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

It was 28th of August, my 26th day in Chiang Mai. I gathered up some information related to Chiang Mai. I hope that these information can help you prepare yourselves better in order to minimize the effects of culture shock that you may will experience in the future.

 1. Power Plug 
In Thailand the standard voltage is 220 V and the frequency is 50 Hz. Indonesian student, you can use your electric appliances in Thailand, since the standard voltage in our country is in between 220 - 240 V (as is in the UK, Europe, Australia and most of Asia and Africa). Thailand uses 220V AC electricity. Power outlets most commonly feature two-prong round or flat sockets. Fortunately for Indonesian students, you can use your regular power plug as it works in Thailand as well.

For your information, the following plugs are used:





 2. Grab 
Typical Indonesian citizen has our own vehicle, as I do own a motorcycle. I know that we barely walk to go from one place to another. Unfortunately, during my stay in Thailand, I could not ride any vehicle on my own because, first, I could not afford to rent any, and second, my driving license may not be acknowledged. On top of that, I would say that Thailand does not have appropriate path for pedestrians so walking is also daily struggle. Luckily, one of my favorite online-taxi platform, GRAB, operates in Thailand. I always relied on this taxi service to go somewhere. Grab is also popular in Thailand, so you can get a taxi in no time by the time you hit the order button. In addition, the rate for a single Grab trip is similar to the rate in Indonesia.
 3. Transportation and Rates 
I was assigned in Suksasongkhro Chiang Mai School that is located around 7 kilometers from the Uni where I stayed. So in order to save up some time and energy, taking grab taxi is one of the good options. However, taking a public transportation is significantly less costly. So I always took Yellow Truck (a public transportation) to save some cash. A single ride of Yellow Truck costs 15 bahts ( around 7.000 to 8.000 IDR). A lot cheaper compared to one Grab taxi ride that costs 100 bahts (around 50.000 IDR). Taking the trucks is quite easy. You just need to go to the sideways and then wave your hand if you see a truck coming. They will stop and you can ride it by then. Once your destination is close, hit a button above your head and the driver will notice that you are getting off. Payment is done by approaching the driver and give them the money. You have two options to go from the Uni to the school, you can use either Yellow Truck or Red Truck. Yellow Truck costs 15 bahts, while Red Truck cost 30 bahts for the same distance. So, make your choice. For your information: there are Yellow, White and Red Trucks in Thailand. They differ in routes and rates.


images source:
https://www.mychiangmaitravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Transport_in_ChiangMai001.jpg
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/electricity
https://www.grab.com/id/en/transport/taxi/



Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply transition to another type of life. One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign environment. Culture shock can be described as consisting of at least one of four distinct phases: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. - Said Wikipedia

I'll put it this way. Simply, culture shock is a condition where you feel homesick or stress that is triggered by difficulties that you are facing while you are in foreign country. The symptoms of experiencing a culture shock can be vary. One may feel stress while other may feel sad. One can be feeling homesick while others may feel angry. Therefore it really depends on the person and the situation they're facing.

Going to Thailand was my second time going abroad. I had been to Europe once. So if you jump into conclusion that I could face the culture shock better, it's understandable. However, here is the truth. Culture shock hit me harder when I was in Thailand for a month, and it felt weird because I did not feel culture shock this hard when I was in Bulgaria for 5 months. I thought I was prepared, because I have studied this matter in class. I had never been so wrong.

I was curious, so when I felt better, I tried to evaluate myself and my surrounding. "What could've gone wrong? What things had I done differently?".

It turned out, my culture shock was triggered by my activities. I was a lot busier when I was in Thailand. I barely had time to look after myself, to enjoy things and to recharge my energy. So in this case, I believe that exhaustion was the reason why I experienced worse culture shock.

Dealing with culture shock is an easy but tricky thing. You have to find out what triggers it before you can fix it. But here are some common efforts that you can do suggested by Stacie Berdan if, just in case, you experience culture shock:
  • Assume differences until similarity is proven.
  • Relate to individuals, not a “culture.”
  • Work with a culture rather than against it.
  • Ask “what do I need to understand?” not “what should I do?”
  • Listen and observe, think and then talk.
  • Focus on the benefits of differences rather than simply trying to avoid mistakes.


I executed my second teaching plan after the first one was done. On Thursday, August 22nd, I taught Mattayom 3 Classroom 1 (M3/1) for the second time, and before that moment I had already taught 3 classes (3 periods), they were M3/1, M3/2 and M3/3.
On the previous classes I taught my students new vocabulary which I was going to use on the second lesson, Future Tense. In Indonesia, I would normally teach vocabulary and tenses on the same meeting, but in Thailand I was given 50 minutes for each meeting. Therefore, considering the time, I broke down the materials into two meetings, but they were related to each other.

 1.1 Procedures of Teaching 
The procedures of teaching were similar to the first teaching plan, they were divided into 3 steps, but the last two steps were adjusted to "Focused Practice and Communicative Practice". The changes were required because previously I taught Vocabulary, but my second teaching plan would teach tense, therefore changes were made. These steps are now: Presentation, Focused Practice and Communicative Practice. Below are the details of my second teaching plan.
Presentation
1. Teacher greets the students.
2. Teacher briefly mentions the topic of the lesson.
3. Teacher states the objectives gained by the lesson.
4. Teacher provides situations to teach future tense structures.
5. Teacher guides the students to read the sentences.

Power Point Slide for Teaching Practice #2
Focused Practice
6. Teacher divides the class into 8 groups. (group activity)
7. Teacher distributes [worksheet: multiple choice] to each group.
8. Teacher gives instruction to students to choose the best answer.
9. Teacher checks the results of each group.
Communicative Practice
10. Teacher instructs the students to write future tense sentences by considering the words given (individual follow-up activity).
11. Teacher reviews and draws conclusion of the lesson.

 1.2 Time Management and Organizing Activities 
Time allotment for the learning process were planned as follows:

►20 minutes for Presentation.
During this time, I was showing and explaining the examples of conversation between two people. The conversations contain simple future tense. In the end, I guided the students to draw out the structure of simple future tense based on the examples that had been shown.
Presentation: providing information
►10 minutes for Focused Practice.
During this time, the students were working in groups to do an exercise that I gave to them. This activity was done in group, aiming the students to be able to discuss and work with peers.
Group Activity
►10 minutes for Communicative Practice.
During this time, the students were working individually. They had to write sentences by considering a word that is given in each number. This activity was done to measure the comprehension of each student.

 1.3 Problem-Solving 
The problems that I faced were pretty much the same problems that I faced everyday in the classroom. See Teaching Practice #1 to see.

 1.4 Classroom Management 
Different from Teaching Practice #1, my second teaching plan required not only group activity but also individual activity. Group activity is aimed to make the students active and able to work in group. Meanwhile, Individual activity is a follow-up activity that is aimed to find out the capability and the comprehension of each student.

Tuesday, August 20th, I started my very first teaching practice after consulting my teaching plans on the previous day. It turned out that my supervisor, Dr. Rachod, decided to observe me on my first day of teaching. I was a bit confused, because I thought observation would only be done on the final demonstration (last teaching practice). However, I agreed. My first teaching plan required a lot of teaching media such as envelopes and words that were printed on paper. I prepared for everything since the previous week, so everything was ready on the day when my teaching practice started. I did my teaching practices on the 3rd week as scheduled, and I taught 3 classes for 4 periods (M3/1, M3/2 and M3/3). I taught M3/1 twice.

 1.1 Procedures of Teaching 
The procedures of teaching, according to Thailand teaching plan, are mainly divided into 3 steps, they are: Presentation, Practice and Production. Below are the details of my first teaching plan.
Presentation
1. Teacher greets the students.
2. Teacher briefly mentions the topic of the lesson.
3. Teacher states the objectives gained by the lesson.
4. Teacher shows the pictures along with their meaning.
5. Teacher guides the students to pronounce the words.

Power Point Slides for Teaching Practice #1
Practice
6. Teacher divides the class into 8 groups.
7. Teacher distributes worksheet to each group.
8. Teacher gives instruction to students to categorize the words given into their appropriate category.
9. Teacher checks the results of each group.
Production
10. Teacher introduces “Guess the Picture” game to train students’ comprehension and creativity about vocabulary.
11. Teacher divides the class into 4 groups.
12. Teacher gives the instructions and rules.
13. Teacher guides the activity.
14. Teacher checks and decides the winner.
15. Teacher reviews and draws conclusion of the lesson.

 1.2 Time Management and Organizing Activities 
One period is equal to 50 minutes of teaching. However, due to the transition time between courses that usually takes around 5 minutes, and another 5 minutes to set up everything, it is save to say that the actual learning and teaching process only last for 40 minutes. I calculated the time management using the 40 minutes estimation time. I managed the time and divided my 40 minutes for 3 activities. The activities were as follows:

►20 minutes for Presentation.
During this time, I was showing and explaining the vocabularies to the students. I asked them to read the words and repeat what I was saying.
Presentation: providing information

►5 minutes for Practice.During this time, the students were working in groups to arrange and categorize the words that I had distributed to them. The words should be attached on the provided worksheet.
Media for "Words Categorizing" activity
 ►15 minutes for Production.
During this time, the students were working in groups, one of them became the representative of the group. The representative drew a picture based on the word that I gave to the representatives only. The rest of the members should guess the words that were drawn by their representative.
Media for "Guess the Picture" activity
 1.3 Problem-Solving 
The problems that I faced during the teaching practice were various, for instance, the students were: not paying attention, feeling sleepy, and having irrelevant conversation with others. Dealing with these problems was easy but a bit tricky. Wrong reaction given toward the students might worsen the condition of the class and make the classroom less effective. Considering the fact that these students need extra care, I tried to deal with these problems by asking the students to repeat the words that I said. My aims in asking them to do so were: 1. Directing their attention to me and to the learning process, 2. Making them aware that I noticed the problems that they created (sleeping, talking, etc),  3. Making them practice the vocabulary so they could catch up with their classmates.

 1.4 Classroom Management 
The Basic Education Core Curriculum mentions that the learning process in school should be learner-centered. It aims the students to be active and able to work collaboratively with other students. Therefore, I managed the classroom in a way so that the students were able to work with their peers. I designed two group activities that required the students to work together in groups. The first activity was categorizing vocabulary, and it allowed me, as teacher, to measure and evaluate the learning process, and draw conclusion whether the students were able to comprehend the new vocabulary or not. The second activity was guessing pictures that were drawn by a representative of the group. This activity let me know whether the students are able to pronounce the vocabulary correctly or not, and in addition, this activity also encourage the students to be creative because they have to let their friends to guess the word by a picture that they drew.


  1.5 Others 
Teaching a foreign language to students who do not speak the same language as I do was difficult. Our language differences had become my greatest obstacle in teaching and communicating with my students. They do not speak English well, and I myself do not speak Thai at all. However, I was obliged to be more creative and thought of the solution for the problem. Therefore, I would say that language difference was challenging and exciting, and it gave me a lot of lessons and experiences.