Bangkok--6 Sep--Kanokrat and Friends
World Renowned Academic Addresses Why Thai Students Need to be Ready for the World and How New Trends in Education are Preparing Them
As Thailand prepares to enter the AEC in 2015, students need to be ready to compete in order to become the next generation of leaders, innovators and global citizens. Thailand is poised to become an educational hub for students from ASEAN nations as well as nations from around the world.
Preparation for the upcoming unified economic community is imperative for both students and institutions of higher education. Already, there is a paradigm shift underway from teaching to learning as institutions are realizing the advantages of teaching methods that cultivate the skills and attributes required for real world success.
“First and foremost one must consider the students and their needs. This requires innovations to existing curriculums. Teaching and learning must be student centered,” said the esteemed Professor Sir Drummond Bone, Chancellor of Stamford International University and Chairman of Laureate International Universities Advisory Board.
Sir Drummond, who was knighted for his services to higher education, spoke at Stamford International University in July 2012. Stamford is part of Laureate International Universities, the world’s largest private education network with a presence in over 26 countries, with more than 60 accredited campus-based and online universities and 130 campuses, serving over 650,000 students globally.
“In order to become the leaders of tomorrow, Thai students need four new competencies; first is English, second is an ability to relate to others, third is teamwork, which might be better understood as, ‘the emotional ability to understand different points of view,’ and perhaps most importantly, mental flexibility.”
In a separate address with faculty members of Stamford, Sir Drummond discussed the issues of internationalization of universities where he presented viewpoints from national, institutional and student perspectives.
“In order to be responsible members of society today, it is imperative that we understand the world. Problems are universal, but how we think about them is cultural. Students can no longer just be fed information they need to be taught how to understand it because the world is changing so rapidly.” He identified four drivers of change -- specialization, globalization, digitization and speed.
When asked specifically about the importance of the four drivers of change and how they relate to students in Thailand and their preparedness for the impending AEC, he answered by saying that, “what
we need to be doing extremely well is giving students analytic abilities, creating team players and providing them with the ability to view problems from multiple perspectives. Universities must be graduating students who are prepared to immediately make a difference not only in the workplace but also in the world.”
Students benefit from several crucial aspects of the Stamford University approach to education. First, they are developing a genuine understanding of the rest of the world thanks to the fact that Stamford is truly internationalized, with students from 56 different countries at their campuses in Hua Hin and Bangkok. Also, Stamford students gain from the global synergy and resources that Laureate International Universities provides.
For more information on Stamford’s programmes, please visit http://www.stamford.edu/