Summary

The purpose of this practicum is for us future teachers to encounter students with different cultures and practice and for us to be flexible with the variety of students out there. We have been trained to be globally competitive educators and this is a big part of it. This practicum made us realize even more that there are many factors to consider in learning and that we should be sensitive to those factors as teachers. Students doesn't fit to a one-size-fits-all type of discussion because every student has their own different backgrounds, attitude, personality, belief, and many more. Before we join this practicum, we have no idea about anything we know now. Good thing the procedures of the practicum really helps us to adjust slowly to the new environment. Even before we arrive there, we have been thoroughly oriented what to do and everything we should know about the practicum. Our supervising teachers and administrators guided us in every step of the way and has been a great help from the beginning. We have been able to communicate with the people in charge in Indonesia to inform us about the important information we have to know and answer all the questions we have. When we got there, they warmly welcomed us and made us have our campus tour to be familiar with the place and the faculty. In my blog, I explained how our first week has been and how everything was talked about for our teaching practice to be flawless. Because of their thorough guidance, the outcome of our practicum is very good. It helped us not only academically but also wholistically. The practicum helped us improve our communication skills and versatility in regards to delivering our discussion. We were exposed to the type of students we have no background of and has a different culture with what we have. It was a great and once in a lifetime experience in which we could get so much lesson to. The practicum made us open our eyes that there is more to world than what is in front of us. There's more variety of belief and culture we're yet to discover and we should be able to be respectful and sensitive about it. We learned to face the challenges of the practicum starting with having a hard time not to code switch (from Filipino language to English) and to deliver the discussion in pure English language to an audience who doesn't have it as their first language as well. We learned to compromise in communicating by choosing our words to use so that both party would understand each other. Also the difference of culture ha been a challenge because we may do things differently in a way that might be offensive to our students. We have to be conscious with everything we say or do. Nonetheless, these challenges doesn't hinder us from having a great practicum experience but rather we gain learning from those; it's when things don't go the way it's planned that you grow. Overall, I would definitely would want to experience this again if I'd have the chance. It was such a remarkable experience that we get to have and I wish every educator in the making is privileged enough to have such opportunity. The SEA-Teacher experience gave us all a life-long learning that is worth to treasure. As I've already said, it taught us how cultures varies from different parts of the world and how it is a big factor in the students' learning process. We have to be sensitive and adjust with the environment; depend our actions with what the people around you do. Remarkable teachers educate students in a way that they need, not in the way that the teacher knows how. Versatility and respect is the key. We have so much more to learn and this is a big step towards becoming an educator.