Kimerlee Ami Soo Ting

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29th July, 2015

Reflections on my first week

My first week in this programme can best be described as information overload. I feel
overwhelmed at times because it feels like the programme is very extensive and it is being
crammed into a short period of time. I am struggling particularly with the writing aspect of this
programme because I am not used to doing reflective pieces and I come from a very quantitative
background. This week I have been exposed to various areas, such as: Philosophy in Education,
Psychology in Education, Language, Research, Academic writing and Curriculum. My favourite
area so far has been Psychology, which has always been an area of interest to me while studying
in the past.
I have been extremely attentive in Psychology because I have learnt that teacher efficacy
is directly correlated with the teachers view of themselves. While I have high levels of
confidence in my intellectual capability, I am not so confident in my appearance. Surprisingly
enough I did not fail the test on self-esteem. However, I am now conscious of the fact that I
worry a lot about peoples perception of me and therefore I do not rebound from disappointment
easily. This obsession with peoples perception of me, while it can positively make me
introspective and therefore open to change, it can also reduce my efficacy when my confidence is
shaken by external circumstances. As I reflected on my best and worst teachers as instructed, I
began to identify positive and negative character traits of teachers I had and then I took a look at
myself. While I possess many characteristics of a good teacher, inclusive of; caring, intelligent,
approachable and respectable. I also quietly recognised my deficient areas and made a mental
note to work on them this coming semester. I came to the unscientific conclusion that teachers
are born with innate characteristics that make them suitable for teaching but those traits can be
tweaked for optimal efficiency.
Philosophy has been quite overwhelming but exciting for me as it allows me to look at
new perspectives on the teacher and education in general. This course raises many questions
but a most essential question is what is the aim of education? A week and a half ago I would
have given a different answer to that question. Now I know that there are differing views on what
education aims to do. The view I love the most is the one that says education aims to create

Kimerlee Ami Soo Ting

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29th July, 2015

critical thinkers. As a person who sits by the computer waiting for the second the results are
released online, to log in and see the grades, it was hard for me to conceptualise that teaching
was about progress and not outcome. How do I empower students to impact society? I did not
realise it before but I do now, that my values and beliefs shape my philosophy of teaching. What
I have learnt is that education is shaped by the value and belief system of each society. Axiology
being the theory of morals, ethics and values. With conflicting groups in society such as parents,
religious groups, teachers and policy makers there can be considerable problems in formulating
aims which are acceptable to all interest groups because each interest group may have their own
belief system. Do we choose an elitist method, a democratic method or a market method of
deciding on how education will be provided? I suppose as an Economist I am biased to the
market method because after all people can be considered a resource. Teaching therefore is about
using our human resource to prepare more human resources to impact the economy. When I
began to see teaching from an Economic perspective how it shapes my philosophy of teaching I
felt like the programme had finally met my cognitive state and I was being met where I was, as
the learner. The teacher was putting the subject within my grasp and therefore can be considered
effective.
This past week also gave me an introduction to academic writing and language and I
cannot express the absolute horror I felt to know that Crole was an acceptable form of
communication. I had worked tirelessly correcting my students bad English and there was no
way I was going to let them in on this secret. Maybe at the end of the Diploma I will feel
differently, but as of right now I have no intention of ever giving them a free pass to use Crole
in class. In reflecting on language all I could think of is that, as the old people say, English is
hard. I understand that Academic writing is primarily being taught because of our research
project and just the thought of it makes me shudder. The project intimidates me because
obtaining the diploma relies so heavily on it but also it represents unchartered territory for me.
In curriculum we used interactive ways to orient ourselves with each other, demonstrate
the importance of proper communication and describe our students. One of the main lessons I
learnt from curriculum is that when we are expressing ourselves we are not only subjected to the
perception of the recipient but we also need to be clear, unambiguous and set parameters if we
want students to execute a task efficiently. I learnt that most schools have similar problems with

Kimerlee Ami Soo Ting

#03769747

29th July, 2015

students being demotivated and having family problems but we must adjust to accommodate
these 21st century learners.
Overall one thing I would take away from this week is the quote Teachers do not teach
subjects, they teach people.