Visit of IRD Representative - Pictures

The representative of the IRD in Thailand, Dr. Régine Lefait-Robin, visited the CELS on Friday 13th November 2009.

Training Sessions / Transana

The CELS has held two training sessions on how to analyse video-taped research material using the software Transana:

18-20 November 2009 at Lampang Rajabhat University
Participants from Uttaradit, Chiang Mai and Petchaboon

24-26 November 2009 at Udon Thani Rajabhat University
Participants from Sakhon Nakhon

Some figures regarding the blog

This blog was launched one year ago.

Every month, the CELS blog is in average visited by 120 persons.

Every day, the blog welcomes 4 readers.

The most uploaded publication is CELS Working Papers No5.

Thanks for following up the CELS activities!

Coming soon...

Silkworm Books will soon be releasing the result of a long-lasting, fascinating CELS research programme: the book "Education and Knowledge in Thailand. The Quality Controversy".

Their website presents it with the following details:

If an observer asked today whether Thailand is becoming a “knowledge-based society”, the reply might be yes—provided that the country continues to invest in the education of her citizens.

Yet the authors of this book take a strongly critical view of Thai education. Investing more money in education is certainly essential, but it will not automatically lead to a knowledge-based society. On the contrary, they say, current changes in policy and approach are actually moving Thai education away from transmitting and producing knowledge and scholarship, away from developing and honing individual abilities to think and learn. This failure parallels world trends: the uncontrolled and unbalanced increase in enrolment; the interference by political and economic interests in the orientation and management of educational institutions; and the commodification of education—in particular, privatisation, internationalisation and vocationalism. These symptoms are diagnostic of the so-called diploma disease which pervades the system. Public policymakers in Thailand are unfortunately too quick to compromise and may be unable to reverse this trajectory.

To overcome obstacles to a quality education, a society must place the transmission and production of knowledge at the core of the educational endeavour, genuinely and authentically, without making concessions to lesser aims and rationales. This commitment would give present and future Thai students the skills and abilities they need to master their own future and contribute to the destiny of the nation.

The book is a lively interplay between theory and well-documented facts. It offers a quantitative and qualitative analysis which is fundamental to understanding the overall situation of Thai education, to advancing the debate on educational quality and to charting a course for the future. It will appeal widely to educators, students, parents, academics, researchers and policymakers who are concerned about the state of education in Thailand.

Highlights

• An original and critical scientific analysis of the Thai education system in historical and comparative perspectives
• A critical look at the 1999 Education Reform
• A comprehensive survey of education theories
• The first study of education in Thailand using field data from the last half-century
• A detailed analysis of the determinants of educational quality
• An analysis of current impediments to educational quality
  

Visit of IRD Representative

On Friday 13th Nov. 2009, the representative of the IRD in Thailand, Ms.Régine Lefait-Robin, will visit the CELS regarding the JEAI research programme (JEAI stands for "Jeunes Equipes Associées à l'IRD" - Young research teams associated with IRD).

Training Sessions / Transana - some pictures

Last week, the CELS successfully organised training sessions on the use of Transana software at Sakon Nakhon, Udon Thani, Uttaradit and Lampang Rajabhat universities.

Each of them was in average attended by 15 participants.

Participants were elementary school teachers, supervisors from Educational Service Area and from Thesaban, as well as professors from Faculty of Education and research centers of Rajabhat Universities.

Training Sessions / Transana

This week, Dr Phasina Tangchuang and Dr. Alain Mounier are leading training sessions on the use of Transana software in Sakhon Nakhon, Udon Thani, Uttaradit and Lampang Rajabhat Universities.

Transana is a qualitative analysis software designed for professional researchers to analyse digital video or audio data. More info on the software on their official website.