Classrooms of the World, Teachers of Tomorrow
By Deborah Fernandez, Gongshang Primary School
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Classrooms of the World, Teachers of Tomorrow
Learning from the Best  
 

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Five teams of teachers took the road less travelled in their Teacher Work Attachment (TWA)—teaching English in Cambodia and Vietnam. In their bid to explore, teach and touch lives, they found themselves refreshed, recharged and humbled by the experience instead.

It was in Hanoi University of Technology, Vietnam, that English Language HOD Ms Shakila Vasu of Canberra Primary met what she termed as “the most motivated students” she had ever encountered in all her 22 years of teaching. Her class, consisting of 35 18-year-olds, enthusiastically embraced their expatriate teacher from Singapore who was there to teach them English for two weeks. Ms Vasu was both overwhelmed by their thirst for knowledge and rejuvenated by her interactions with them. “Their hunger to learn,” she fondly recalled, “recharged me as a teacher. It made me remember why I love teaching so much.”

Ms Shakila Vasu of Canberra Primary with her Vietnamese students outside the library of the Hanoi University of Technology.
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:: About the TWA to Cambodia and Vietnam
Ms Miriam Wun (Unity Primary) shares a song with the class during a visit to a local high school in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The TWA trip to Vietnam and Cambodia was a joint venture organised by the RELC (Regional Language Centre) Alumni and Teachers Network. It was the RELC’s vision and mission to promote communication across cultures and languages to better foster international understanding though cooperation in language education.

Sixteen teachers underwent a month-long course in the techniques and methods of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) conducted by the RELC.
 
Deployed to various parts of Vietnam and Cambodia, the teachers participated in various tasks that stretched their potential and tested their skills in a foreign environment.

Part of a team attached to SEAMEO RETRAC (Regional English Training Centre) in Vietnam conducted English Language workshops for the local teachers and focused on general strategies in teaching English. They also shared about the Singapore English education system and the Teach Less Learn More model. For Ms Sandra Lee of Yishun Primary School, her interactions with her charges and the local teachers left an indelible impression on her. She remarked, “Their energy, their motivation left me humbled.”

Attached to the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Mr Gulzar Gurdev Singh Sandhu from Bedok South Secondary acknowledged that there were challenges. “Being the pioneer batch, we didn’t know what to expect. We had no precedents to follow, no template to fit our notions into. It certainly tested our appetite for risk-taking and thinking out of the box.” Despite this, he enjoyed his TWA so much that he is raring to go again for another one.

Unforgettable Experiences
Ms Theophania Chia with her students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Back home, the teachers put their overseas experience to good use. For instance, Ms Theophania Chia from Singapore Chinese Girls’ School shared her experience with her students to inculcate values of tolerance and diversity beyond Singapore shores. She explained, “Sharing these values will put our students in good stead when exploring further opportunities that take them outside our island.”

Ms Deborah Chew of Holy Innocents’ High School, who was attached to the Hanoi University of Business and Technology, Vietnam, would explore possibilities of inter-school exchange for teachers and students; while Ms Deborah Fernandez of Gongshang Primary School, had already put into practice useful teaching techniques gleaned from her interactions and sharing with her team-mate. “I came away from the attachment emboldened as an educator, enhanced as a professional. It was life-changing,” she said.

More than insights gained and new pedagogies learnt are the bonds that were forged between the educators. Ms Noor Ervyna of Innova Junior College recalled, “As hosts, they went beyond their call of duty. Even when one of our Cambodian co-ordinators fell sick, he was more concerned about our welfare than about his own.” For her, the attachment to the Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia was all about the warmth and hospitality of the lecturers and students.

Perhaps Mrs Tay Sor Har, Director of SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, summed it up best when she said, “Networks have been formed. And they will continue to teach, nourish and lead, beyond the physical boundaries of this experience.”

Information on local and overseas TWA can be found at http://intranet.moe.gov.sg/tn/twa.htm