Where I come from?

I come from a mountain region, in the small valley of Dran which was, anecdotally, called “the Clouds Valley” by the doctor Alexandre Yersin on his way of discovering the Lang Bian highland more than one hundred years ago. Inspired by the dreams to fly over the hills and mountains surrounding my small town, after my high school studies at the age of 18, I went to Saigon (administratively called “Ho Chi Minh City”), the economic centre of the country, for beginning my higher education pathway. Since then, despite of my name which means “the original men who advances by great steps”, my study and professional way is not a big and long road straight forward. Anyway, it seems not to be a problem with me, because one of my favourite quotes is from “The Little Prince” of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Straight ahead of him, nobody can go very far”.

I intended to be biologist and teacher. I did not know any French words at the beginning of my university studies. More than 20 years later, I’m neither biologist nor teacher in a narrow sense. Holding a bachelor’s degree at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education (with a mixt cursus in biology at the University of Sciences, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), as well as a specialized post-graduate degree (DESS in French) in scientific teaching in French foreign language at the University of Le Mans and a professional master degree in using of ICT in teaching and training (Master UTICEF) at the University of Strasbourg, I finally finished a doctoral thesis in education sciences at this last university. I’m henceforth an independent researcher and consultant on education in Vietnam, especially in the fields of educational technologies and in relation with the educational quality questions, but also interested in connected subjects such as scientific and technical information, research management and scientific communication.