What makes teaching fulfilling for me?
Gifts, awards, and accolades are great and all but what makes teaching worthwhile (for me at least) is the impact that I get to see that I have on my students especially when implementing lessons. I value their opinions and insights more rather than mere grades. Regardless of whether their insights are legitimate or not, I celebrate their effort to voice out their opinions. Remember, they're still learning about the world. We need to celebrate small efforts. So, how do I measure impact? I look at everything holistically - participation, effort, critical thinking, collaboration, and being able to connect the lesson to the real world. I'm a person who values diverse opinions and I like listening to different perspectives. So getting my students to demonstrate those aspects makes my daily teaching fulfilling - especially when I initiated several projects with them or a lesson that requires them to connect to what they already know, extend them, and further ask questions about the topic. Apart from that, being able to see low-performing students improve under my teaching is also what I find fulfilling. I don't think this is any different with other teachers but I guess this is where we are connected and be in solidarity as teachers.
My thoughts on assessments
As for measuring impact through grades, I do not necessarily discard the importance of it, not because it's my teaching philosophy to place high importance on it but because the current system still values grades. The book, 'UN-grading', proposes more descriptive feedback for assessments rather than assigning a grade (whether in the form of numbers or grades) that reflects the quality of student work. This approach is more aligned with my teaching philosophy, but it is more of an individual initiative to take upon this kind of assessment, rather than it being aligned with the system. Therefore I try to strike a balance of both, although eventually assigning grades tends to be the dominant practice. Realistically, totally going against the system is not 100% achievable because the system tends to win, but when there is a loophole, that is where I go for the opportunity. Therefore, I wouldn't say providing descriptive feedback (written or verbal) is not achievable at all within a larger system that values grades. Because based on my experience, it is doable although it does not become my dominant assessment practice.
What about my civic and citizenship education-integrated English language learning lesson plans and projects?
For the past year, I've been actively creating lesson plans that integrate civic and citizenship education with English language learning. The experience was worthwhile as I always try to explore different pedagogical approaches when designing them. My brain gets to work while thinking about the learning outcome that will benefit my students as citizens and future voters. However, at present, the innovative curriculum that I've designed is actually not of any value to most teachers, at least in the public education sector. Although it's been stipulated in the curriculum framework, implementation-wise and mindset-wise, integration of civic and local/global citizenship education doesn't seem to always be at the forefront of the discourse in education, at least in Malaysia. Perhaps it's because most adults think that teaching about politics in the classroom is all about 'partisan politics', especially in a national and education context where civic or citizenship education is not a subject that's been taught explicitly and is taught in a depoliticized manner such as Malaysia. Many of them engage in political discourse that's fueled by partisanship, instead of by looking at policies or from an issue-based lens. Despite most people having this view, even for teachers, I know a few teachers who see eye to eye with me which means I've found my community of teachers who do. Prior to this, it was a solo endeavor. I'm naturally an introvert but things like this need collective effort. Gatekeeping isn't an option.
Perhaps many of you think that only students with high levels of English proficiency can take part in my civic and citizenship education integrated lessons. No. I've taught English at all levels with students of different levels of proficiency and I've implemented the lessons with them. I provide all of them the equal opportunity to explore. I just need to be mindful of when to adopt and adapt.
How do I feel after 8 years of teaching?
I've been teaching for 8 years after taking an undergraduate program in TESL for 5 1/2 years and I can say I am grateful to have taken this path because to deliver and spark ideas, language is the primary medium to do it. I'm also grateful that the current education system (it's less exam oriented now), and my school culture allows me the freedom to experiment and innovate. I can also say that it has increased my curiosity to try out different pedagogical skills and be creative with my lessons. This is first and foremost what a teacher needs to have at their disposal - to be a pedagogical leader, pedagogical innovator, and pedagogical thinker.
Who inspires me?
As cliche, as it may sound, I would not be here if it were not for my past teachers and lecturers. As for becoming a pedagogical leader, innovator, and thinker, my circle of teacher peers has inspired me a lot, not only those whom I know of either virtually or in real life but also those who I follow from a distance online and have been following their journey. I remember in the past that some teachers question other teachers' need to always share how and what they teach on their personal social media accounts. I also know of teachers who do not always share what they do in the classroom (and even beyond the classroom), even their most interesting innovations because they think it's showing off. For me, these two types of teachers are like yin and yang. At a glance, both do not have anything in common, but with or without realizing it, they share a common value - which is having a false judgment and not realizing the positive impact that the sharing can have on other teachers. For the latter type of teacher, it is okay to not want to share, it's your social media account after all. But what I'm pointing out here is not the sole act of not sharing, it's the reason behind not wanting to share - which is being misinterpreted as 'showing off'. We live in a digital world where sharing about teaching practices is possible now and can easily be spread around just by clicking the 'share' or 'repost' or 'retweet' button. So seeing all the teachers who share their innovations, whether they're teachers from Malaysia or abroad, makes me want to be better at being a pedagogical leader, pedagogical innovator, and pedagogical thinker.
Final thoughts
Some might dread teacher's day celebrations at school because of organizing and planning, some may look forward to it because it is a once-in-a-year celebration. Whichever tribe you belong to, just be aware of your role and the impact that you have on your students, and not just merely punch in and out of school and wait for your salary toward the end of the month.
HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY
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