mastertek - My Blog

Introduction of project based learning to high school students - Risks and Challenges:

1-Compatibility: students, Schools, or Companies may reject the project due to conflict in lifestyle, perspective, etc.
-Action: conducting survey, interview, discussion meeting, etc.

2-Place: negotiating for a place may not be successful because all blocks nearby the bas high school are occupied by small businesses.
-Action: gain affection from the schools and students to back the negotiation

3-Finance: it's highly possible that we run out of cash before the fruit students' projects right after training.
-Action: Looking for sponsors is not always an option. I am preparing speeches to call for donation/voluntary payment from participating students themselves.

My project's mandate is reproduced as follows:
Purpose: Introduction of business-project-based learning on environmental-friendly products and sustainable practices to high school students.
Mission: Creation of the next generation of environmental conscious students and entrepreneurs in 8 years.
Vision: Establishment of a chain of mini think-tank for students to work on proposals and concepts to benefit emerging entrepreneurs and the market as a whole.

I want to target only high school students, not middle schoolers or university students. By emphasizing the importance of high school as the turning point to decide which field of study to opt in after graduation, I will attract as many high school students as possible.
It may turn out few high school students will support or few of them are skilled enough even after training to produce quality contributions to business sector. If that's to happen, I will have to allow a bigger portion for university students.

The past year saw a lot of student conferences Education Without Border (EWB), YES2009, St. Gallen Symposium, One Young World, 1st World Youth Summit, etc. I was lucky to get involved in one or more stages of these events and have read a good deal of papers selected for presentation there. To my surprise, I found very few unique idea or unconventional approach among even winning papers written by students from top-class institutions. Many synthetic research papers collect data and opinions from various sources without implying any concrete solution. Cliché and quote are used excessively to fill up the bibliography section. Participants often stray from purpose of coming to learn and experience. E.g. students to EWB in Dubai only boasted about watching fabulous performances. At this rate, more and more money is wasted to sponsorship for nothing. Therefore, I want to offer students low-cost opportunities to gain experience, learn knowledge and ability to identify cliché. I hope to create a learning community that can produce cliché-free contributions to the business sector.

In the midst of globalization, save for weapon control, most environmental and economic issues are surfacing to a bubble in Vietnam and haven‟t shown signs of reaching their high-water mark. I was among few students who developed a vested interest in both environmentalism and business since high school. But as I started a discussion about the intersection of the two subjects with schoolmates, I quickly found my conversation out the window. As time passed, my friends found their way in banks or became entrepreneur. Last year when I was back to Vietnam and came to their companies to talk sustainable business practices, I still noticed eyes rolling. Sustainable issues are often inadvertently skirted in the name of procurement at cheapest prices. Without the adoption of these emerging entrepreneurs and established companies, there won‟t be any green building or green business in Vietnam anytime soon, which results in unstoppable impact of this country on air pollution, global warming, and more. As a corollary, companies need more education and consultation on these subjects.

The lack of company personnel is derived back to their days in high school because high school is on of the most important turning point in one's life when one decides which field of study to opt in in university. Many Vietnamese students are bright and intellectual but they and everyone around them have been lacking awareness of global issues for so long. They tend to be a Joe Shmoe rather than a Crazy Frog in any essay or speech contest calling for authentic and creative papers on environmentalism. Most ideas submitted were so vapid that they triggered no change or execution. I know many undergraduates and graduates who are very excited with learning government policies, but why couldn't they manage to change anything? Knowing that, we have to change thoroughly everything and everyone around them to able to admonish their attitude and change their way of thinking. If a single knot is missed in the process, our efforts will crumble before any benefit is materialized. To create a wholesome Experience for that purpose, it requires many resources that are not locally and sustainably available. Human resource is the major factor. Not everyone but President Obama can hire a Chris Hughes for his long-day campaign. we need to mobilize all available Chris Hughes in our place to keep some of them, at any time, side by side with high school students to teach them.

Nowadays, students in developed countries gather to run institutions known as think-tanks and invite strong board of advisors and mentors. Under their instruction, students do research, work on theories and projects, and present ideas in front of congressmen. There are more than a hundred think tanks in US and UK; teens in India, Australia, Canada, German, France, Belgium; less than five in major East Asian countries; Vietnam, two. And most of them are not student-run so students cannot directly engage in activities or be empowered to make changes.

Besides, in this growing economy, there‟s a growing concern that parents become so busy at work that they unconsciously free their children from study-hard duty. These parents need to be aroused to awareness of new generation‟s development in all aspects. Success in fulfilling this need will, at the same time, help earn any education business a parents-backed customer base.

I am trying to tackle these issues one by one.

In the midst of globalization, save for weapon control, most environmental and economic issues are surfacing to a bubble in Vietnam and have not shown signs of reaching their high-water mark. In high school, I was among few students who developed a vested interest in both environmentalism and business since high school. But as I started a discussion about the intersection of the two subjects with schoolmates, I quickly found my conversation out the window. As time passed, my friends found their way in banks or became entrepreneur. Last year when I was back to Vietnam and came to their companies to talk sustainable business practices, I still noticed eyes rolling. Sustainable issues are often inadvertently skirted in the name of procurement at cheapest prices. Without the adoption of these emerging entrepreneurs and established companies, there will not be any green building or green business in Vietnam anytime soon, which results in unstoppable impact of this country on air pollution, global warming, and more. As a corollary, companies need more education and consultation on these subjects.

The lack of company personnel is derived back to their days in high school because high school is on of the most important turning point in one's life when one decides which field of study to opt in in university. Many Vietnamese students are bright and intellectual but they and everyone around them have been lacking awareness of global issues for so long. They tend to be a Joe Shmoe rather than a Crazy Frog in any essay or speech contest calling for authentic and creative papers on environmentalism. Most ideas submitted were so vapid that they triggered no change or execution. I know many undergraduates and graduates who are very excited with learning government policies, but why couldn't they manage to change anything? Knowing that, we have to change thoroughly everything and everyone around them to able to admonish their attitude and change their way of thinking. If a single knot is missed in the process, our efforts will crumble before any benefit is materialized. To create a wholesome Experience for that purpose, it requires many resources that are not locally and sustainably available. Human resource is the major factor. Not everyone but President Obama can hire a Chris Hughes for his long-day campaign. we need to mobilize all available Chris Hughes in our place to keep some of them, at any time, side by side with high school students to teach them.

Nowadays, students in developed countries gather to run institutions known as think-tanks and invite strong board of advisers and mentors. Under their instruction, students do research, work on theories and projects, and present ideas in front of congressmen. There are more than a hundred think tanks in US and UK; teens in India, Australia, Canada, German, France, Belgium; less than five in major East Asian countries; Vietnam, two. And most of them are not student-run so students cannot directly engage in activities or be empowered to make changes.

Besides, in this growing economy, there‟s a growing concern that parents become so busy at work that they unconsciously free their children from study-hard duty. These parents need to be aroused to awareness of new generation's development in all aspects. Success in fulfilling this need will, at the same time, help earn any education business a parents-backed customer base.

I want to try to tackle these issues one by one.