MOVE WITH THE TIMES, EDUCATORS TOLD
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Every coin has two sides. Likewise, globalisation has both good and bad impacts on people, but most see only its good side, Suvit Maesincee, director of the Sasin Institute for Global Affairs, told hundreds of school directors and teachers yesterday.
“Society is dynamic, centricity is transnational, community is virtual and the pace of change occurs in seconds during the 21st century. This is much different from the 19th century. The world has changed from solid modernity to liquid modernity where people connect to each other more than before,” he said.
The world has changed so fast, so the directors and teachers would have to accept the new reality that the world now was no longer the same as when they were students, he said.
Globalisation, which was part of the new reality, could locally and globally threaten people with inescapable consequences such as financial turmoil, economic crisis, pandemics, climate change, terrorism and extreme poverty.
The new reality also included extremes – natural, economic, political and social extremes.
Suvit was projecting what would happen in the future to inspire the directors and teachers to plan educational materials to prepare Thai students to embrace changes at the EDUCA 2012 conference. It was held from Wednesday through today with the theme “Teachers as Learners” at Impact Muang Thong Thanifrom October 10-12.
“A nation-state can no longer deal with global commons on its own. We have to join hands with others. So students will have to learn about local, national, Asean and global culture properly.
“Rather than focusing on competing with others, teachers should have them learn how to work as a team,” he said.
People would have to manage uncertainty, constraints, complexity and paradoxes in the changing world with new skill sets.
“With limited resources, our students will be fostered on how to use creativity to manage the constraints.
“However, the directors and teachers themselves will have to change their mindsets in accordance with the new reality and change the way they teach and prepare Thai children,” he added.
