Overseas Training Program

Sekolah Darma Bangsa, Bandar Lampung, Lampung, Indonesia - VICTORIA UNIVERSITY - MELBOURNE May 14^th – June 25^th, 2015. First of all i would like to thanks to Allah SWT who always  give  me the best blessings in every single time of my life. I have finished the wonderful programe “Intensive English and Education Pedagogy for Mathematics and Science Teachers in Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia 2015”. There were lots of valuable knowledge and experiences i got from this program, especially in improving  my English, recent science learning issues and cross-cultural understanding.

The first day of class began with a placement test. There were two classes available for English development. My english teacher was Sharon. She told us that if we’re strong in listening, we’ll be confident in speaking. That confident will lead to improving our grammar quickly and increasing the vocabulary so then we can be an effective writer. Most of the time, she shared the information about the Australian educations and cultures. Australia has a national test called NAPLAN test. It’s held by the Australian government in order to know the quality and the competence of the students and the school. This test is followed by grade 3. 5. 7 and 9 students. They also have the VCE (Victoria Certificate Education) test for grade 12 students, and the result will determine what university they will get. The salary for Australian teacher are quite high, for the graduated teacher the salary is AU$65,000 and it can improve to AU$95,000 per year. Teachers in Australia have bachelor degree or higher qualification which at least five years of relevant experience.

Teaching styles for teachers in Australia is quite similar with Indonesia. Firstly, the relationship between students and teacher in classroom is very much based on respect. Teachers will support, challenge and inspire students. They try to be a good facilitator in the class. The teaching method in Indonesia now is similar with the Australian system. It’s developing a more student centered learning where the focus is on critical thinking. I also had a micro teaching day. Each person had 10 minutes to demonstrate their teaching skill. I was be the second one who did peer teaching. Everyone presented their topic very well. The aim of this project was to share others the best way to engage our students in class and the lesson we teach. After the presentation, we shared  about feedback to each other. I also got outdoor activities which were library and museum tour and a game called the Melbourne challenge. In this game, we were divided into 8 groups and each group had to fulfill the nine tasks in two hours. We felt very excited during the game but it made me little bit tired since we had to walk on foot for 2 hours. I was so excited because i was be the second winner.

My final task was giving a 15 minutes presentation planning a holiday trip for a family, and our group got South Australia as our destination. I worked in group. It was so amazing because i was be the first winner. I also learn about teaching science. Science class was lectured by Mr. Robert Park, he is a lecturer in Victoria University and Melbourne University. Rob explained that science is a way of thinking, something that can solve problems, and a basic knowledge of our nature. He told us that the studets are expected to  be able to make their own design. Planing is the important part of learning science. Rob told us that the very common strategy that is used in Victoria is SOLO Taxonomy. SOLO stands for structure of observed learning outcomes. This taxonomy works much better for students because it’s simple and give more responsibility. Not only that, but also the students can make the relation between the topics what they learn with daily life.  It was developed by Biggs and Collis in 1982.Many of our session, Rob gave us some experiments in order to introduce us to the inquiry approach in learning science modified by SOLO taxonomy.

The most interesting experiments that we have was our last experiments. The special thing about this last activities was we were asked to design our own experiments based on the aim of the topic and we’re just given several tools like rubber band and tape. Many of us came with different ideas of experiment and that’s what make this very useful for us because with the same aim we can build and create many ideas. Other important things is the student can learn something from others students. They can compare and contrast their project with other students. So, Teamwork is really important in learning process. In the last session feedback is the important part of learning. Students can improve their ideas, giving the questions about something they’re wondering, and giving the suggestions. So they can write what they’re trully feeling in their hart. Another fantastic programe was School Visist. I visited in 6 schools. Footscray Primary School is one of 15 Victorian Primary School that offers a bilingual program. It’s a multicultural school which are dominantly Vietnamese, Chinese and Indonesian. Next school was Footscray City College (FCC) is an international secondary school which has multicultural program. They have 42 international students which are dominantly Vietnamese and Chinese.  Next school was Northscote High School. This is a big school with 900 students in it from year 7 to year 9. They have only one curriculum which is academic curriculum. Gilmore Girl College. School is a 90 years of age school and always be a school for girls. It is a multicultural school with 20% of students are Moslem. There was also Excursions programe. There are some places i visited. I visited in VSSEC, Science Work, Philips Island, Royal Botanical Garden, Melbourne Zoo, Saint Kilda Beach, and Rememberance Monument.

On wenesday, June 24^th , 2015 was Farewell Ceremony. In this session i presented about everything i learn from Ausralia, especially about teaching science.We performed the sigeh pengunten dance, tor-tor dance, gembyong dance, silat, and sajojo dance. The end of our performent was singing a song “Tanah Airku” by all of Indonesian teachers. It was a happy and also sad part.

By : Ms. Windi

Foto acara Overseas Training Program -> Klik Disini

Share This Content