Banpu elevates the quality of education through teachers Holding the workshop training on Design Thinking Process towards Sustainable School Development
In general, we may think that teachers would frequently have the opportunity to participate in training courses or seminars to enhance knowledge, techniques or new approaches for self-development and adjusting their teaching methods to keep up with changes. In fact, with the busy schedule each week and other duties which teachers have to be responsible for such as academic administration, accounting, and report making according to government regulations along with limited budget, teachers rarely have the opportunity to attend such programs. Even though they have the chances occasionally, the knowledge they gained is difficult to be applied or furthered in the long run especially if it is not in line with the school’s policy or does not match the context of the community in the school area.
With the realization on this important gap, Banpu Public Company Limited, who has been running the Banpu Education For Sustainability (BES) for 15 years with the aim to develop the education, promote the integrated learning through school improvement, teacher capacity development, and promotion on the learning of students for 6 schools in 3 northern provinces, took the initiative to arrange a new way of teacher training with the workshop training namely, “Design Thinking Process towards Sustainable School Development”, attended by 35 teacher representatives from the 6 schools. This training is for rousing the thinking process and providing practical approaches for the teachers to run the brainstorming session of the schools’ stakeholders; teachers, students, parents, and community members, which will result in a school development plan that suits the school’s policy agreed by all parties.
Mrs. Udomlux Olarn, Head of Corporate Affairs of Banpu Public Company Limited said, “Banpu always believes that “learning” is the cornerstone in developing “people”. For 15 years in operating Banpu Education for Sustainability, Banpu emphasizes the need to promote learning in various aspects continually. We also have the intention in developing the 6 schools to meet the same standard as the ones in big cities through various activities or projects which are not just financial support or equipment supply. With this workshop training on “Design Thinking Process towards Sustainable School Development”, Banpu aims to train the teachers to enhance the school development planning process through the participation of stakeholders and “Design Thinking” which is the process of outcome mapping, reflecting the understand on the problems and goals profoundly by brainstorming ideas and views from all relevant parties. This can pave the way for the teachers to be the major factor in planning the development of the school according to the real needs or common goals of all stakeholders.”
The main objective of the workshop training of “Design Thinking Process towards Sustainable School Development” is to train and enable teachers to relay the knowledge and organize the brainstorming session with all the schools’ stakeholders by using new techniques such as searching process for the image of success and planning process to identify the desired goals. After this new way of training, the participants will bring the knowhow to develop the plan that meets the needs of each school and its stakeholders. Banpu acts like the alliance to allocate the necessary resources further. These are the proofs that the training is different from the same old patterns that obliged teachers to listen, memorize, and leave without any continuous development process.
Moreover, this workshop training was also attended by many qualified academicians in the field of education consisting of Mr. Nakorn Tangkapipope, the former specialized director of Benjama Thep Uthit School, Phetchaburi Province, and the Consultant of Upper Secondary Education Bureau, OBEC, Mr. Surat Jiatrakgul, former director of Phayao Pittayakhom School, Phayao Province, Dr. Sarod Kaewarun, former director of Bunyawat Witthayalai School, Lampang Province, and Mr. Pakdee Ratchatavipasanan, National Teacher of 1999, former specialized teacher of Bunyawat Witthayalai School. They are all committed to delivering the knowledge to all participating teachers to further it effectively. Mr. Nakorn said, “The 15-year-long relationship between Banpu and the schools is the school’s advantage in developing, furthering and creating the sustainability. The future visions related to school management and the values of Banpu to support the changes – i.e., Innovative, Passionate and Committed shared to the teachers from all the 6 schools is the way to make the teachers rethink about their school values and prepare for changes.”
Mr. Nakorn added, “This training is a commitment that the teachers will need to bring the gained knowledge to create the involvement and conduct the school development plan. They will set the approaches in order to search for each school’s image of success and effectively put it into practice. Ultimately, the schools can have good development direction. The teachers can stay professional and up-to-date. The students can be armed with skills for their future. The parents and the community can be happy and proud.”
“Finally, Banpu believes that the intention and commitment of the lecturers and teachers attending this workshop, the innovation and new methods we used, and continuous education support provided by Banpu will be a great help to the schools under BES to have the dream school image that meets the needs of all their stakeholders and to be able to create the school development plan towards the sustainability”, concluded Mrs. Udomlux.
Mr. Nakorn Tangkapipope (standing, left) and Mr. Surat Jiatragul (standing, right), conducted the activity and gave advice to teacher representatives from 6 schools
Dr. Sarod Kaewarun (right) closely facilitated a workshop in order to ensure that the participants understand the process
About Banpu Public Company Limited
BANPU is a pioneering Asian energy company, operating business in coal, power generation, and integrated energy sectors in nine countries; Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Singapore, Japan and the United States of America.
“Learning is the Power of Change and Development”
Banpu’s CSR activities are based on our firm belief that “learning is the power of change and development” for people and society by emphasizing the promotion and development of continued “learning” among young people and communities in a number of ways. Banpu supports sustainable development of communities and society through a variety of learning opportunities for both individuals and teams, ranging from daily real-life experiences both in-and-outside classrooms, to hands-on practices which enhance capabilities and skills.