There was no class this week.Although I enjoyed learning,I was really happy because I needed a break once in a while.There was no class because there was an induction ceremony for the new students of our university.I used my free time this week to discuss with my course mates about the assignment given.We were quite daunted with the assignment at first because it seemed really tough.We basically had to design a curriculum with our chosen approach and my friend Hannee,brought up a few ideas from a website.I told my group mates that I wanted us to use the flip classroom method as our approach.You can learn more about this method through the video down below.
I feel that the flip classroom method is an amazing method for students especially for students who have a hard time catching up in class because when you learn your topics through videos,you can pause the teacher at any time you want and replay lessons you did not understand the first time and the best part is the video never gets tired of teaching.Homework can be done in school when we have the guidance of a teacher.When I was in secondary school,I did not do my homework most of the time because I did not know how to do it or who to ask help from because I was the eldest child in the family and my parents were art students but if I did my exercises in school with the guidance of a teacher,I will be able solve the questions.If every Malaysian school in our country were to use this method,I believe Malaysia will see amazing results.The government should donate free laptops for every student to be able to learn this way and have speedy wifi in school compounds for students who cannot afford wifi or even better have speed wifi at public libraries for students to use and make sure it is free so poor students can use them.If laptops were donated to students or rural areas accompanied with good and speedy wifi connection,so many of them will not be illiterate and they will be more educated.I hope the government does put my idea into consideration.I am an advocate for the type of learning.Right now we are trying to figure out how we are going to complete component 3 and 4 of the assignment which are about experience and evaluation respectively.We do not have experience with the flip classroom method so we most probably are going to use experience of other people and evaluations of people who have used this method but so far I think our team is at a good start and we are also trying to split the task.We hope to complete this task by next week so that we would have more time to study for our final examination.That is all from me.I will continue updating about our assignment progress in future posts.Till then,wish us the best of luck.
References "Let's Use Video To Reinvent Education | Salman Khan". YouTube. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
*Trumpets sound*Today I give to you all yet another reflection for my curriculum development class!Can you feel the excitement?
In class,we learnt the meaning of Philosophy which means love of wisdom.Our teacher mentioned that everyone has their own philosophy in life,I actually went home to reflect upon this question about my other philosophies in life because I already know what my main philosophy in life is.My main philosophy in my life is to use the gifts and knowledge I have to help other people.I guess that is why I want to become a teacher because I want to share my knowledge with other people.There are so many people in this world who are not as lucky as me to receive a good education,a roof above their heads to do revision or even proper schools to study in.It reminded me of the time my lecturer told us which just so happen to be the same lecturer teaching me this subject,about the time he went to all the rural schools to observe the teaching progress.He told us that there were no tiled floors in the school and the facilities were really poor.The school was a wooden school.I felt so grateful but at the same time ashamed because I have always complained about what I did not receive but in fact there were people worst off than me.
I want to help these people who are not as fortunate as me in my life.This whole situation reminds me of a quote by one of my favourite authors,the ever so famous,J.K Rowling.She said,"It is a moral responsibility when given more than you need to do wise things with it and give intelligently".Such wise words.It also reminded me of what a homily given by the priest for the mass I went to yesterday,he said in his homily that we have to give what we have to help those around us.It is not just charity but a responsibility as well.This philosophy of mine of helping those who are less fortunate has given me the boost to one day work with Teach For Malaysia.I feel that this is a good opportunity for me to put my philosophy to practice.As the saying goes,actions speaks louder than words.I cannot just think about how great it would be to help others,I have to actually change my words to action.
Now,going back to my other philosophies in my life.Other than that,I think it is important to stay humble.No matter who you are or how far you have come in life.If I do become a successful or a well-known lecturer one day or maybe even a famous celebrity(it could happen),I hope that I will still have gratitude towards the teacher who have helped me along my journey.This reminds me of a bible verse that the priest always reminds us during Ash Wednesday and that is :-
We should always remain humble and never think that we are more superior than another person no matter what the circumstances are.We are all human beings.I have many other philosophies as well but I will share them with you readers in future reflections.I asked my lecturer about his philosophies in life.He told us that his philosophy is to travel as much as you can and learn as much as you can.I think he has a really good philosophy,I guess that is why he is doing his doctorate because he loves learning so much.The class continued touching about the fundamental questions of philosophy which were:-
1.What is real?(Metaphysics)
2.What is truth?(Epistemology)
3.What is value?(Axiology)
.I was a bit daunted because the three words in parenthesis were three bombastic words I have never came across.
Moving on,we discussed about the definition and purpose of education.We have discussed about this topic many times but it was always good to do a recap.It is always good to remind ourselves what education is for and be grateful for it.We were also asked the relationship between education and society.Many answers were given.Education changes society in so many ways.It helps with mobility in stratification and many people want that especially the poor.Education is the key for them to have a better future a better life not just for them but for their family.I know of quite a number of people who have had a better life because of education.Bear in mind education does not take place in just universities and formal institutes.My father was dirt poor when he was young but he worked really hard to have enough savings to study in a small institute in Taiwan.With the knowledge he used from studying in that small institute,he managed to start his own business and is able to provide a comfortable life for my brother and I.Our lecturer told us that our curriculum is based on society.I never realised that before and it was an epiphany for me.He told us that our Chief Minister was furious that our standard of English in Sarawak was not on par with the standard of Bahasa Malaysia.He stressed that he has to be equal and I agree!English is so important at this day of age.It is pretty hard to find a job if you are not fluent in English or communicating in English.I suggest that the government should start establishing English medium schools like how they used too in the olden days or encourage parents to speak English to their children.Moreover,I think we Malaysians have a really unique language of our own which is Malaysian English which is really similar to what the Singaporeans call 'Singlish' but we need to teach our younger generation the difference between Malaysian English and proper English.Some parents and English teachers are quite against Malaysian English and has totally scrap this any trace of Malaysian English from their daily conversations.I for one believe that we should embrace this sort of English but we should also be fluent in proper English.I feel that our Malaysian English is fascinating and amusing and it makes our country what we are.Maybe this video will give you more clarification about what I am talking about.
And this is something I found on the Internet for your laughs.
Furthermore,we learnt about the relationship of philosophy and curriculum and that philosophy is the starting point for curriculum which I agree on.Without philosophy there is no guide for the curriculum.The teachers will be like the blind leading the blind.I strongly believe that philosophy gives teachers a sense of purpose for teaching.Every teacher needs to have some sort of philosophy or else why the heck are they even teaching?Philosophy helps a teacher to know the purpose of education,what subjects are of value,how should students learn and even deciding on the materials needed to teach students.
Other than that we learnt about Ralph Tyler's view of philosophy and the relationship to school purpose.
We learn many things from school,school makes what the world is today.A technological moving globe.Mr Wan explained that we learn the use of psychology of learning in school and it is divided into three parts,cognitive,behavioristics and humanisitc.Through psychology,we learn the needs of human beings and values we should have.It is school we learn the values we need to hold as human beings.We learn many values from our parents but there are many families in this world that are broken and the parents of these broken families may instill bad values to their children.It is the school's job to make sure that students are taught about good moral values to mold students to be better people for the sake of our country.
We also learnt about the four major philosophies and I have reflected upon as them as well.
1.Idealism
Reflection:I think this is almost every teacher's ideal teaching style especially the perfectionists..It is about learning something that will last a long time.Subjects like language and Mathematics.I really hope to put this philosophy to practice when I am a teacher but I do think that since idealism is about achieving something that is perfect,it will take a lot of time till many teachers are able to reach this level but as the saying goes practice makes perfect.It promotes abstract thinking which I think most asian countries are lacking.We are always taught to memorise everything instead of think critically.More teachers in Malaysia should implement this philosophy.
2.Realism
Reflection:Students learn to come to their senses and the real world.Realism teaches about logical and rational thinking.We need this sort of thinking in every Malaysian.We need great leaders to think logically for good decisions for our country.This type of philosophy has to be practiced in classrooms for the sake of the students because they are the future leaders of tomorrow.They are the ones who are going to run the country one day.My sentiments are that the 2020 vision will not happen but no in 2020,I believe it could happen in the future if our generation were to think ethically,have good knowledge about the economy and political happenings which are the three things that are included in the realism curriculum.
3.Pragmatism
Reflection:Nothing is forever,so students need to be taught about practical things.Topics that they can use at this day of age.It focuses a lot on problem solving especially in the present.There are many new arising problems these days and a pragmatic curriculum gives students the tools to solve these problems that they will come upon in the future.
4.Existentialism
Reflection:It stressed about self-fulfilment which I believe everyone is looking for.It touches on human emotions and finding purpose which I believe is what we all need.Many people like expressing themselves through things like art,music or literature.These things are the things that gives the people in our world entertainment and enjoyment or an escape from reality.Many people who love these sort of stuff and actually pursue the performing arts or something that has a relation to any sort of art form are often criticised in our asian culture for its insecurity but I believe that we need these sort of people are willing to take risks to go after what they really love because it gives them a sense of purpose in their lives and without these people we will not have good music to listen to,good movies to watch or great television series to watch either.Do not tell me that you never listened to a Taylor Swift song when you are heartbroken or if you are a boy,do not tell me you have never listened to an Ed Sheehan song when you were dumped.I hope to use the existentialist method to teaching in my classroom which focuses on teaching through self-expressive activities,experimentation and methods and also media.I feel that this is the best way to teach the younger generation.What young person does not like music or movies?
We as teachers should think of ways to make the class as interesting as possible and not stick to boring classroom teaching.Times have changed and people have changed and I think it is about time teaching has changed as well.We need to help students find their passion,whatever it is and support them but obviously their passion has to be something that gives a positive impact.Not every child wants to be a doctor or a lawyer,we need to teach them to embrace their passion.Do not be this teacher or parent when you grow up:-
That is all from me(for now).Hope you enjoyed this week's reflection.
References
2009 Humorous Speech Contest by Marianna Pascal avi YouTube. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekn0Q03AFN0
(2016). Secure.static.tumblr.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://secure.static.tumblr.com/a43b6e9b73bc8d623f15c4f7c774c9d1/w2pe4wv/NmKnppndk/tumblr_static_tumblr_static__640.jpg
(2016). 66.media.tumblr.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://66.media.tumblr.com/27417dfc26fade893be2dcada72888e8/tumblr_nuqokyG6m31t1ox7xo1_500.jpg
(2016). S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/54/0d/62/540d62ca5fb67f16b3506d7538b8a069.jpg
(2016). Image.slidesharecdn.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from http://image.slidesharecdn.com/curriculum-111111030604-phpapp01/95/curriculum-20-728.jpg?cb=1320981521
(2016). Quoteshunger.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from http://www.quoteshunger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2.png
(2016). S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/5a/f0/64/5af0640a1ad80c4072f33302cc788b26.jpg
(2016). S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/db/1a/23/db1a23c4c7853e628e6ecbbf3934b468.jpg
I am starting with the second week since there is no class during the first week.
We went through our course plan for the semester and discussed about our assignments.One being this one that I am typing right now.I was actually a bit daunted by the idea about blogging about my weekly reflections because I am a chronic procrastinator and blogging takes a lot of commitment.That is pretty much the reason why I stopped posting on my previous blog.It was because I was too lazy to write and I thought that my life was not interesting enough but my classes are pretty interesting so I am somewhat pretty excited about this assignment and I think I will make great progress.In church,my fellow ministers and I have always been asked to reflect about many situations so I am so stranger when it comes to talking to myself.I also feel that this assignment is a stepping stone for my course mates and I to become better educators.Educators have to reflect every single one of their lessons to analyse and think of solutions to improve the students' learning experience.
During the lesson,we covered the objectives of the course.We were taught to differentiate between the aim,goals and objectives.After learning the exact meaning from my lecturer I became more careful when it comes to using these terms.We learnt about the philosophy of Malaysian Education system which is :-
Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large.
But giving my honest opinion,I think Malaysia is still really far away from this philosophy and has much room for improvement but it does not mean we will never get there.For now,I believe that the Education System should try various methods to try to reach this philosophy.Revolution needs to happen.I feel that we Malaysians focus way too much on subjects such as Mathematics and Science to the extent we often neglect students with other interests.Mathematics and Science subjects are necessary but they are not sufficient.I feel that the Malaysian Education System should have more subjects taught in school like music,home economics,sports,theatre and many more so that students will be given opportunities to explore what they like to do.When students are exposed to many different kinds of subjects,they will know where their passion lies.I have so many friends who have entered university not knowing what their passion is and decided to take a course that was chosen for them by their parents or what society tells them pays well.Many of them dropped out half way because they realise that what they were pursuing was not their passion.I feel that this is partly the education system's fault for focusing too much on Mathematics and Science.Art steam students were considered lousy and many people thought that they did not have a very bright future.I also feel that many teachers use very boring techniques to teach.It is always the same teaching style for many teachers which is passive learning.In secondary school,I basically had to sit FIVE hours or more straight listening to my teachers talk and talk some more.We human beings are not born with FIVE-HOUR ATTENTION SPANS!!!Sir Ken Robinson who is a speaker on Tedx explains my points very well.He explains my sentiments so well.
I feel that our classes are way too long and not enough activities are being done.Sadly,Malaysian teachers do not get much feedback about their teachings because they are afraid of being judged but just like how we students receive feedback about our academic performance I believe teachers deserve them as well.Some of the top notch education systems in the world make their teachers receive feedback to improve.Feedback is vital for improvement but many teachers are afraid of listening to the truth.The teacher is not always right.To understand my point with deeper clarity I think you will find my point to be very relevant once you have watched the video below.You might know the speaker.He is one the richest people on earth and is the CEO of Microsoft.Does it ring a bell?
Our lesson continued with us understanding the definition of curriculum and the five basic definitions of curriculum which I had to reflected upon two of them.
1.A plan for achieving goals.
This I believe is pretty self-explanatory.A curriculum by the end of the day is a set of topics we need to learn in order to improve ourselves and have knowledge.It is a plan for us to be more intellectually capable of doing more complex tasks.
2.Dealing with learners' experiences
Absolutely.A curriculum creates an environment for students o learn and gain experiences through the assignments and activities carried out in the curriculum.It allows the students to learn from their mistakes through experiences and with the knowledge they have through what they had went through in the past shape them to be better people in society but that is if the curriculum is of good quality and plants the hunger of learning in the minds of the students.Not all curriculum are of great standard if I were to be frankly stating a fact.I feel that Malaysia has a very narrow curriculum,not celebrating enough about the arts and humanities subjects in our country.Our focus goes too much on Mathematics and Science and memorisation.Students are trained to memorise instead of think creatively.I feel that with a broad curriculum,students will be able to find out what they truly love and gain more experiences to become even better citizens for our country.A curriculum is able to shape the minds of students.If we have a curriculum that focuses to much on memorisation and paper and pen examinations,students will lack skills when it comes to hands on work or creative and innovative thinking.I am an advocate for broad curriculum and I hope to see that the Malaysia Education system will one day implement a better curriculum for our future generation.We have to stop treating our students like robots with a narrow curriculum and let them explore other subjects and interests in life.If our education system continues as what it is today,I feel that we would lose the opportunity to build more creative minds for our country.
Moving on,we touched on the importance of curriculum and that is was a strong determinant in a student's learning experience.I can testify that.Allow me to tell you a story about my upper form days in secondary school and how the Moral Education was like for us pitiful secondary school students.
So basically,I had to memorise the DEFINITIONS of 36 different moral values and I was not allowed to have a single spelling mistakes or rearrange the words although the definition still meant the same thing because if the definitions I wrote my examination was not exactly like the ones my teacher photocopied for me,there is be zero marks given.Moral education was suppose to be there to teach me how to become a better person and to contribute to society.Instead the curriculum teaches us to memorise the moral values like robots.The curriculum did not shape any students to become better people but it did plant a lot of anger and hatred in the hearts of students because it was so difficult to memorise every single one of those definitions.We did not learn much.Moral education should include trips to non-profit organisations or having students visit the old folks home or asking the students to do community service.I believe these acts of service are are eye-opening than memorising definitions and it is more enjoyable as well.I feel that the curriculum does determine whether students have an enjoyable learning experience or not.
We were also asked to recall what we liked about our learning experiences in school and what we disliked.This assignment really brings me down memory lane.
What I liked about what my learning experience in school?Although secondary school was honestly the five worst years of my life because of all the studying I had to do and restricted freedom,I really appreciated the hard work of a number of teachers in my school.I had a teacher called Mr Liew.who was very passionate about his job.He was never late for class and rarely absent and he put in a lot of effort in teaching his classes.He always gave us tests to make sure we understand the topic he was teaching and he always used simple methods to teach really complex topics.He was a mathematics teacher and he made mathematics so easy for us.To me the fundamentals were the key and he taught progressively.I think this is how all teachers should teach by using simple examples to explain complex topics.As the saying goes simplicity is the key.I really enjoyed his lessons because I felt that I was learning a lot.
I really enjoyed my Bahasa Malaysia lessons as well.For many of us in my class our first language was not Bahasa Malaysia but it was Mandarin and English.My teacher,Madam Tan was fluent in all 3 languages and she used English and Mandarin to teach Bahasa Malaysia.We understood completely when she explained difficult vocabulary words to us using our first language.I feel that it is much easier to understand a subject when it is taught using your first language.She also encouraged us to think creatively and critically for our essays.It was the only few times in secondary school whereby I was taught to be creative.She was very up to date with the latest happenings and trends in the world and she would relate popular news with what we are learning in the subject.Till this day I still remember so many of the things she has taught me.
Now I shall talk about what I hate.There is a lot of things I do not like about my secondary school.I had an additional mathematics teacher who was the total opposite of Mr. Liew.He was really mean and often insulted us for not understanding what he was teaching us.I shall not mention his name but he was a really smart teacher.He thinks and solve mathematics solutions as fast as a calculator but here's the thing.He thinks that everyone thinks like him.He does not take into consideration that the rest of us learn at different speeds.When he is teaching he is like in his own little world and whenever we tell him that we do not understand he says we are not human or something.I never felt so stupid and insulted before.I went for tuition classes for Additional Mathematics because I had no idea what my teacher was talking about.After attending tuition classes,I realise that the questions were not the difficult but my school teacher made all the easy topics really seem really difficult with his complicated ways and solutions of calculating the problem.My self-esteem was always really low in his class because I often did not understand what he was talking about.I felt so stupid.
I also learnt about the people are responsible for the curriculum and they are the governor and the legislature (state education department or state board of education).The teacher is an employee of the district.These people hold a great responsibility since they have so much power in shaping the curriculum.I quote from the movie,Spiderman,"With great power comes great responsibility".
They have the power to change lives and should use their power wisely for a better generation,for a better Malaysia.
That is all for my reflection this week.
References
(2016). S4.favim.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016, from http://s4.favim.com/orig/50/cute-girl-homework-study-Favim.com-447898.jpg
(2016). 31.media.tumblr.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016, from http://31.media.tumblr.com/de270ef433f9c40053349a3b61ae3fd1/tumblr_inline_nyupi1faxM1qkjeen_500.gif
Bill Gates: Teachers need real feedback. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Ub0SMxZQo
GREENIANS FOREVER! XD - Lyndon Jonah Ong | Facebook. (2016). Facebook.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202082932465508&set=t.1814200499&type=3&theater
How to escape education's death valley | Sir Ken Robinson. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc
National Education Philosophy | Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2016). Moe.gov.my. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from http://www.moe.gov.my/en/falsafah-pendidikan-kebangsaan
