V. Summary and Suggestions

The SEA-Teacher Project is an international student exchange program organized by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat. This initiative provides opportunity to pre-service teachers from Southeast Asia to undertake their teaching internship to another Southeast Asian country, which exposes them to real-world and hands-on field study experiences. Through this program, they will gain meaningful pedagogical knowledge, skills, insights, and competencies under a cross-cultural learning environment, which will help them in pursuit of personal and professional development and excellence as future teachers.

Additionally, according to SEA-Teacher (2024), the SEA-Teacher Project aims to improve the pedagogical skills and English proficiency of the exchange student teachers, expand their cultural and educational perspectives, and develop their adaptability through a diverse teaching and learning environment. Overall, this initiative aims to shape globally competent, well-rounded, and culturally sensitive educators through cross-cultural teaching experiences. 

The practicum started with the Opening Ceremony at the Faculty of UHO, which introduced us to the faculty and welcomed us to their university. The following day, we were sent to our respective practicum school to meet the school teachers and higher-ups and have an orientation and discussion about the teaching internship. Next is the Observation Phase, where we needed to observe and record essential school information, such as school culture, teaching practices, etc. Following the observation week is the Teaching Assistantship Phase, which required us to assist teachers when teaching and facilitating activities or assessments. 

The third week of the internship was the Teaching Demonstration Stage, where we crafted lesson plans and conducted teaching demonstrations. Next is the Evaluation Day, which was the final teaching demonstration, evaluated by respected and distinguished lecturers from the accepting university, UHO, as well as by my cooperating teacher from Lazuari Ibnu Sina Kendari. A few days after the evaluation day was our Official Withdrawal From the Practicum School. Finally, the last stage was the Closing Ceremony held at the Universitas Halu Oleo (UHO) to officially conclude the program, share our experiences and reflections, award certificates, and showcase our prepared cultural performance.

With that, as a Filipino participant of the SEA-Teacher Project Batch 11, I would say that the teaching activities we participated in were aligned with these purposes of the SEA-Teacher Program. My teaching skills, adaptability, competence, and perspectives were tested and broadened through my observation, assistantship, and teaching demonstration experiences in Lazuardi Ibnu Sina Kendari. I was able to experience their school culture, learn their interesting teaching practices, appreciate their inclusive educational methods and values, and teach in their school applying everything that I gained and learned. Overall, my teaching engagements in Lazuardi Ibnu Sina Kendari has inspired me to practice inclusive, adaptive, and innovative educational practices through instructions that embrace student-centeredness, differentiated instruction, technology integration, culture appreciation, and positive values development.

I have also noticed that my English communication skills and confidence have improved. For teaching mathematics, English was my medium of instruction. We also had several chances to speak with various people not only with teachers, therapists, and students in our assigned schools but also with Indonesian SEA teachers, Universitas Halu Ole (UHO) school leaders, UHO English-major students, and other locals using the English language. Through this everyday usage of the universal language, I made significant improvements in my English proficiency.

The following are the challenges I encountered as an exchange Filipino pre-service teacher in Indonesia:

1. Language barrier

2. Instructional time management

3. Technical difficulty before teaching demonstration 

4. Unclear teaching schedules from partnered private school

5. Desire to take a social break and experience a sense of privacy

   
   

On a positive note, with my almost a month of stay in Indonesia, I was able to embrace and feel connected with their culture and people. I appreciate how hospitable, interested, and polite they are. I am also impressed by their religious practices and devotion, which shows how faithful, religious, and disciplined people they are. Aside from these, other reasons that made me fall in love with their culture are their savory and spicy foods, as well as their beautiful tourist spots. 

With all these discoveries and memorable experiences, I genuinely learned to love their country, people, and culture. I was also able to fall in love with them while immersing in their culture and showcasing and sharing our Filipino culture at the same time. With that, I can’t wait to go back to Indonesia and discover even more. Indeed, Indonesia is a wonderful country.  

A wonderful Indonesia!

The following are my suggestions for improvement of the SEA-Teacher Project:

1. It would have been better if the exchange students had been given more teaching opportunities, as well as concrete and specific observation and teaching assistantship time and assignments in their practicum school.

   
   

2. It would have been better if the locals provided background information about the places we visited during our city tours. 

   
   

3. It would also have been better if there was a variety when it comes to the places we visited during the city tours, not just beaches. 

   
   

4. Lastly, it would be helpful if the SEA Teacher committee could ensure that the cooperating teachers are well-informed about the schedule of activities. It would also be beneficial to require these teachers to submit their plans based on the guidelines provided by the SEA-Teacher Project, as well as brief journal descriptions of the activities completed by the pre-service teacher for each phase of the practicum. 

   
   

All in all, the SEA-Teacher Project advances exchange students’ English communication skills, cultural appreciation and sensitivity, educational practices and teaching methods competence, and problem-solving skills.

This international program creates globally competent, resilient, and adaptive future teachers!