Summary and Suggestions

Purpose of Practicum

• To enhance my communicative skills through interacting with people from other countries.

• To learn more about different cultures, languages, and traditions of other countries, particularly Japan.

• To learn how to properly interact with people from other culture while showing respect and kindness.

• To share the traditions, culture, and language of the Philippines to people from other countries.

Procedure of Practicum

During my time in the program, I first observed the classes at UTSS for two weeks before conducting my initial demonstration teaching on the third week. Prior to my initial demonstration teaching, a lot of adjustments had to be made since I couldn't decide on a topic to discuss until almost a few days before my initial demonstration teaching. But thanks to Koizumi sensei for listening to my suggestion of discussing about the culture of the Philippines, we ultimately decided on that topic for my initial demonstration teaching.

For my final demonstration teaching, there were also quite a few changes made to cater to the students since they would be having their final examinations after the program, so Koizumi sensei suggested we change the original topic planned to a lesson that would be in the examination.

I had no issues with the changes with my original plans since I have confidence in my ability to work in a limited amount of time and still produce high quality outputs, since it is one of the skills being taught to us in our university. As for conducting my lesson plans, I have shared them in detail in my Teaching Practice blog post.

Outcomes of the Practicum

From my demonstration teachings, I can say that not only my students learned something, but I learned something new as well. I learned how to apply new teaching methods that I had never used before, and I learned how to quickly adapt to various situations that may happen during my teachings. Not only that, thanks to the feedback of my supervisors—Koizumi sensei and Bagot sensei—I found out things I should work on in order to produce an even better output in the future.

Challenges of the Practicum

My biggest challenge throughout the practicum was dealing with my nerves. I knew that I had the confidence to teach, but my stage fright and anxiety would always get the best of me, and I would start shaking nervously before I start teaching. But as I see the eager looks on the students' faces, and their excitement to learn something new, my nerves calm down and I begin teaching with confidence. The language barrier was never an issue for me, it was something that I expected and prepared how to deal with it, and I dealt with it the best as I could with no regrets.

Overall Impressions

The SEA Teacher Project is an experience that I am very glad that I got to be a part of. It allowed me to experience a new culture that will surely benefit me in terms of my personal and professional growth. Having been a person that was always interested in learning different languages and cultures, I had always wanted to travel to other countries and experience their culture. This project was a way for me to achieve that dream of mine and I will cherish the experiences I had throughout the program.

Through the SEA Teacher Project, I was able to experience a different learning environment than the usual back in my home country. And as we all know, each and every classroom is different, so having the opportunity to experience a new learning environment is something that I will always be thankful for.

As an English major, having the opportunity to teach Japanese high school students is something that I am glad I got to experience. From my observations, most of the students can understand English, but are just having a hard time speaking, which proved to be quite a challenge during my time at UTSS, especially during my demonstration teachings. But as pre-service teachers, we are taught to learn and adapt quickly to various situations inside the classroom, so it wasn't a big issue to me at all. I knew from the start that the students might not be as fluent in English, so a slower pace, a louder voice, and a calm and friendly tone are the things that I relied on throughout my time at UTSS.

With the program, I had also learned new teaching techniques from incredible educators that will surely help with my professional growth as I continue my path on being a teacher in the future. I am very thankful to Koizumi sensei, my English supervisor, who welcomed me warmly by always initiating small talk that turned to meaningful conversations where I learned so many things—from Japanese culture, their education system, global issues, and so much more—and of course, for showing me new teaching methods that I will certainly use in my home country when opportunity presents itself. I am also very thankful for my homeroom advisers; Takano sensei and Nomura sensei, who were also so kind to me throughout the program, they showed me different ways of classroom management and handling the students, which is something I will always remember.

Overall, I am very thankful to SEAMEO for conducting this program, without the project, we would have never experienced anything else like it. I am very thankful to my university as well for allowing me to have this learning opportunity, and for choosing me out of all the applicants who applied for the project. I am also very thankful to UTSS—the teaching and non-teaching staff, and the students—for welcoming us very warmly into their school, they made the whole experience very special and it will be something that is always dear to me for the rest of my life. I honestly cannot put into words how grateful I am to be a part of this project, but I hope that through this I get to convey some of those feelings into words.

Suggestions

I have a few suggestions in regards to our schedule, I hope that the schedule would allow for the participants to have their own free time during the weekends so they can explore the area and the nearby cities to experience the Japanese culture, since that is also a part of the whole program. If it’s not possible to let the participants have their own free time during the weekends or have cultural tours, I think it would be nice to give the participants a few days off during their last week so that they can do whatever they’d like and explore wherever they may want to go.

Aside from the schedule I have no more suggestions for the program as it was the best experience I could ever have! I think it would be great if the program was lengthened just a bit more because one month was really not enough. I miss everyone at UTSS already and I hope I got to stay a bit longer!