Review of Loving English in KT

It was a glorious sunny morning in Kuala Terengganu on the 25th of September. I was back at my KT stomping grounds, SMK Seri Nilam. I was invited and greeted by friendly Mr Ramzu the DLO for PPDKT. Today's event was for lower secondary non-option English teachers. In Malaysia, there is a shortage of English teachers nationwide; however, there is no shortage of high expectations of outcomes in English nationally by the MOE.  Most schools in Malaysia, both in primary and secondary, have to involuntarily fill English teachers slots with other teachers. Why? There is not enough of English teachers to go around. This problem is intensified in the rural areas.

An assortment of teachers who are trained in different subjects like BM, Math and Science are often conscripted to become English Teachers. This is what is known as a non-option English teacher. Note, this practice may have started as a temporary measure, but over the years some of the shifts have become permanent. There is no end to this problem in sight. Matter of fact, this situation is getting worse. It was reported on Free Malaysia Today, Sept 19, 2016, (MoE to Overhaul System in Bid to StopTeachers from Quitting): The Ministry of Education is serious about overhauling its system in a bid to stop more teachers from leaving the profession due to being overburdened with paperwork and numerous other tasks. It is believed that almost 45 per cent of young graduates leave the profession two years after signing up.

Imagine 45% of the new teachers will not make it past 2 years, many those are English teachers. The hope of new teachers who will come save the day is a myth. The stark reality is many rural schools with English teacher vacancies will remain unfilled. The same problems of being overburdened don't cease or decrease for continuing or seasoned teachers. Hence, there is lots of pressure on non-option teachers.

As earlier mentioned, they are all professional teachers trained in subjects other than English. Some non-option teachers will remain teaching their subject with the addition to an English class or two. English classes are time intensive and meet more frequently a week than most other subjects. Some non-option teachers will take up the school's English slack and teach only English. They no longer get an opportunity to ply the subject they mastered.

Due to this phenomenon, many of the lower primary and lower secondary English classes are led by non-option English teachers. Most schools reserve the high stakes classes (Year 5, Year 6, Form 3 and Form 5) for option English teachers, because these classes are involved in national testing like the UPSR, PT3 and SPM. The logic is apparent. Yet, it doesn't underscore the importance of having skilled teachers in lower primary and lower secondary to lay the foundation of skills needed in English for the student's academic career. Nonetheless, it is a persistent problem that requires attention.

Well, that's where I come into the mix. You may ask, "AB, how to you solve a Herculean problem like this?" In my experience, one teacher at a time. First of all, I have the upmost respect for these professional teachers and empathy for the peculiar position they find themselves in. Next, I know they have a transferable set of skills to be super English teachers. And some basic review of English skills modeled in a student centered approach is also helpful. Finally, we all could use a little TLC (Tender Loving Care).

The program in KT was 30 plus lower secondary non-option English teachers. They were fabulous bunch with a mixed set of abilities and circumstances. First, I jumped them into the English Teachers Crew with the The History of English.  Now that they were family, I had them travel further down the road of acceptance of the fact they are English teachers now. The main motivational theme of the day was RESPECT YOURSELF. The battle cry of the day was,"I'm an English teacher!" (with a fist pump, of course) I also shared with the teachers my philosophy, non-option doesn't equal non-achiever. We agreed it was time to be extraordinary English teachers.

The day was filled with reviewing sentence variety with the Simpsons and Judge Jody. We played a couple of games and we watched a couple of short inspirational videos. We also polished our grammar skills with Cracking Down on Possessives. Not to mention, we squeezed in some Speaking Role Play as well. The day was a smashing success! PPDKT just a got new batch of some hard charging student centered super English teachers.  

Battle Cry, "I'm an English Teacher!"