TASK 1 : Building items for interview

1) What is your opinion regarding the paradigm shift that has been applied to the
current education system?
- In my opinion, the paradigm shift has put a lot of impacts to the education
system, in a good way, which helps the students to get optimized learning
experiences, for example through the newly developed KSSR. As the
modernization and globalization take place in the current era, there are many
things that we need to consider in teaching. I am glad that the new KSSR has
emphasizes on the fun learning part as well as the awareness of ICT usage.

2) Has your teaching approaches changed over the years of experience you have
in the teaching profession? What are the impacts from your different teaching
approaches to your teaching experience?
- Yes, through my decades of teaching experience I have tried and found the best
teaching approaches in particular situations. It has to do with the environment of
school, the background of the pupils, their abilities and interests which are the big
factors in managing my teaching. With the newly introduced KSSR, I have found
that teaching in a learner-centred approach has a lot of advantages especially to
the development of the students themselves. Not saying that teaching in a
teacher-centred approach is no better, but it is great to mix and match the
teaching approaches and strategies.

3) What are the challenges that you have faced in your years of experience in the
teaching profession? What are the impacts of these challenges to your
personal development as a teacher?
- There are countless of challenges that I have faced throughout the years. I can
say that those are the things that make me who I am today, which I am proud
because the challenges are unique to each teacher. There are challenges in
handling the administration works, parental issue, student disciplines and so on. I
have also faced a conflict with myself whether or not I should carry on with this
profession. It is normal. However, I have remained in this profession as I got
strength from the lessons I learned through the challenges. They gave big

impacts to me as they made me appreciate this profession more and more each
day. They also made me more skilled and experienced.

4) In your opinion, why do you face challenges relating to students in the

classroom?
- Every teacher faces challenges relating to students. In my opinion, these
challenges come from the teachers skills and professionalism. For example,
discipline issues may come from poor classroom management. In my opinion, I
face these challenges all the time because I am now teaching little children from
a different generation. They are more advanced than I was when I was their age.
If I am not aware of their interests and needs, I am going to have issues in the
classroom. Therefore, it is very important for teachers to always improve
themselves as well as understand the young generation nowadays.
5) Throughout the years of experiences in teaching profession, there will be times
where you are at the very bottom of life, perhaps thinking that teaching is a
very difficult and stressful job. Why do you think this happen? Can you explain
how you cope with this situation?
- Yes, I did experience such times during my teaching profession. All teachers do.
All we need is motivation. It can come from our family, friends, colleagues and so
on. You have to remember why you are being chosen of all people to be an
educator.
6) It is known that the students are the teachers customers, and customer is
always right. However, we have seen in the news headline lately that there are
students who will go as far as hurting the teachers physically when they are
not satisfied about a certain thing. Have you ever experienced such thing?
How do you handle this conflict?
- So far, I have never experienced such thing where I am hurt physically. However,
emotionally, yes. Little children can say things that will hurt you, but as adults, we
know that they did not mean it. As a teacher, I tried to make them understand my
job and their responsibility as students. Anyhow, I have experienced a situation
where students went as far as hurting each other physically. It was a difficult task,
but as a teacher you will get by. With help from other teachers, school
administration and parents, we can handle students who are not satisfied with
their school life.

7) As an experienced teacher, you have gone through and met all kinds of
students. I believe that you do have the tactics to tackle many kinds of little
children. How do you make your teaching more interesting and appealing to
the students?
- How I make teaching more interesting is easy. I will just imagine myself in the
classroom. We all have been little children once. Little children are easily
attracted to things that are fun, and especially colourful. In my experience, I found
that students can learn more in games. It can be in the form of language games
and so on. They love role-playing, even though there also shy kids who will not
participate. However nowadays, it is always convenient to use multimedia in my
teaching such as Powerpoint Presentation, video playback and such. It attracts
the little children as they are familiar with these.
8) As we know that the era of technology is getting more sophisticated
nowadays, it is important for us to know how to manipulate ICT especially in
the education aspect. Based on your experience, what are the impacts of using
ICT in your teaching?
- From my experience, the use of ICT has made wonders in my teaching and
learning process. The pupils are attracted to the moving images, brightly coloured
pictures, loud sounds and so on. Therefore, they are able to focus on the lesson.
I find that they can understand lesson better through their test scores. It can also
improve their memory.

9) As a teacher, how do you upgrade your teaching skills and professionalism in

your career?
-

I am thankful for the plentiful of courses that are always being offered by the
ministry. These courses provide a lot of knowledge and information as well
experiences, building networks and so on. Sometimes they are also courses that
I have been in, but when I was re-selected for the same course, I will never reject
the offer. This is because the repetition of the knowledge taught will make me
improve better. Besides that, I love reading books about self-empowerment which
never fail to make me appreciate myself. I also look for examples of lesson
activities in different books in order to make my lesson more creative. Reading on
educational theories can also strengthen our understanding on our students,
besides being concern about the young childrens interest.

10) How do you motivate yourself into being a teacher who does not give up in
transforming teaching into the profession of choice?
- I always remind myself that I am among the chosen ones to be blessed with this
profession. Although many people would put teacher as their last choice for
profession, it is a career that touches the heart and soul of the nation.