This journey started with a dream. A dream that served as a stepping stone for me to bridge gaps of differences, retell stories, connect with people and instill lifelong learning. Through the Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange Program, all of these things became possible. It contributed a lot to my professional and personal growth as an educator and as an individual. This journey taught me to be independent, unstoppable, able, competent, passionate, flexible, adaptive, strong and courageous. Moreover, this helped me to acquire various innovative and effective teaching strategies that I could share to my collogues in the education field. It taught me the things that I can do in order to provide quality education to my learners. It also reminded me that the Philippine educational system has still a long way to go when it comes to Education For All and pre-services when it comes to learning resources. I am positive that we can also achieve such free privileges in the future such as the ones I experience in Thailand. 

I was intrigued with how they maximize their educational system for learning reached even the distant borders of the community. With countless programs, they surely are making the finest out of their resources and abilities. Thus, this program shaped me in a wider angle. Indeed, teaching fulfilled me to the core.

The lesson implementation started with a concrete introduction about myself, my country, my school and my major followed by greetings. The lesson proper followed the 7E learning style where in segments such as Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate and Extend would be present. This gave learners’ a different strategy when it comes to learning scientific lessons.

The Elicit phase include soliciting the knowledge of learners on the previous topic. Recalling the preceding topic in a session is an effective educational method for promoting learning continuity, reinforcing information, and improving comprehension. It improves the overall efficacy of the teaching and learning process by connecting concepts, actively engaging students, and preparing them for succeeding topics. Then, the Engage phase would be a context-based real-life application of the lesson. After which, the Explore phase spoke of the experiment time of the learners – developing their critical thinking, collaboration and creativity skills. After the result of the experiment, they led to the Explain phase wherein follow up questions were easily answered based on the data collected. Then, a wrap-up conclusion facilitated by the teacher followed to confirm the results obtained by the learners. Broadening the scope of learners’ knowledge and skills happened through the Elaborate phase. Their learnings are applied in a wider range as they tried to apply their knowledge on real-life problems. After that, an Evaluation phase followed to verify if the learners truly understood the lesson in a form of formative assessment. And lastly, the Extend phase was given to learners as a take home activity which produced an output.

When it comes to teaching and learning, a student-centered approach is an effective technique to impart concepts or courses. Learners must direct their own learning, with the teacher serving as a facilitator. The link between the learners and the instructor must always be there during lesson implementation in order to correctly communicate, eliminate misunderstanding, and inculcate life-long learning. Incorporating an inquiry-based learning technique and contextualizing the course thus assisted learners in integrating their experiences, knowledge, and learnings into real-life circumstances. During the class, all of the aforementioned items were visible.

Despite my general observation that Thai students were not as engaged as Filipino students during class recitation or participation, students responded to my lesson implementation by raising their hands and were able to answer questions with such creative and rational thoughts. They also aced the two-tiered multiple choice quiz that I gave. This was a manifestation that they were able to grasp the lesson and that would forever mark as my first international teaching moment. My dream happened faster than I thought it could ever be. 

One of the challenges I faced was the home sick feeling. It was quite far away from home that is why I did my best to become independent, responsible and communicated properly with my family and loved ones to address the said problem. Pushing through, the most difficult challenge I had throughout my stay was the language barrier. Learners at the Science and Technology Department of Udonpittayaniukoon used Thai as their medium of teaching. Fortunately, my cooperating teacher was teaching her grade 8 Chemistry, Special Science Class using the English language. At this point, I altered my English word choice in order for my students to comprehend the concept that  I was talking or expressing. Their vocabulary was really plain and basic, therefore I needed to simplify the entire topic of my class. I also attempted to learn Thai but only learnt a few basic phrases. Nonetheless, throughout the course of my implementation, my students did great for they did their best to follow my instructions and analyze our lesson. 

This journey was indeed a moment to remember. It was a capsule of my dreams in a month and I am very thankful that I was deployed in Udonpittayanukoon school. The educational set-up that they have is something that I will hold unto, as a fuel to my passion. The very core of my dream as an educator was ignited to the point that I promised myself that I will comeback as a worthy educator in the future. The quality of education that they portrayed was a gift to the youth, and it manifested to the practices, culture, beliefs and places that I inclined myself unto. To our host school, Udonpittayanukoon.  The director - Dr. Suwitoon Pakdeesamai, staffs, faculty, Thai teachers, Filipino teachers and to the Department of Science Technology. I could not truly express what my heart wants to say, because there is no such word to describe how welcoming and warm you are when it comes to accepting me, and all of us. 

To our receiving university, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, your generosity and kindness will always be close to my heart. To the director of the Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Dr. Khanisara Thansunthornsakul, Dean of the College of Teacher Education - Prof. Nitedsukkij Tupsai, faculty and staffs, my sincerest gratitude to all your efforts and expertise teachers. Thank you for providing us comfortable spaces, transportation services and arranging activities for us to enjoy our stay. 

This Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia Program should continue to thrive in order for student teachers to experience teaching around the world. This also pushed student teachers like me to be the best version of ourselves for there is a bigger world waiting for aspiring educators like us. 

This program is too precious for just a one month journey. The given duration was not just enough to explore the teaching system, cultures, visit places and everything in between of a different country. Thus, my suggestion boils down to extending the duration up to three months in order for participants to have a full experience of observing classes, assisting teachers, teaching foreign learners and making the reflective paperwork for the program. This was also a suggestion given by our host school, Udonpittayanukoon school so that exchange student teachers would have ample time to spent in the school. Over all, this is a program that makes me want more - more experience, more time, more people to meet and more growth to occur.