ร่วมยินดี "ครูในดวงใจ" (Award for teachers)

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!