1.1 Purpose of Practicum
The SEA-Teacher program under SEAMEO allowed me to apply the theories and strategies that I learned in school. I find it hard to apply the things I learned in school when I was doing my internship in the Philippines due to the class size and availability of learning media or resources. Although my experience in the Philippines taught me to be innovative and resourceful, I was longing to prove the things that I learned in the university if its true or working or not and my internship abroad help me realize that longing. I believe that this experience exceeds its purpose of just having a practicum because through this experience, I was able to immerse myself to the Javanese culture which I can share to my students, expand my network and outlook in life, learned new techniques in teaching, enhance my communication skills as well gaining new friends and some considered me as their family.
1.2 Procedures of Practicum
I really like the way how we were seamlessly introduced to the tasks that we have to do in school as well as the subject that we have to teach and also the topic ahead of time. They also let me observed the class for the first day and then asked me to start teaching on the second day. At first, my cooperating teacher was with me inside the classroom so that she can help me translate some of my words in Bahasa in order for the students to understand what I was talking about. After my first class, my cooperating teacher gave me her feedback which I really appreciate. After that I ran the class alone and enjoyed each and every teaching moment. I believe the students are also learning and enjoying the lesson based on the smile their faces despite of language barrier. During my teaching, I used deductive method, group dynamics, oral recitation and games to make the learning fun for the students. I sometimes use translators whenever I give instructions to students, talk in a slow pace, use simple English words paired with big body gestures and insert some Bahasa Indonesia words I learned when I give examples. I also gave assessments to my students. 1 is a pen and paper assessment. I projected the questionnaire in front where the questions were written in English and in Bahasa Indonesia, another assessment is when I asked them to draw what they have learned and a project where students needs to recycle a plastic bottle. Based on the assessment result, I can evaluate that students understands and learned the lesson I taught them.
1.3 Outcomes of Practicum
The practicum helped me to become a resilient, competent and a more creative teacher. Resilient in a way that I have to withstand pressure of being away from my family and manage my time effectively. I also learned several things from the feedback I gained and the discoveries I unraveled during the teaching-learning process that hones me to become a competent student teacher. Lastly, I became a more creative teacher. Creative in a way that I have to innovate my art of teaching in order to compliment to my foreign audience. I believe that all aforementioned things can be credited to the experience I gained in SEA-Teacher program.
1.4 The Challenges of Practicum
I believe that the most prevalent challenge I faced during my practicum in Indonesia is communication. A more challenging in my part because I am not going to teach the English language but instead I use it as a tool to discuss concepts to my students. I was tasked to teach Sociology in which the material and the medium of communication is in Bahasa Indonesia. Apart from that, English is considered to be a foreign language in Indonesia unlike in the Philippines that it is somewhat an official language. This could be one of the reasons why some students in Indonesia are not so fluent in using English for communication. What I did was to learn basic Bahasa Indonesia words and use the app that I downloaded to help me translate my words from English to Bahasa.
1.5 Overall Impression
Overall, I can say that being part of SEA-Teacher Batch 8 is so far one of the best experiences I have experienced not only in my college years but also in my life. Everything was done smoothly and without any hassle. From the selection to the final evaluation, we were notified every step of the way. The hospitality of the receiving university (Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto) is superb which I couldn't ask for more. The experience taught me several lessons that helps me not just to become a better teacher in the future but also to become a better person. I am so grateful to become one of the few who experienced such things. It is truly a commendable and a recommendable experience that a teacher must undergo.
1.6 Suggestion and Future Improvement
Everything that happened during my internship under SEA-teacher program is awesome. I actually couldn't find any words that can equally describe how grateful I am to be part of the program. If I were to suggest for future improvement, I think I would like the program to extend the internship for a longer period and expose student teachers to different schools (assigned schools and not the receiving university) if possible. I just think that the more we immerse ourselves to different scenarios, the more that we will discover or learn new things. I learned a lot in my few days in this program, how much more if I stayed for a couple of days more.