Name: Fitria Zahra

Major: English Language Education

Home University: Ganesha University of Education

Receiving University: Prince of Songkla University’

Blog: https://fitrialand.wordpress.com/

Name of School: PSU Wittayanusorn Suratthani School

Assalamualaikum Wr.Wb

Hello everyone, Sawaddee Ka.

From all the greeting words in this world I would like to choose from one country which is familiar with “Sawaddee Ka” it means hello and it is a Thailand language. The reason I choose Thailand language as my greeting is that because I feel honored to be given a chance to visit Thailand in order to do a teaching practicum. First of all I would like to say thank you very much to my beloved university UNDIKSHA that has given me a very precious opportunity to go abroad in which I can get so many new experiences there. I really did not expect that I could go abroad and passed the test since there were so many students who wanted to join this exchange program. The students who can join in this program will be able to get teaching practice abroad. In fact, not only get the experience in teaching but the students also can learn new culture and can expand new friendship from the other country. Here is my journal story about my abroad teaching practicum in PSU Wittayanusorn Suratthani School, Thailand.

I went to Thailand with 9 of my friends from different departments in my University. After everything has been prepared well then we were ready to go on September 11^th 2019 and we finally arrived in Thailand. This is our very first time to visit this country. One of the representatives from the receiving University picked us up at the airport. Her name is P’Nair and that is how we call her. She also took a good care to all of us. I remember when the first time we arrived it was night at that time. Nevertheless, we were all still very excited on the way we got to our dormitories while P’Nair explained everything that we saw at that time.

The atmosphere there was totally new and different for me. It is also happened in the school. I found so many differences right when I got there for the first time. The teachers and the students were all very kind and welcoming us well. The students can bring their phone to the school. This can help students to find more sources through their phones but also this can distract their attention during the learning process in class. The break time for students is divided into two parts. For the junior level the break time is started on 11:00 pm until 12:00 pm then continued by the senior level that starts the break time from 12:00 pm until 13:00 pm. There is no bell when the break time comes. It is obviously different with Indonesian school. The students and the teachers already reminded about the schedule there so there is no need for them to use bell in the school. Those are the differences that I can find between Thailand school and Indonesian school. Even though there are some differences that I found but I still feel comfortable and can easily adjust myself there because of the friendly teachers and students and here is my report about teaching practicum in PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School.

1. General information
   • School Profile:

PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School is also known as PSU Wit School is a school that is under the administration of Prince of Songkla University in Surat Thani campus. It was established on December 27^th 2012. The purpose of the school is to provide the best quality to the students through innovation and also creating the positive environment. The philosophy of PSU Wit school is “Our Soul is for the Benefit of Mankind” by using “Virtue and Wisdom” as their identity. Meanwhile, their vision is aimed to create the positive workplace culture and develop to be the high education. While their core values is called “FAMILY” in which each of the letter has meaning such as; F is for facility, A is for active, M is for Marshalship, I is for inspiration, L is for leadership and Y is for youth. For additional information, this school is just moved from the old building to the new building which is near with the administration office of Prince of Songkla University.

• Academic Facilities:

The new building of PSU Wittatyanusorn Surat Thani School has 30 classrooms. There are some academic facilities provides by the school such as; library, laboratories, administration room, teachers’ room, meeting room and school health unit. This school also provides sports facilities such as, swimming pool, badminton court, basketball yard and futsal yard. The school is located inside of the Prince of Songkla University in Surat Thani campus and it is quite far from the crowded so the students can study in a quiet atmosphere. And this is good for the students because they can be more focus during the learning process.

• Teaching System:

There are two levels of education in PSU Wittayanusorn School. Those are Junior High School and Senior High School. The level of education there is called as Matrium (Matthayom). For each level has 3 Matrium, for Senior High School level there are 3 Matrium and those are Matrium 1 – 3. For Senior High School level also has 3 Matrium and those are Matrium 4 – 6. The learning process starts from 08:30 am until 04:00 pm and the day of the school period is from Monday to Friday. For English course in Thailand is divided into two parts. The first one is Fundamental English which is focus on the English Grammar for the students. The second is called as Additional English which is focus on the listening and speaking skills of the students.

2. Pedagogical Contents
   • Teaching Method:

PSU Wittayanusorn uses Active Learning Method for the teaching method and they apply it to all of the courses. By using this method the students will be able to achieve the material through their ability and also the teacher will know the students’ achievement. This method will help the students to get more information or knowledge about the material from many sources.

• Source of Learning:

There are two books as the resources for the teacher and students that is used in English subject. The first book is about a book that contains an explanation about the material of English subject and it is called as Students’ Book. While the second book is a book that provides exercise for the students related to the material in the Students’ Book and it is called as Work Book.

• Authentic Assessment:

The assessment process in this school is about giving a test to the students in every part of the unit of the subject. There is a unit test for the students at the end of the unit lesson. The teacher will evaluate the students in the third meeting of the lesson. The students will also do the midterm test during the middle semester and do the final test at the end of the semester. If the students want to get more score from the teacher they can ask the teacher and the teacher will give them some kind of homework or the other activity like answering the teacher’s question and then they will get more score.

3. Teaching Plan:
   • Curriculum:

PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School uses a semester program which has been designed and adjusted from the school system rules in Thailand and as for my own lesson plan that I made to teach in this school I made it by the help from my tutor teacher.

• Lesson Plan:

The difference between lesson plan in Thailand and lesson plan in Indonesia is that in Thailand the lesson plan is simpler than lesson plan in Indonesia. Even though the lesson plan in Thailand is not described as detail as in lesson plan in Indonesia but the steps of the teaching process is still put on the lesson plan so the teacher will know about the steps of the teaching process in the class. These steps are quite the same with the steps in lesson plan in Indonesia because there are also opening of the lesson, questioning, giving reinforcement and closing the lesson in both countries.

• Others:

Teaching Program: https://fitrialand.wordpress.com/2019/09/18/teaching-program/

Lesson Plan: https://fitrialand.wordpress.com/2019/09/18/lesson-plan/

4. Teaching Practice
   • Teaching Procedures in the Classroom:

The teaching procedures in PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School are similar to the teaching procedures in school in Indonesia. The similarity can be seen from the activities that are done in the classroom such as; opening, core activity and closure. The following teaching procedures are explained as follows:

1. Opening:

In opening section, right when I got into the classroom the students would stand up and did a greeting by saying “Good morning Teacher”. After that I checked the students’ presence by asking them “Is there anyone absent today?” then I gave them brainstorming by asked them some questions that was related to the material.

2. Core Activity:

In core activity, I explained the material to the students in the first and second meeting and gave them some examples of the related material. On the third meeting I gave them worksheet to answer by themselves and after that we checked the answer together. After that I asked them to answer the work book based on the material that I gave to them and then I checked their answers.

3. Closing:

After we discussed about the material then I checked their understanding to make sure they already comprehend the material by asking them “did you understand?” and “do you have question?” after answering their question then I ended the class and the students stood up and said “Thank you Teacher”. After that I leave the class.

• Time Management and Activities For Each Meeting:

There are three meetings in a week for the fundamental English subject. The learning process in each meeting is 50 minutes. In the first meeting the teacher will explain the material in detail. In the second meeting the teacher continue explain the next material that has not been explained yet but still in the same unit. For the third meeting the teacher gives the students worksheet to do and they will check the answer together.

• Problem Solving:

The problem that I faced when I taught in the classroom was that the students were quite noisy and did not really pay attention to the teacher. The biggest reason that I can find is that because the students are allowed to bring their phones to the school. Therefore, when the class started they were distracted by their phone and get a little bit noisy because of doing their own activity. In order to make the students quiet is giving them points if they are not noisy during the learning process but if they started to be noisy then they will lose their points. By doing this the student will be not noisy and getting more pay attention to the teacher so they could understand well during the learning process.

• Others:

Teaching Practice

Teaching Practice

Checking their answers in work book

5. Summary and Suggestion

• Purpose of the Teaching Practice:

The purpose of teaching practice is to give the future teacher experience of how the real situation in teaching process goes on. Therefore, the future teacher will be able to face any obstacles during the teaching process. Here are the other purposes of teaching practice as follows:

1. Applying the teaching skill in real situations.
2. To make the future teacher be able to master the teaching skill.
3. Develop their social and individual skill in school environment.
4. Develop their learning abilities in English subject.
5. Know the conditions of the school environment.
6. Develop get experience to teach overseas students.
7. Understand the academic and non-academic process in overseas school.
   • Outcome of the Practice:
8. Having international experience in developing teaching competency.
9. Having competency to compete in era of globalization and industrial 4.0.
10. Being an ambassador of UNDIKSHA in education and culture form.
    • Challenge of the Practice:

The challenge that I faced during the teaching practice was that not all of the students can speak English well and when I told them something like asking them to be quiet and the challenge is that for the students who did not really understand well in English  would just ignored the teacher’s instruction. Therefore, I should be more patient and sometimes I used Google translate to make them understand for what I say so that the learning process can run smoothly.

• Overall Impression:

Getting a great chance to be able to teach abroad is my biggest achievement in my life. I get so many valuable experiences not only in teaching but in social life and culture where I can learn so many new things there in Thailand. I met with new different characters of each person in that country and therefore, I know how to deal with them and make a good friendship with them. This program helps me to see how the other country develops through their education and I am really grateful to join this program.

• Suggestion for Future Improvement:

For the next students who will join this program and do a teaching practice abroad please get yourself ready and prepare everything well in detail. Make sure that you are mentally and physically ready to go abroad because you will stay for quite a long time and please remember your purpose of going abroad. Remember that you are not going alone so helping each other will give a good feedback for you. I really hope that we can bring a good change to our university and country. Good Luck!

I think that is all about my report based on my experience when I was in Thailand. Hopefully this can help you if you want to join this program.

Khob Kun Ka, Thank you!