The SEA Teacher project aims to provide opportunity for pre-service student teachers from universities in Southeast Asia to have teaching experiences (practicum) in schools in other countries in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the aims of the SEA Teacher Project are:

• To enable the student teachers to develop their teaching skills and pedagogy.

• To encourage the student teachers to practise their English skills.

• To allow the student teachers to gain a broader regional and world view.

• To expose future teachers to diverse teaching and learning situations and opportunities, and the value of flexibility.

The participant of this program have to follow four stages during one month of exchange programme. In this case, the receiving university is given the flexibility to be able to arrange a schedule that include these four stages within 4 weeks of the programme. The schedule are as follows:

• Orientation and Class Observation

• Teacher Assistant 

1. Working with the resource teacher

2. The lesson plan consolidation

• Teaching in class

1. Adequate teaching hours 

2. Monitoring and evaluation by the resource teacher

• Reflection and learning

1. Reflection on student performance in general and discussion on lessons learned

2. Completing blog and reports 

3. Mentors help to check writing

The SEA-Teacher project aims to give student teachers from universities in Southeast Asia the opportunity to gain teaching experience (practicum) in schools in other countries in Southeast Asia. The objectives of this program are:

• Direct Teaching Experience, I was able to apply the knowledge and teaching methods that I have learned in the teacher education program in a classroom environment.

• Professional Development, this practicum assisted me in developing my teaching skills and gaining a deeper understanding of classroom management, curriculum design, and the needs of a diverse student population.

• Cultural Exchange, with this program, I gained a lot of knowledge about cultures from outside my country and international understanding, which made me more culturally competent and aware of diversity in education.

• Collaboration, as a pre-service teacher, I had the opportunity to collaborate with local teachers and educational institutions during the practicum. This collaboration can lead to the exchange of ideas, teaching strategies and best practices in education.

• Global Perspective, this program became a global perspective for me as a pre-service teacher, it encouraged me to look at education from an international perspective and consider how educational practices differ in different countries.

While the program offers many benefits, it also has its own challenges for me as a participant. Here are some of the common challenges I faced:

• Cultural Adjustment, I had to adapt to a new and unfamiliar culture. This can include differences in language, customs, traditions, and teaching methods. 

• Language Fluency, English is a second language in the country where I practiced teaching while in my country English is a foreign language.

• Nervousness, managing a classroom in a foreign country has been a challenge for me, as I feel students have the big expectations when im manage their class but it turned out to be just my nervousness and the reality isn't like that.

• Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings, differences in cultural norms, communication styles, and social expectations were challenges I had to face. To overcome these challenges, I had to find out about the local culture and maintain open and respectful communication with the local people.