Dhirapat Kulophas
Chulalongkorn university
Dhirapat Kulophas graduated with bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Chulalongkorn University in 1995 and master’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio State University in 1998 before started working in the field of production planning and supply chain management in hard‐disk industry. Five years later he returned to managing family‐run private school in Ratchaburi province and consequently enrolled and graduated with master’s degree in Educa onal Administra on from Chulalongkorn University in 2009. In 2011, he pursued his Ph.D. in Educa onal Research Methodology at the same university and received the degree 3 years later. At present, he works as a lecturer in the division of Educa onal Administra on, Faculty of Educa on, Chulalongkorn University. His main interests center around school leadership, technology for learning and school improvement.
Thailand 4.0 was the government’s new long-term policy aiming to reform the country and attempt to become one of the high-income nations (Royal Thai Embassy, 2017). The enhancement of education to align with Thailand 4.0 policy required radical, technology-infused development of teaching and learning. Despite massive spending on Information and communications technology (ICT) over the last decade, the efforts made little impact on teaching and learning effectively (Chiangkul, 2016; Fry & Bi, 2013; Hallinger & Bryant, 2013). To achieve technology integration in school that stimulated student learning, teachers must receive sufficient supports in knowledge and skills, self-efficacy, pedagogical beliefs and school culture (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010), all of which required both school leaders’ vision and provision. While some technology was utilized in professional development, Thai teachers were relatively less confident about their technology capabilities and tended to show negative views on the use of technology in classroom (Fraillon, Ainley, Schulz, Friedman, & Gebhardt, 2014). Among school leadership behaviors, leading teacher learning and development provided the highest impact on whole school learning capacity (V. M. J. Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008). This research aimed to address the research question: How do Thai principals applied their leadership and technology to develop teacher learning. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the roles of school leaders and technology in fostering teacher professional learning in three contextually distinct Thai schools. This multi-case exploratory case study applied the framework of learning-centered leadership on promoting teacher professional development and learning 蜉(Fullan, 2014; Goldring, Huff, May, & Camburn, 2008; Hallinger, 2011; MacBeath & Dempster, 2008; Murphy, Elliott, Goldring, & Porter, 2007) through contextualized lens of Thailand. Semi-structured in-depth interviews, observations and school documents were primary sources for qualitative data analysis. The results revealed that despite variations in situational approaches, each principal shared common features that enhanced teacher learning: technology enhanced learning visions; model learning leader; empowered, collaborative, technology-infused, job-embedded learning; and create conditions to support and sustain learning. The study supported an extensive body of literature that underscored the vital role of learning-centered leadership for teacher learning. It also highlighted the important roles of technology for learning and adaptive leadership practices across different school contexts.
