REPORT► Summary and Suggestions

SeaTeacher Project is a project that aims to provide chance for the pre-service student teachers of universities from all over Southeast Asia countries to have teaching practices in schools outside their own country. SeaTeacher is also known as the “Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia”. This year (2019) I had the precious opportunity to join the batch 8 of SeaTeacher project. My sending university in Indonesia, Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto (UMP), sent me to Chiang Mai Rajabhat University (CMRU), in Thailand. I was assigned in Suksasongkhro Chiang Mai School, Thailand. My SeaTeacher Project started from August 2nd to August 31st, 2019. This project has many beneficial outcomes for both me and the institutions that were involved.

 1.1 Purpose of Practicum 

The teaching practices that I did during the project were quite the same as the internship 3 that I had to do as a student of Teacher Training and Education Faculty. Therefore the project was relevant with my study and it provided me with many experiences as future teacher or educator.

 1.2 Procedures of Practicum 

SeaTeacher Project, especially in Thailand, lasts for less than a month (due to Visa regulation). During these four weeks, the agenda were scheduled as follows: the first week was for orientation and school and class observation, second week was for teaching assistance and teaching plan development, third week was for teaching practices, and last week was scheduled for reflection and evaluation. The detailed records of my whole activity  are as follows:

First Week:

1. Arrival
2. Opening Ceremony
3. Orientation
4. School Observation
5. Class Observation

Second Week:

1. Teaching Assistance
2. Teaching Plan Development
3. Teaching Aid Preparation

Third Week:

1. Teaching Plan Supervision
2. Teaching Practice and Teaching Supervision

Fourth Week:

1. Reflection
2. Evaluation
3. Closing Ceremony
4. Departure

 1.3 Outcomes of Practicum 

SeaTeacher Project had provided me not only teaching practice experience, but also the knowledge of a culture other than mine. I have learned a bit of the education system used in Thailand. I have also learned how to develop teaching plan used in Thailand. Knowledge about how teachers in Thailand educate the students is fruitful for me. Last but not least, an opportunity to learn and know a different culture was an opportunity that I might will never gained if I did not join this program. To sum up the things that I have learned through this program, see the list below.
a. Education System
b. Thailand Teaching Plan
c. Thailand Culture, both at School and in General

 1.4 The Challenges of Practicum  

Language
As I have already mentioned earlier, my major challenge in doing the practicum was language difference. Most students in Suksasongkhro Chiang Mai School have relatively low competencies in English. This condition is understandable, considering the fact that some of them are from different tribes who, some, came from area where English is barely known, let alone used. On the same line, I myself do not speak Thai at all. I could only manage to speak Thai basic conversation. Thus, I found language difference became the greatest challenge that I faced, aside from food and transportation. I was obliged to be creative to deal with this challenge, and eventually I gained a lot of experience and lesson by solving the language obstacle.

Food
As a Muslim, I found it hard to find halal food. I am not allowed to consume pork of any kind, and sadly, Thailand is a land of pork. You would find pork meat and pork oil in almost all restaurants. The most challenging part of finding food that is pork-free was language. Most waitress in restaurants or sellers in stores do not understand or speak English. Therefore, asking them what was contained within the food was a bit challenging. Sometime I had to take my phone out and used Google Translate. I know it was inconvenient, but it worked every time.

Transportation
The school where I was assigned is located around 7 kilometers from the dorm where I lived, in CMRU. In the morning I had to race with time so I could catch the university's van that would drop me at the school. It was challenging, but my daily routine of getting back to dorm from school was way more challenging. Every day at 4.30 pm after the school hour ended, I had to walk to the nearest Yellow-Truck Stop for about a kilometer. After that I had to wait for this particular public transportation for only-god-knows-how-long. Sometime I had to wait for 5 minutes, sometime I had to wait for 10 minutes, sometime I had to run across the crossing bridge because the truck was already there when I was still on the opposite of the road. The trip to the dorm by yellow truck was even a lot more inconvenient, because when it was raining I got wet, and when it was hot, it felt really hot. The whole trip took quite some time, and I usually arrived at dorm almost at 6 pm.

 1.5 Overall Impression 

The SeaTeacher Project is a great activity with global-minded concept. It bridges and allows students to have teaching practice in foreign country. The outcomes that this project provides are priceless. During my stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I learned to live the way Thai citizen do. I also learned their culture, especially but not limited to the culture of the school. I am very grateful for this project to exist, considering the valuable benefits that it gives. As a future teacher, this project has allowed me to learn other country’s education system. Thus in the future I hope I will be able to provide my students the approach of teaching that suits them best. As a human being, I am glad that I participated in this project, because I have met people with different culture and different way of thinking. It enriched my perspective towards other people, and I believe that I have become a better person, a more-open-minded person. I encourage students, especially students of English Education Department to participate in the next batch of SeaTeacher Project.

 1.6 Suggestions for Future Improvement 

• A. For Practicum School

In my opinion, assigning a student teacher to observe and work with other local student teacher was not wrong. Yet, it will be better if the participant of SeaTeacher project was assigned to a teacher, since the guidelines say that student teacher should observe and work with a teacher instead of student teachers.

• B. For Sending University

If I were a coordinator of the project, as a muslim, if I could, I would consider sending students with the same sex to the same destination. It is due to the fact that when one of the students gets sick, the other could help them with less barriers and limitation.

• C. For Receiving University

First, assigning a student teacher of SeaTeacher project to a school with low competency of English was challenging and exciting. However, it was a huge obstacle for me as a student teacher to engage communication with my students. Therefore the ideal teaching and learning process were hard to establish. Second, the location of the school from the place where I lived where quite far. Thus, I had to spent money for transportation. I did not mind, but if this matter was discussed earlier before my departure, I would have prepared separated money for transportation.

Teachers' Room of English Department in Suksasongkhro Chiang Mai School