'COURSE INDUCTION AND INTRODUCTION’ in the
Lecture Hall from 9:00a.m to 10:30p.m – main concern of the participants was on
the main goals of the program. Many felt that only ‘those’ well ‘connected’
would be chosen for the second phase of the project. Many hoped that the
selection process for phase two would be done according to transparent
selection criteria to ensure fairness for all. The participants also listened
attentively to the profiles of the Master Trainers – all six of them flown in
from UK. Emphasis was on their vast work experiences in various areas and
countries.
‘ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS’ topic of the day (food service). First of
all, a more detailed introduction and ice breaking session was conducted by our
home tutor. Mr. Chris Ellison from Liverpool -- hence, the name of our group we
presumed. Following that, the ground rules for the group class lessons were set
and agreed upon by all as follows:
a)
Mobile phones should be switched off or put into
silent mode. There
should be no recording of the sessions without permission.
should be no recording of the sessions without permission.
b)
Punctuality should be observed. For the lesson
to proceed
smoothly, both trainer and learners are expected to be punctual. Coming
in late and leaving early is not an option and will not be tolerated. The
trainer took offence with those who were late and requested their
cooperation to be punctual for the future sessions.
smoothly, both trainer and learners are expected to be punctual. Coming
in late and leaving early is not an option and will not be tolerated. The
trainer took offence with those who were late and requested their
cooperation to be punctual for the future sessions.
c)
Courtesy during learning sessions: when the
trainer talks or
explains a subject/concept. Learners are expected to listen effectively by
not having discussions of their own. Similarly, when learners are
presenting their ideas or work. The rest of the class should be paying
attention to those talking or presenting. There is a need to introduce and
enforce such courtesy in the classroom among Malaysian learners.
explains a subject/concept. Learners are expected to listen effectively by
not having discussions of their own. Similarly, when learners are
presenting their ideas or work. The rest of the class should be paying
attention to those talking or presenting. There is a need to introduce and
enforce such courtesy in the classroom among Malaysian learners.
- Expectations of the participants: learners were asked to draw their expectations on the ‘mahjong paper’ provided. In groups of four, all managed to draw their expectations and later these expectations were pasted on the walls as reflections by the learners during the completion of the program.
- Lesson implementation conducted by the trainer is based on a well thought out Lesson Plan. Lesson flow should follow what was planned and if unable or unsuccessful, then it needs to be recorded, reasoned and justified. Reflections on what went wrong should be noted for future improvements.
- On error correction and feedback to exercises completed by the learners, “Do not mark errors one by one. Project the correct answers on the board and let students do self-correction or peer correction. That is a more effective way of error correction practice”. Chris Ellison and Bill Bowler, 2014. The misconception that teachers or lecturers who do not mark students work as lazy should be corrected. Students would actually learn more by doing self-correction based on the answer key provided.
3. Overall impression of the first day experience: professionalism and
professional time management modeled by the Master Trainers shows that there
should be no such thing or practice of extending work beyond the professional
working hours. Class started at 9:00a.m in the morning and finished at 4:30p.m
in the late afternoon. Serious discussion of work related matters ceased at
5:00p.m and further enquiries can wait until the next day. Work-Life-Balance is
exemplified by the trainer. As cultures and societies reach a certain level of
progress or development, it becomes very clear and important that for a group
of people or nation to be holistically successful and happy. Time should be set
aside for both professional work and individual pursuits. The Asian culture of
‘living to work’ should be balanced by the more modern and advance culture of
‘working to live’. It becomes very unprofessional when superiors at work start
demanding that their staff to work late or bring work home to be completed
during their personal time. Such a practice should be opposed collectively.
Written by,
E. H. Gan
Politeknik Melaka
Politeknik Melaka
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