PURPOSES OF PRACTICUM

Growing up in a family where most of the members are in the teaching profession, I felt like my fate was predetermined. At a very young age, I did not experience being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. Instead, my mother would kneel down before me saying, “You must become a teacher. That’s a stable job so you must take it.” I couldn’t agree nor disagree at that moment. Years had passed and I have carried the exact mentality. When I reached college, everything happened the way my parents planned. I took up Education, did all the necessary preparations, but still in search of meaning and purpose.

Entering my fourth and last year in college, things started to take another path. The uncertainties that kept on creeping within my every single nerve started to become vivid. As I finished the SEA-Teacher Project, I can now attest to the fact that what I have considered as a predetermined fate back then is truly my destiny, not because someone placed it upon my shoulders but for the reason that I found myself within the purpose of living with the ideals of a genuine educator. Despite the fact that my country, the Philippines, is known for being one of the countries not just in Asia but in the whole world who has the best English language speakers, still a huge number of Filipino children coming from less privileged areas do not have access to quality education. This project has now become my greatest motivation to improve on this craft and to look for every possible solution that can help alleviate the poor quality of education in specific areas in the Philippines.

Based on the 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), about nine percent of the estimated 39.2 million Filipinos aged 6 to 24 old are out-of-school children and youth (OSCY). This refers to the family members aged 6 to 14 years old who are not attending formal school; and family members aged to 15 to 24 who are currently out of school, not gainfully employed, and have not finished college or post-secondary course. Looking on this perspective alone hits me so hard thinking how fortunate I am to be given the chance to be educated. Now I see how crucial being an educator is and how important it is make use of the course in order to reach out families, especially children. This SEA-Teacher journey gave me the sense of direction that I was looking all throughout my life. For now, striving for personal success is no longer my sole purpose. As I was facing every endeavor during the said experience, I felt within that teachers are capable of forming children into the persons that they must become as well as helping them become the persons that they want themselves to become. I saw how much my Thai students struggle in terms of English communication. Their eyes were full of enthusiasm and eagerness. I felt how much they want to learn and how much they want to interact other than those speakers of their own language. The situation appears like there is a barrier between us. But, I believe that this barrier can slowly lose its grip on the situation and will eventually fade. This whole journey made my realize that even how complicated a single circumstance may be, there will always be possible and feasible solutions for us to be able to solve it. The exhaustion might almost took my breath a number of times but every time I look into the faces of my students, I see hope.

Learning will always be a continuous process. This month-long exposure to a whole new different environment opened too many yet intertwined doors, allowing me to see and appreciate diversity in so many ways. Since I am not well-versed with the Thai language and they are more into the usage of various activities, I am more into the visual aspect of learning. It was quite a struggle on my behalf for I am more into speaking with lesser use of tons of visual aids. The situation called for an adjustment, so I did. I made use of a lot of pictures, both print and non-print as well as realia (real objects). I also assured that the content of my PowerPoint presentations are more elaborated, which run from general to specific ideas. I became more inquisitive and resourceful. I kept myself focused and did everything for me not to get distracted. I have learned the value of time-management and setting priorities. The whole experience was not just about the adjustment with the physical environment but with the totality of your persona as well.

The SEAMEO SEA-Teacher project served its various purposes very well. Its transformative nature lead to one’s growth and the rest of the SEA teachers involved. It was more than the long hours of travel, countless sleepless nights, and simultaneous escapades. It was also about understanding who I am as a person and who I am as a future educator. This journey provided me with all the answers that I have been seeking. Now, I understand my own nature and I am even more prepared to take another steps towards becoming the educator that I envisioned myself to be.