chapter, I thought how could be employ this pedagogy successfully in a classroom. I cannot imagine it being employed throughout high-schools or colleges because it needs a lot of collaborations. Don't other teachers think that teaching writing is not their job? And who should be responsible for writing in other disciplines?

According to the chapter, Susan McLead says, "One day I was cornered just outside my office by a friend who taught history, who was furious with me and with (it appeared) not only the English Department but the entire discipline of English. 'Why can't you people teach these students how to write?' he wondered. I was defensive-of course I was teaching them how to write." I started to consider it isn't the responsibility of the history teacher to teach his students in the class how to write a paper in history writing style" Isn't it the history teacher's job to teach students what proper words or sentence structure they should use in the paper? At any rate, I believe that the responsibility of WAC is subject to both teachers. They have to work together as co-workers and decide how they could help their students. I think blaming and tossing the responsibility to the writing teacher is somewhat unfair.

Initially, I thought that writing teacher should teach students who to write well. Teachers should teach students how to write grammatically correct and how to present their paperwork from their own voices. However, after I finished reading the chapter, this pedagogy is really directly beneficial for students. It definitely helps students to ease their writing in any disciplines. It is funny that after I read the chapter, I talked to my friend about it on the next day. She is majoring in Social Science and hate writing for her English class. She said she hated writing because sometimes she handed in her paper for her English class, she got screwed up. she got the paper back with a lot of red marks all over the page. From talking to her, it brought back to the idea of WAC. I don't remember having such problem in my college years because, in Thailand, we teach English as a foreign language. Therefore, all we write is sentences and short paragraph (at least in my University with majoring in English for Business and Communication). I learned only basic English skills and the rest of the program was in Thai.

According to the last paragraph on page 151, "On the contrary, most of us who have been involved in WAC program from the beginning see 'writing to learn' and 'write to communicate' as two complementary, even synergistic approaches to writing across the curriculum." I think that "writing to learn" is the students write for themselves by write journals and "quick write." This helps students and teachers to get a better understanding in terms of communication. The teacher and students will be able to communicate in the same "language." Then, there is another branch in WAC called "writing to communicate" Writing to communicate is to write from the audience by using their former level of their disciplines.

Finally, I have found this chapter was intriguing and extremely helpful for students. I think this is the most effective way for teaching writing method that will definitely benefit students. However, it's lots of work and endeavor. Writing teachers may encourage teachers from other faculties to teach students how to write as well. Overall, I think this pedagogy might be easy to execute in small college and high-schools because it is easier to cooperate with other faculties.

"..loving those who hate us, we can win our freedom,.."

2008-10-25T07:48:00.004+07:00

Today's great thought is about loving those who love us and who hate us...I have been practicing this theoretical teaching myself. It kind of worked and I felt great about it when winning over those who dislike me! All we do is to respect, give, sincere and love them and when as time goes by, the wall between you and them will fall down...

In every veil you see, the Divine Beauty is concealed, making every heart a slave to him. In love to him the heart finds its life; in desire for him, the soul finds its happiness. The heart which loves a fair one here, though it knows it not, is really his lover.
– Jami

It is very difficult for most of us to understand to what extent our love can be expanded. Everybody has a few people with whom he can be friendly, with whom she can be tender, but the Lord tells us, “That’s not enough. If you want to become whole and never be separate again, you should have love and respect for everyone.”

Jesus said, “What is the special achievement in loving those who love you? Even selfish people are prepared to do that. Bless those that curse you.” I can see the twinkle in his eye as the gathering gasps. This is the daring of Jesus. Today we talk about revolution, but I think there has never been a greater revolutionary than Jesus the Christ. He tells us that by loving those who hate us, we can win our freedom, because we will no longer be dependent on how others act towards us. The person who practices this can reach the summit of human consciousness, for it is only by loving people who oppose us and learning to bear with them that we can heal ourselves and heal them too.

Cultural Studies and Composition

2008-10-17T08:18:00.005+07:00

I think that the authors, Diana George and John Trimvur, did not give an explicit explanation of the cultural studies. They gave me hope about the chapter at the beginning such as what is culture studies, where does it come from, what does it want, what does it do, and why has it become? However, they did not come on with any answers to those questions.

According to the book, cultural studies is discussions of its relation to the academic disciplines and analysis of its theoretical problematics as possible 'definition strategies" The strategy is to ask what the object or topics of cultural studies are the circulation of the cultural products are from production to texts to readings to lived cultures (Johnson, 77) I wonder if it means that cultural studies and composition is everything, I mean write about everything that we see or read in which the topic is close to us. Then we critically think about it from our initial thoughts.

It seems clear enough about cultural at the end of the chapter. Cultural studies is the studies of everything that people get involved with. Language is ones of the components of cultural; hence, we use it in a class. We analyze and critical the mass communication such as newspaper, TV, advertisement, so forth and so on which tell us about our culture, then write about it.

Berline suggests that there are two commonplace practices:
1) to begin student writing with topic "close to the self" close to student's write whatever topic they like and close to them, so then they would write something crazy like Britney Spears and other things. How can we make them write something that would seem to be valuable to them? And they know that what they are writing is something that related to culture?
2) to teach close reading and interpretation of texts substituting pop culture or media for literary texts. Teachers can get their students to read and analyzed by media advertising, malls, city streets, and the rituals of everyday life as cultural texts.

This is how to make a lasting relationship!

2008-10-16T07:28:00.003+07:00

I have to admit that proctoring is something that I don't like at all. All I have to do is to watch students taking exams, cheating, and other things...No time to prepare teaching lessons, no time to write something more academic on my blog at all..Anyway, good thing I have some time to read while watching the students. Today I have a good thought from Eknath and a nice saying from Leo Tolstoy to share with my readers and people who visit my blog.....Enjoy since it's so true in a lasting relationship!

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
– Leo Tolstoy

There is nothing easy about learning to love. The real romantic must be very practical: it takes a lot of hard, unromantic work to sustain any human relationship. Naturally there are going to be differences between you and your partner. Identical twins have differences of opinion, so why should two people from, say, New York City and Paris, Texas, expect life together to be smooth sailing?

Even on the honeymoon there may be difficulties. You open Pandora’s box expecting a lot of doves and out come a couple of bats instead. You have to be ready to say, “The doves are there; they’re simply lying low. Why don’t we get to work and shoo away these bats?” Rather than dwelling on the negative, try to respect the potential in the other person and help him or her to realize that potential through your support. If you want a relationship to get deeper and deeper with the passage of time, you will go on strengthening it all your life.

"Transfering Anger into Compassion" Great thought, but difficult in practice

2008-10-12T12:38:00.003+07:00

October 12

You are not the same, nor are you another.
– The Buddha

The Buddha is saying that we change from moment to moment. Personality is not cast in a rigid mold; the whole secret of personality is that it is a process. The nature of a process is that it can be changed. For a time, it is true, the changes you are trying to make will not seem natural. When someone is rude to you, you will still feel a wave of resentment inside. It does not matter; at the outset, it is enough to act kind, to pretend to be kind, to stage a sort of kindness performance.

Gradually, if you put your whole effort behind this transformation, using the tool of meditation, the seething will subside. Then it will not just be a flawless performance, you will actually transform anger into compassion. You will feel sorry for the person who has offended you. You will not be the same angry person you used to be; and yet you will not be someone else, either. To be patient, kind, and secure is our real nature; anything else is being false to ourselves.

The Thought for the Day is today's entry from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By.
(Copyright 1999 and 2005 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.)

Extra teaching to high school students for O-Net Exam!

2008-10-11T09:53:00.005+07:00

October 8, 2008

My colleagues and I were assigned to visit a high schoolin Nakhon Phrathom, out side of Bangkok, and give a terse lesson for the English subject in the O-Net and A-Net exams performed in Thailand to about 70 high school students . Many students came, mostly those who major in Science and some in Languages (such as Chinese and Japanese, and English). I hope they learned some thing from us...well only half a day won't do the trick, but at least they came here to learn...to pass the exam! And we promoted our university.

Learning for passing is something that does not buy me. I may seem negative with this a wee bit, since I do not wholeheartedly agree with testing much. They, as learners, don't seem to benefit from testing much compared to the practical outcome. Learners can receive 600 for TOEFL, but really they don't seem to be able to communicate effectively. However, many might disagree, testing is one of those keys to show whether or not the learners have made any progress. On another note, it possibly encourages the learners to learn and improve. Nevertheless,I would say that testing is the first step to further learners' knowledge (such as study abroad)or know where they are at in any fields. They are always pros and cons in almost everything.

Now, it reminds me of Lingua Franca! Many academia believe in this paradigm. They believe that learners should learn 2L for practical use. In other words, grammar and structure should be put aside and prioritise the use of the language per se--or I would say learning to practical use it in everyday situation. Learning English here might be more productive and perhaps could answer to the question as "Why can I not speak English after learning it for 12 years?!" Though, a question might have arisen here from the grammarians about its standard. Learners might be able to communicate only to get the message across--but with "broken English." This is interesting!

Anyway, back to the tutoring, we thought we did our best and hoped to make it better next time with the presentation. We were not quite organised and prepared due to short notice and preparation.

Rhetorical Pedagogy--Is it suitable for your young student writers?

2008-10-10T08:28:00.005+07:00

A reflective writing on teaching pedagogies while I was working on a Master's degree. This on is Rhetorical Pedagogy by William A. Covino.

In a nut shell, it seems like Rhetorical pedagogy focuses on the relationship between the writer, and audience, and the context. In this pedagogy, teachers should have a good rapport with their students and let them ask questions, then the teachers break off instruction.

Kinneaey suggested that "the pedagogy consists in encouraging writing to keep in view the skills and contingencies that attend a variety of situations and circumstances. The current-traditional Rhetoric maintain unity, coherence, correctness as primary virtues, and produces textbook that emphasize four modes of discourse--nation, description, exposition, and argumentation.

In Twentieth-Century, Rhetoric Burke defines Rhetoric as, "The use of language as a symbol means of inducing cooperation in being that by nature respond to symbols." There was a form which must vary with reference to the audience and context to which it appeals. The form was answering questions, who, what, when, where, how. Rhetoric tended to be a science telling facts and truth.

In recent years, the relationship of rhetoric to literature has more fully known as using language to communicate. William Covino has recently called rhetoric "The performance of literacy." Rhetorical pedagogy has a conception as "Rules for successful paragraph." There rules are as follows:
1) Make an outline. List all the detail,
2) Start with a topic sentence,
3) Have an orderly plan,
4) Use transitional words,
5) Develop paragraph by means of examples, facts, statistics, and supporting details for each paragraph.

At any rates, Rhetorical Pedagogy is focused on precepts grammar structure, context and the readers. This pedagogy is more sophisticated than Process pedagogy. I remember struggling with my writing. Rhetorical pedagogy threw me back into my writing during my undergraduate years. I was inundated with all the rules. As a L2 learner myself, I felt so uncomfortable doing so as I had to follow all the rules strictly--I guess that Grammar kind of represents the power of a teacher. Undeniably, I agree that Rhetorical pedagogy is really regimented and beneficial; however, I am not certain if I agree if it's suitable for younger writers.

Teachnology can boost student's energy and trigger their curiosity!

2008-10-06T09:44:00.008+07:00

I have found some fun activity (actually from my Australian colleague) for my students in a Business Negotiation course. It worked and my students from last semester loved it big time, so I am thinking about using it again this semester. This site is initiated by Michael Gibson. The web site is called "Zap Dramatic" It's an online-negotiation games...Fun stuff!

See the link http://www.zapdramatic.com/am1.htm

Commetary on Process Pedagogy

2008-10-06T08:39:00.006+07:00

I read about Process Pedagogy once when I was taking a teaching course about 5 years ago at Arcadia University. We read the book entitled "A Guide to Composition Pedagogies" I did not quite understand what I was reading much back then, but now I think I understand some pedagogies better after teaching for 3 years. I wrote a reflective paper on the pedagogy and I thought it was very interesting.

Process Pedagogy:

It's originated by Donald Murray and Peter Elbow, who wrote "Learning by Teaching." Process Pedagogy, from my understanding, is the approach of teaching writing by teaching students in a series of steps and stages. Most importantly, teachers allow their students to write freely from their interests and believe that the students are writers. The teacher also allows students to choose most of their own topics, forms, and then work on it. The teacher employs invention, free writing and journals, and peer review or revision. Lad Tobin finds that Process Pedagogy is mandatory and essential, which I agree. I have to confess that I hated learning writing by spending the whole class time learning grammar, sentence structure over and over from high school through college. When it was time to write an essay, I freaked out (as well as other L2 learners I am sure)and worried that my grammar would not be correct. However, I question that if the teacher employs the process pedagogy alone, how could students write their stories or compositions grammatically correct, and how could the teacher evaluate students' writing skills?

There is a contradiction between Lad's views and some critics' views regarding the process pedagogy. They argue that process pedagogy cannot be used as the core of teaching writing. They suggest that it is outmoded. They encourage teachers to focus on the finished writing product by reading and more class discussions relating to the finished work of other writers. Furthermore, the teachers should concentrate on writing structure, grammar and usage. I disagree because I think writing students should write more in class not worry a lot about grammar and structure.

There are some powerful critiques criticising the process pedagogy many with different points of view. Some say that process pedagogy is too structured, but some say that that it is dead and suggest that we should use a "Preprocess" or "Postprocess" but they don't know what should replace the process pedagogy. At any rate, I think process pedagogy contains some good rationals that teachers should use. Each teacher has his or her own style of teaching; however, the teachers need to consider which process is best for their students. I believe that the more students write, the better they become. Teachers should not be the center of the whole teaching process. Instead, they should assist their students by correcting their works, showing them how to identify, how to cite sources, and how to write a good essay. I also like the idea of whole language pedagogy--teachers try to make connections to other subjects.

Commentary on Style (Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Williams)

2008-10-02T07:38:00.003+07:00

Writing is another weakness of second language learners (let say for Thais and others in general). When it comes to writing, we seem to find ways or excuses to escape or run away for miles. It's difficult for those native ones, so I can tell (as L2 learners myself)that it's ten times harder and scarier!

My students here don't know exactly how to write a good paper/essay. One of my assumptions is that they were not taught properly what a good writing structure is in there native tongue. Often times, my students don't under certain concepts of Thai words, so they would have difficulties referring the Thai concept to the English one.

I once made a comment on Williams' Clarity to Coherence in Style (the book he wrote), which I thought very interesting.

Epilogue From Clarity to Coherence: "In this epilogue, I look at four elements that help readers see that larger sense of coherence, particularly how you use the introduction to what you write to motivate readers to read the vest purposefully and attentively." (p.209)

Having an effective introduction is very vital. I totally agree with Williams about this. From my experience as a reader, I was always captivated by an article or a text that had an interesting and mysterious introduction, and had an explicit thesis statement,so I know what I was going to find next, here thesis statement is like a heart to a paper. I, moreover, admired the writer who wrote the piece. However, when it came to me to be a writer, I always had a hard time (and still have) in opening my sentence, especially finding a thesis statement without making it seem too general.

As a non-native writer, I am more conscious about what I write. I most focus on sentence structure and rules in order to have less red marks on my paper when I get it back from my professor. This is a good thing when I follow rules; however, I realized that they did not really help my paper to be considered as a well-written piece of work. Because my paper did not have a concrete idea or thesis statement, so the paper was not coherent, then the reader did not really pay attention to it.By lacking coherence, it can draw away the reader's attention and makes many papers less value.

After finished reading this whole book, I found that my writing is getting better, compared to my papers I wrote in my first semester at Arcadia U. I now realized that whenever I write a paper I have to focus on three important features: clarity, coherence and cohesion.

In my Speech Communication class, currently I teach my students to prepare their speeches by using mind mapping and outline. I have them come up with topic, narrowed topic and a good thesis statement. After doing so, my students understand better on how important it is to organize their thoughts well, and how every important the introduction part is in both writing and giving a speech.

Love: An Ironic Concept!

2008-10-01T14:29:00.002+07:00

Love makes everything that is heavy light.
– Thomas a Kempis

It is love that teaches us our real stature and reveals the heroism we never thought we possessed. The renunciation that might be well-nigh impossible in a vacuum can be blessedly simple when someone we love stands to gain. Turning down a second glass of wine might take some doing in ordinary circumstances, for example; but when you’re in the company of an impressionable teenager, you’ll gladly set it aside.

Suppose you’re tempted to add to your collection of antique fire screens: hard to resist, maybe, if your aim is solely to reduce your own acquisitiveness. But if the money you save can be spent on a tent for family camping trips, it can be a breeze. You feel so good inside! A knack for quiet self-sacrifice is the very life and soul of friendship. Reducing self-will needn’t be a joyless deprivation – it can be so many little acts of love, performed over and over throughout the day.

Tuk ("Visiting Teacher from Thailand) in the GELI Newsletter September 2008

2008-09-30T08:16:00.010+07:00

I am very grateful to be introduced in the GELI Newsletter. Once again, it was such a great honor and opportunity to be a visiting teacher there. I learned a lot in those two short months, but the knowledge I gained was countless! Moreover, I was very blessed to meet so many wonderful Aussie friends, which will be friends for life, who were very supportive and kind to me during my visit. Thank you from all my heart!

http://www.griffith.gueli.comdispatch.com.au/index.php?story=25&id=501

Good thought about the Consequences of our Actions!

2008-09-27T19:16:00.002+07:00

This thought I receieved from Eknath is another great thought that we all know every well--consequences. Many times we know that if we do something, something will happen as a result. Unfortunately, in the world today, we sometimes think about ourselves first, so we forget about others. By thinking about ourselves first, we tend to hurt others unintentionally or intentionally (sometimes physically and mentally). As for those people who are hurt, the only thing they can think of is to take the hurtful experiences as a good lesson to learn. As for those who hurt others, they should acknowledge that it's not right to do so. Thus, they should keep in mind that the mistakes they have made should not be repeated. If they could do this, they will certainly be able to break off the chain of consequences and feel better about themselves. I do believe that we all have "a capacity to learn, to change, and to grow"

human being fashions his consequences as surely as he fashions his goods or his dwelling. Nothing that he says, thinks, or does is without consequences.
– Norman Cousins

The Hindu and Buddhist scriptures give us the same truth in what is called the law of karma, which is the psychological equivalent to the physical law that every action has a reaction equal and opposite to it. The Buddha says we can fly higher than the heavens or hide in the depths of the earth, but we will not be able to escape the consequences of our actions. Though we drive to another city or fly to another country, though we change our job or our name, our mistakes will pursue us wherever we go.

Paradoxically, the only way we can begin to escape from the consequences of our actions is to stop running from them and to face them with fortitude. In this sense, every difficult situation is a precious opportunity. When we find ourselves in some situation where we always make the same mistake, if we can manage not to make that mistake, the chain can be broken. Often, if we face it squarely, that situation will not come up again.

Good thought about Anger

2008-09-26T08:43:00.002+07:00

Once again, we I come across good thoughts, I would write it down to express my thoughts and experiences in life (even though it's limited just yet considering my chronological age). The thought for today I have read is about anger management....I once again wholehearted agree with the teaching of the Buddha and the thoughts of Eknath; however, it seems farfetched in doing so. Knowing our own minds is very important, no doubt about that. However, knowing and doing are those two different elements that will never be met like oil and water. We know that eating this or that is bad for our health, yet we seem to make compromises and come up with great excuses repeatedly. In managing our anger, similarly, we seem to struggle with it. It is like driving a racecar, even though we know that speeding very fast when we come to the cornor, it's more likely that we will not be able to touch the brake in time. Within the split of a second, we would lose control and hit the barricade.

Yesterday, I was distracted by the front page on a Thai newspaper. It was about a younger brother angrily shot his older brother after slapping his wife on her face. It's very sad really.

In teaching, I was told that good teachers should treat their students as their children, which means that we should be merciful to them. Looking back at myself, I sometimes get angry at my students and feel very bad about it afterwards. I always want to make my class fun and so that students would have better attitudes towards English learning. Students these days are not very responsible and they just don't know yet what is right or wrong and what is good or bad for them..they just want to "go with the flow" I myself came from a family with a single parent and very poor, so I had to manage everything concerning my education and life plans by myself. Thus, I knew what I wanted to do and be...In class, I usually teach them how to learn, to change, and to grow, not merely to pass the course and gain more knowledge in the subject matters I teach.

I guess from now on I just have to praise good students and shed the light on the good things they do in classroom...It's after all wasting time, energy, and headache pills to focus on the wrong doings in the classroom. I can only hope that the world outside school will teach them how to be fully mature by going through all the good and bad or ups and downs by themselves without teachers and parents to guild them.

Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
– The Buddha

Blaming ourselves when we get angry is not going to be of much help in the long run. What is helpful is to gain a clearer understanding of how anger comes about. Getting angry is like having a malfunctioning engine. The mind is like the engine of the body, which can be compared to the chassis of the car we drive. But the sad fact is that most of us know a lot more about our car engine than we do about our own minds.

We don’t even have the slightest idea of where the ignition switch of the mind is located. As a result, the engine goes on cranking out thoughts of every description throughout the day and throughout the long night in dreams. Worry and resentment and anger use up enormous quantities of vitality. It’s like leaving our car idling in the garage all night long; in the morning when we need to get to work, we have to push it down the road.

What we need to do is learn how to slow down the mind, and eventually to park it at the side of the road when travel isn’t necessary. Then we will have all the vitality, all the fuel, we need when we want to reach a worthwhile destination.

"Shearn Cafe" of Sripatum University Social Responsibility

2008-09-25T07:23:00.010+07:00

Today I was invited to the first lunch talk by the new group called University Social Responsibility initiated by Dr. Janya, assistant to the president of Sripatum University, Bangkok, Thailand. The Shearn Cafe is named from the combination of the two words of "Sharing and Learning" (a clever name calling, which means "to invite" in the Thai language). Here, the objective is to invite teachers and staff members to come share their experiences in teaching and other things concerning social responsibility. Then, they learn from one another vicariously through those experiences. I have to admit that this luncheon was a very good initiative in order to create new ideas and exchange valuable viewpoints in making our teaching career come to prosperity under the topic of the talk of "Spiritual Friendship (in the workplace)" The concept of USR is to give things back to our society without receiving anything in return. Especially, in the academic arena where education for students seem to be the most concern, administrators and academia seem to forget that people in the community are also another element that should be focused. By helping society, teachers, staff members and students become united in order to help think of good projects to run and things to do to make our academic life better and grateful.

Through the kind of unofficial lunch meeting or talk, I felt that this was what we should have regularly among us teachers. It's like having a happy hour. Juxtapose this to business environment or Business for Social Responsibility or so-called Corperate Social Responsibilty (CSR), USR conveys similar fundamental concept (yet different intention since our outcome is not to promote for marketting or any means to gain profit). Taking the direct idea from the founder, it is...

University Social Responsibility (USR) is a brand new concept currently (2008) being put forth by its creator, Dr. Junya Pookayaporn, assistant to the president of Sripatum University, Bangkok, Thailand. The business/corporate world has lately been pushing public relations efforts to improve their image by starting up programs collectively known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Dr. Pookayaporn, having a radically different point of view from that of the self-aggrandizing, profit-seeking, business/corporate world, because of her many years in the non-profit university environment, offers an intrinsically pure-minded and distinctly opposite concept of social responsibility. With the understanding that the principle role of universities is to educate people, she believes that social responsibility should become the well-grounded basis of all university teaching. In other words, every graduate should not only be well versed in his or her specialty, but that the students' minds should encompass their learning with the absolute, selfless desire to be socially responsible, without any desire for reward of any kind other than the realization that what he or she does is ultimately helping mankind and the entire Earth. Thus Dr. Pookayaporn wants USR to become a permanent part and essential heart of the university teaching structure. Excitingly, its chance of becoming such seems at this time to be good inasmuch as CSR is already a topic of much discussion within universities throughout Thailand itself.

Historically, CSR can be said to have had its outset with the teachings of
Dr. Pookayaporn's father, Dr. Sook Pookayaporn, the founder of Sripatum University, who taught his children, who now are all SPU officers, to be responsible for themselves, for society and for their nation. Universally, Thai citizens are taught not to just claim their social responsibilities; they take action from within their hearts. And from these teachings of the founder, and from this national precept, university social responsibility will now become formalized as the motto for the entire Sripatum University.

Dr. Junya Pookayaporn ultimately hopes that her formalized structure of USR, as now used in Sripatum University, will be used by all educational institutions throughout Thailand and ultimately all universities throughout the world.

All the talking and eating truly stimulated my spirit in seeking more opportunity and alliance in helping our society, country and world to become a better place. In doing so, this semester my students in English Business for Negotiation are going to run a charitable project to raise money for charities of student's choices. We are planning to hit it off by the end of November. This project, which I hope, we help my students to use the theoretical studies in working together, solving problems, bargaining, and persuasion to good use. On another note, I also hope they will learn more about what life is all about and the power of giving!

“Does he like me? Does he even care?” What does it matter?--patience and zero expectation are the answers!

2008-09-22T10:16:00.003+07:00

Personally, I really like this thought and agree upon the ideas of being patient and going on giving the best in everything we do. It's very disappointing and wasting time to wander to such answers to the questions as "If he ever loved me at all...after the breakup" or "If I meant a lot to him or her at all" I believe that only time can tell. Good deeds will some day be paid off. I also positively believe that good things always happen to good people, who think and act positively...what comes around goes around!

A tree is known by its fruit; we by our deeds. A good deed is never lost; one who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and one who plants kindness gathers love.
– Saint Basil

I am the first to admit that it takes a lot of endurance to mend a relationship, especially when your efforts seem to be met with indifference. When you start giving another person your best, especially in an emotionally entangled relationship, he may not notice it for weeks. This kind of indifference can really sting. You want to go up to him, tap him on the shoulder, and say, “Hello, Thomas, I’ve just been kind to you.” Thomas would say, “Oh, thank you, I didn’t even know it” – not because he was trying to be rude, but because he was preoccupied with himself.

To be patient and go on giving your best, you can’t have expectations about how other people are going to respond. You can’t afford to ask, “Does he like me? Does he even care?” What does it matter? You’re growing. You’re learning how to rub off the edges and corners that make human relationships difficult. You are becoming the kind of person that everyone wants to be with, that everyone admires and feels comfortable with.

"University Social Responsibility"

2008-09-16T11:34:00.006+07:00

Some great initiative project for our society! This project is initiated by Dr. Janya Pukkayaporn, Vice President of Sripatum University. The thing that I like about this project is that we, teachers and other participants, are returning good deed to our society without gaining anything in return. There will be series of meetings and lunchoens (kind of like getting together and exchanging ideas of activities or academic ones).

This project concerns different areas such as environment, education, and other things. We are going to run an activity for people on campus and in the area to pay respect to the King and Queen and to promote good doings by having a religeous ceremony for those men who would like to be in the monkhood....

Happy Hours with HR

2008-09-15T09:30:00.003+07:00

Well, after working 6 days a week, I guess I needed a fun time with friends..Sure enough we had an excuse to go out eating dinner after work with all my friends from Human Resources! Great restaurant we went, especially with the karaoke.

One of the best things was PenFold (red wine from Australia). It was great and by the end of the night I was so out! That wine really knocked my out (not that I drank too much, but it was just too late to drive home!) Great time anyway....

Cookies airport...Great thoughts for Thais!

2008-09-13T08:34:00.004+07:00

I am very glad that my friend and family from the States sent me this power point slide show. I quite agreed with the idea of expressing our thoughts and feelings towards our loved ones! We, as the Thai people excluding me myself , lack in showing our affection. They just have no idea what they are missing in life!

We should not hold onto expressing our affection, also we should not hold onto things that are not necessary to our lives!

I really like the thoughts and saying below from Eknath....

Each day is a little life; every waking and rising a little birth; every fresh morning a little youth; every going to rest and sleep a little death.
– Arthur Schopenhauer

My grandmother, my spiritual teacher, used to tell me that the pain we associate with the great change called death arises from our innumerable selfish attachments. One day she illustrated this in a simple way by asking me to sit in a chair and hold tight to the arms. Then she tried to pull me out of the chair. She tugged and pulled at me, and I held on tight. It was painful. She was a strong person, and even though I held on with all my strength, she pulled me out.

Then she told me to sit down again, but this time not to hold on anywhere, just to get up and come to her when she called. With ease I got out of the chair and went to her. This, she told me, is how to overcome the fear and pain of death. When we hold onto things – houses, cars, books, guitars, our antique silver teapot – we get attached and tied down.

One Proud Teacher :)

2008-09-09T08:12:00.005+07:00

This is my Speech Communication class(gee, about 130 students in two seperate sections)with Hotel and Tourism students. We really had a great time. At least, I myself was having a blast since they many of them did what I taught them-using index cards (instead of a full piece of A4 paper)...to be continued!

I Miss Home...Philly!

2008-09-07T10:46:00.006+07:00

On this blog today, I have to thank Malou, my best friend from Luxemburge, for her kind thoughts in uploading the photos from Philly where she went to visit in August 2008. They reminded me of so many wonderful times I had with my loved ones there. Good memories are still remain--forever!

Intimate personal relationships!

2008-09-06T11:46:00.002+07:00

There is another thought that I would like to share with the readers. It's very thought provoking and well addressed.

Good Thought for the Day by Eknath.
The heart benevolent and kind
The most resembles God.
– Robert Burns

It is through personal relationships that we learn to function beautifully in life throughout its ups and downs. We all need the little human contacts of life, and we all need intimate personal relationships with family or friends. Many people today do not live with a family, but that is not really the issue. Whether we live alone, with family, or with friends, we can cultivate personal relationships that are kind and genuine.

We can cultivate personal relationships everywhere, in everything, every day, with each person in our life – even the bank teller and the mail carrier.

Most of us, in moments of candor, will probably admit that we want to be liked by those around us. We like to please and be loved by those we love. And nothing makes us feel so secure as knowing that we have brought a little joy into the life of someone we care about. That is why putting others first can be such a natural, beautiful part of life.

Great Karma!

2008-09-04T07:46:00.003+07:00

I thought it would be nice to post the slides on my blog to share with others and who also share the same qualities and interests.

Everyday is New and Fresh with NO Mistakes (yet!) :) Life is Good!

Great Laugh for the Day!

2008-09-03T07:46:00.005+07:00

Well, after working 6 days, we (teachers) might want some kind of laughter...There are some funny pix from Canadian and American Billboards I have receieved from my best friend in New Jersey to share! Enjoy :)

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you."

2008-09-01T15:35:00.003+07:00

I always feel very blessed to get to know Eknath since I learn more great things every day about how to live my life to the fullest. Some practices he teaches are very difficult to follow; however, after reading his passages I receive, I become more mature, understand more about life, and prepared for whatever comes in the future!

Especially this thought for today, I have practiced it many times; it work really well.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
– The Gospel According to Saint Matthew

This is love at its most magnificent. In order to love like this, we cannot be attached to ourselves. It is because we think so much about ourselves that we strike back, show resentment, speak harshly, move away.

Jesus’ words do not mean agreeing with everything people say or supporting whatever they do. We sometimes have to oppose people we love. Yet, if we do it tenderly, it is not likely that it will cost us a single friend. In fact, that person might say, “I’ve found a friend who will support me and stand beside me always.”

Great time spent with Friends from the States!

2008-09-01T08:04:00.007+07:00

There are moments when a special friend makes a difference that no one else can make!

Thank you, Tum and Scott, for spending the weekend with me in Bangkok. I hope to be spoilt by you both in L.A. some day... Such a nice couple..I hope to find that special person who can share the same qualities in life with me like you both!

Great Thought for the Day

2008-08-29T08:39:00.001+07:00

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
– Saint Francis of Assisi

There are times when past mistakes swim into our vision and do their best to consume us in guilt or regret. At such times it is essential to turn all our attention outwards, away from ourselves.

Analyzing our mistakes and developing a guilt complex benefits no one. If, when you were in Milwaukee, you happened to say something insulting about your girlfriend’s dog, it is not necessary to go to Milwaukee and find your old girlfriend or her dog and make amends. Every dog you treat with kindness will be a proxy for that dog. In this way, if you have treated a particular person badly, even if you can no longer win that person’s forgiveness, you can still win the forgiveness of yourself, of the Lord of Love within, by bearing with people who treat you badly and doing your best not to treat anyone badly again. Whatever we have done, we can make amends for it without looking back in guilt or sorrow.

By Eknath Eswaran

I always love reading his thoughts and comments--very insightful, meaningful and soothing!

A very productive weekend!

2008-08-25T08:08:00.004+07:00

Just spending some free time with my family on the weekend. This semester I am teaching six days a week, which is very challenging. Thus, the only day I have will be dedicated to my family at home. This week, Meen and I played volleyball with her friends at school. It was a lot of fun and deminded me of the old days when I played sports. Meen is so good at sports, especially volleyball and badminton.

Also, we cooked lots of food. Mom, my sister-in-law and I cooked some Thai dishes to sell to people in the neibouhood. It's Mom's gig! She enjoys doing it big time.

I could not help but have to talk about my car which will be paid off in a year! Judy, a friend from Brisbane, gave me a Red Nose sticker. I had to put it in front of the car. I think it's a very good idea to donate money for the sticker. It's cute though! :)

Rich in Love!

2008-08-22T07:37:00.001+07:00

Could not wait to write this blog after arriving the office. In a minibus at 6 am., I was standing on the bus for the whole time (it might sound torturing, but this is life in Bangkok...you have got to take the best of it...right!); however, I was so occupied observing a family on the bus. The father is the driver himself, the mother is a bus conductor, and a very cute 2 year-old-daughter. What a life! Yes, it is the real life living in the true world these days. However, they seemed to make the most and best of whatever they have..on the bus with the whole family. How great!

At the traffic light (could not help, but smiling as I am typing), the mother, our bus condector, grabbed her daughter real quick as soon as the red light flahed. Meanwhile, the father, our bus driver, grabbed a big bottle of water and jumped off the driver seat. I was puzzled!? They got off the bus to clean their daughter's dirty diaper...on the sidestreet! They both had to rushed to beat the traffic light. I could not help then, but smiled. The whole family also smiled and giggled. They hopped onto the bus just in time. The mother came back to her duty with a nice smile to her customers.

It's very good to see the whole family spending time together. However, I am sure the parents would want to have their daughter in a daycare, rather on the bus. When you don't have the luxury to do so, I assume you have got to take the good with the bad. You just have to love what you do or try to love things that you do. Keep positive mind is the key!

Here I have a good passage and a great thought again from Eknath to share with my readers. Enjoy!

Late have I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new; late have I loved thee! For behold, thou wert within me and I outside; and I sought thee outside and in my unloveliness fell upon these lovely things that thou hast made. Thou wert with me and I was not with thee. I was kept from thee by those things, yet had they not been in thee, they would not have been at all. Thou didst call and cry to me and break open my deafness. . . . I tasted thee, and now hunger and thirst for thee; thou didst touch me, and now I burn for thy peace.
– Saint Augustine

When we use the word love, let us use it very carefully, in the deeply spiritual sense, where to love is to know; to love is to act.

If you really love, from the depths of your consciousness, that love gives you a native wisdom. You perceive the needs of others intuitively and clearly, with detachment from any personal desires; and you know how to act creatively to meet those needs, dexterously surmounting any obstacle that comes in the way. Such is the immense, driving power of love.

"Beauty is all very well at first sight.."

2008-08-21T13:31:00.003+07:00

First thing first, I have just read a very good passage from Eknath Eswaran's Thoughts about Beauty and I would help but wanted to share it to everyone who reads my blog.

Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks at it when it has been in the house three days?
– George Bernard Shaw

Often we try to build relationships on what is pleasing to us, particularly on physical attraction. But if there is anything sure about physical attraction, it is that it has to change. We cannot build on it; its very nature is to come and go.

Physical attraction is a sensation – here one minute and gone the next. Love is a relationship. It is pleasant to be with someone who is physically attractive, but how long can you enjoy an aquiline nose? How long can you thrill to the timbre of a voice when it doesn’t say what you like? It’s very much like eating: no matter how much you are attracted to chocolate pie, there is a limit to how much of it you can enjoy. Beyond that limit, if somebody merely mentions chocolate, your stomach stages a revolt.

If you want to build a relationship, build it on what endures. To build on a firm foundation, we have to stop asking, “What do I like?” and ask only, “What can I give?” Then there is joy in everything, because there is joy in the relationship itself – in ups and downs, through the pleasant and the unpleasant, in sickness and in health.

I wholehearteele agree with George Bernard Shaw and Eknath's thought on it.

There are some photos of the KM seminar I attended at Sripatum University.

Sripatum Academic Forum: Research and Innovations for Sustainable Development

2008-08-13T15:59:00.013+07:00

August 13, 2008. Today there was an academic forum on the title of Research and Innovations for Sustainable Development held at Sripatum University. What I liked the most about this forum was the keynote speaker in the afternoon. Asst.Prof. Kanok Wongtrahgan, Ph.D. He gave a talk on Education in Thailand.

He noted that Thailand had become greater than many countries like Australia in terms of reinforcing people to receive higher education. As we can see that there are many students have entered to universities. In juxtapose, not many Australians (or New Zelanders)pursue their education after finishing high schools. However, many of the Thai students who have graduated can find no job or are not capable of working. Like my students, for example, they have learned English all their lives, yet they can't communicate with foreigners effectively. In conclusion, we have focused too much on quality, but lack in quality. Unlike people in Australia, after high school, they would go on training to apprenticeship to learn skillful tasks/jobs to become , for example, a locksmith and so forth.

Now, there is a new challenge/ weakness for the education system of Thailand to have to solve the latter problem and solve a question on how to take the burden of the parents and society of new graduates not getting a job. We can't just keep producing people with higher education, but lack of knowledge,competency, and proficiency.

In order to become successful and famous, according to the speaker, university should learn to blend in with its community, help people in the community (acknowledge what the university can do for the community, not what they can get from the community). Here, community and university should be united. For instance, Columbia University in New York used to separate itself from the New York City, so they were not quit successful and could not build as good reputation as Harvard University. Later on, they changed the management and strategy, they were more involved in the city and open the university to the city and tried to be a part of it by opening more schools that are in high demands in the job market in the NYC. Then, they became famous.

Furthermore, the speaker also mentioned about the goal of UNESCO of the basis of learning. UNESCO (2005) came up with the Basis of learning: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be.

Key Skills from Dan Buckley: Communication skill, Problem solving, Evaluation own and others, Information and communication technology, and working with others.

Now, education is not just some one's responsibility. It's every one's. We need to teach our students how to think, not what to think or do. They need to be able to apply the theoretical knowledge they have learned in classrooms to the real situations. They need to be able to answer the questions of their companies about what they do know, what they can do and how they can solve problems.

The speaker left a good note on students' imagination. Imagination is important and many times teachers spoil their imagination, so that they don't make progress and do not know how to think! It's very sad, but true!!

Teaching Co-Operative students

2008-08-12T22:07:00.008+07:00

Today it's the first day of teaching (Cooperative Program) again after 2 months of teaching in Australia. This program was for those who would have to do there internship in companies and organizations for about 4 months. Prior to working, they needed to have some kind of English competency. The lesson comprised of four different topics in English business. The first two that were introduced today was preparing for a trip and booking a flight and a hotel room.

It was fun actually to run activities with the students. They seemed to interact better. Perhaps I was fortunate to have students who were majoring in English for Business and Communication. The first activity that I ran this morning was to pair students by employing words, phrases and sentences that would be taught in the first chapter. Once they had found their partners, I had them read them out loud in class. Then, I started introducing them vocabulary words. Power Point prepared by my colleague was utilized throughout the lesson. It was good to have the program; however, I could be detrimental since the teacher might not have enough time to do other activities that would have emphasize some of the points he or she might want to focus on.

Working in pairs and groups was also effective. I have them role play in pairs, but some of them were still stuck with the old way of doing it--memorizing the dialogue. Thus, I walked around and listened to them pair by pair to make comments. Another activity that was very effective in regard to reviewing a dialogue. I had my students repeated a dialogue with me once. Then, we started to interact by me reading person A's line and students would read person B's line and switched. The third time, I had them choose which line they would like to say, then, I had them close the book and we said the dialogue without reading. They really enjoyed doing this activity. There was another thing that I had students do--writing dictation. I had them listen to a conversation they learned in the last two hours, then I had them write down as many words, phrases and sentences that they had just learned as they could to review them. It was fine.

I was a good start of teaching Thai students again. One important thing of teaching is great attitude of the teacher and students!

Thai Mother's Day

2008-08-12T21:58:00.008+07:00

It's Sunday 10 August 2008, we went to my niece's school for Mother's Day. Her mother and I attended the ceremony. All mothers were invited to the event today. I thought it was a great event which should be held every year and throughout the country. It reflects our wonderful culture and great traits of Thai people. We try to instill good traits to our children by paying respect to olders.

In the morning, we gave food to monks. Then, there were activities and performances from students from forms 3 to forms 6. Meen is in her last year in a local primary school. Then, the teachers asked all students to pay respect to their mothers or what we called "Wai" and gave flowers to them. We were very proud of Meen. Many moms had tears in their eyes. It was a touching moment.

On Tuesday 12, actual Mother's Day (and the Queen's Birthday), I took my mom and Meen to dinner in the mall nearby. We really had a great time eating dinner, shopping, and having some ice-cream. I gave my mom kisses and told her how lucky I was to have her in my life.

Family is the most important part of my life. We all should live our lives in balance by trying to seperate work from family. However, we should pay our most attention and always do our best to what we do and what we are responsible for.

"The Best Practices in Teaching and Learning" KM Workshop at SPU

2008-08-12T08:01:00.010+07:00

Friday 8 August 2008

I was invited today to attend a KM Workshop on Best Practices in Teaching and Learning at(or what I would put it as "Professional Development")initiated by Dr. Numthip the Director of the Library of Sripatum University as part of Knowledge Bank Management. I was very pleased to attend the seminar and workshop as I learned more good teaching practices through the real role models (teachers from Assoc. Prof.Dr. Umporn, Srinakharinwirot University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Somtawil, Kasetsart University; and Dr. Anuchit, Sripatum University). The keynote speakers are very knowledgeable and the one thing that I noticed during their speeches was that they are "born to be" teachers. They have their hearts and souls in this profession, so that they always learn new ways or strategies of teaching. According to the speakers, there is no such a thing as the best teaching and learning practice. It all comes down to serving what our students' needs and what is right for them. What I gathered, furthermore, good teachers are not merely those who know what to teach, how to teach, but also those who are perseverance and creative. Having a natural gift in teaching is one thing that help teachers imparting knowledge to their students more effectively. More importantly, the art of teaching can be developed since everyone has the capacity to learn, to change and to grow. Teachers should have good attitudes and mindset. Also, good teachers should have good knowledge in any subject matters and have good morale. Here, I have to say that I say all this traits in this three speakers and I was, inevitably, satisfied and energised or somewhat empowered to do my very best in this profession while I am still a teacher. There are also many teachers whom I met in Brisbane during the exchange program. Also, I am sure there are many other Thai teachers who are as good and dedicated.

One speaker mentioned about "Learning Community." I was very mesmerised by the term and kind of hoped that we have such community at Liberal Arts, Sripatum University. This place will be an ideal place for teachers to learn...learn how to teach and help one another to solve problems and develop our teaching skills and the courses we teach.

There are also many good teaching techniques, according to the speakers, as the following:
-writing a good and lengthy course syllabus,
-using role play, case studies, games, and other communicative activities
-assigning external reading and keeping journal logs
-teaching or giving advice on how to ask questions
-giving students a second chance for any small tests
-explaining to students about objectives of each lesson and activity taught and done in classroom
-providing teaching time in different phases: Lecture/teaching, Practice/action, Presentation/evaluation
-encouraging and valuing students' work in public or to share with other students in and out side of classroom
-teaching students to recognize their own potentials and each other's strengths and to socialize
-teaching students by following the MEAT model: Man, Edutainment, A...., Technology
-etc.

By and large, I have learned so much from this seminar and workshop. I learned that everyday has the capacity to change to learn and to grow.

A question left hanging in my mind though after the workshop. As a teacher, is knowing what we teach enough to make students become complete human beings with knowledge, morale, good spirits, and other good traits? And is knowing how to teach enough to help them stand on their very own feet with pride and courage to help support their own family and develop their own community and country after graduating?

Here I am again...HOME!

2008-08-08T07:52:00.006+07:00

Six O'clock in the morning of Monday, Mom, my brother and Meen (my niece) anxiously waiting for me at the airport. They must have gotten up very early; I know for sure that my mom would have been up since 3 or 4 in the morning. She had some tears (let say tears of joy to see me back home) in her eyes as if I had gone for 2 years! It was nice seeing them again, although I felt as if I had gone away for so long that I felt attached a bit to Brisbane. I blended so well in the workplace and became close to people from other there such as Judy's family.

Not wasting my time, I dropped off my luggage and decided to go to the Uni. I guess I still have lots of piss and vinegar! My colleagues and friends could not believe that I would show up 2 hrs after landing and all said that I had gained some weight! Here we go again...Thai style of greeting. Anyway, I feel good about myself now...I'd rather gain some weight than losing my hair like I experienced before I went to Australia and the first week I was there. Not eating right and having so much stress almost got me bald. Good thing Nizoron 2% and Brisbane coffees and food and New Zealand wines and desserts did safe my hair there. :)

Anyway, it was great to come back again and prepare for my classes. I will be teaching 3 courses this semester: Negotiation, Speech Communication and Everyday English. I am acting as a coordinator for Everyday English again this time to organize the courses with other three coordinators. After a week, I found that everything was still the same, except the gas prices were down a bit. People now are the same, but something has changed. I have different aspects of things and tend to have better positive thoughts upon things. When we have positive thinking, magic appears! Well, this how I would describe it is that you see and appreciate more in life especially things that are right before your eyes.

The first weekend had arrived, my sister-in-law, Meen and I went to the park at JJ market to take a walk and just have a great time together. My mom, as usual, keeps herself busy with selling vegies and things. We helped make a Thai dessert for her to sell in the neighbourhood. I am planning to balance myself by separating work from home. My family is as important as my career.

The first week went by so quickly and good thing I finished writing all the reports I had to get done.

It's not a goodbye; it's see you again!

2008-08-03T19:44:00.010+07:00

The weather did not cooperate all day; however, we managed to keep ourselves busy by going to Food World, a local grocery store, to get some ingredients for our party on Saturday. Mom planned to make beef stew, and I planned to make a Thai dish, Mussamun Kai (Chicken drumsticks with red curry) and an apple pie. Mom treated me a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant. We both had Smoked Salmon salad on a bagel (I was dying for a bagel). Then, we came home and went to see Graham play balls. It was very interesting. At first I thought it was like a bowling game, but it turned out to be an indoors lawn balls. Graham did a great job today. He was very happy to see us there to give him a cheer! I knew he would like support, so I had asked Mom to go. He won the game and expecting to play another game next week. After we came home, I started making dinner for them. I made sweet and sour stirred fry with pineapples with nuts on crispy fried fish served with rice! Ummm! Yum!!! They really liked it big time.

On the next day, we did not go any where far since we both really focused on making food and dessert. We did not get them done until later on because we had to get some some more ingredients. Also, Mom wanted to buy me a gift for my birthday. It was very nice of her. I was more than happy to just spend time with them and not a single gift would matter anyway. However, we ended up buying some rings, so they would remind me of them--every day. The weather started to clear up. Today, Dad from the first host family, whom I stayed with for about 3 months when I was an AFS exchange student, stopped by to see me. I thought that I would not have the chance to see him again and would have lost track with the whole family again since we could not find any contacts. Magically, we made a call to the Lawsons in Kaikoura and he turned out to be Dad's Uncle. Thus, we got Nana's number. We talked for a bit and found out that Dad was in Rangiora on business. Anyway, we met each other and got a chance to reunited. It was a touching moment to see Dad again and later that night I talked Mum 1 and Hyden, my host brother who is now 15 and hoping to become a pilot! Dad officially apologized for giving up on me 11 years ago. I had to change a family even though we got along so very well that I became real part of the family. I felt real bad that made him felt very bad after 11 years. Things do happen for a reason, and , in my case, it turned out quite well with 2 wonderful host families at that time and now. Dad felt very guilty then. I was glad we met and caught up with each other again. I respect him as if my real dad since I do not have one. I had never known what it was like to have Dad until I met him! Tonight I made them another Thai dish and we had a visitor for dinner. We had a great time chatting and did not go to bed until almost 11 p.m. I did not want the night to end. Graham spoke a lot tonight and I enjoyed his company big time. I guess the drink he had really did the trick. He said, "You are just too clever!" after I explained the Thai culture to Mom's friend about a problem with her Thai daughter-in-law. I told him, "I came with the whole package, not just a pretty face," then all of us started to laugh.

Finally Saturday had arrived. It's my last morning here in Kaikoura. We had to head back to Rangiora for a birthday party of Graham, Michael and me. Graham and I share the same birthday (July 15) and Michaels was a week later. I was very sad to have to leave, but the good memories still remain. On the way to Rangiora, I had to go to the loo so bad, so I said to Graham, "Please try not to joke around or say anything funny, not that you ever talk, but just in case!" Then, Mom and Graham started laughing since we all knew that Graham does not talk much.

We arrived Rangiora around lunch time. Mom and I attended lunch at Rosemary's house. I stayed with her family for about a month while I was waiting for host family (which was Mom and Graham). They invited me to their beautiful home and catch up with each other. There, I met her, her husband and Victoria. Also, I met with the Wanty's again. We had a great time catching up. I was so blessed to be able to see all of the people that I wished to see. They all were and are very kind to me. Then we visited another family whom I used to spend time fishing and hanging out with when I was in Kaikoara. We came back to Peter's house and started to prepare food and the party. We had so much to eat and drink, especially tonight is the rugby night between the All Blacks and the Wallabies. We stayed up until 1 a.m. The All Blacks lost since they made some many errors.

Anyway, the morning had arrived and I headed to see Nana and Granddad at their house. They were so thankful to see me again after 11 years. They were still the same to me and I was very glad to see them again. Then, I came back to Peter's to have branch and get ready to head to the airport. Graham, Mom, Tessa and Cassie went to see me off at the airport. It was touching to have them their with me. Graham looked sad. He viewed all the photos taken in the past week in Mom's digital camera while I was checking in. It was not a goodbye, I said, it was "see you later!" I could not help but almost tear down. I MISSED THEM ALREADY!

My trip in New Zealand had come to an end as well as my teaching experience in Australia. Judy and her family came to pick me out and took me out to dinner at Sizzler's. They drove me around town for the last time and dropped me off at the airport to catch another plane home to Thailand.

I would like to thank all of the people who helped me made my teaching experience and other things happen. I truly had a great time and learned a whole lot more both in teaching and in life!

Amazing Marine Animal--adorable baby seals!

2008-08-01T08:29:00.009+07:00

It was a long walk we had this morning. We thought it was a good decision to start the day with some kind of an exercise before the weather got yucky out as the weather forecast predicted for the rest of the week. We took the same our track that we used to do our hike 11 years ago; however, some path was changed. We had to walk through a bush of pine trees, which was better, I thought. As soon as we got on the hill, we could see the town below us and the endless ocean. It was awesome! We bumped into Carmine, the lady I used to stay with for 10 days during my school exchange between Rangiara High School and Kaikoura High School. She still remained the same, I thought. We chatted for a bit since we intended to visit her later on for a coffee at her house.

On the way back from the walk, we stopped at a nursery where Mom helped out sometimes. The kids were there from baby up to 2 years old. There were about 3 adults running the place. There was one Japanese lady, who is at the same age as I am, just lost her husband who was a teacher at the high school. She decided after her husband’s pass not to returned home since she loved the peaceful environment so much that she thought she would spend her whole life there.

Then, we got ready to start our adventures for the day. First, we went to see Carmine officially. We had a chat and tried to catch up with each other. Her sons are now growing up and William is now a Civil Engineer at my age. He is out abroad at the moment as well as his other two brothers. After the visit, we went to see baby seals. At first, I thought that they would be in an indoor pool or some kind; however, it turned out to be that we had to walk up the hill in a forest for a bit until we reached the waterfall. And there they were about 20 baby seals showing off a trick with pieces of sticks without a trainer. They discovered the freshwater heaven in the waterfall. After they were fed, they would claim up the rocks from the sea to the waterfall to “exercise.” It seemed to me that they really had a great time swimming and jumping in the little pond. It’s just amazing of how cute they were and the energy they had to come up this far from the sea. Mom said last time some people brought some balls for them to play with, but this time there were none. We intended to bring some, but we forgot. They were like little babies.

After we decided we had enough of the rain,cold, and the seals, we headed back to the town to look for some gifts and drop off postcards. There were so many precious things in the stores there, especially jewelry made of jades/ green stones, shells and wood. I did not get anything thinking that I did not really need them. Yet, I got a picture frame for Judy. Then we went to a photo shop to get a picture of me, Judy and Kelly developed.

Later on, we came back to relax and got ready to go to the mid-week happy hour for ladies from the Lion’s club. Mom is the president of the club. Tonight, there were not many members showed up since it’s cold and raining out. We talked about things and had a great time among “girls.” We had chips for snack. Then, Mom and I had to excuse to Shane and Dawn’s house for tea. We are having GREASIE tonight. I loved it so much that I felt so full after a piece of deep fried fish and a handful of chips and a snitch of donut…no wonder why I gained 20 pounds back 11 years ago. I thought this time I did not mind gaining some but not as much! We had a great talk and the kids were just so good and well behaved. I had a chance to catch up with Dawn whom I used to hang out with. Everything is still the same here except me who talks A LOT!