Reflect on a pedagogy-related experience at School of Global Studies

To begin 2022, let me write about a pedagogy-related experience.

I would like to reflect on a work-study project that I have recently been involved in at my faculty, School of Global Studies from November 2021 - January 2022. The main goal is to revise a curriculum for our Professional Development Program (PDP) for Bachelor students. This program left an impression on me when I was applying for the School of Global Studies. It stands out from all other Bachelor programs because of its great intention to get students ready for professional life before graduation.

It is a great space for me to try out the ideas of setting objectives and program content to meet the needs of students. The needs were identified in the previous academic year under the Education Sector of the faculty. It was an interesting research process where I reached out to students who took the course across 4-year levels to interview their learning experiences and expectations. I hope immediate actions from the course designers must be taken to quickly respond to our needs. Finally, it was time to take action based on the findings of the research. I was invited to continue supporting Ajarn to redesign the program curriculum. Luckily, in June 2021, I completed a course on Curriculum Development for GCED educators: Purposes, Perspectives and Practices by UNESCO that I had a foundational understanding of curriculum design.

I would like to share my gains from this experience.

Something in the past can still be relevant to the present and future. My job during these 3 months is to categorize a taxonomy of skills that are of most in-demand to be included in the PDP program. I could either develop a new framework or find a reference source that is successful in other educational contexts. The most fascinating working hour to reread the book on “Four-dimensional Education: the competencies learners need to succeed” I achieved 4 years ago, by Professor Charles Hadel from Harvard. In 2018, I was running a project for university students in Hanoi on personal development and needed to consult educational theories and activities. I found this website and I wrote an email to the professor explaining my interest in the book but I could not afford it. Surprisingly, he got back to me and shared it happily with me. In exchange, I helped to translate the book summary into Vietnamese to make it reach out to more readers. I was so happy to see that I could continue making use of the book now on a reference level.

Here is my write-up regarding this book’s insights: “A framework built by the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR) at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2015 aims to address the question "What should be learned to best prepare students for the 21st century?". The framework covers 4 areas namely knowledge (what students know and understand), skills (how they use that knowledge), character (how they behave and engage in the world), and meta-learning (how they reflect on themselves and adapt by continuous learning and growth) (Fadel, C., Bialik, M., & Trilling, B. 2015). The framework is recommended for people such as teachers, school directors, policymakers, standard setters, curriculum developers and others who seek innovative solutions and serve future generations of global citizens. This framework looks at the entire educational system and general development process of students of all ages so if applying to the PDP program, it needs consideration of certain elements of the framework in order to fit the stage of development of GSSE students.”

Secondly, I enjoyed the moment of researching programs to develop professional skills for students in other universities. The most impressive system for me is that of the University of Toronto that has a Career Learning Network and a Department of Career Exploration and Education. The whole programs are so comprehensive in terms of knowledge and opportunities. I could see the difference between a long-history/ large scale school and a young faculty in having this space. Thammasat University should have this career preparation program or policy for students because it is so crucial for our future readiness besides academic knowledge.

Lastly, my supervisor is super responsive and supportive. He replied to my email and questions as soon as he saw my messages I guess. He understands my interests in education so he allowed me to join and try out new ideas. He also gave credit to me in his presentation to the BACC (BA Curriculum Committee) to acknowledge my work. He tried his best to delegate tasks for me even when he had no access to a stable internet connection and computer.

On a more critical note, here are things that I have realized and it is just the beginning of this design work.

There is a lot more to do! Researching - Revising. But revising has to start from redefining the entire content. Keeping the original purpose of the program, it needs to come in a more flexible format catering to the diverse needs and career interests of students. The problem is that students have different developmental phases and preferences towards what skills to learn first. Some year-1 students might be more ready to learn interview skills than senior students. Some students want to write application letters for higher studies while some students do not pursue an academic career. Some students expect to have a deeper understanding of the workplace, not just stopping at entry procedures like writing up CVs. But overall, older students demand more complex content such as personal finance, job shadowing or workplace analysis while younger students mostly talk about portfolio development.

Don’t give up. Ajarn has different expectations and ways to present information and I sometimes go into other routes so there are challenges for us to be on the same page. I was frustrated several times to restructure the framework but then I spent time reading “Career Education/ Development Center” of some colleges to seek ideas. I felt the urgency of the work and had my mind recharged. I had around 5 times to revise my taxonomy and in the end, we came back to the original document that Ajarn drafted in the first place several years ago. What a loop it is! As a result, I synthesized that doc with my findings.

Openness is the door for creativity. In January, my supervisor is currently occupied with his teaching work so he has less time for the program and he opened up for my suggestions. I proposed “How about we run a goal-setting workshop for all-year students to begin our semester? It could be a 2-3 hour workshop to ignite the fire for the students, in terms of what professional goals each of us wants to achieve in this semester. Then at the end of the semester, the PDP program has another reflection workshop for all to review our experience/ goals.” We exchanged several more emails concerning this idea. So my new task is to draft out potential topics for a series of 8 workshops so that our professors could deliver for students this semester. I write down clear intentions for these workshops which explain the purposes and benefits of students when joining them.

I am not sure if the work so far could be applicable for the program but I have tried my best. Hope to have more practice on pedagogy in 2022.

#experientiallearning

#workstudy

#schoolofglobalstudies