March 25, 2021 – Khon Kaen University by the Education and Academic Service Section, the Institute for Research and Development of Teaching Profession for ASEAN, Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand, and the National Institute for School Teacher and Staff Development (NITS), Japan organized the Development Project for Education Professionals. Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University presided over the opening ceremony. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maitree Inprasitha, Vice President for Education and Academic Service; Miss Waraporn Sainoi, Director of the Office of Policy and Plans, Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand; Dr. Charoen Phuwijitr, Deputy Director of the Institute for Teacher and Teaching Profession Development; Dr. Burapathit Ploisuwan, Vice General Secretary of the Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand were among the honorable participants at the meeting, which took place at Peerasit Khamnuansin Room, College of Local Administration. Mr. Masahiro Oji, Vice President of the National Institute for School Teachers and Staff Development (NITS) joined the meeting online from Japan.
Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University said that the Development Project for Education Professionals enabled the participants to learn and basically understand classroom management with educational innovations of the “Lesson Study” and “Open Classroom”. They will be able to learn the learning activities from Japan as well as from Thai experts. The project has started from collaboration with educational organizations in the country and the networks from both national and international institutions. The collaboration will bring KKU towards internationalization and will help in advancing education and research as well as academic services of the University. The use of educational technologies from Japan will stimulate the skills in creativity and quality development among learners, and the technologies are adjustable in the context of Thailand. This project has been continuously ongoing in order to expand the innovations and knowledge to all schools for utmost benefits.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maitree Inprasitha, Vice President for Education and Academic Service said that the Development Project for Education Professionals is an important project according to the government’s policy and Khon Kaen University’s policy. It answers the 4th Strategy of academic transformation so that KKU will be the social learning and wisdom resources. The academic implementation will be transformed so that KKU will take more responsibility toward the society and build common values. The Lesson Study and Open Classroom innovations will lead to quality learning, competency and leadership. The project is the collaboration of 4 parties including the Institute for Research and Development of Teaching Profession for ASEAN, Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand, the Institute for Teaching Profession Development and the National Institute for School Teacher and Staff Development (NITS), Japan. The project is implemented in 4 phases: 1) Development of innovation to increase the competency of the education professionals. 2) The training for development of classroom management and instruction by NITS. 3) Application of the knowledge in schools. 4) Follow-up and evaluation. The project opens up a chance for the directors and deputy directors of schools as well as supervisors and academic teachers to participate. These participants have been selected by the collaborating organizations mentioned above.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maitree Inprasitha added that Khon Kaen University by the Institute for Research and Development of Teaching Profession for ASEAN has been carrying out training and development in this respect for over 10 years. There have been the workshops for the education professionals twice already, with good acceptance. This year, the Teachers’ Council of Thailand and the Institute for Teaching Professionals Development and the National Institute for School Teacher and Staff Development (NITS), Japan have expanded the target from 40 people to 113 people. The Project will continue if there are as many participants as this time. It can also link to KKU’s innovation works which have already started and extended to over 300 schools in the North, the Northeast, and the South. It is a true classroom quality development project, with over 8,000 teachers and educators participating. The impact can be realized in over 100,000 pupils countrywide.
The Development Project for Education Professionals is the collaboration of the education organizations both in the country and overseas, aiming at developing the quality and the competency of the education professionals all over the country.
Miss Waraporn Sainoi, Director of the Office of Policy and Plans, Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand congratulated the participants on behalf of the Office of Policy and Plans, Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand. It is the determination of the Council to collaborate with the educational organizations in Thailand and Japan to increase the skills in instruction and thinking skill of teachers and educators in the country. The success in the recent past has brought about better preparation and management as well as the development of the training programs that are more suitable to the participants, who will have a chance to learn and practice lesson study and open classroom in the real situation so that they can apply the innovations in their job.
Dr. Charoen Phuwijitr, Deputy Director of the Institute for Teacher and Teaching Profession Development said that it is very important for the education professionals to possess knowledge and be able to create innovations in their instruction. The extension of the project from the past two events enabled more teachers to join and the quality development can be extended to more schools with greater quality of education in the country.
Mr. Masahiro Oji, Vice President of the National Institute for School Teachers and Staff Development (NITS) said that NITS has joined this project since.2018. All through these years, they have revised the project, which results in a better program. The training this time will be online. It is a pity that participants cannot travel to Japan to observe the real classrooms. However, NITS has tried the best to use the advantage of online system to make the utmost benefits to the trainees. He finally thanked Thailand’s educational organizations for the arrangement of this project.
Dr. Burapathit Ploisuwan, Vice General Secretary of the Office of General Secretary of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand said on behalf of the Teachers’ Council that the Council has the responsibility and duty to develop teachers and educators. The project this time is very useful for education in the country. It is a good chance for educators and teachers to learn the innovations that can help increase the quality of education in the country and the learners.
This project is organized in 4 phases, the first organized by IRDTP to develop teachers’ potentials in: Lesson Study, Classroom Management and Leadership. The project also aims at building cooperation and network for developing education profession in Thailand and Japan. The training this time includes lectures on the use of innovations for increasing potentialities of the teacher professionals and forum activities to transfer the experiences in innovation applications.
News / Photos: Natthawut Jaruwong
