Guidelines for Improving Educational Personnel Competencies in The Digital Age to Elevate the Quality of Life and Underprivileged Children Competencies in Urban Communities, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to explore categories, quality of life, and underprivileged children competencies, and study guidelines for improving educational personnel competencies in the digital age to elevate the quality of life and underprivileged children competencies in urban communities, Chiang Mai province. Methods: Exploring categories, quality of life, and underprivileged children’s competencies was conducted through in-depth interviews and public hearings with 180 school administrators, teachers, representatives of underprivileged children's parents, and experts obtained by Purposive Sampling. Studying guidelines for improving educational personnel competencies was conducted through competency assessment and workshops with 162 school administrators, teachers, supervisors, and experts, selected through Purposive Sampling. Results: The findings revealed 10 categories of the underprivileged children, 11 factors affecting the their quality of life. The underprivileged children had a low level of threshold competencies and core competencies. The educational staff has high communication skills, learning management development, and health understanding in the digital age. Conclusions: The guidelines to improve educational personnel competencies include to develop digital literacy curriculum, smartphone-based media production curriculum, curricula for advanced thinking and innovation skills, foreign language learning management skills, communication skills in foreign and local languages, cultivation and maintenance of medicinal plants skills, modern urban community agriculture skills, product development skills for schools, online distribution, special education curricula for disabilities and children with developmental delays, health knowledge in the digital age for educational personnel, digital-era school administrations, and the competencies development of supervisors.