Ms Natsuda Opasjaroenkij

Faculty of Language and Communication
National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM REPORT
During 25 March - 17 May 2002 

Organization Profile

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) was established in November 1965 as a chartered international organization whose purpose is to promote cooperation in education, science and culture in the Southeast Asian region. The name was chosen to reflect the need for a regional grouping, the purpose of which is to share and maximize use of resources, with collective leadership to be provided by the Ministers of Education of the Member Countries.

SEAMEO at present consists of ten (10) Member Countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Union of Myanmar; and six (6) Associate Member Countries that include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and one Affiliate Member: The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). The Organization has 15 established Regional Centres/Network of excellence, namely SEAMEO BIOTROP, SEAMEO INNOTECH, SEAMEO RECSAM, SEAEMEO RELC, SEAMEO RIHED, SEAMEO SEARCA, SEAMEO SPAFA, SEAMEO TROPMED Network namely: TROPMED/Indonesia, TROPMED/Malaysia, TROPMED/Philippines, TROPMED/Thailand, SEAMEO VOCTECH, SEAMEO Regional Training Centre, SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Centre and SEAMEO CHAT. These SEAMEO units serve as the empowered arm of the organization through the diverse ranger of expertise they offer: tropical biology, agriculture, tropical medicine, science and mathematics education, educational innovation and technology, language education, higher education development, archaeology and fine arts, vocational and technical educational, open learning and distance education, and history and tradition.

The SEAMEO Secretariat (SEAMES), located in Bangkok, is the executing agency of the Organization which ensures the implementation of the policies and programmes adopted by the Council.

Other functions of the Secretariat include obtaining financial support from interested donors, planning and studying the feasibility of regional educational project proposals and other activities for the decision of the Council, administering or coordinating projects of regional significance or interest and disseminating public information materials and publications to create awareness, understanding and appreciation of the Organization both within and outside the SEAMEO region. The Director of SEAMES is the chief administration officer and the legal representative of the Organization.
 

Figure 1
 

The objectives of my internship program are as follows:
 

♦

♦

♦

Assisting the Publications Officer in the production of the following publications:
 

♦

♦

Jasper Monograph:

The SEAMEO-Jasper Fellowship is an annual grant bestowed by the Government of Canada and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization for outstanding research conducted by SEAMEO Member Country nationals. The research of the winner and the first runner-up are published in the SEAMEO - Jasper Fellowship Monograph Series.
 

♦

Marketing Kit:

The Organization’s primary marketing tool representing its characteristics to policy and key-decision makers.
 

During the internship program, I found myself not so skillful with some assignments.

Writing the preface of Jasper Monograph posed difficulties. I had to prepare summaries of two research papers and the researchers’ brief profiles. The challenge was to write them without plagiarizing the original paper considering that I was not totally confident with my writing skill.

I also attended a one-day Photoshop training. I had used the programme few times; however, I could operate the program only at the basic level. The real challenge came when my mentor assigned me to retouch maps and sketches for the Jasper Monograph.

I kept reminding myself that these were good opportunities to try something I knew very little of. In both assignments, my mentor was pleased with my output and it was more than enough reward for my hard work.
 

♦

Writing skills: writing, proofreading, editing
I had learned a lot from working on the Jasper Monograph assignment. I learned how to paraphrase and proofreading would be very helpful in my own research paper.
 

♦

Computer Literacy: Photoshop, Pagemaker
Apart from general use of computer knowledge, the training on Photoshop and Pagemaker programmes offered by my mentor were very helpful not only for working at SEAMES but also for my own experience.
 

♦

Teaching
During the project planning process, I applied the theories in Applied Linguistics in designing activities. These included here-and-now referents and movement which would encourage students more than memorization.
 

♦

Information searching
Some assignments required searching for information through the Internet and the library. The Theme Identification Matrix assigned by Khun Pareena, Marketing Officer, required information on priorities of various NGOs, which I found on the Internet.
 

♦

Meeting and communicating with people from different cultures
One good experience I had working at SEAMES was the opportunity to communicate in English. Since this is an international organization, I was able to test whether I was able to communicate properly in English.
 

♦

Language Performance
Regarding the English required organization, I was able to communicate well with the four skills of English: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Moreover, I had a chance to recall my interpretation skills while attending a meeting with printer designers.
 

♦

Working Performance
I considered initiative, cooperation and responsibility. I was very thankful for my mentor that he listened to all my ideas and a comment to perform better tasks. Besides, I was able to finish most of the jobs before due which is the heart of job responsibility.
 

Though it had been only 8 weeks, I believe I gained much more than I expected. From the first day I arrived for the interview, the intercultural communication immediately began and was followed with new experiences each day.

The tasks and the atmosphere at SEAMES did not create any feeling of discrimination between officers and interns. In other internship programmes, interns are usually handed over tasks which no one else would rather do, but at SEAMES, I was made to feel that we were equal and that I was a part of the organization. Therefore, I have no recommendation because I think that the project is excellent in itself.
 

Referred to the Insight/Knowledge Gained Topic, this portfolio includes three accomplished task selection which I am proud of.

The Calendar of Activities identifies activities that all fifteen (15) SEAMEO Centres plan to offer in the year ahead. I feel that Calendar of Activities is my own publication, because I had worked on it since the first day of my internship program until it was sent for publishing by May 2, 2002. I coordinated with SEAMEO Centres for the information, organized them in an appropriate format, proofread and edited, and finally sent for publishing. Again, I selected only a few pages to be attached as the example of my tasks.
 

Jasper Monograph

The Jasper Monograph is the collection of Jasper Fellowship award-winning papers. I had worked on the Jasper Monograph proofreading since March 28, 2002 and followed with more than five drafts on each paper. This year publication includes four series from 1997-2000. I appreciated that my mentor put my name as the Editorial Assistant to the publications. Attached are the preface of Jasper Monograph and a few pages of Jasper Monograph award-winning papers selected as example of my tasks.
 

Preface:
The preface of Jasper Monograph took me three-day-attempts in paraphrasing.  However, it was worth because my writing will be published in the Jasper Monograph and submitted to all SEAMEO centres and networks.
 

SEAMEO Community Involvement Programme, English Camp

The programme which is under the overall Programme and Marketing Department required all interns to fulfill the project together. Even though the programme in not under the Publication Officers, I was proud to work on it. Though the English Camp was held on May 16-17, 2002, the planning process of this project was discussed by mid of April and continued with meetings and preparation. I gained a lot of experiences from the project, starting from project planning, activity designs, teaching experience, as well as teamwork.
 

Personal Data

Prior to graduate studies at NIDA, Natsuda earned her BA in English at Thammasat University. Her work experience includes the position of Executive Secretary at Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., of Student Trainee with Shell Companies and of Volunteer Officer under the Tourism Authority of Thailand. From these many experiences Natsuda has developed excellent communication, writing, management and receptionist skills.

Top