Summary and Suggestion

1. Purposes of Practicum

The main objective of this SEA Teacher program is to provide experience to prospective teachers to teach on an international scale in ASEAN countries, and if asked if this has met what I previously expected. My initial purpose in participating in this program was not only to enrich my teaching experience, especially on an international scale like this was also to exchange insights about culture, methods, and teaching styles, expand horizons, and improve English skills which are bare necessities as part of global citizens. Although the SEA Teacher period was quite short, I managed to fulfill those initial expectations and even get a new family, and new friends, and had the opportunity to feel the hospitality of the people here which was very heartwarming and made me want to stay longer.

Furthermore, I think this program will really help in the confidence of prospective teachers and when they want to have a career or teach abroad, they will be better prepared and will carry out their duties very well, especially if they have a career in ASEAN countries.

2. Procedures of Practicum

The procedure of teaching practice begins with class observation followed by teaching assistants and the preparation of lesson plans (including instructions and materials). During this stage, cooperating teachers gave a lot of suggestions and feedback in order to improve the lesson plan made. The stages then continue with the implementation of teaching practice, and final demos, and ends with the provision of feedback from the teacher. Next, the practicum ends by making a report regarding what activities were carried out from start to finish.

3. Outcomes of Practicum

The outcomes of this practicum are divided into physical and non-physical results. Physical outcomes are in the form of lesson plans instructions and accompanying materials. The non-physical results are first, the ability to compile lesson plans and instructions and materials based on the K to 12 Curriculum; second, the ability to execute lesson plans that have been designed; third, the ability to manage time, master the class, and be responsive to classroom situations to always be ready to make alternative plans and other adjustments. In addition, the unforgettable and lasting outcome is a sweet memory with fellow SEA Teachers, teachers, students, kuya, and ate, as well as the community here who have welcomed and delivered us warmly.

Another outcome is that we can learn regional languages ​​or languages ​​from other countries such as Banjarese, Javanese and Pasathay, Filipino, and Ilocano. This makes us feel close and like we have a new family even though we have never met and we are very far from each other.

4. The challenges of Practicum

The challenge in this practicum is adapting to the lesson plan used, the material taught, teaching methods, and language. In this program I applied to teach social studies in Grade 4, but it turned out that the language used was Filipino in the textbooks, so it became a challenge for me to learn Filipino and all social things about the Philippines.

5. Overall impression

As someone who dreams of becoming a lecturer, I always love challenges and of course, I don’t want to waste the golden opportunity to join the SEA Teacher Program because we’re not only going to teach here. SEA Teacher is more than that, we learn and exchange a lot of things, culture, curriculum, knowledge, and even languages. That’s why I’m so excited that here at UNP, I have the chance to learn four languages at once, English, Tagalog, Banjarnese, Javanese, Pasathay, and Ilocano. 

I am very grateful to be able to take part in this sea-teacher program because it really opened up my thinking further about education, I even became curious and excited to explore other countries, study the education system there, and apply the good lessons in my beloved country, Indonesia. This program makes me always enthusiastic about learning and has an impact on the world of education.

I am very grateful to be placed at Univerisity of Northern Philippines because I think this is the ideal campus for me to continue developing my knowledge because the teachers and lecturers are professional and friendly, as well as students who are very enthusiastic when learning, this is very important because all aspects support it, especially in the aspect of human resources.

I think University of Northern Philippines is very professional in scheduling this activity, and we really enjoyed it and got a lot of extraordinary things here. I hope this program can continue because it is very useful and will have a big impact on the world of education in ASEAN countries.

6. Suggestions for future improvement

SEA-TEACHER is a very good program. However, the information and promotions are very minimal, so there is a lot of confusion about taking part in this activity. I think that as an association of education ministries from ASEAN countries, it is very possible that this program can really be enriched with information so that this program can look more lively and can represent how good and useful this program.  But actually the good thing is that each university apparently has planned the activities as well as possible, so that when they are placed, I think the activities can run smoothly.