Program Schedule

Day 1 – Monday, August 19, 2024 (GMT+7)

 

08:00 Registration Open

Location. Lobby (G) 

 

09:00-09:30 Welcome & Opening Remarks


Prof. Dr. Đào Văn Đông, President, Thai Binh Duong University, Vietnam
Dr. Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Room. A101 

 

09:30-10:30 Keynote Speech 1

Private and public feelings, energy/ies and intensity/ies: Local-global a/symmetries of power in relation to pedagogy, the arts, and scholarship

Dr. Fiona Blaikie, Professor in Visual Arts Education, Brock University, Canada

Room. A101

 

10:30-10:45 Coffee Break Lobby (A101)

 

10:45-11:45 Concurrent Sessions

Paper Session 1. Early Childhood Education

Paper Session 2. Professionalism in Education

Paper Session 3. Peace & Conflict Studies in Global Contexts  (hybrid)

Paper Session 4. Human Rights

Room. A201

Room. A203

Room. A101

Room. A205

Chair: Nguyễn Hồng Ân

 

Presenter(s):

Nguyễn Hồng Ân; Nguyễn Minh Thành. 

Revising the Ideal Parental Image: Decolonizing the Discourse of “Good Parents” in Vietnamese Parenting Psychology’s Research and Practice.

 

Erwin Rahayu Saputra, Vina Adriany, Seni Apriliya, Euis Kurniati. 

Insights into the Out-of-School Lives of Children in Public and Private Schools in Indonesia: The Lifeworlds of Nine- and Ten-Year-Olds.

Chair: Ba-Anh-Tu Truong

 

Presenter(s):

Ba-Anh-Tu Truong. 

Improving the professionalism from education: Expectations from Vietnamese public relations practitioners.

 

Cuong Nguyen, Diem Tram Nguyen, Tan Pham.

Analyzing Teacher Professionalism from a Decolonial Perspective: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study.

Chair: Ka Chun Lai

 

Presenter(s):

Nguyen Kieu An.

From Exclusion to In-Betweenness: Precarious Citizenship and Liminal Identities Among Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. (online)


Ka Chun Lai.

African Solutions to African Problems – Review of Rwandan government led peacebuilding approaches. (online)

Chair: Thinh Mai Phuc

 

Presenter(s):

Thinh Mai Phuc. 

GED Program for Myanmar Students and CDM Participants in Thailand: Challenges and Practices.

 

Nguyễn Huyền Cát Anh.

The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise In The Asia Pacific On Human Rights From Legal Perspectives.

12:00-13:30 Lunch

 

13:30-14:30 Keynote Speech 2

Internationalization of Canadian Higher Education: Reality or Rhetoric?
Dr. Edward R. Howe, Professor in Education, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Room. A101

 

14:30-15:00 Coffee Break   Lobby (A101)

 

15:00-16:00 Workshop 1

Publication in Special Edition of ‘European Journal of Education

 

Dr. Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Dr. Ethan Trinh, Georgia State University, USA

Dr. Edward R. Howe, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Room. A101

 

16:15-17:45 Concurrent Sessions

Paper Session 5. Technological Perspectives

Paper Session 6. Social Justice in Education

Paper Session 7. Education & Identity

Paper Session 8. Social Development

Room. A101

Room. A201

Room. A203

Room. A205

Chair: Hau Le

 

Presenter(s):

Hau Le, Phuong Mai Nguyen

The Impact of Virtual Reality (VR) Technologies on the Real Estate Vietnam Market. 

 

Minh Tran. 

ChatGPT in the Vietnamese online news: Media hype or hide of a controversial science issue.

 

Vu Chi Thanh.

Current Status Of Collaborative Activity Management Between Vocational Colleges And Businesses In Training Human Resources In The Field Of Information Technology.

Chair: Tan Xuan Pham

 

Presenter(s):

Tran Mai Huong.

Counter-Urbanization and Creative Class in Vietnam: An Ethnographic Study of Urban Exoduses in Gia Lai Province.

 

Tan Xuan Pham, Phung Thi My Pham.

Analyzing Language Teacher Motivation during Teacher Education Programs through Acts of Imagination.

 

Trịnh Kim Ngân.

Gender mainstreaming in academic leadership at a public university in Vietnam.

Chair: Le Nguyen Hai Van

 

Presenter(s):

Minh Hoang Khanh Nguyen. 

Global aspirations, local interests: a critical analysis of Viet Nam’s new national general curriculum. 

 

Le Nguyen Hai Van. 

Disconnected From The Past: An Autoethnography On Writing Systems And The Discontinuity Of Cultural Identity. 

 

Seni Apriliya, Vina Adriany, Hamimah, Erwin Rahayu Saputra, Euis Kurniati.

Children’s Lifeworlds in Non-Global City: Study of School Belonging and Wellbeing Elementary Schools Students in Indonesia.

Chair: Lam Duc Duong

 

Presenter(s):

Lam Duc Duong. 

A stable matching-based clustering method for assignment problem and its implication to decentralized society.

 

Ha Bich Dong, Ethan Trinh.

Re-envisioning bê đê through a Utopia of Feminism, Queerness, and Peace in Vietnamese EFL Textbooks.

 

Dang Thi Thai Ha.

Ecoambiguity in Contemporary Vietnamese Literature: From Post-War and Spiritual Perspective.

Day 2 – Tuesday, August 20, 2024 (GMT+7)

 

08:00-09:00 Keynote Speech 3

A Walking Meditation on the Soils of Quê Hương: 

An Autohistoria-teoria Lullaby of Embracing Inbetweenness

Dr. Ethan Trinh, Associate Director, Atlanta Global Studies Center, Georgia State University, USA 

Room. A101

 

09:00-09:15  Break 

 

09:15-10:15 Keynote Speech 4

Imagining “Bandung” child

Dr. Vina Adriany, Director, SEAMEO CECCEP, Professor in Gender and Early Childhood Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Room. A101

 

10:15-10:30 Coffee Break  Lobby (A101)

 

10:30-11:30 Concurrent Sessions

Paper Session 9. Queer Narratives

Paper Session 10. Community Development in The Philippines (hybrid)

Paper Session 11.  Emerging Epistemological Perspectives (hybrid)

Paper Session 12. Cultural Practices in Vietnam

Room. A203

Room. A101

Room. A201

Room. A205

Chair: Ha Bich Dong

 

Presenter(s):

Ha Bich Dong, Lan Chi Nguyen.

“That love cost me so much and I had suicidal thoughts many times”: Love and career for Vietnamese LGBTIQ+ young people as intertwined.

 

Do Hoang Phong.

Boundary ambiguity: A narrative inquiry into Vietnamese non-

heterosexual transmen.

Chair: Kyla Agnes Limoso Ramirez

 

Presenter(s):

Kyla Agnes Limoso Ramirez, Cris Janeil Rodriguez Gargar, Daniel June Pinuela Pelipaga, Ralph Wency Taunan Tuma-ob. 

Pagbangot: Exploring the Public Values in Palatucuran sa Paghidaet Bangotbanwa Estrella of Tobias Fornier (Dao), Antique. (online)

 

Joven Ian Miclat Marquez.

Domingo Sabet de San Narciso: Exploring a Holy Week Practice Through the Lens of Interpretive Approach. (online)

Chair: Hoa Bui

 

Presenter(s):

Bedrettin Yazan, Ufuk Keleş.

(In)Tensions around autoethnography as knowledge generation: Pushing towards new ways of being, knowing, and thinking in educational research. (online)

 

Hoa Bui, Xuan Thuy Nguyen.

Engendering Disability–Inclusive Development: Vietnam Case Study: Inclusion, Exclusion and Activism – Local Knowledge of Women and Girls with Disabilities from Southern Perspective. (online)

Chair: Khang Huynh-Vinh

 

Presenter(s):

Nguyễn Ngọc Phương.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage and Experience Economy in Vietnam: A Case Study of Vietnam Vocotruyen Martial Arts and the Con Nhà Võ project.

 

Dương Đàm Yến Nhi, Đào Thu Huyền, Nguyễn Lâm Anh, Bùi Thị Yến Loan.

A Manifestation Of Delicate Dynamics Between Love Autonomy Principles And Patriarchal Values In Hmong Society.

12:00-13:30 Lunch

 

13:30-14:30 Workshop 2

Publication in Special Edition of ‘Policy Futures in Education’

Dr. Ethan Trinh, Georgia State University, USA

Dr. Fiona Blaikie, Brock University, Canada

Dr. Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Room. A101

 

14:30-15:00 Coffee Break  Lobby (A101)

 

15:00-16:00 Workshop 3

3D Mapping to regenerate ecological university in the context of digital transformation and sustainability

Lien Le Thi Phuong, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam

Room. A101

 

16:15-17:45 Concurrent Sessions

Paper Session 13. Contemporary Vietnamese Literature and Identity

Paper Session 14. Past and Contemporary Movements in Vietnam (hybrid)

Paper Session 15. AI and Society (hybrid)

Room. A203

Room. A101

Room. A201

Chair: Vo Dinh Van

 

Presenter(s):

Nguyen Thi Thien Ly. 

‘Vietnamese Phonethemes in Spoken Language in Relation to Iconicity from Western Thoughts’.

 

Huy Tran-Phuoc-Lam.

“To be Bahnar, we have to be equal with the Yuăn (Kinh people)”

Bahnar youth’s education: contested identity between tradition, colonialism, and modernism.

 

Vo Dinh Van. 

Bích Cẩu Kỳ Ngô: A Case Study Of The Vietnamese Understanding Of Religion.

Chair: Cuong Huy Nguyen

 

Presenter(s):

Vũ Thị Phương Quỳnh.

Moral outrage in the digital age: perspectives of Vietnamese Facebook users towards cyberbullying against a Vietnamese elderly teacher of Literature. (online)

 

Luong Thi Van Ha. 

Aspiration for “a good job”: a study about life-changing values in globalization through ideas of “a good job” of young office workers in Hanoi. (online)

 

Ky Le.

Exploring the Impacts of Public Policy on Higher Education in Vietnam: Decision 911/QD-TTg and the Training of 20,000 New Ph.D. Students. (online)

 

Đinh Hồng Hạnh, Vũ Thành Long, Đặng Thùy Dương, Ngô Hoàng Ngọc Hiệp. 

“IS IT BECAUSE I AM LGBTI?”: Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Vietnam. (online)

Chair: Jonathan J. Felix

 

Presenter(s):

Jonathan J. Felix.

Human capital futures in the global south: Employability and education policy in the age of AI. (online)

 

Ritu and Monika.

Integration of agroecological practices with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance agricultural sustainability in India. (online)

Day 3 – Wednesday, August 21, 2024 (GMT+7)

 

08:00-09:00 Keynote Speech 5

Women’s Transformations In Colombia’s Armed Conflict And Peacebuilding Context

Dr. Marleny Bonnycastle, Associate Professor in Social Work, University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr. Alexandra Diaz, Pyscologa Colombia

Room. A101 (online)

 

09:00-09:15  Break 

 

09:15-10:15 Keynote Speech 7

Disrupting the Global-North-centric discourse in international education through reverse student mobility and decolonisation of the curriculum

Dr. Ly Tran, Professor in Education, Deakin University, Australia

Room. A101 (online)

 

10:15-10:30 Coffee Break  Lobby (A101)

 

 10:30-12:00 Concurrent Sessions 

 

Paper Session 16. Minority Groups in Education

Roundtable 1. Decolonial Disability Studies (hybrid)

Paper Session 17. An Ninh và Xã Hội Việt Nam

Routable 2. Social Transformation

Room. A203

Room. A101

Room. A205

Room. A201

Chair: Euis Kurniati

 

Presenter(s):

Nguyen Le Kim Khanh.

Construction Of Bilingual Identity Ethnic Minority EFL Student In Higher Education Institutions In Central Vietnam.

 

Nguyễn Lâm Anh, Phạm Thị Diệu Vy, Đinh Đỗ Xuân Nhiên, Trần Ngọc Yên, Nguyễn Thị Hà Vy. 

Mindfulness-based practice: A metacognitive regulation strategy as a potential remedy for mitigating minority stress among Vietnamese LGBT college students.

 

Euis Kurniati.

Parents’ Perspectives on School Transitions: Challenges and Strategies for Equitable Education.

Chair: Xuân Thuỷ Nguyễn

 

Presenter(s):

Xuan Thuy Nguyen, Alexis Padilla, Shilpaa Anand, Shehreen Iqgtadar, and David Harnáandez-Saca. 

Decolonial Disability Studies as Struggles for Epistemic Justice: A Critical Roundtable. (online)

Chair: Khoi Cong Vo

 

Presenter(s):

Dương Thị Ánh Sáng. 

Các Nhân Tố Ảnh Hưởng Đến Ý Định Mua Hàng Nông Sản Sạch Qua Phát Trực Tiếp (Livestream) Tại Việt Nam.

 

Khoi Cong Vo. 

Bảo Đảm An Ninh Con Người Ở Việt Nam.

 

Nguyễn Phước Lộc. 

Nam Toàn Cầu: kỳ vọng và hiện thực.

Chair: 

 

Presenter(s):

Vi Truong, Bao Tran Chau. 

Academic Libraries: Drivers of Institutional OER Repository Development.

 

Phan Hồng Giang, Dương Thị Ánh Sáng, Đoàn Hồng Hạnh, Đặng Việt Anh. 

The necessity of AI application management education for non-experts.

 

12:00-13:30 Lunch 

 

13:30-14:30 Keynote Speech 6 

Troubling the Silencing of Sexuality in Global South Childhood Studies  

Dr. Deevia Bhana, Professor in Gender and Childhood Sexuality, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Room. A101 (online)

 

14:30-15:00 Coffee Break  Lobby (A101)

 

15:00-15:30 Closing Remarks

Ha Bich Dong, Vietnamese Humanities & Social Sciences (VHSSA), University of Manitoba, Canada

Prof. Dr. Đào Văn Đông, President, Thai Binh Duong University, Vietnam

Room. A101

 

Gala Dinner (optional, RSVP only)

Book Exhibition

From August 19 to August 21, 2024

Room. A204

Dr. Fiona Blaikie

Dr. Edward Howe

Dr. Vina Adriany

Dr. Ethan Trinh

Last Day – Thursday, August 22, 2024 (GMT+7)

Local Cultural Tour (optional, RSVP only)

Abstracts

KEYNOTE SPEECH 1. 

Private and public feelings, energy/ies and intensity/ies: Local-global a/symmetries of power in relation to pedagogy, the arts, and scholarship

Author(s): Dr. Fiona Blaikie

Affiliation: Professor in Visual Arts Education, Brock University, Canada

Email: fblaikie@brocku.ca 

 

We will examine intensity/ies and energy/ies expressed in public and private feelings and the ways in which they are shifting from grand narratives inherent in Global North modernist authorial power and meaning residing in the public works and ideas of scholars, captains of industry, society, politicians, and artists to reframing power in more distributed ways, shaped by porous socially, politically, and culturally situated conditions. We will turn to Global South studies and posthumanism, in which humans are non-exceptional. Taking up pedagogy, the arts, and scholarship, we will contemplate enduring and emerging a/symmetries and hegemonies, locally and globally. We will examine ways in which our own lives are circumscribed and situated in micro and macro ways, ontologically, in time, place, culture, class, race, sexuality, gender, and spirituality, as we move moment-to-moment through worlding constructs of who and how we are in relation to private and public feelings of potential and limitation, and our senses of agency, connection, and belonging, individually and collectively.  

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH 2.

Internationalization of Canadian Higher Education: Reality or Rhetoric? 

Author(s): Dr. Edward R. Howe

Affiliation: Professor in Education, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Email: ehowe@tru.ca 

 

This research critically investigates internationalization of higher education (IHE) bridging theory and practice. Internationalization is “the international process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution to society” (de Wit et al., 2015, p. 29). IHE is often measured by student mobility and statistics, but how do universities, communities, and nations become truly internationalized through the mere presence of international students? While international student numbers offer an element of internationalization, student mobility alone is an insufficient measure of internationalization. The notion that internationalization produces internationally knowledgeable global citizens is largely rhetoric rather than reality (Garson, 2016). IHE is largely driven by neoliberal globalism, with most international students from Asia studying at Western universities, creating hegemony of knowledge and uniformity of educational provision. Critical scholarship has identified unintended consequences of IHE including commercialization and diploma mills. Criticisms are mounting of rapidly expanding programs, specifically aimed at attracting foreign tuitions. However, there is a paucity of research devoted to IHE giving voices to international students; ironically, the ones universities increasingly depend upon. This study helps de-center this meta-narrative. 

 

With respect to the foregoing, the research questions framing this study are:

 

1) What are the experiences of international students at small-to-mid-sized Canadian universities within smaller communities? 

2) How do international students experience internationalization? 

3) How are universities and communities internationalized through the presence of international students?

 

Thus, this research promises to make the following significant contributions to IHE: 

1) Provide a platform and voice to international students in critical IHE studies;

2) Identify and analyze the common experiences of international students, which will contribute to innovative and student centric approaches to IHE at Canadian universities;

3) Disseminate research findings to IHE organizations and students to help improve university programs and policies for students across Canada; and 

4) Contribute theory to critically analyze the phenomenon of IHE in Canada.

 

This mixed methods research uses survey and interview data from international students at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in the interior of British Columbia (BC). Canada welcomes many immigrants from East Asia — in particular China and India, the two nations where most international students hail from. Canada is increasingly one of the top destinations for international students. BC universities, in smaller communities are a popular choice, as they offer smaller class sizes, personalized instruction, and programs that welcome international students. Thus, TRU has experienced significant growth over the past two decades. 

 

Howe’s (2022) Comparative Ethnographic Narrative represents an original approach as international students collect, analyze, and report interpretive data from peers to better understand IHE, from an insider’s perspective. Despite the fact IHE has received much attention, there are few studies giving voices to international graduate students in Canada. This transcultural research offers a refreshing counter-narrative to the western hegemony of knowledge. 

 

Howe, E. R. (2022). Teacher Acculturation: Stories of pathways to teaching. Leiden: Brill.   https://brill.com/view/title/61351?rskey=02H0u5&result=2 

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH 3.

A Walking Meditation on the Soils of Quê Hương: An Autohistoria-teoria Lullaby of Embracing Inbetweenness. 

Author(s): Dr. Ethan Trinh

Affiliation: Associate Director, Atlanta Global Studies Center, Georgia State University, USA

Email: ethan.trinh14@gmail.com   

 

In this talk, I would like to invite the audience to take a walking meditation with me (Thich, 1999; Trinh, 2020) to explore how my identities are split in betweenness in the journey of returning (to) quê hương (Barad, 2007; Trinh, 2021). By using autohistoria-teoria, a personal essay that theories, as a methodology (Anzaldúa, 2015; Trinh, 2020, 2021, 2024), I stitch the series of personal and professional events that happened to me so that I can explore my intersectional identities of a Vietnamese, queer, immigrant, multilingual leader, teacher educator, and writer who lives in the in-between spacetime. In this talk, I weave theory into analysis, analysis into theory, put them into thinking, writing, walking with me. As quê hương is out of reach physically, each fragment of its culture such as smelling, tasting, seeing, touching, hearing, and feeling has created a safe space for me to refuge, resist, relearn, love, and embrace my in-between-ness. This talk is a critical, soulful, spiritual lullaby for me to lay down, come back, re-think with my inner child to pave a new path for future researchers who are walking in their self-exploration journey to find their own quê hương. 

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH 4.

Imagining “Bandung” child [1]

Author(s): Dr. Vina Adriany

Affiliation: Director, SEAMEO CECCEP, Professor in Gender and Early Childhood Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Email: vina@upi.edu 

 

Bandung is the capital city of West Java, Indonesia. It is a city where I was born, raised and live. It is also a city where the first high level Asia Africa conference that aimed to challenge colonization and Western domination was held. However, since the conference was organized by adults, in this context the countries’ leaders, focusing on mainly economics and politics, the discussion on children was absent in that conference. The absence of children’s focus in the conference makes any attempt to decolonize children and childhood studies in Indonesia disconnected from the conference. While in fact, the construction of children and childhood in Indonesia is always a juxtaposition between global and local values. As a postcolonial country, the roles of international donor organizations in shaping the value of children is highly pervasive. From the World Bank’s involvement in developing early childhood education sectors to the ratification of the United Nation Conventions of Children Right, the Western production of knowledge is visible in the life of young children in Indonesia. In this presentation, I would attempt to explore a possibility to expand the meaning of Bandung conference by arguing the need to put children at the centre, beyond the language neoliberal and neo colonial.

 

[1] The title of this presentation was inspired by a queer project entitled “imagining queer Bandung” that was held from June to August 2021 in Berlin.

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH 5.

Women’s Transformations In Colombia’s Armed Conflict And Peacebuilding Context. 

Author(s): Dr. Marleny Bonnycastle

Affiliation: Associate Professor in Social Work, University of Manitoba, Canada

Email: marleny.bonnycastle@umanitoba.ca 

 

In 2016 Colombia adopted the Final Peace Agreement between the government and the armed group FARC to end the world’s longest civil war. Although there is an emerging consensus that women have played different roles in the armed conflict, peace agreement, reparation, and reconciliation as victims and actors/agents, this has not been systematically explored. This paper uses Feminist Popular Education (FPE) principles and approaches to examine this proposition. It explores how women NGOs, movements and advocacy groups have used FPE to engage women in critical reflection of their memories, roles, resistance, and activism to challenge masculinities and transform gender inequalities around armed conflict, peace, and transitional justice. An environmental scan of tertiary data of seven women’s organizations during the last 30 years was used to analyze gender inequality and women’s transformation. The paper analysis women as subjects of peace and not only victims including gender educational inequalities and women’s involvement in peace at critical times of the armed conflict. FPE became an educational political tool to create a space and a mechanism to articulate women’s concerns and demands to grow into active agents and get their transformation. The paper ends with a critical elaboration of women’s empowerment at different states of the armed conflict and how FPE could promote women’s agency to mitigate the political, social, and historical context of gender inequality.

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH 6.

Troubling the Silencing of Sexuality in Global South Childhood Studies. 

Author(s): Dr. Deevia Bhana

Affiliation: Professor in Gender and Childhood Sexuality, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Email: bhanad1@ukzn.ac.za 

 

In this address I trouble the continued silencing of sexuality in researching children and childhood in the Global South challenging the dominant narratives that render children’s sexualities invisible under the guise of sexual innocence and heteronormativity. Drawing inspiration from research conducted on childhood sexualities in South Africa and the recently published volume Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts, the discussion interrogates the entangled legacies of colonialism that continue to shape normative understandings of sexuality across diverse contexts such as Brazil, China, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam.

 

I ask: why is there a lack of attention to issues around children and young people’s sexuality and what can we do about this ongoing silence? To answer these questions, I foreground how historically ingrained gender and sexual norms, rooted in colonial discourses, persist in contemporary Global South settings, perpetuating binary understandings of gender and reinforcing heterosexual imperatives. By exploring the complex intersections of gender, race, class, culture, religion, and political censorship, the silencing of childhood sexuality is intensified whilst what is unknown and unpredictable remains unrecognised. Next, I focus on how gender and sexuality come to matter in children and young people’s lives addressing the complexity of pleasure, desire and danger contrasting these narratives against the adult empire of knowledge supporting childhood sexual innocence and childhood protection. Finally, I advocate for the destabilisation of the entrenched silences, emphasising the urgent need for research that reimagines childhood sexualities in the Global South. To do this requires a revolution of thought, thinking and theory so that childhood sexualities can be recognized, valued and supported towards a future where all children can thrive. Through this, I argue for the decolonisation of childhood sexualities highlighting the critical role of Global South perspectives in reshaping our understanding of childhood, gender and sexuality.  

KEYNOTE SPEECH 7.

Disrupting the Global-North-centric discourse in international education through reverse student mobility and decolonisation of the curriculum.

Author(s): Dr. Ly Tran

Affiliation: Professor in Education, Deakin University, Australia

Email: ly.tran@deakin.edu.au 

 

International education trends and practices are predominantly Global-North-centric. This centricity is shown through the dominant South-North student mobility, teaching and learning practices, transnational research activities and transnational education programs. International education activities may consciously or unconsciously perpetuate ‘Western’ ways of constructing knowledges, ‘Western’ ways of doing things and ‘Western’ ways of being. In particular, ‘Western’ supremacy and dominant knowledges and practices are often privileged in the teaching and learning of international students and how this cohort is treated. However, international education has the potential to disrupt the Global-North-centric practices and ‘Western’ universalism.

 

This presentation has two foci. First it focuses on how reverse student mobility can be a powerful mechanism to decolonise international education. It draws on a longitudinal research project on the New Colombo Plan that explores to what extent formerly colonised Global South countries in the Indo-Pacific region, such as Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, Fiji and Papua New Guinea can represent a geographical, social, cultural and educational space to transform Australian students. It provides evidence about the impacts of North-South mobility on students’ academic, intercultural, professional and personal development, on institutional relationships, and on the home and host communities. The stories these students and related stakeholders shared disrupt common assumptions and the students’ own existing neo-colonial attitudes that Global South locations are backward or poorer places with fewer resources, compared to Global North destinations, so they are not worthy study destinations. In particular, the research shows how these students develop ethnorelative perspectives, comparative curriculum-specific knowledge, empathy, intercultural competence and professional capabilities. These findings challenge traditional thinking about student mobility, which is dominated by South-North trends, and in which ‘Western’ knowledge is often regarded as superior and universal and ‘Western’ experiences are seen as elite and a marker of distinction. The research evidence shows that Noth-South mobility students should be recognised as a powerful force as partners in curriculum making through their internationalised experiences and Indo-Pacific knowledges to enrich the learning community, including for those who do not have a chance to engage in learning abroad. They should be empowered to play a transformative role not only as agents in humanising public diplomacy, enriching human-to-human connections, institution-to-institution connections and home-to-host connections, but also as actors in decolonising international education.

 

The second part of this presentation focuses on the process of curriculum colonisation, recolonisation and decolonisation, using Vietnam as a case study. It explores how colonisation of the curriculum is perpetuated through passive policy borrowing, seeing ‘Western’ ways as the compass and copying what’s called ‘best practice’ in the West or how the West is done while bypassing local values and practices. The case study puts forward practical recommendations about how to draw on Vietnam’s legacy of fighting for independence and sovereignty as a tool to mediate curriculum appropriation and de-colonise international education.

 

PAPER SESSION 1. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Revising the Ideal Parental Image: Decolonizing the Discourse of “Good Parents” in Vietnamese Parenting Psychology’s Research and Practice

Author(s): Nguyễn Hồng Ân; Nguyễn Minh Thành

Affiliation: Hoa Sen University, Vietnam

Email: an.nguyenhong@hoasen.edu.vn

 

Parenting is one of the central research topics in psychology because of its undeniable influence on children’s development. Nonetheless, the proliferation of parenting research and training programs in recent decades in Vietnam has also raised concerns about their effectiveness, especially their suitability for the family structure and parenting beliefs in Vietnam. In this conceptual presentation, based on reviewing the current parenting psychology literature and practice in Vietnam, we identified the current discourses in parenting work and training programs, including (i) western discourses,  (ii) expertise discourses, and (iii) scientific discourses. We analyzed how historical and cultural factors constructed these discourses using a critical psychology framework. A novel framework of Sinh, Dưỡng, Dục, and Lạc (Tran, 2002) is introduced to encourage the development of indigenous perspectives of parenting in Vietnamese psychology.

 

Tran Van Doan. (2002). The Metaphysical Principle of Maternity in Vietnamese Culture. Retrieved Jun 15, 2022, from https://vntaiwan.catholic.org.tw/hiendai/mautinh.htm

 

Insights into the Out-of-School Lives of Children in Public and Private Schools in Indonesia: The Lifeworlds of Nine- and Ten-Year-Olds

Name: Erwin Rahayu Saputra, Vina Adriany, Seni Apriliya, Euis Kurniati

Affiliation: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia – Indonesia

Email: erwinrsaputra@upi.edu

 

This study investigates the out-of-school activities of nine- and ten-year-old children in Indonesia, focusing on those attending public and private schools, aiming to understand how these activities influence their daily lives and development within the context of the Global South. The research is anchored in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, examining the multiple environments that impact children’s development, and Habermas’s concept of the “lifeworld,” analyzing children’s everyday social interactions and experiences. This framework is complemented by Global South studies, which emphasize the unique socio-economic and cultural contexts of developing countries. A survey methodology was employed to gather data, using structured questionnaires administered to 193 children from public and private schools, and their parents, to capture a broad range of activities and contextual factors. The results indicate that children in private schools participate more frequently in organized extracurricular activities such as sports, music lessons, and private tutoring. In contrast, children attending public schools engage more in unstructured play and household chores. Digital media use was prevalent across both groups, though its nature and extent varied. Significant differences in parental involvement and resource availability were also highlighted between the two groups. This research contributes to the field by providing detailed insights into the lifeworlds of children in Indonesia, emphasizing the impact of school type on out-of-school activities. The findings are significant for educators, policymakers, and researchers interested in child development and Global South studies, as they underline the importance of considering socio-economic and institutional contexts in shaping children’s everyday lives and developmental opportunities. This study enriches the discourse on child development by highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities faced by children in developing countries, emphasizing the need for context-specific strategies to support their growth and development.

 

PAPER SESSION 2. PROFESSIONALISM IN EDUCATION

Improving the professionalism from education: Expectations from Vietnamese public relations practitioners.

Author(s): Ba-Anh-Tu Truong

Affiliation: Louisiana State University, U.S.

Email: btruon5@lsu.edu 

 

Education plays a crucial role in public relations (PR) professional development. The relationship between education and professionalism manifests through pedagogy, as a PR practitioner can provide essential knowledge and skills to complete his or her tasks and responsibilities in public relations activities (Ehling, 1992). However, Vietnamese PR education has dealt with many challenges: an inconsistent body of knowledge of public relations, no code of ethics, no formulated professional objectives and norms, and no accreditation. The demand for human resources in PR is increasing, paving the way for PR programs to open at Vietnamese universities. Most programs have a few courses focusing on general PR knowledge and courses from other related majors, such as journalism and communications. The instructors do not have academic knowledge, while the practical instructors only focus on experiences in their lectures (Doan & Bilowol, 2014; Van, 2013). 

 

These challenges have remained for more than ten years, which is the rationale for this research inquiry about Vietnamese PR professionalism and education from the practitioner’s perspective, one important force of professional and educational identity (Fawkes, 2021). This topic is notable in the high demand for PR human resources since the U.S. business expansion planning into the Vietnamese market is happening (White House, 2023). This exploratory research employs the theoretical frameworks for public relations professionalism, and their findings are research, scholarly inquiry, the body of knowledge, and the role of education (Ehling, 1992; Grunig & Hunt, 1984; Fawkes, 2021). The research aims to answer two questions: 

 

RQ1: What are the perceptions of VNPPs about PR professionalism and education in Vietnam? 

RQ2: What recommendations are for improving PR professionalism and education in Vietnam?

 

With the theoretical framework above, this research will employ in-depth interviews based on the rationales, questions about the definition, and investigating the causes of particular practices or phenomena (Stacks, 2016). The sampling framework is 20 Vietnamese practitioners who have worked in the industry for over five years. A semi-structured list of questionnaires is employed to allow participants to express their opinions and experiences freely. 

 

The results reflect the complexity of the professional identity with the tremendous expectation from the pedagogy in general. 

 

Doan, M.-A., & Bilowol, J. (2014). Vietnamese public relations practitioners: Perceptions of an emerging field. Public Relations Review, 40(3), 483-491. 

Ehling, W. P. (1992). Public Relations Education and Professionalism. In J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 439-464). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Fawkes, J. (2021). Public relations and the problems of professional identity. In C. Valentini (Ed.), Public Relations (pp. 61-82). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. 

Grunig, J. E. (1992). Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Grunig, J. E., & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing Public Relations. CBS College Publishing. 

Stacks, D. W. (2016). Primer of Public Relations Research, Third Edition. Guilford Publications.  

Van, L. T. H. (2013). Contemporary public relations in Vietnam : public relations challenges in a culturally different setting Thesis (DCommunication)–University of South Australia, 2013.]. 

White House fact sheet: President Joseph R. Biden and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong Announce the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. (2023).  Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/10/fact-sheet-president-joseph-r-biden-and-general-secretary-nguyen-phu-trong-announce-the-u-s-vietnam-comprehensive-strategic-partnership/

 

Analyzing Teacher Professionalism from a Decolonial Perspective: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study.

Author(s): Cuong Huy Nguyen, Tram Pham, Tan Xuan Pham

Affiliation: Independent Researchers

Email: caumuoihai1105@gmail.com 

  

Teacher professionalism involves a teacher’s professional identity, a cognitive and emotional construct, influencing his or her professional practices and development (Avalos & Barrett, 2013). This study problematizes colonized viewpoints of teacher professionalism in the Global South—a set of standards for teachers’ knowledge, autonomy, and responsibility (Tikli et al., 2022) – which directs teachers’ meaning-making to follow authoritative views, thereby hindering teacher learning and development.

 

This autoethnographic study (Chang et al., 2013) includes three educators from different educational contexts. They frame their professional learning and development through the lens of the possible selves concept (Kubanyiova, 2009) to study how mainstream teacher professionalism has shaped their professional identities. The concept of possible selves, including ideal, ought-to, and feared selves, indicates teachers’ cognition and affects the construction of their identities as language teachers. Our stories, presented as narrative vignettes (Le, 2021), capture the cognitive and emotional aspects of negotiating their ideal, ought-to, and feared selves throughout our teaching and learning experiences.

 

The first narrative illustrates how a dominant view of teaching English pronunciation refrains the ideal self of an educator who is responsive to various students’ learning expectations or demands, thereby demotivating teacher learning and the development of teaching methods. The second narrative reveals the lack of professional development opportunities due to the dominance of ought-to selves within the teacher professionalism framework, consequently demotivating teacher development. The last narrative discusses the dissonance between ideal and ought-to and feared selves in teaching Communicative English, caused by authoritative views on teacher professionalism, which deprives teachers of the motivation to improve their teaching methods and resilience in the field.

 

These stories necessitate a social justice approach to teacher professionalism, centralizing the voices of challenges and support in teaching and learning to enhance teachers’ capacity, skills, and commitment to the profession.

 

Ávalos, B., & Barrett, A. M. (2013). Teacher professionalism and social justice. In L. Tikly & A. M. Barrett (Eds.), Education quality and social justice in the Global South: Challenges for policy, practice and research (pp. 75–90). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203817650-6

Chang, H., Ngunjiri, F. W., & Hernandez, K. C. (2016). Collaborative autoethnography. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315432137

Kubanyiova, M. (2009). Possible selves in language teacher development. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 314–332). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691293-017

Le, G. N. H. (2021). Living a queer life in Vietnam. In F. Blaikie (Ed.), Visual and cultural identity constructs of global youth and young adults (pp. 213–227). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003055822-15

Tikly, L., Barrett, A. M., Batra, P., Bernal, A., Cameron, L., Coles, A., Juma, Z. R., Mitchell, R., Nidia, A. N., Paulson, J., Rowsell, J., Tusiime, M., Vejarano, B., & Weldemariam, N. (2022). Decolonising teacher professionalism: Foregrounding the perspectives of teachers in the Global South. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7097105

 

PAPER SESSION 3. PEACE & CONFLICT STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXTS

From Exclusion to In-Betweenness: Precarious Citizenship and Liminal Identities Among Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia 

Author(s): Nguyen Kieu An

Affiliation: Okayama University (Japan)

Email: kieuan.ngx@gmail.com

 

The paper examines the precarious legal status and historical migration of ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia, aiming to explore their liminal citizenship status as a product of colonial legacies and post-colonial state policies through a post-colonial theoretical framework, drawing on Edward Said’s concepts of imperialism and Stuart Hall’s ideas on the persistence of colonial structures. It also utilizes theories of liminal legality and racial-colonial ordering to analyze the status of ethnic Vietnamese while engaging in a critical review of legal documents, government policies, and scholarly literature to understand the evolution of citizenship laws affecting this minority group as well as historical analysis method to trace the migration and settlement patterns of the Vietnamese in Cambodia. Beginning with the French Protectorate era, which saw the influx of Vietnamese migrants into Cambodia, the findings indicate that the ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia have faced systemic exclusion from citizenship, initially under colonial rule via the colonial divide-and-rule strategy and continuing through various Cambodian regimes, particularly during the Khmer Rouge genocide and the subsequent period of Vietnamese influence. Their precarious status is also perpetuated by the collaborative yet exclusionary policies of both Cambodian and Vietnamese governments, which utilize a strategy of ‘shared custody’ to maintain control over this population. This research highlights the enduring impact of historical narratives and legal frameworks on the marginalization of minority groups, offering insights into the complexities of state-building and national identity formation in Southeast Asia as well as contributing to broader themes of exclusionary citizenship practices in non-Western contexts. 

 

African Solutions to African Problems – Review of Rwandan government-led peacebuilding approaches

Author(s): Ka Chun Lai

Affiliation: University of Manitoba, Canada

Email: laikc@myumanitoba.ca

 

This paper aims to critically analyze how the Rwandan peacebuilding approach, exemplified by the internationally driven democratization process in the 1990s of pre-genocide Rwanda and the government-led national unity and reconciliation policies in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, has been inadequate to address the legacy of deep-seated hatred and pains entangled with the historical identity politics of Rwanda. This paper calls for attention to everyday resistance from the locals and explores the contextual challenges of local peacebuilding efforts that seek to complement the government-led peacebuilding process. 

This paper draws on the theoretical framework of Kaufman’s ethno-symbolism (2015) to analyze the evolution of Rwandan identity politics. Informed by critical peace scholars, such as Mac Ginty and Richmond (2013), and Thiessen (2011), this paper argued that top-down internationally driven peace intervention before the genocide was inherently flawed. The law-imposing policy of ethnic neutrality in post-genocide Rwanda has stiffened and marginalized authentic discussion of ethnicity among the people in an authoritarian context. Literature and text analysis that examines the meaning of conflicts, peace and reconciliation exhibited by different actors in Rwandan contexts. Government policies and laws, documentaries and impact stories of local NGOs working for post-genocide reconciliation

The deep-seated hatred and pains need to be addressed through long-term sustaining efforts of trauma healing and peacebuilding. The promotion of the salient identity of “Rwandanity” in post-genocide periods left the nuanced ethnic division unresolved. This paper contributes to the understanding of the limitation of post-genocide reconciliation that was heavily advanced by the state-centric approach. When the notion of “African solutions to African problems” was hailed, it can be problematic when it is advanced in an authoritarian context.

 

Kaufman, S. (2015). Nationalist passions. Cornell University Press. 

Mac Ginty, R., & Richmond, O. (2013). The local turn in peace building: A critical agenda for peace. Third World Quarterly, 34(5), 763-783. 

Thiessen, C. (2011). Emancipatory peacebuilding. In T. Matyok, J. Senehi, & S. Byrne (Eds). Critical issues in peace and conflict studies (pp. 115-140). Lexington Books.

PAPER SESSION 4. HUMAN RIGHTS

GED Program for Myanmar Students and CDM Participants in Thailand: Challenges and Practices

Author(s): Thinh Mai Phuc

Affiliation: Can Tho University, Vietnam

Email: phucthinhpq@gmail.com

 

This study aims to explore the challenges and practices associated with providing GED (General Educational Development) programs to Myanmar students and participants of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) who have fled to Thailand. The objective is to understand the barriers they face and the strategies employed to overcome these challenges.

 

The research is grounded in the framework of educational resilience and adaptation within refugee populations. It draws on theories of social capital and human rights education to analyze how displaced individuals navigate educational opportunities in a foreign context. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data. It includes focus group interviews with personnel from organizations that support Myanmar refugees in Thailand, along with secondary data analysis of existing reports and studies on refugee education. Primary data is collected through focus group interviews with NGO staff and educators working with Myanmar refugees in Thailand. Secondary data includes reports from organizations such as the Philanthropy Connections Foundation, Frontier Myanmar, and academic articles on refugee education and the CDM.

 

Preliminary findings indicate that the main challenges faced by Myanmar students and CDM participants include language barriers, financial constraints, and limited access to educational resources. Despite these obstacles, various practices have emerged to support these students, such as community-led educational programs, online learning platforms, and partnerships with international NGOs to provide scholarships and educational materials. This research contributes to the understanding of educational resilience among displaced populations. It highlights the importance of tailored educational programs that address the unique needs of refugees and political exiles. The study also provides insights into effective practices that can be adopted in similar contexts globally, thus informing policy and educational program development for refugee populations.

 

The Impacts of Sea Level Rise in the Asia Pacific on Human Rights from Legal Perspectives 

Author(s): Nguyễn Huyền Cát Anh

Affiliation: Nha Trang University

Email: anhnhc@ntu.edu.vn

 

Sea level rise, a consequence of climate change, poses a significant threat to human rights, particularly for low-lying nations and coastal communities. This research explores the complex interplay between rising seas and the existing legal framework for maritime zones in the Asia Pacific, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It adopts a socio-legal approach as qualitative research, examining the interaction between environmental change, international law, and fundamental human rights. The research employs a doctrinal legal analysis of UNCLOS alongside human rights instruments to assess potential conflicts arising from sea level rise. Additionally, case studies of low-lying nations facing territorial challenges (especially those of low-income non-Western nations) due to rising sea levels provide a practical lens. The study draws on legal documents like UNCLOS and human rights treaties, scientific reports on sea level rise, and relevant case studies. The article identifies potential human rights violations related to displacement, loss of access to resources, and statehood due to submerged landmasses. Further, it analyzes existing legal frameworks and emerging legal interpretations for addressing these issues. This research contributes to a burgeoning field of scholarship examining the legal and human rights dimensions of climate change. By highlighting the specific challenges posed by sea level rise within the context of UNCLOS, the paper offers valuable insights for policymakers and legal practitioners working to develop frameworks that ensure the protection of human rights in a changing maritime environment. It is expected to contribute to international cooperation and the development of robust legal mechanisms to ensure the protection of human rights in the face of rising sea levels. 

 

PAPER SESSION 5. TECHNOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

The Impact of Virtual Reality (VR) Technologies on the Real Estate Vietnam Market

Author(s): Hau Le, Phuong Mai Nguyen

Affiliation: Faculty of Digital Communication, Gia Dinh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Email: lh.lehau@gmail.com 

 

This research delves into the ramifications of Virtual Reality (VR) technology on consumer behavior within the real estate market, with a particular focus on the Vietnamese context. Leveraging data from 312 respondents, the study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to scrutinize how VR integration influences purchase intentions, mediated by telepresence, playfulness, usefulness, and quality perception. The findings unveil a prevailing skepticism among Vietnamese consumers regarding the incorporation of VR into the home-buying process, as they continue to favor the conventional approach of browsing properties via online videos. However, the study suggests that augmenting the playfulness factor within VR experiences could potentially mitigate this skepticism and foster greater acceptance among consumers. The analysis underscores the imperative for real estate agencies to grasp the intricacies of consumer attitudes and preferences when contemplating the integration of VR technology into their marketing strategies. Despite the burgeoning popularity of VR across various industries, its adoption within real estate remains relatively nascent and met with apprehension by consumers. By elucidating the nuanced interplay between VR technology and consumer behavior, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders seeking to navigate the evolving landscape of real estate marketing in an increasingly digital age. Understanding and addressing consumer concerns regarding VR adoption could prove pivotal in fostering its acceptance and efficacy within the Vietnamese real estate market, ultimately shaping the future trajectory of the industry.

 

ChatGPT in the Vietnamese online news: Media hype or hide of a controversial science issue

Author(s): Minh Tran

Affiliation: Danang University of Science and Education

Email: ttyminh@ued.udn.vn

 

Developing countries are more often science receivers than producers. It is, therefore, important for the media in the Global South to inform, alert and prepare their publics and policy makers to make rational decisions about new science developments, especially controversial issues. Yet, media coverage of global science controversies – e.g. genetic modification, stem cell research, artificial intelligence – have often been found to be problematic in developing countries. This paper presents a content analysis of Vietnamese news about ChatGPT to elucidate how one of the latest artificial intelligence applications is represented in Vietnamese news since its emergence.  

 

Developed by Entman (1993), framing refers to the way information is presented to influence public perception. He emphasizes its role in shaping news content at the article level, particularly in the exercise of political power, where various agents strive to control narratives to influence on public awareness and opinion. Framing is used in this study as a theoretical framework and data analysis method. Computational and manual content analysis will be employed to analyse how the controversial ChatGPT is selected, framed, sourced and evaluated by Vietnamese news reporters. For computational analysis, Organe Data Mining is employed to analyse dominant frames used by the media. For manual coding, a coding instrument is developed by adopting fundamental variables from previous research, such as themes, frames and sources (Bauer et al., 1995; Durant et al., 1998; Nisbet & Lewenstein, 2002; Tran, 2021). The findings then are compared to determine the prevailing frames dominating Vietnamese news discourse about ChatGPT. A sample of online news articles in the period 10/2022 – 12/2023 is collected from six newspapers, including nationwide press (Tuoi tre, Thanh Nien, Vnexpress, Vietnamnet) and science-focused newspapers (Tia Sang, Khoa hoc & Phat trien). The key words used for data collection are: ChatGPT, tri tue nhan tao, AI. 

 

Our preliminary findings suggest a sustainable media attention to ChatGPT. Unlike the event-oriented media coverage of science controversies in Vietnam, news about ChatGPT tends to be more issue-oriented with in-depth analysis of its social and economic implications. However, most of the news is industrial-led sourced, and positively framed with a benefit favour to ChatGPT advancements. There is an inadequate discourse on the potential risks of ChatGPT. Placing these in the context of the Global South, we will discuss the potential consequences of such news coverage on local and global development processes. 

 

Bauer, M., Ragnarsdottir, Asdis Rudolfsdottir, A., & Durant, J. (1995). Science and Technology in the British Press, 1946-1990 – A systematic content analysis of the press.

Durant, J., Bauer, M. W., & Gaskell, G. (1998). Biotechnology in the public sphere: A European Sourcebook. Science Museum.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing : Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58.

Nisbet, M. C., & Lewenstein, B. V. (2002). Biotechnology and the American Media: The Policy Process and the Elite Press, 1970 to 1999. Science Communication, 23(4), 359–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/107554700202300401

Tran, M. (2021). Science journalism for development in the Vietnam: A multi-facet investigation of issues and challenges and its implications for Global South. Bournemouth University.

 

Current Status of Collaborative Activity Management between Vocational Colleges and Businesses in Training Human Resources in the Field of Information Technology 

Author(s): Vu Chi Thanh

Affiliation: Independent Researcher, Vietnam

Email: thanhvc@fe.edu.vn

 

The study aimed to determine the current status of collaborative activity management between vocational colleges and businesses in training human resources in the field of information technology. This was achieved through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data on the status of collaborative activities (1), the status of the implementation process of collaborative activities (2), the status of collaborative activity management built on the PDCA cycle (3), and the factors influencing the management of collaborative activities between vocational colleges and businesses in IT human resources training (4). The study surveyed 6 vocational colleges (132 staff members from vocational colleges, 128 employees from partner businesses, and 300 IT students) in 3 regions nationwide and used internal consistency methods to evaluate the correlation between items within the same domain, using Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha correlation model. The study revealed that the management of collaborative activities between vocational colleges and businesses in training IT human resources is fairly well-implemented with a diverse range of activities, forms, and collaborative content. However, there are differences between colleges, localities, and regions regarding aspects such as institutionalizing implementation principles, the status of planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and improving collaborative activities between vocational colleges and businesses in IT human resources training. This study provides a basis for proposing measures and developing evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of collaborative activities in training IT human resources between vocational colleges and businesses, while also mobilizing participation from learners, lecturers, businesses, labor users, and other relevant parties.

 

PAPER SESSION 6. SOCIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION

Counter-Urbanization and Creative Class in Vietnam: An Ethnographic Study of Urban Exoduses in Gia Lai Province

Author(s): Tran Mai Huong

Affiliation: Zhejiang University International Business School

Email: maihuongvn.173@gmail.com

 

This study explores the connection between counterurbanization and young individuals marked as creative class in contemporary Vietnam. Its first attempt is to provide a preliminary assessment of the phenomenon of counterurbanization within the country. While counterurbanization typically has been perceived as post-urbanization in Western contexts or as a deliberate governmental strategy to address over-urbanization in developed Asian nations as Japan or China, it has emerged in Vietnam irrespective of Vietnam’s relatively low level of urbanization or explicit directives from central authorities, particularly among young urbanites over the past decade. Furthermore, this study also argues that as representative of the Vietnamese creative class, young urban exoduses have become a pivotal driving force of counterurbanization.

 

To substantiate this claim, I conducted a case study referring to the theoretical framework of Mitchell (2004) on counter-urbanization, coupled with a qualitative approach employing ethnographic methodology. The study data was collected from three months of co-living among 7 young urban migrants in Dak Doa, Gia Lai. I primarily used observational participant methods to deep-dive into the lived experiences and activities of these individuals after their relocation. As a result, the study found that rather than a process or a pattern (Mitchell, 2004), counter-urbanization in Vietnam has been mainly a movement of de-urbanization. In the case of Gia Lai, it has been boosted by young creative individuals migrating from big cities in order to seek new living styles, including livelihood styles. Reciprocally, their creativeness and migration has been significantly contributed to the knowledge economy and social movements in the area. Despite counterurbanization and the creative class being topics of global interest, their exploration in the context of Vietnam remains limited. Therefore, this paper represents a valuable contribution to the understanding of these two objectives through an ethnographic case study.

 

Analyzing Language Teacher Motivation during Teacher Education Programs through Acts of Imagination.

Author(s): Tan Xuan Pham, Phung Thi My Pham

Affiliation: Independent Researcher; MA student, HCM University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam

Email: tan.phamxuan4393@gmai.com

 

Teacher motivation is integral to initial teacher education, especially in constructing their future professional identities (Lamb & Wyatt, 2019). Given the complex landscape of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam and across the world (Le et al., 2019; Kubanyiova, 2018), English Language Teacher Education in Vietnam focuses too much on theoretical knowledge with limited attention to real-life classroom practices, consequently challenging early-career teachers’ visualization of their future (Le et al., 2019). This study employs Kubanyiova’s (2019) acts of imagination as a theoretical foundation to examine pre-service English teacher motivation through evolving images of possible selves in their past, present, and future trajectories. Engaging in acts of imagination, pre-service teachers make sense of their future selves engrained in the collective imaginings of their sociocultural contexts, and their ongoing investment in doing so (Kubanyiova, 2019). Our study invited six prospective teachers (junior and senior students) from different demographic backgrounds to write 2 reflections for 3 months detailing their initial motivation to teach, significant motivational changes, and future orientation that influenced their learning and teaching. Based on cognitive, emotional, and motivational shifts in their reflections, individual interviews will be followed to connect reflective moments to indicate the sense-making processes of their future selves. These processes will be presented in the form of narrative vignettes (Le, 2021) offering lived episodes of socially and culturally informed understanding of the teaching profession and their “here-and-now” actions for change. Our study including prospective teachers’ imagined professional scenarios could help teacher educators provide their students with adequate support to nurture their ideal selves as well as be responsive to unexpected situations at times of uncertainty.

 

Kubanyiova, M. (2018). Language teacher education in the age of ambiguity: Educating responsive meaning makers in the world. Language Teaching Research, 24(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818777533

Kubanyiova, M. (2019). Language Teacher Motivation Research: Its ends, means and future commitments. In M. Lamb, K. Csizér, A. Henry, & S. Ryan (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning (pp. 389–407). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28380-3_19

Lamb, M., & Wyatt, M. (2019). Teacher motivation: The missing ingredient in teacher education. In S. Walsh & S. Mann (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education (pp. 522–535). Routledge.

Le, G. N. H. (2021). Living a queer life in Vietnam. In F. Blaikie (Ed.), Visual and Cultural Identity Constructs of Global Youth and Young Adults (pp. 213–227). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003055822-15

Le, V. C., Nguyen, H. T. M., Nguyen, T. T. M., & Barnard, R. (Eds.). (2019). Building Teacher Capacity in English Language Teaching in Vietnam: Research, policy and practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429457371

 

Gender mainstreaming in academic leadership at a public university in Vietnam

Author(s): Trịnh Kim Ngân

Affiliation: University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU-HCM)

Email: trinhkimngan@hcmussh.edu.vn

 

The paper examines the essence of leadership in the gendered culture of Vietnam, the connection of empowerment with gender mainstreaming, and the internal micro-political dynamics of the university as a gendered organization. The central phenomenon under interpretation is how female academics were empowered through the experiences recounted in their leadership positions. The external, organizational, and personal factors affecting their experiences are discussed through results from document analysis, a school-wide questionnaire, and semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted on 8 female academic leaders and 2 policymakers. Even though the case university presents favorable conditions for mainstreaming gender equality, there exist micro-inequalities such as training policy and misrecognition; the ambivalence in terms of staff’s attitude towards their female leaders; and the incongruence in individual needs and the ways the university celebrated the gendered self. Policy implications concerning quality assurance, autonomization, and professional development were proffered, setting the background for future trajectories of gender mainstreaming and its role in Vietnam’s higher education governance.

PAPER SESSION 7. EDUCATION & IDENTITY

Global aspirations, local interests: a critical analysis of Viet Nam’s new national general curriculum

Author(s): Minh Hoang Khanh Nguyen

Affiliation: Independent Researcher

Email: minhhknguyen@gmail.com

 

This paper discusses the global and local influences underlying Viet Nam’s new national general curriculum –  issued by the Viet Nam government in 2018 as part of the country’s most recent and significant education reform project. According to the policy-makers, the new curriculum is expected to contribute to a ‘fundamental and comprehensive’ renewal of education through the shift from knowledge-oriented to developing learners’ key qualities and competencies for the 21st century (MOET, 2018). The current literature on this curriculum reform is predominantly written by the policymakers and researchers involved in the development of the new curriculum, thus oriented towards justifying the reform or exploring ways of implementing it, while little research has been done to critique the new curriculum itself. Taking a critical approach to policy analysis, this paper investigates the local and global values, philosophies, and theories that shaped the new curriculum and their implications. The paper employs Rizvi & Lingard’s (2010) key questions for education policy analysis and Gee’s critical discourse analysis methods (2011) to unpack Viet Nam’s new General Education Curriculum policy document. It finds that Vietnam’s new curriculum closely follows the global education reform movement consensus. It embraces Western neo-liberal ideas such as the human-capital theory and the competency-based approach for improving learners’ productive skills and, hence economic development. However, this policy borrowing is selective: some key democratic values such as autonomy and critical thinking are absent from the new curriculum. The curriculum content is heavily bounded by the central control of the government with firmly embedded nationalistic values. Overall, the global influences are found to be more rhetorical, while local values are materialised more clearly in the curriculum content. These findings draw attention to the potentially incompatible neo-liberal and traditional values, which create unalignment in the new curriculum’s aims and the actual content that might prove problematic when it comes to its implementation at the grassroots level.

 

Gee, J. P. (2011). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit. Routledge. 

Ministry of Education & Training (2018). Circular 32/2018 TT-BGDĐT Promulgating the General Education Curriculum. [In Vietnamese] 

Rizvi, F. & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy. London: Routledge.

 

Disconnected from the Past: An autoethnography on writing systems and the discontinuity of cultural identity 

Author(s): Le Nguyen Hai Van

Affiliation: Faculty of International Studies, University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Da Nang (Viet Nam) 

Email: lnhvan@ufl.udn.vn

 

East Asian cultural sphere consists of countries with bold cultural influences from China, among which the Chinese script, or Hanzi, has been quite a notable marker of the shared cultural identity in the region and a means of recording political, social, and cultural aspects of life (Li, 2020). However, the use of Hanzi has varied across the region due to the introduction of new writing systems and changes in language policies, especially in the post-colonial period. In Viet Nam, chữ Quốc ngữ, the Latin-based script became the official writing system, while the traditional character-based scripts of chữ Hán and chữ Nôm fell into disuse. This raises questions about the impact of such writing system discontinuity on the cultural identity of Vietnamese individuals. Drawing on Sebba’s (2009) sociolinguistics of writing systems, this paper considers the connections between writing systems and cultural identity, seeking to explore how the disuse of chữ Hán and chữ Nôm in Viet Nam has affected individual’s cultural identity, specifically the sense of belonging to the country’s cultural heritage through the personal experiences and reflections of the researcher. In this paper I combine autoethnography with photos and drawings as visual metaphors, delving into reflections on how changes in writing system have resulted in the discontinuity of my cultural identity. By exploring the impacts of writing system changes on cultural identity, this research has potential implications for education policy. Specifically, it emphasizes the importance of preserving cultural heritage, teaching writing systems that reflect the cultural identity of a community, and providing opportunities for individuals to connect with their cultural heritage and identity in its original forms.

 

Li, Y. (2020). The Chinese writing system in Asia: An interdisciplinary perspective. Routledge.

Sebba, M. (2009). Sociolinguistic approaches to writing systems research. Writing Systems Research, 1(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1093/wsr/wsp002

 

Children’s Lifeworlds in Non-Global City: Study of School Belonging and Wellbeing Elementary Schools Students in Indonesia

Author(s): Seni Apriliya, Vina Adriany, Hamimah, Erwin Rahayu Saputra, Euis Kurniati

Affiliation: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia

Email: seni_apriliya@upi.edu

 

Global childhood projects typically focus on the lives of students growing up in global cities, such as Singapore and Melbourne. In contrast to the Global Childhood project, this research was conducted in the city of Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia. This research aims to obtain a perspective on the lifeworlds of elementary school students in Indonesia, especially on the aspects of School Belonging and Wellbeing. The research was conducted in two schools with different characteristics, namely private school and public school. Specifically, this article focuses on quantitative research results obtained through paper-based survey methods. The survey was conducted using an online survey instrument by Yelland et all. (2021) which was translated into Indonesian. The research participants consisted of 193 students in grades 4 and 5 of elementary school. The research results shown that the majority of elementary school students in Indonesia like going to school which indicated they enjoy the world of school; they desired sports activities, playing with friends, doing independent activities, and using technology more often than usual; Unfortunately, only a few students felt that they were always liked by their classmates; However, most students felt that the teacher always liked them; almost half admitted that they always working hard and serious in completing assignments with always good grades; and most of them admitted that they were always happy with the grades they obtained. These data shown the urgency for school belonging and student wellbeing to be considered more carefully by school’s management and stakeholders. School may also seek the help of parents and community members to identify additional feature that they think might more effectively engender a positive sense of belonging among fellow student. However, ensuring the success of their learning and education cannot be done optimally without considering aspects of the children’s lifeworlds as a whole.

 

Anderson, D. L., & Graham, A. P. (2016). Improving student wellbeing: having a say at school. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 27(3), 348–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2015.1084336

Cho, E. Y.-N., & Chan, T. M. S. (2020). Children’s Wellbeing in a High-Stakes Testing Environment: The Case of Hong Kong. Children and Youth Services Review, 109, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104694

Goodenow, C., & Grady, K. (1993). The relationship of school belonging and friends’ values to academic motivation among urban adolescent students. The Journal of Experimental Education, 62(1), 60–71.

Hermawanto, A., & Anggrani, M. (2020). Globalisasi, Revolusi Digital dan Lokalitas: Dinamika Internasional dan Domestik di Era Borderless World. In LPPM UPN VY Press (1st ed.). LPPM Press UPN Veteran Yogyakarta.

John-Akinola, Y. O., & Gabhainn, S. N. (2015). Socio-ecological school environments and children’s health and wellbeing outcomes. Health Education, 115(3), 420–434.

Kenway, J., Fahey, J., Epstein, D., Koh, A., McCarthy, C., & Rizvi, F. (2017). Class choreographies: Elite schools and globalization.

Kenway, Jane, & Mccarthy, C. (2016). Elite Schools in Globalising Circumstances: New conceptual directions and connections (1st ed.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Koh, A., & Kenway, J. (2016). Elite Schools: Multiple Geographies of Privilege. In Education in Global Context (2nd ed., Vol. 4). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Lee, I.-F., Yelland, N., & Saltmarsh, S. (2023). Childhood, Learning & Everyday Life in Three Asia-Pacific Cities: Experiences from Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore. Springer Nature Singapore. https://www.google.co.id/books/edition/Childhood_Learning_Everyday_Life_in_Thre/mju6EAAAQBAJ?hl=id&gbpv=0

Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., Kelly, D. L., & Fishbein, B. (2020). TIMSS 2019 International Results in Mathematics and Science. Boston College and International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). https://timss2019.org/reports/wp-content/themes/timssandpirls/download-center/TIMSS-2019-International-Results-in-Mathematics-and-Science.pdf

Reynolds, K. A., Komakhidze, M., Fishbein, B., & Davier, M. Von. (2024). Aspects of Student Well-Being and Reading Achievement in PIRLS 2021. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.6017/lse.tpisc.tr2103.kb1236

Simmons, C., Graham, A., & Thomas, N. (2015). Imagining an ideal school for wellbeing: Locating student voice. Journal of Educational Change, 16(2), 129–144.

Smyth, E. (2016). Wellbeing and school experiences among 9- and 13-year-olds: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland study. Economic and Social Research Institute.

Van Petegem, K., Aelterman, A., Van Keer, H., & Rosseel, Y. (2008). The influence of student characteristics and interpersonal teacher behaviour in the classroom on student’s wellbeing. Social Indicators Research, 85(2), 279–291.

Yelland, N. J., S., M., & Gilbert. (2017). Exploring the lifeworlds of children in Hong Kong: Parents’ report on after school time use. Educational Research and Reviews, 12(14), 677–687.

Yelland, N., & Muspratt, S. (2018). Behind the high-stakes testing results: Hong Kong children report on the aspects of their schooling experiences. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, 12(4), 1–14.

Yelland, N., Muspratt, S., Bartholomaeus, C., Karthikeyan, N., Chan, A. K., Leung, V. W., Lee, I. F., Soo, L. M. J., Lim, K. M., & Saltmarsh, S. (2021). Lifeworlds of nine- and ten-year-old children: Out-of-school activities in three global cities. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 19(3), 259–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2020.1816921

Yelland, N., Muspratt, S., Chan, Y. O., & Gilbert, C. (2012). Asian childhoods: Exploring the lifeworlds of students in contemporary Hong Kong. Global Studies of Childhood, 2(4), 286–301. https://doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.4.286

Yelland, N., Muspratt, S., & Gilbert, C. (2013). Global childhoods, Asian lifeworlds: After school time in Hong Kong. In Bank Occational Papers.

 

PAPER SESSION 8. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

A stable matching-based clustering method for assignment problem and its implication to decentralized society

Author(s): Lam Duc Duong

Affiliation: Post and Telecommunication Institute of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam

Email: lamducduong184@gmail.com

 

This research explores a novel clustering method for distributed data using the concept of stable matching method. Our objective is to develop a computationally efficient approach for identifying local clusters within large datasets. From this result, we found its implications on the advantages of decentralized systems over centralized ones in various aspects in real life such as decentralized society.

We leverage the theoretical framework of the linear sum assignment problem, specifically the Hungarian algorithm, to perform efficient matching on locally distributed data pairs. This departs from traditional methods that analyze the entire dataset. Our method utilizes numerical simulations to demonstrate that optimal clustering solutions can be achieved by searching within localized areas, significantly reducing computational complexity compared to global searches. Data sources for this research are simulated datasets where data points are distributed locally in pairs. The results show that our localized clustering approach achieves optimal solutions while offering significant computational speedup. This finding suggests potential advantages of decentralized systems over centralized ones, where the governance cost decreases significantly. 

The scholarly significance lies in exploring the benefits of decentralization. We raise philosophical questions about the potential over-centralization of our current system, our society and highlight the potential of localized clustering to inform the design of decentralized systems across various societal domains. This research paves the way for further investigation into the optimal level of decentralization and methods for identifying natural clusters.

 

Re-envisioning bê đê through a Utopia of Feminism, Queerness, and Peace in Vietnamese EFL Textbooks

Author(s): Ha Bich Dong, Ethan Trinh

Affiliation: University of Manitoba (Canada), Georgia State University (USA)

Email: habichdong@gmail.com 

 

“Bê đê”, originated from the French word “pédé” used during the colonial era in Vietnam, which describes gay men as effeminated or excessively sensitive (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Despite progress in acknowledging queerness/homosexuality is not a mental illness or disease by the American Psychiatric Association since 1973 (Turner, 2017), there is a long way to go in terms of advocating and incorporating queer knowledge in English language classrooms. For that reason, the objective of this paper is to create a utopia where queerness, or bê đê, is viewed differently and no longer marginalized in English language education. Queer theories, feminist studies, and peace studies critiques are utilized as theoretical lenses to conjure up this queer utopia (Muñoz, 2019). Applying critical visual discourse analysis as methods of inquiry, we chose a specific illustrated image that is typical and commonplace in English language high school textbooks in Vietnam to offer our critiques and analysis. Then, as a result of this critique, we re-envision the world of bê đê by offering how to think queer with Vietnamese EFL textbooks, where the fixed meaning “can be challenged, unfixed, unlearned, inquired and placed into a new use or understanding in contextualization and localization of space and time” (Trinh & Tinker Sachs, 2023, p. 2) and share some activities with the readers and attendees. This presentation is scholarly significant for future research projects in terms of visualizing what bê đê and queerness look like in the textbook while co-building allyship with students, teachers, and administrators (Trinh et al., 2024) to challenge cisheteronormativity and sexism in English language education. In essence, this presentation is one of the first and overdue projects that will lay a core foundation for future English language teaching and learning studies in Vietnam and worldwide when addressing minoritized subjects in education.

 

Human Rights Watch (2020). My teacher said I had a disease’: Barriers to the right to education for LGBT youth in Vietnam. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/viet nam0220_web.pdf 

Muñoz, J. E. (2019). Cruising utopia: The then and there of queer futurity. In Cruising Utopia, 10th Anniversary Edition. New York University Press.

Trinh, E., & Tinker Sachs, G. (2023). Thinking queer with Vietnamese EFL textbooks. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2023.2190524 

Trinh, E., Reynolds, K., & Coda, J. (2024). Teaching pride forward: Building LGBTQ+ allyship in English language teaching.  TESOL Press. 

Turner, A. (2017, December 15). #FlashbackFriday — Today in 1973, the APA Removed Homosexuality From List of Mental Illnesses. Human Rights Campaign. https://www.hrc.org/news/flashbackfriday-today-in-1973-the-apa-removed-homosexuality-from-list-of-me 

Ecoambiguity in Contemporary Vietnamese Literature: From Post-War and Spiritual Perspective.

Author(s): Dang Thi Thai Ha

Affiliation: Institute of Literature, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

Email: danghavvh@gmail.com 

 

In her groundbreaking work, Ecoambiguity: Environmental Crises and East Asian Literature, Karen Thornber introduces the concept of “ecoambiguity.” This approach has enabled Thornber, in her examination of East Asian literature, to transcend the inherent binary oppositions between East and West and the inherent Orientalist myths of the “Green” East. Instead, Thornber challenges these assumptions. She recognizes that the notion of an East that is nature-loving and lives in harmony with nature inevitably leads to a dead end when one considers the history of thousands of years of ecological degradation in the region. For Thornber, the distinctions between non-Western societies with each other and between non-Western societies and Western societies seem to become increasingly untenable. Dispelling the myth of the East as an “ecological paradise” characterized by a harmonious relationship between humans and nature, Thorber proposes seeking a minor/subordinate stream within East Asian literary history: literary texts that “deviate” from the inherent tradition of nature love to confront the landscape-altering impacts and environmental degradation. This quest surveys a wide range of literary texts from antiquity to the present, from creative works that focus entirely on degradation to those that only mention it briefly. 

 

Emerging from the theoretical underpinnings presented above, it becomes evident that the inherent ambiguity and contradictions characterizing the human-nature relationship constitute a dominant sentiment within Vietnamese cultural and literary discourses. Despite being considered a country heavily influenced by the trilogy Confucianism-Buddism-Daoism and the ideology of harmonious coexistence with nature, numerous studies have shown that environmental destruction has been occurring for a long time in Vietnamese history. Approaching contemporary Vietnamese literature through this lens unveils the complexities and uncertainties that define the relationship between modern humans and the natural environment, while simultaneously illuminating the underlying causes of environmental degradation in contemporary Vietnam. This essay adopts a twofold approach, delving into the reinterpretation of human attitudes, perceptions, and interactions with nature within the post-war context and against the backdrop of shifting spiritual ideologies among contemporary Vietnamese individuals. Additionally, the essay endeavors to establish a comparative dialogue between this contemporary perspective and historical texts that address the human-environment relationship in medieval, pre-modern, and wartime discourses.

 

PAPER SESSION 9. QUEER NARRATIVES

 

“That love cost me so much and I had suicidal thoughts many times”: Love and career for Vietnamese LGBTIQ+ young people as intertwined

Author(s): Ha Bich Dong, Lan Chi Nguyen

Affiliation: to be confirmed

Email: nga.vth@vlu.edu.vn

 

This ethnographic study is concerned with the complex nexus of love and career that is elucidated from Vietnamese LGBTIQ+ young people’s perspectives and experiences. Data was collected from interviews with a group of fifteen Vietnamese gender and sexual minority people living across the country and beyond. Love and career for these people are intertwined as these two aspects join in influencing their personal and professional lives. Emotional labor is the critical theoretical lens for us to look at how the participants have become emotionally labored to their loveships, and that has shaped the way they envision and direct their careers. Our findings are theme-based, demonstrating the interconnection of love and career management and development of Vietnamese LGBTIQ+ young people. Findings depict the vulnerability and insecurity the participants felt in their relationships and professions. Emotional regulation and authentic emotional disclosure are key findings on how people used them as strategies to sustain their relationships and survive at the workplace. Inter-individual sharing and listening are another finding that shows inter-compassion as a key approach to building romantic LGBTIQ+ relationships and simultaneously supporting their careers to grow.

 

Boundary ambiguity: A narrative inquiry into Vietnamese non-heterosexual transmen

Author(s): Do Hoang Phong

Affiliation: Faculty of Linguistics & Cultures of English speaking countries – University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Email: dhoangphong299@gmail.com 

 

Within contemporary society where the system of hetero-cis-normative beliefs still prevails, the identity of non-heterosexual, pre-transition/non-transition transmen inherently gives rise to various problems with boundaries as they navigate their gender identity, gender presentation, and social situations and relationships along the axis of visibility-invisibility and inclusion-exclusion. Drawn from the lenses of transgender studies and border studies, this study attempts to investigate how modes of visibility-invisibility and inclusion-exclusion work to generate particular transgender experiences with boundaries. It is conducted using a combination of autoethnography and narrative inquiry that involves two other young Vietnamese non-heterosexual, pre-transition/non-transition transmen, and reveals boundary ambiguity as a prevailing condition among the participants. Such ambiguity is the outcome of three tensions: the private body vs. public embodiment; the certainty of self-knowledge vs. the doubt of others regarding one’s identity; and the emergent, intertextual gender understanding of these transmen vs. tyrannical gender policing which favors simple and complete sex-body-gender alignment. This study is an endeavor to paint the paradox-ridden transgender experiences in the most authentic and non-judgmental light, thereby contributing to the limited body of literature focusing on non-heterosexual transmen, a minority and less understood group within the transgender community.

 

PAPER SESSION 9. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES

Pagbangot: Exploring the Public Values in Palatucuran sa Paghidaet Bangotbanwa Estrella of Tobias Fornier (Dao), Antique

Author(s): Kyla Agnes Limoso Ramirez, Cris Janeil Rodriguez Gargar, Daniel June Pinuela Pelipaga, Ralph Wency Taunan Tuma-ob

Affiliation: West Visayas State University, Iloilo, Philippines

Email: kylaagnes.ramirez@gmail.com 

 

In the evaluation and development of organizations, public value encompasses benefits and positive outcomes derived from and for the public, with most of its studies in mainstream discourse focused on macro-organizations and nation-states, particularly in the West. In the Philippines, micro-organizations are predominantly observed in rural areas, particularly in Panay, where the Palatucuran sa Paghidaet Bangotbanwa Estrella in Tobias Forner (Dao), Antique, is a revivalist movement established in 1961 that stands out as an existing organization with a distinctive nature separate from government agencies and the norm of the organizational system in the Philippines, serving as a response and resistance to societal strains and disintegration brought by colonial powers and modernity. However, socio-economic and political challenges, modernity, and the lack of literature and institutional enhancement by the local government pose a threat to its continuity and survival as a micro-organization. Therefore, this qualitative study advanced the public values framework of the Palatucuran sa Paghidaet Bangotbanwa Estrella in Tobias Forner (Dao), Antique. This study utilized an exploratory case study and mini-ethnographic guided by the Whole Community Approach. The study specifically identified and described five public values in the PPBE association’s political structure, leadership, and practices namely: (1) Legitimacy espousing themes of Pagtuo supported by Paghugpong and Centro kag mga Puerto, and Pagpasidungog sang Pangulong Gobyerno; (2) Effective and Reliable Services and Programs of Organization, including Paghidaet kag Kaayuhan embodied by Serbisyo; (3) Open Leadership and Civic Engagement espousing themes on Pantay-pantay expressed through Isa ka Hubon and Husay, and the theme of Bukas ang Lamesa; (4) Adherence to Laws rooted in Respeto, encompassing Pagsunod sa Kamal-aman and Pagsunod sa Layi sang Gobyerno; and lastly; (5) Organization’s Legacy, which includes Obligasyon through Pagpadayon sang Kawliwat and Pagpadayon sang Sugo. These public values have emerged throughout the PPBE’s existence, where the association and its community hold importance to its adherence and continuance, thus becoming vital tools to the organization’s sustainability. The identified public values are contributions to Philippine organizations, policy-making, and future research. This also highlighted the role of small organizations and movements and the Filipino culture and communities in shaping public values and evaluating and strengthening institutions. It calls for a reassessment of the current discussions on public values and efforts to protect and enhance Philippine communities and organizations like the PPBE.

 

Domingo Sabet de San Narciso: Exploring a Holy Week Practice Through the Lens of Interpretive Approach

Author(s): Joven Ian Miclat Marquez

Affiliation: President Ramon Magsaysay State University, Philippines

Email: jovenianmarquez@prmsu.edu.ph

 

This research paper, “Domingo Sabet de San Narciso: Exploring a Holy Week Practice Through the Lens of Interpretive Approach,” employs Clifford Geertz’s interpretive anthropology to analyze the Domingo Sabet rituals in San Narciso, Zambales, Philippines. Using qualitative approaches such as participant observation and analysis of documents, the study provides a “thick description” of these Holy Week practices. The research uncovers the rich symbolic meanings embedded in the rituals, which include the procession of the images of the Risen Christ and mourning the Virgin Mary and the sabet/ salubong. These rituals serve as powerful expressions of community identity, religious devotion, and cultural continuity.

 

The findings reveal that the sabet reinforces social cohesion and public faith expression, and the reenactments of Easter allow participants to embody and relive the narrative of Christ’s suffering and resurrection. The study also highlights the historical evolution of Domingo Sabet, showing its resilience and adaptation through intergenerational transmission. By applying Geertz’s interpretive approach, the research elucidates how these rituals function as “models of” and “models for” reality, reflecting and shaping the community’s cultural and religious landscape.

 

This paper contributes to the broader fields of cultural anthropology and religious studies by demonstrating the utility of interpretive methods in understanding religious rituals. It offers recommendations for future research, community engagement, and cultural preservation, emphasizing the importance of documenting and promoting the continuity of such culturally significant practices.

 

PAPER SESSION 11. EMERGING EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

(In)Tensions around autoethnography as knowledge generation: Pushing towards new ways of being, knowing, and thinking in educational research

Author(s): Bedrettin Yazan, Ufuk Keleş

Affiliation: The University of Texas at San Antonio, Bahçeşehir University

Email: bedrettin.yazan@utsa.edu

 

Colleagues have recently problematized and questioned how knowledge is generated in the academic scholarship (Canagarajah, 2022; Barnawi & R’boul, 2023). Listening to them, we (Ufuk and Bedrettin), along with colleagues (e.g., Bishop, 2020; Trinh & Behizadeh, 2023), have discussed autoethnography as a research methodology to support the voices of individuals who have been historically disenfranchised and peripheralized due to their identities (Yazan & Keles, 2024). Our goal is to nudge the academic axiologies in education to make room for autoethnography which methodologically allows new ways of being, knowing, and thinking in research knowledge construction. In the proposed paper to be submitted for the special issue in Policy Futures in Education, we would like to discuss in a dialogic fashion (a) what (in)tensions are involved in such knowledge construction, i.e. whether autoethnography is considered as legitimate knowledging as opposed to more ‘traditional’ qualitative research methods, (b) why and how autoethnography, as an appealing way of expression, allows researchers from marginalized communities to contribute their voices to the scholarly conversations, (c) how autoethnography can serve as a “part of a corrective movement against colonizing ethnographic practices” (Gannon, 2006, p. 475) that praised concealing the researcher’s beliefs/thoughts/emotions while positioning them as the ultimate autonomous, authoritative knowledge generator. Hinting at own autoethnographic reflecting, our discussion will feature critical self-reflexivity which leads us to constantly investigate and critique our own criticality. While we acknowledge that the existing dominant knowledge systems mirror and perpetuate the western and global north ideologies, we are cautious about the binary between global north and Global South since dichotomous epistemic approach might stymie the productive conversation around knowledge generation. We highlight that autoethnography as well as testimonio (Pratt, 1990) and autohistoria-teoria (Anzaldúa, 2015; Trinh & Behizadeh, 2023) as hybrid and fluid ways of situating self in the web of practices, pedagogies, and policies that reflect both global north and South. Relying on our autoethnographic discussion, our paper will illustrate possible ways towards s/futuring the field of education out of dominant exclusionary and exclusive ideologies. 

 

Anzaldúa, G. (2015). Light in the dark/Luz en lo oscuro: Rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. Duke University Press.

Barnawi, O. Z & R’boul, H. (2023). Colonizability and hermeneutical injustice in applied linguistics research: (Im)possibilities for epistemological delinking. Applied Linguistics, 44(5). 865–881. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amad047  

Bishop, M. (2020). Epistemological violence and indigenous autoethnographies. In P. Stanley (ed.), Critical autoethnography and intercultural learning (pp. 19–33). Taylor and Francis. 10.4324/9780429280016-2

Canagarajah, S. (2022). Challenges in decolonizing linguistics: The politics of enregisterment and the divergent uptakes of translingualism. Educational Linguistics, 1(1). 25–55. https://doi.org/10.1515/eduling-2021-0005.

Pratt, M. L. (1991). Arts of the contact zone. Profession 91, 33–40.

Trinh, E., & Behizadeh, N. (2023). Unmasking queer bodies to humanize teacher education: A diffractive collaborative autohistoria-teoria. Teaching and Teacher Education, 131, 104189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104189 

Yazan, B. & Keleş, U. (2024). Can the Subaltern speak in autoethnography?: Knowledging through dialogic and retro/intro/pro-spective reflection to stand against epistemic violence. Applied Linguistics Review. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2024-0010  

 

Engendering Disability–Inclusive Development: Vietnam Case Study: Inclusion, Exclusion and Activism – Local Knowledge of Women and Girls with Disabilities from Southern Perspective

Author(s): Hoa Bui, Xuan Thuy Nguyen

Affiliation: EDID Project – Carleton University

Email: hoabui3@cunet.carleton.ca

 

This proposal’s purpose is to present the research project “Engendering Disability–Inclusive Development: Vietnam Case Study”. The research aims to examine the participation of women and girls with disabilities in mobilizing disability rights with a specific focus on disability and gender equality. The specific objectives of the presentation are (1) to share findings of the research, which reflects local knowledge, leadership and agency of women and girls with disabilities; (2) to create a space for an open discussion on researching disabilities from the Global South. Based on the critical disability and decolonial disability studies (Nguyen, 2018; Nguyen, 2023), the research seeks to engage women and girls with disabilities in sharing their knowledge of disability and their participation, challenging the dominant knowledge of disability in the Global South generated by the Global North scholars. Drawing on decolonial studies also allows the research to engage women and girls with disabilities with respect and allows the researchers to constantly reflect on our positionality during the research process. We also employ a feminist approach that looks at disability through an intersectional lens with other identities of women and girls with disabilities to see the systemic barriers to their participation and decision-making process. The data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory arts-based methods. Based on the data, we argue that although women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam encounter intersectional discrimination which hinders their participation, they articulate well exclusion, inclusion, intersectionality, and activism in their context and space, which reflect their knowledge, leadership, and agency. The research contributes to the paucity of literature on the lived experiences of women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam from the Southern perspective. 

 

PAPER SESSION 12. CULTURAL PRACTICES IN VIETNAM

The Intangible Cultural Heritage and Experience Economy in Vietnam: A Case Study of Vietnam Vocotruyen Martial Arts and the Con Nhà Võ project.  

Name: Nguyễn Ngọc Phương 

Affiliation: Independent Researcher, Vietnam 

Email: ppphuongnguyenngoc@gmail.com

 

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) plays a crucial role in shaping national identity and fostering sustainable development. This study explores the potential of ICH to contribute to the experience economy through a case study of Vietnam Vocotruyen Martial Arts (VVMA) and the Con Nhà Võ project. Con Nhà Võ, founded by young Vietnamese martial artists, initiates the experiential workshop that provides both domestic and international tourists a distinct understanding and engagement with Vietnamese culture through the lens of VVMA. Based on the Pine & Gilmore experience economy framework, this study investigates how the Con Nhà Võ workshop transcends “look and feel” of VVMA, co-creating immersive and memorable experiences that optimize visitor engagement with cultural heritage. I apply a qualitative case Study methodology, using observation and semi-structured interviews with a group of workshop participants and organizers. The research examines the workshops through the lens of experience economy realms: education, entertainment, esthetics, and escapism. This study provides practical insights for developing a new experience-based business application for cultural tourism, fostering an emotional bond between visitors and Vietnamese culture.

 

A Manifestation of Delicate Dynamics between Love Autonomy Principles and Patriarchal Values in Hmong Society

Author(s): Dương Đàm Yến Nhi, Đào Thu Huyền, Nguyễn Lâm Anh, Bùi Thị Yến Loan

Affiliation: Fulbright University Vietnam

Email: anh.nguyen.210007@student.fulbright.edu.vn

 

The purpose of this research is to provide an explanation of the existence of bride pulling in H’mong society by investigating its significance for the commune. These are accomplished by collecting, analyzing and synthesizing data from different sources, ranging from existent literature about H’mong culture to interviews of experts and four H’mong individuals from different places in Viet Nam. This study focuses on exploring the H’mong “logic” behind the practice of bride pulling within the whole community, using an ethnographic approach, rather than delving into any specific geographic area.

 

This study, through a thorough review of literature on the research topic, together with semi-structured interviews, has found that bride pulling is constructed as the product of important H’mong values, including patriarchal social order, close-knit kinship, and high personal freedom. Confusion in the conceptualization of kéo vợ, especially when distinguished with bắt and cướp vợ, is also clarified. Bride pulling on the whole, therefore, is neither merely a filthy custom that needs eliminating nor just a practice with cultural merits that require preservation. Instead, when studying bride pulling, researchers need to bear in mind the complex dynamics of historical, cultural, and sociopolitical factors that aid in forming it.

 

PAPER SESSION 13. CONTEMPORARY VIETNAMESE LITERATURE AND IDENTITY

Vietnamese Phonethemes in Spoken Language in Relation to Iconicity from Western Thoughts 

Author(s): NGUYEN THI THIEN LY 

Affiliation: Dong-A University (Korea) 

Email: ly52ta.ntu@gmail.com

 

For the past centuries, Western-centrism created a binary worldview, where Western powers were the civilized ‘self’ and the colonized people were the inferior ‘other’ (Said, 1978). This was realized in how the American or French empire justified unequal treatment and control over the Vietnamese. In “The Location of Culture” (1994), Homi Bhabha, however, argues that colonization created encounters or ‘third spaces’ between different cultures as a result of a process of ‘hybridity’; that is, cultures borrow, blend, and reshape each other, creating new and complex identities. It is from this signification that Bhabha (1994) appropriates colonial identities as “neither the One… nor the Other… but something else besides” (p. 28). This research thus aims to discuss how representations of a formerly colonialized culture (i.e., phonethemes in the Vietnamese language) are not such an inferior Other, but an entity with inherent similarities to the concept of ‘non-arbitrariness’ or ‘iconicity’ as in Western linguistics. In the light of linguistic signs’ arbitrariness proposed first by Saussure (1966), this qualitative research examined four phenomena of Vietnamese phonethemes in spoken language, including ‘a’-ize, ‘cò’-ize, ‘iếc’-ize, and ‘éo’-ize. The results indicated the relative iconicity of the Vietnamese cases similar to those of English. In fact, iconcity is considered marked vis-à-vis other characteristics of a linguistic sign. This underlying similarity between Vietnamese and English without the interference of the colonial power thereby reflects decolonizing universalism which emphasizes shared features while still acknowledging cultural differences; or rather, the Vietnamese language or even culture might stand equally and harmonically besides its colonizer’s language. This research is, therefore, expected to partly contribute to the scholarly knowledge of Vietnamese phonethemes in the linguistic aspect, and especially, that of challenging Western-centrism in the sociological aspect in Global South studies.

 

Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. New York, NY: Routledge.

Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.

Saussure, F. D.; Bally, C., Sechehaye, A., & Riedlinger, A. (Eds.); Baskin, W. (trans.) (1966). Course in general linguistics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 

“To be Bahnar, we have to be equal with the Yuăn (Kinh people)” Bahnar youth’s education: contested identity between tradition, colonialism, and modernism

Author(s): Huy Tran-Phuoc-Lam

Affiliation: VinUniversity, Hanoi

Email: 21huy.tpl@vinuni.edu.vn 

 

Two hundred years ago, the Central Highlanders of Vietnam were independent ethnic groups living in tribes. Today, they have undergone colonial influences (missionary, wars, internal colonization) and have now become Vietnam’s recognized ethnic minorities. Their societal transformation has been so rapid that outsiders view it as an integrative history that which the Highlanders can only passively withstand. In governmental discourses, the ethnic cultures are over-simplified as being backward and anti-education. Bahnar people – my focus research community – is an ethnic minority group situated mostly in Kon Tum province of Vietnam Central Highland. Similar to other Central Highlanders, the Bahnar people hold low levels of educational attainment and high poverty rate with little progress. 

This article is drawn from ethnographic data living in a Bahnar village and in-depth interviews with the Bahnar students, parents, church sisters, and fathers. During the fieldwork, I travel between Bahnar villages, participate in the Church’s youth initiatives, and engage in village daily activities. Living in a contested space between village, school, and church, Bahnar youth negotiate their contested identities between the national discourse of “backward”, Church discourse of thăng tiến (upward mobility), and village discourse of isolation. Situated in the center of this contestation is education. Bahnar youth is influenced by village informal education, national formal education, and Catholic religious education

Using Albert Hirschman’s classic concepts of “loyalty”, “exit” and “voice”, the paper unfolds the temporalities and complexities of Bahnar’ youth responses toward different forms of education throughout their childhood. While education is mutually believed as an instrument for upward social mobility, Bahnar youth and their parents demonstrate various strategies to draw maps into a future with education. Maps that they believe to be the best for them. These strategies are the assertions of Bahnar youth’s identity. This paper attempts to picture this contested identity, and how it is formulated, negotiated, diminished, and realized. 

 

Bích Cẩu Kỳ Ngô: A case study of the Vietnamese understanding of religion

Author(s): Vo Dinh Van

Affiliation: University of Management and Technology, HCM

Email: van.vo@umt.edu.vn 

 

Vietnamese stories are frequently misinterpreted as replicas of Chinese folklore. In fact, the otherworldly voyage motif is often used by the two cultures as a means of expressing spiritual beliefs and cultural values. This study examines thoroughly the Vietnamese folktale “Bich Cau Ky Ngo” to make the case for a uniquely Vietnamese understanding of spirituality and religion.

 

The study employs this story as a case study and elaborates Bruce Matthews’ idea of religion, not as a rigid institution, but as a set of deeply held spiritual beliefs that permeate daily life. It also emphasizes how Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are entwined in Vietnam as a “convergence of spiritual power,” highlighting the significance of religion in Vietnamese culture. This study thus focuses on the distinctive Vietnamese idea of religion and shows how it differs from the Chinese perspective by looking at Vietnam’s historical setting and drawing from various philosophical frameworks.

 

PAPER SESSION 14. PAST AND CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENTS IN VIETNAM

Moral outrage in the digital age: perspectives of Vietnamese Facebook users towards cyberbullying against a Vietnamese elderly teacher of Literature

Author(s): Vũ Thị Phương Quỳnh

Affiliation: The University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Email: quynhvtp@vnu.edu.vn 

 

The proliferation of social media has brought about unprecedented changes in human interactions, including those related to morality, ethics, and education. Online moral outrage, which refers to the intense negative emotion of anger and disgust at the violation of a moral norm (Salero & Peter-Hagene, 2013), is a research topic that has been extensively examined across the world but has received scant attention in Vietnam. This research explores the expression of moral outrage by Vietnamese social media users, triggered by cyberbullying Tiktok comments against a Vietnamese elderly teacher of Literature. A qualitative content analysis is employed to investigate 452 comments under a Facebook post which reported this incident. Preliminary findings of the study reveal a perception of diminishing moral standards among Vietnamese youth, a general belief that prejudices against social science subjects is a main cause of the incident, distrust in Tiktok’s censorship, and nostalgia for the old Vietnamese educational value “Tiên học lễ, hậu học văn” (First good manners, then knowledge). Paradoxically, while condemning the cyberbullying against the teacher, the commenters also verbally abuse and otherize the perceived cyberbullies, disparage people with disabilities, and stigmatize the Vietnamese young generation. The study is hoped to open discussions about educational interventions which raise awareness of the consequences of collective moral outrage on Vietnamese social media, as well as changes in policies of social media platforms to protect online teachers and learners.

Salerno, J. M., & Peter-Hagene, L. C. (2013). The interactive effect of anger and disgust on moral outrage and judgments. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2069–2078. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613486988  

 

Aspiration for “a good job”: a study about life-changing values in globalization through ideas of “a good job” of young office workers in Hanoi.

Author(s): Luong Thi Van Ha

Affiliation: Independent Researcher, Vietnam

Email: vanha2908@gmail.com

 

This study examines the aspiration for “a good job” of office workers in urban settings, thereby analyzing how cultural capital factors affect the capacity to aspire. In terms of research perspectives, this study uses the concept of “aspiration”, originating from Arjun Appadurai, who argues that “humans as future-oriented beings and the future as cultural fact” (2013:285). Therefore, aspiration promises the realization of core values held by individuals and groups, can thus give meaning to the future. According to Appadurai (2004), exploring aspiration as a cultural capacity rather than a personal trait will expose an understanding of the effects of unequal distribution of social, cultural, and economic capital on the capacity to aspire. In this study, exploring aspiration for “a good job” provides insight not only into what young office workers value but also into the cultural frame that these values embedded in globalization. The research method is qualitative interviews of 15 young office workers in Hanoi, who are in their early careers (24-30 years old), including using the ethnography method for two samples in 2 years from 2021 to 2024. Initial results show that the main factors of “a good job” for young office workers result from two discourses of family tradition and market economy. These discourses contradict each other, causing the collapse in their life values. Second, their career strategies are often vague and lack information, leading to depression when entering the labor market. These depressions lead to psychological diseases, over-consumption, and the moral of “casino capitalism” (Appadurai:2013). This study hopes to contribute to Vietnam’s labor forecasting, which still focuses on macro data and lacks subjective aspects.

 

ADB. (2017, September 25). *Asian development outlook (ADO) 2017 update: Sustaining development through public-private partnership*. Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/publications/asian-development-outlook-2017-update

Appadurai, A. (2004). The capacity to aspire: Culture and the terms of recognition. In V. Rao & M. Walton (Eds.), *Culture and public action* (pp. 59-84). Stanford University Press.

Appadurai, A. (2013). *The future as cultural fact: Essays on the global condition*. Verso.

Fischer, E. (2014). *The good life: Aspiration, dignity, and the anthropology of wellbeing*. Stanford University Press.

Graeber, D. (2019). *Bullshit jobs: A theory*. Simon & Schuster.

Landgaf, C. (2020). Aspiring to the good life: South Korea’s spec generation. In M. Westendorp, D. Remmert, M. S. Soriano, & M. Tamaki (Eds.), *Aspirations of young adults in urban Asia: Values, family, and identity* (pp. 163-182). Berghahn Books.

Nguyẽ̂n, Đ. L. (Ed.). (2018). *Đời sống xã hội Việt Nam đương đại: Người trẻ trong xã hội hiện đại (Tập 3)*. Nhà xuất bản Văn hóa – Văn nghệ.

Nguyẽ̂n, Đ. L. (2018). Nghề nghiệp và mục tiêu cuộc đời: Một phân tích về lựa chọn giá trị sống của người trẻ tại Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. In Đ. L. Nguyẽ̂n (Ed.), *Đời sống xã hội Việt Nam đương đại tập 3: Người trẻ trong xã hội hiện đại* (pp. 65-89). Nhà xuất bản Văn hóa – Văn nghệ.

Nguyẽ̂n, Đ. L. (2018). Người trẻ khởi nghiệp: Một phân tích về vấn đề xây dựng chủ thể tính đương đại nơi người trẻ đô thị. In Đ. L. Nguyẽ̂n (Ed.), *Đời sống xã hội Việt Nam đương đại: Người trẻ trong xã hội hiện đại (Tập 3)* (pp. 90-112). Nhà xuất bản Văn hóa – Văn nghệ.

Boccagni, P. (2017). Aspiration and the subjective future of migration: Comparing views and the desire of “time ahead” through the narratives of immigrant domestic workers. *Comparative Migration Studies, 5*(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-016-0047-6

Remmert, D., Westendorp, M., Soriano, M. S., & Tamaki, M. (Eds.). (2020). *Aspirations of young adults in urban Asia: Values, family, and identity*. Berghahn Books.

Suzuki, A. (2020). Searching for a fulfilling life: Temporary migration to Dublin amongst young Japanese women. In M. Westendorp, D. Remmert, M. S. Soriano, & M. Tamaki (Eds.), *Aspirations of young adults in urban Asia: Values, family, and identity* (pp. 201-222). Berghahn Books.

Tổng cục Thống kê. (2023, March). *Báo cáo điều tra lao động việc làm năm 2021*. Tổng cục Thống kê. https://www.gso.gov.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Ruot-Dieu-tra-LD-viec-lam-Can1-1.pdf

Vu, M. C. (2020). How the contextual constraints and tension of a transitional context influence individuals’ negotiation of meaningful work – the case of Vietnam. *The International Journal of Human Resource Management*. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2020.1745867

Westendorp, M. (2020). Introduction: A theoretical framework for exploring aspirations in urban Asia. In M. Westendorp, D. Remmert, M. S. Soriano, & M. Tamaki (Eds.), *Aspirations of young adults in urban Asia: Values, family, and identity* (pp. 1-18). Berghahn Books.

World Bank. (2018, October 31). *Tương lai việc làm Việt Nam: Khai thác xu hướng lớn cho sự phát triển thịnh vượng hơn*. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/vi/country/vietnam/publication/vietnam-future-jobs-leveraging-mega-trends-for-greater-prosperity

About 8 million elderly people live without pensions and subsidize. (2023, November 29). *VnEconomy*. https://vneconomy.vn/khoang-8-trieu-nguoi-cao-tuoi-khong-co-luong-huu-va-khoan-tro-cap-nao.htm

United Nations Population Fund in Vietnam (UNFPA). (2019). *Report on Vietnamese youth in the period 2015-2018*. Hanoi.

 

Exploring the Impacts of Public Policy on Higher Education in Vietnam: Decision 911/QD-TTg and the Training of 20,000 New Ph.D. Students.

Author(s): Ky Le 

Affiliation: Oklahoma State University 

Email: ky.le@okstate.edu 

 

This study examined the impacts of Vietnamese public policy Decision 911/QD-TTg (Decision 911) on higher education, with particular attention to teaching and learning, research, and administration. The Prime Minister of Vietnam implemented Decision 911 in 2010 to train 20,000 new Ph.D. students by 2020. The intent over the 10-year period was to admit 10,000 students to domestic universities and to train 10,000 additional students abroad, with 3,000 of these in collaborative programs between Vietnamese and foreign institutions. Potential participants were current college faculty, administrators, and researchers, as well as college graduates. Funding for the project was estimated at $700 million, including 64% for international training, 20% for domestic training, 14% for collaboration programs, and 2% for foreign language learning.

 

The study used the conceptual framework of Porras and Robertson’s model of organizational change to guide the research questions, methodology, and analysis of the findings (Porras and Robertson, 1992).  Porras and Robertson argue that organizational change is both planned and unplanned, and reflective of both first-order change and second-order change.  Whereas planned changed is intentional and conscious, unplanned change is unanticipated and often reactive.  This fourfold matrix provided the lenses through which the study was conducted and analyzed. The study utilized an intrinsic case study design that included interviews and document analysis. For interviews, the study employed criterion sampling and snowball sampling (Patton, 1990); only individuals with critical knowledge of the policy were selected. At the end of the interviews, we asked participants to recommend additional participants.  Interviewees included key administrators from four universities in Vietnam.  One participant also was a student studying in the US whose Ph.D. was funded through the policy. Interviews lasted two hours each, and were conducted using a semi-structured protocol. They were recorded and then transcribed. The transcripts were coded using open and axial coding. The author also conducted document analysis of the government documents associated with the policy.  

 

Three research questions guided this study: What factors led to the promulgation of the Prime Minister’s Decision 911/QD-TTg? How does the Prime Minister’s Decision 911/QD-TTg impact higher education in Vietnam? What barriers have arisen in the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision 911/QD-TTg?

 

We found six primary findings, including: (1) motivations, (2) barriers, (3) opportunities, (4) current and anticipated impacts, (5) expectations, and (6) concerns. For Decision 911 there were nine distinct motivations that centered around: the desire to link higher education even more to economic development, increase research production (with particular emphasis on applied research), motivate both students and faculty to work hard, and improve quality assurance within higher education. The data revealed multiple barriers, including limited English ability, limited research funding and facilities, and the expectation to diffuse research knowledge throughout the higher education system. Most opportunities associated with the policy were individual opportunities: Ph.D. holders could earn more money and climb the ladder faster, they could supplement their income by emphasizing applied research, and whom an applicant knew affected the selection process for participation. There were eight impacts, including: (1) the improvement of teaching and learning, (2) the expansion of research productivity, (3) greater student enrollments, (4) enhanced flexibility with regard to curricula (the Ministry of Education and Training loosening some of its control over curricula), (5) high school students starting to select the university to which they will apply and their college majors (6) universities expanding collaborations with business, industry, and foreign universities, (7) the potential that institutional autonomy would increase, (8) improved quality of college graduates. Decision 911 was expected to: improve the quality of college graduates, increase national knowledge regarding how to conduct research, lead to a more participatory style of university administration, and significantly expand institutional collaborations. The participants raised five concerns: (1) the feasibility of training 20,000 new Ph.D. holders within a 10-year period, (2) the possibility that some students would enroll in low quality doctoral programs; (3) the potential that selection criteria would not reflect institutional nuances, (4) the likelihood that requiring approval to participate from  both the institution and the Ministry of Education & Training would discourage possible participants, and (5) the lack of alignment between selection criteria and disciplinary needs.

 

The findings thus demonstrate policy impacts on individuals (e.g., greater opportunity), the higher education system (e.g., enhanced autonomy), and the nation (e.g., increased economic competitiveness).  Per Porras & Robertson, they also indicate that change was both planned and unplanned, and that the unplanned change was associated with enhanced autonomy for institutions and individuals.

  

Asian Development Bank. (2010). Vietnam: Preparing the higher education sector development project. Retrieved from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Consultant/VIE/42079/42079-01-vie-tacr-01.pdf

Harman, G., Hayden, M., & Nghi, P. T. (2010). Higher education in Vietnam: Reform, challenges and priorities. In G. Harman, M. Hayden, & P. T. Nghi (Eds.), Reforming Higher Education in Vietnam, (pp. 1-14). Springer.

Hayden, M. (2005). The legislative and regulatory environment of higher education in Vietnam. The World Bank.

Ministry of Education and Training, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (2000). Vietnam education and training directory. Author.

MOET. (2005). Vietnam higher education renovation agenda period 2006-2020. Ministry of Education and Training.

MOET. (2009). Report on the development of higher education system, the solutions to ensure quality assurance, and improve of education quality (Report No. 760/BC-BGDDT). Retrieved from http://en.moet.gov.vn/?page=6.13&view=19831

Ngo, D. D. (2006). Vietnam higher education in Southeast Asia. Asia-Pacific Program of Educational Innovation for Development. UNESCO Bangkok.

Oliver, D. E. (2004). Higher education challenges in developing countries: The case of Vietnam. International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice, 5(2), 3-18. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Higher+education+challenges+in+developing+countries:+the+case+of…-a0137493337

Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Porras, J. I., & Robertson, P. J. (1992). Organizational development: Theory, practice and research. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (eds.), Handbook of industrial and organization psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 719-822). Consulting Psychologists Press.

Prime Minister. (2010a). Decision approving the scheme on doctoral training for university and college lecturers during 2010-2020 (Decision No. 911/QD-TTg). Retrieved from http://asemconnectvietnam.gov.vn/lawdetail.aspx?lawid=1795

Prime Minister. (2010b). Directive on renovating higher education management for the period of 2010 – 2012 (Directive No. 296/CT-TTg). Retrieved from http://en.moet.gov.vn/?page=6.7&view=19832

Vallely, T. J., & Wilkinson, B. (2008, November). Vietnamese higher education: Crisis and response. Paper retrieved from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/innovations/asia/Documents/HigherEducationOverview112008.pdf

 

PAPER SESSION 15. AI AND SOCIETY

Human capital futures in the global south: Employability and education policy in the age of AI

Author(s): Jonathan J. Felix

Affiliation: RMIT University Vietnam

Email: jonathan.felix@rmit.edu.vn

 

Human capital represents a conceptual framework concerning the relationship between education and labour productivity. This metric for socioeconomic “progress” historically emerged from the Global North and is a mainstay of 21st-century discourses on employability. Given its origin, the utility of this concept within the Global South suggests a reframing of its emphasis. Since 2022, the global mainstreaming of artificial intelligence (AI) through applications such as ChatGPT has become part of a wider discourse on employability of which human capital remains one of several corresponding capitals towards this end. In this paper, I argue for a reframing of the concept of human capital in Global South contexts, specifically through higher education policy. I problematise the relationship between AI and higher education by emphasising its conspicuous nature. Considering the Vietnamese context as an example, I highlight State interests concerning its human capital formation. Drawing on poststructuralist theory, I identify key aspects of human capital formation in Global South settings concerning higher education policy. Also, I employ Critical Policy Discourse Analysis given the relationship between language and the social worlds people inhabit as mediated through policy. Vietnam’s 2012 Higher Education Law and its 2018 amendment is a key ideopolitical text that embodies an articulation of human capital specific to the Global South. The analysis reveals a historical trajectory of this policy instrument, while produced before the mainstreaming of AI, which elevates human agency over technologically-centred development. Consequently, higher education policy remains key to contemporary human capital formation of which AI has now become an integral consideration. However, Global South contexts run the risk of undermining its human capital through an unwieldy relationship between AI and its higher education policies.

 

Integration of agroecological practices with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance agricultural sustainability in India

Author(s): Ritu Ritu

Affiliation: Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Email: ahlawatritu1995@gmail.com

 

This research explores the integration of agroecological practices with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance agricultural sustainability in India—a nation where agriculture is not only a pivotal economic activity but also deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric. My familial ties to the Indian farming community, deeply rooted in my family’s longstanding involvement in agriculture, offer a distinctive perspective and serve as a key motivator for this study. The research is framed within a socio-ecological perspective that underscores the interaction between farmer communities and ecological processes, using systems theory to examine how AI can synergize with traditional farming methods to yield sustainable outcomes. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study integrates quantitative AI-driven data analysis with qualitative interviews and participatory observations to evaluate the effectiveness and adaptability of AI technologies in conventional farming environments. Data sources encompass AI-generated analytics concerning crop yields, soil health, and climate resilience, complemented by firsthand narratives from farmers obtained through surveys and interviews. Preliminary research indicates that AI plays a significant role in enhancing the effectiveness of agroecological practices, particularly in crop yield predictions, pest control, and resource management. Nonetheless, technology adoption faces notable educational, infrastructural, and cultural challenges. Furthermore, the academic importance of this research stems from its contributions to sustainable agriculture by illustrating how AI can be effectively integrated with traditional agricultural methods to enhance ecological stability and economic sustainability. This research provides valuable insights into the practical implications of AI in bolstering agricultural resilience and offers policy recommendations for the adoption of technology in rural Indian settings. Through the integration of traditional agricultural practices with advanced AI, this study aims to develop culturally suitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial solutions for the farming community in India.

PAPER SESSION 16. MINORITY GROUPS IN EDUCATION

Construction of Bilingual Identity Ethnic Minority EFL Students in Higher Education Institutions in Central Vietnam

Author(s): Nguyen Le Kim Khanh

Affiliation: Viet Nam

Email: khanh.nlk@tbd.edu.vn

 

The bilingual identity of ethnic minority students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) in higher education institutions has gained significant attention in recent years. In Central Vietnam, where a diverse range of ethnic communities coexist, exploring the construction of bilingual identity among these students becomes particularly relevant. The ethnic minority groups in Vietnam have diverse cultural backgrounds, languages, and traditions. The bilingual identity of ethnic minorities in Vietnam plays a significant role in shaping their cultural preservation, education, and social integration. These communities predominantly reside in hilly and rural areas, where they continue to preserve their unique languages and cultural traditions. Bilingualism naturally emerges in such a multicultural environment where the primary language is Vietnamese. Most of Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups have their own languages. These languages are transmitted orally from one generation to the next, highlighting the significance of being bilingual within their respective communities. Despite the official language being Vietnamese, many ethnic minority students pursue their higher education in English-medium programs, aiming to enhance their language proficiency and broaden their academic and career opportunities. Bilingual individuals not only have fluency in their native languages but also possess proficiency in Vietnamese, enabling them to engage effectively with the broader Vietnamese society.

 

The background of this study lies in the country’s linguistic and ethnic diversity. This linguistic and ethnic diversity has implications for language learning and teaching in Vietnam, particularly in higher education institutions. English as a foreign language (EFL) is a mandatory subject in Vietnamese schools and universities, and students are expected to achieve a certain level of proficiency in the language. These communities, which include ethnic minority groups such as the Hmong, Tay, Dao, Thai, and others, navigate between their native languages, Vietnamese and English, the international language of communication. The bilingual identity of EFL ethnic minorities in Vietnam is influenced by various factors such as education, cultural integration, and economic opportunities. In the field of education, the curriculum, teaching methods, and instructional materials play a crucial role in developing language skills and bilingual awareness among students (Nguyen & Tran, 2022). The educational environment also contributes to creating opportunities or challenges for ethnic minority students in their development and expression of bilingual identity. Moreover, the process of cultural integration significantly impacts the construction of bilingual identity. Daily exposure to the language and culture of the dominant community, along with social interactions and community engagement, contribute to the formation and development of students’ bilingual identity. Additionally, preserving and maintaining the linguistic and cultural heritage of ethnic minority communities also plays an important role in determining their bilingual identity (Nguyen & Tran, 2022).

 

Furthermore, economic opportunities also play a significant role in shaping bilingual identity. Employment prospects and career development in an English-speaking environment can encourage ethnic minority students to focus on developing English language skills and integrating into the dominant culture. However, striking a balance between preserving the linguistic and cultural heritage of ethnic minorities and leveraging economic opportunities related to English proficiency also poses a challenge for these students (Nguyen & Tran, 2022). These factors are interconnected and create a complex interplay, presenting both challenges and opportunities for students in construction and maintaining their bilingual identity. Moreover, the construction of bilingual identity refers to the process through which individuals develop and negotiate their sense of self in relation to multiple languages and cultures. For ethnic minority EFL students, this process involves navigating between their native ethnic languages and the dominant language of instruction, English. This interplay of languages and cultures shapes their identities and influences their experiences within the higher education context.

 

Understanding the factors that contribute to the construction of bilingual identity among ethnic minority EFL students in Central Vietnam can shed light on the challenges they face and the strategies they employ to maintain a balance between their ethnic heritage and the demands of English language education. This knowledge can inform educational policies and practices that promote inclusive and culturally responsive approaches to language learning and development.

 

Mindfulness-based practice: A metacognitive regulation strategy as a potential remedy for mitigating minority stress among Vietnamese LGBT college students

Author(s): Nguyễn Lâm Anh, Phạm Thị Diệu Vy, Đinh Đỗ Xuân Nhiên, Trần Ngọc Yên, Nguyễn Thị Hà Vy

Affiliation: Fulbright University Vietnam

Email: anh.nguyen.210007@student.fulbright.edu.vn

 

In the contemporary landscape of psychological research, the exploration of mindfulness-based practices as a metacognitive regulation strategy offers a promising avenue for addressing the unique challenges faced by minority groups. This paper delves into the efficacy of such practices in mitigating minority stress among Vietnamese LGBT college students. Drawing upon a rich theoretical framework and empirical evidence, we investigate the intersection of social prejudice, mental health disparities, and the potential of mindfulness to foster resilience and well-being within this marginalized community. Our study is situated within the broader context of Vietnam’s evolving societal attitudes towards the LGBT community, highlighting both historical stigmatization and recent strides towards acceptance. Through a mixed-methods approach, we aim to contribute to the understanding of minority stress and introduce metacognitive mindfulness as a viable intervention for enhancing the mental health of sexual minority individuals in postwar developing Vietnam.

 

Parents’ Perspectives on School Transitions: Challenges and Strategies for Equitable Education

Author(s): Euis Kurniati

Affiliation: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia

Email: euiskurniati@upi.edu 

 

This qualitative study aims to explore parents’ perspectives on the challenges their children face during school transitions and to identify strategies for promoting equitable access to education from the parental standpoint. The analysis used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and the sociocultural perspective, this research examines school transitions through the lens of parental influence and involvement, recognizing the multifaceted interplay between individual, family, and societal factors. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with parents of school-aged children to understand their experiences, perceptions, and concerns regarding school transitions and the thematic analysis will be utilized to identify recurring themes and patterns in the data. Five parents are involved as a respondent in the research, and they come from various school with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and educational settings. The data collected through in-depth interviews with parents. Supplementary insights will be drawn from existing literature and policy documents to contextualize the findings. Findings reveal a range of challenges parents perceive their children encounter during school transitions, including academic adjustments, social integration, and emotional well-being. These challenges are often exacerbated by socioeconomic disparities and cultural differences, leading to disparities in educational outcomes. However, parents also express various strategies for mitigating these challenges, such as building strong support networks, fostering communication with educators, and advocating for inclusive school policies. This research provides valuable insights into the role of parents in facilitating successful school transitions and promoting equitable education. By elucidating parents’ perspectives, this study enhances our understanding of the challenges faced by students during transitions and highlights the importance of parental involvement in addressing these challenges. The findings contribute to the development of more comprehensive and culturally responsive strategies for supporting students’ transition experiences, ultimately fostering greater equity and inclusivity in education. 

PAPER SESSION 17. AN NINH VÀ XÃ HỘI VIỆT NAM

Các Nhân Tố Ảnh Hưởng đến Ý Định Mua Hàng Nông Sản Sạch qua Phát Trực Tiếp (Livestream) tại Việt Nam 

Author(s): Dương Thị Ánh Sáng

Affiliation: Foreign Trade University ( Hanoi campus) – Vietnam

Email: duongsang.gl@gmail.com

 

Tác giả tập trung nghiên cứu ảnh hưởng của các yếu tố kích thích (sức ảnh hưởng của người livestream, khuyến mãi và tương tác giải trí) đến ý định (hành vi) mua sản phẩm nông nghiệp thông qua livestream thương mại của khách hàng. Tác giả áp dụng mô hình S-O-R để thiết lập các giả thuyết và mối quan hệ giữa các biến sau khi tham khảo các mô hình trên mẫu nghiên cứu quốc tế. Mô hình này bao gồm ba yếu tố: kích thích, tổ chức và hành vi. 

 

Nghiên cứu sử dụng mô hình SOR với nhóm các yếu tố bao gồm đặc điểm của thương mại livestream (LSC – live streaming commerce), nhận thức về môi trường, và nhận thức về tiêu dùng xanh của người tiêu dùng, nhằm kiểm tra mối quan hệ giữa các yếu tố trên đối với người tiêu dùng tại thị trường Việt Nam. Thang đo được các tác giả sử dụng để đo lường các khái niệm nghiên cứu là sự kế thừa từ các thang đo của các nghiên cứu trước đây. Dữ liệu được thu thập thông qua bảng câu hỏi sử dụng thang đo Likert 5 điểm. Nghiên cứu được thực hiện trên cỡ mẫu phù hợp (202 khảo sát hợp lệ) trong nghiên cứu này là nhóm khách hàng đã mua sản phẩm nông nghiệp qua livestream tại Việt Nam (cụ thể là Hà Nội và các khu vực lân cận). Dữ liệu được thu thập bằng cách gửi bảng khảo sát trực tuyến đến các đối tượng nghiên cứu. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy các đặc điểm của thương mại livestream (LSC) có tác động đáng kể đến hành vi mua hàng của người tiêu dùng, trong đó tương tác giải trí là quan trọng nhất, tiếp theo là ảnh hưởng; và khuyến mãi là yếu tố ít quan trọng nhất. 

 

Nghiên cứu này đóng góp vào tài liệu khoa học bằng cách khám phá các yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến việc livestream các sản phẩm nông nghiệp, và cung cấp những hiểu biết sâu sắc về sự phát triển bền vững của ngành công nghiệp livestream. Tuy nhiên, các đối tượng khảo sát là nhóm có trình độ học vấn cao và thu nhập ổn định, không đại diện cho phần lớn khách hàng của thương mại sản phẩm nông nghiệp qua livestream.

 

Bảo Đảm An Ninh Con Người ở Việt Nam 

Author(s): Khoi Cong Vo

Affiliation: Hochiminh National Academy of Politics, Vietnam

Email: vocongkhoi.nnpl@gmail.com

 

Tình hình kinh tế – chính trị thế giới hiện đang ẩn chứa những nguy cơ bất ổn, và tiềm ẩn các mối đe dọa đến sự an toàn cho con người. An ninh con người đã và đang trở thành chủ đề mang tính sống còn, gắn liền với sự ổn định và phát triển của các quốc gia trên thế giới. Hiện nay, chính phủ Việt Nam khẳng định bảo đảm an ninh con người vừa là mục tiêu phấn đấu, vừa là động lực bảo đảm sự ổn định chính trị – xã hội và phát triển đất nước trở nên hùng cường, thịnh vượng. Dựa trên phương pháp tiếp cận đa ngành, bài viết trình bày khái quát cơ sở lý luận về an ninh con người, thực trạng bảo đảm an ninh con người ở Việt Nam trong thời gian qua. Từ đó, bài báo đề xuất một số giải pháp góp phần nâng cao hiệu quả bảo đảm an ninh con người ở Việt Nam trong thời gian tới.

 

Nam Toàn Cầu: kỳ vọng và hiện thực.

Author(s): Nguyễn Phước Lộc

Affiliation: Loc Nguyen’s Academic Network, Vietnam

Email: ng_phloc@yahoo.com

Nam Toàn Cầu (NTC) và Bắc Toàn Cầu (BTC), đó không phải phân chia địa lý và tất nhiên càng không phải phân tách nam bắc theo đường xích đạo như giới tuyến chia đôi một thế giới trộn giữa vật chất và tinh thần, giữa tự nhiên và xã hội, giữa thương mại và sản xuất mà đó gần như ảo tưởng phân tách thế giới giữa Phương Tây và phi Phương Tây giữa giàu và nghèo, với kỳ vọng đạt thế cân bằng sức mạnh khi bắt đầu bứt lên tiếng nói với trọng lượng của dân số, tài nguyên và hơn hết là khát vọng. Một khi “ảo tưởng” này được thúc ép bởi khát vọng, hỗ trợ bởi tài nguyên trí tuệ đang lan tỏa cũng như được cổ vũ bởi sự suy giảm quyền lực kiểm soát của Phương Tây cùng diễn biến chính trị phức tạp đan xen xung đột sẽ dần trở thành hiện thực tiến đến điểm cân bằng mà tiến trình toàn cầu hóa với luận điểm tự do đã bị chặn lại trong những năm gần đây bởi chủ nghĩa bảo hộ khai sinh từ khủng hoảng. Bước lùi này tượng tự quả bóng bị bóp để hình thành nên xu hướng NTC và BTC hay hiện thực hóa của ảo tưởng NTC và BTC. Có lẽ hoạt động của NTC bắt đầu bằng thương mại, tài chính và ngoại giao để hút sức mạnh công nghệ và chính trị tựu trung vẫn là lợi ích nhưng tạo nên một tưởng tượng giả lập của thượng viện BTC và hạ viện NTC. Tuy nhiên tôi không nghĩ rằng NTC tạo nên cực mà đúng hơn là một phong trào, một sân khấu nơi các cường quốc cố gắng tạo nên cực và những quốc gia khác chen chân mưu cầu lợi ích chính đáng.

ROUNDTABLE 1. SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

Decolonial Disability Studies as Struggles for Epistemic Justice: A Critical Roundtable

Author(s): Xuan Thuy Nguyen (Chair), Alexis Padilla, Shilpaa Anand, Shehreen Iqgtadar, and David Harnáandez-Saca

Affiliation: Carleton University (and other)

Email: xuanthuy.nguyen@carleton.ca

 

In this roundtable discussion, we propose to launch a themed issue published by the Reviews of Disability Studies journal in the summer of 2024. This themed issue aims to respond to ongoing socio-political, ideological, economic, and epistemic struggles against debility and exclusion across the global Southern spaces, inviting scholars and activists to engage in decolonial disability approaches as new forms of articulation that refuse to accept epistemic injustice in academic conventions. As co-guest editors and contributors of this themed issue, we will reflect on our perspectives and experiences in grappling with this epistemic struggle. Our objectives in the proposed roundtable are to: (1) present emerging themes and issues of the co-edited special issue on decolonial disability studies and the Global South; (2) critically employ emerging thematical threads to interrogate knowledge creation and diffusion in Global South’s educational contexts, particularly among tertiary education institutions; and (3) reimagine both decolonial theory and critical disability studies as epistemological spaces where marginalized knowledges can take center stage. 

Drawing on the contributors’ diverse approaches and methodologies, including textual, participatory arts-based methods, and theoretical interrogations of Southern theories and methodologies (Connell, 2007), we seek to demonstrate diverse ways of “doing” disability studies in the Global South that capitalize on the politics of refusal (Nguyen, 2023). The contributors (Padilla, Igtadar, Harnandez-Saca, Nguyen) will provide a snapshot of their articles, followed by a discussion among the authors and audience regarding the epistemic struggles of decolonial disability studies in the Global South.  Our perspective fuses and highlights points of epistemological tension between decolonial theorizing and practice with regard to critical disability studies, interrogating Global South concepts and realities beyond purely geographical concerns. We point towards a need to advance Southern and decolonial theories to geopolitical modes of disablement driven by colonizing ableist, gendered, and racialized practices, and highlight a strong impetus to rethink disabled futurities in line with emancipatory epistemologies of cross-coalitional bodymind activism. In so doing, this collective work aims to push the frontiers of decolonizing academic and non-academic knowledge and justice-driven endeavors.  

 

Academic Libraries: Drivers of Institutional OER Repository Development

Author(s): Vi Truong, Bao Tran Chau

Affiliation: Charles Sturt University, Monash University

Email: vtruong@csu.edu.au, bcha0069@student.monash.edu

 

As a solution to enhance equity in educational access, especially in Global South countries like Vietnam, Open Educational Resources (OER) have consistently attracted significant attention regarding the development of their repositories. In this process, stakeholders in various countries observe a substantial involvement of university libraries. However, in Vietnam, the potential and contribution of libraries are often underestimated (Do et al., 2017; Vu et al., 2019). Given the current momentum of the open education movement in Vietnam, this research is designed to explore the role of academic libraries in the development of Institutional Open Educational Resources repositories (IOERs), with the goal of informing policy-makers and decision-makers with insightful strategies and implications. In doing so, twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from participants, which were then analysed using conventional content analysis (Hsieh and Shannon, 2005). Participants included university leaders, faculty members, library staff, and OER champions from higher education institutions in four major Vietnamese cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho. The research findings indicate that academic universities in Vietnam possess the obligation, capacity, resources, and experience necessary to excel in developing IOERs. For instance, the responsibility for developing institutional repositories typically lies within the domain of libraries, given their expertise in establishing and managing educational resources and repositories. Additionally, the existing resources of libraries, such as educational content, ICT systems, and human resources, are well-suited for implementing such projects. While many insights from this study align with existing literature, some are unique due to Vietnam’s specific socio-cultural context. Recognising the significant role of libraries as key drivers in developing IOERs in Vietnam, universities are motivated to invest in and enhance their library facilities and services, empowering them to better fulfil their duties. Consequently, this could accelerate the open education movement across the country.

 

References:

Do, V. H., Kieu, T. N., Bui, T. T., & Pham, T. K. (2017). Vai trò của thư viện trong việc thực hiện các mục tiêu phát triển bền vững của Liên Hợp Quốc [The role of libraries in the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals]. Tạp chí Thư viện Việt Nam [Vietnam Library Journal], 4, 3-12. https://bit.ly/3ATdK5n   

Hsieh, H. F., and Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687  

Vu, D. Q., Nguyen, T. H. Y., Nguyen, T. N., & Nguyen, T. N. (2019). Kinh nghiệm phát triển OER tại đại học Thăng Long [Experience in developing OER at Thang Long University]. In V. H. Do, T. N. Le, L. Nguyen, H. Q. Nguyen, T. K. D. Nguyen, D. H. Dong, T. T. Bui, D. H. Tran & T. A. T. Bui, (Eds.), Xây dựng và khai thác tài nguyên giáo dục mở [Developing and harnessing open educational resources] (pp. 546-556). Vietnam National University Publishing House. https://giaoducmo.avnuc.vn/hoi-thao/ky-yeu-hoi-thao-xay-dung-va-khai-thac-tai-nguyen-giao-duc-mo-42.html  

 

The necessity of AI application management education for non-experts.

Author(s): Phan Hồng Giang, Dương Thị Ánh Sáng, Đoàn Hồng Hạnh, Đặng Việt Anh

Affiliation: Foreign Trade University (Hanoi campus)

Email: duongsang.gl@gmail.com

 

When AI applications have become common in certain fields (marketing, data analysis, and others) and keep spreading, people are aware of grasping new skills, and knowledge to obtain the change. They demand professional extra education on AI use for the enhancement of current jobs and new opportunities. This research is to evaluate the demand on the limit of the Northern Vietnamese universities and businesses.

 

This research aims to evaluate the demand for AI application management by assessing various stakeholders in Vietnamese universities, and businesses. The prediction of contributing factors will be made to the novel management circumstances, in which business settings AI is the employee. The study explores the principles and practices involved in managing AI technologies within a business context. Leadership theories and practices will also be applied to find the difference in AI-driven teams and projects management. Examination of traditional and contemporary business management theories is expected to integrate AI solutions into business strategies.

 

Authors use quantitative analysis of surveyed data to clarify the demand for aspects in which they desire to learn about. Based on the research of Inh Wan Yoo, et al.(2020), authors create suitable questionnaires to survey the participants. Participants include lecturers, students in universities, and business owners. The primary data will be collected through structured surveys distributed to lecturers specializing in business and AI, students enrolled in business and AI-related courses, and business owners and managers who are integrating or planning to integrate AI into their operations. The evaluation can provide insights into the demand for AI management education among the surveyed groups. Significantly, the highest rate belongs to the documentary creation and process of AI application. Whereas, others tend to focus on the analysis function. There are some shortages people are concerned about like leaking confidential information and accuracy. Analyzing the change management theory (Kotter and merging it with the rise of AI applications is a highlight in the attributes and model of change management. 

 

This research can enhance understanding of the educational needs and professional skills required for effective AI management in business contexts. From which, educational departments are Informed about the development and structuring of AI management programs. For business owners, actionable insights are applicable to the competencies required for AI managers, aiding in recruitment and training processes.

 

WORKSHOP 1.

Publication in Special Edition of ‘European Journal of Education’.

Author(s): Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Ethan Trinh, and Edward R. Howe

Affiliation: Thompson Rivers University, Atlanta Global Studies Centre

Email: ttrinh16@gsu.edu (corresponding editor)

 

This workshop provides essential guidance for submitting research to the special issue of the European Journal of Education, themed “(Dis)entanglements of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning in the Global South.” Facilitated by Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Ethan Trinh, and Edward R. Howe, the session will explore key topical ideas and concepts emphasized in this volume.

 

Participants will receive detailed information on writing and formatting requirements, along with the preferred paper structures. The workshop will cover the selection and peer-review process, outline the publication timeline, and discuss publishing options, including both open access and non-open access.

 

Expectations from the co-editors will be shared to ensure clarity and alignment with the journal’s standards. Attendees will be guided through the journal’s submission platform, ensuring a smooth submission process. Additionally, the co-editors will be available to answer any questions related to this special issue.

 

This workshop is designed for presenting authors who are interested in contributing to the ‘European Journal of Education’, providing crucial information and support to enhance the quality and impact of their submissions.

 

WORKSHOP 2.

Publication in Special Edition of ‘Policy Futures in Education’. 

Author(s): Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Ethan Trinh, and Fiona Blaikie

Affiliation: Thompson Rivers University, Atlanta Global Studies Centre, Brock University

Email: kle@tru.ca (corresponding editor)

 

This workshop aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the publication process for the special edition of ‘Policy Futures in Education’. Facilitated by Giang Nguyen Hoang Le, Ethan Trinh, and Fiona Blaikie, the session will explore key topical ideas and concepts emphasized in this volume.

 

Participants will receive detailed information on writing and formatting requirements, along with the preferred paper structures. The workshop will cover the selection and peer-review process, outline the publication timeline, and discuss publishing options, including both open access and non-open access.

 

Expectations from the co-editors will be shared to ensure clarity and alignment with the journal’s standards. Attendees will be guided through the journal’s submission platform, ensuring a smooth submission process. Additionally, the co-editors will be available to answer any questions related to this special issue.

 

This workshop is designed for presenting authors who are interested in contributing to the ‘Policy Futures in Education’ journal, providing essential information and support to enhance the quality and impact of their submissions.

WORKSHOP 3.

3D Mapping to regenerate ecological university in the context of digital transformation and sustainability. 

Author(s): Lien Le Thi Phuong

Affiliation: Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam

Email: lien.ltp@ou.edu.vn

 

Ecological University (Barnett, 2017) is a concept explaining the relevance of universities in today’s world. It is a moving Kaleidoscope, a super complexity with inevitable intertextuality, which describes how universities are involved in various ecologies, including social, cultural, political, and environmental aspects (Barnett, 2018). Decision-making and outcomes should be aware of the natural self-interest of other stakeholders and benefit the whole ecosystem (Scharmer, 2018). Using 3D mapping, a co-sensing tool to create visual displays (Barry & Hallsmith, 2021), this workshop aims to regenerate an ecological university in the context of digital transformation and sustainability. The 45-minute workshop will have three parts: Mapping current reality with the co-creative flow, Reflecting from four different viewpoints, and Harvest and capture key insights (Barry & Hallsmith, 2021). Furthermore, multimodal data (Kress, 2010) from the workshop, e.g. audiovisual data, multimedia, and images, will be transcribed and analyzed by NVIVO. These outcomes served as an inclusive invitation for a broader interested audience to spark unprecedented inspiration reflecting sustainability in higher education. 

 

Barry, C. & Hallsmith, G. (2021). 3D Mapping. In u.lab 2x: Accelerator for Systems Transformation: Source book. Presencing institute. Otto Schammer. https://theory-u.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ulab2xSourceBook_2021-1.pdf

Barnett, R. (2017). The Ecological University: A Feasible Utopia (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315194899

Scharmer, C. O. (2018). The essentials of Theory U: core principles and applications (First edition.). Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Kress, G. R. (2010). Multimodality : a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203970034