Farhan
Let me just describe today’s journey as more like a ‘road’ learning. I find it simply ironic as we oppose the idea of education being about rote learning in the very 1st place. Its just that today’s agenda was mostly on the road as we had to visit a school in Malacca and it was a 5-hours drive to and fro. A visit to Malacca high School was very unique and nostalgic as the building was very old as it was built in 1826 which was a century and a half ago. Well, of course they had to build new buildings but there were some that was just too precious and was left intact. The purpose of the visit was actually because Malacca High School happened to be Emily’s sister school and would be a great place to investigate on the ICT issue. We had a tour around the school, in fact we joined a class of students learning chemistry. I took the opportunity to learn as much in that precious ten minutes.
Later in the evening, we went to Monash University Campus in Sunway and interviewed the Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Robin Pollard. It was the first interview we the students had to conduct ourselves without the help of Stephen. I personally felt quite nervous before the interview started as he was very intimidating as well as he has a very firm manner in answering all the questions. In my personal opinion, he sorts of contradicted himself on the question of the intake of students from non-secular school and answered vaguely. The question was about the adaptation of students who actually come from a non-secular education, as statistics have shown very little percentage of students qualifying from Islamic schools for local universities, as they were less exposed to the global environment, how are they coping in this English learning environment? The answer from Robin Pollard was simple, he said he didn’t track the number of students coming from the non-secular schools i.e. Islamic schools but didn’t think there are having any problems at Monash. I wasn’t sure if that was the best answer he could give but we proceeded with the next question anyway.
On the issue of PPSMI, I asked: “prior to the introduction of PPSMI, were there any Malaysian students facing any difficulties in learning and adapting to the Maths and Science in English?” This time around, he said it was no big deal as he also has other international students coming from all over the world and having English as the second language. I wasn’t entirely sure if he understood the context of my question which was about Malaysian students and considering the fact that these two subjects are the two most important subjects in this rapidly developing world and technological advancement, if PPSMI was abolished will it affect the capability of Malaysian students who go to Monash to learn in an English environment, or will it not?
Nonetheless it really was a good learning experience for the four of us, sharpening and enhancing our interview skills to listen actively and think critically, I would say I’m pretty much excited about the forum and looking forward to it. Let’s just hope my nervousness doesn’t surface during that time around.
Sunshine
This morning we got up early and travelled with Mrs. Louise McSorley to visit Emily's sister school, Melaka High School in Melaka.Our experience there was a very warm and welcoming one. Melaka High School was is the second oldest school in the country.It is also one of the leading schools in the country that offers Form 6 (STPM). We were taken to see a performance by their school's "cat-lempong" band which was quite different from the one in my school. We then sat through the Chemisrty Form 5 class, and it was nice for Frhan and I to revise a bit of work since we've been away from school for quite a while. After getting to know a few people there and after a short presentation, we left the school to prepare for our interview with Prof.Robin Pollard at Monash University, Sunway.
We were taken to the High Commission first, and because we had a few minutes to spare, Steve suggested we have a role-play session before the interview as this would be our first "formal" interview since we've been here. This session proved to be very useful because later at our interview, Prof.Robin rebutted some of our points exactly the way Steve had predicted he would. The interview started on a very stiff note and Prof Robin was rather reluctant to answer several of our answers, which was rather disappointing. Personally, I think I could have contributed more to the interview, but I had some trouble with knowing when to interrupt the flow of conversation. Also, I think I was too preoccupied with thinking what to say rather than actually saying it. In our post mortem later we learnt the significance of having authoritative resources during interviews, as well as having a clear point of view on the question topic. Clearly I think confidence was an obstacle for me to a certain extent. To overcome this I'd say would be for me to really be completely familiar with the questons I'm asking .
Today was really a learning curve and an awakening to the different flows of interviews. Kedah tomorrow, so all geared up!
Duncan
Our visit to the wonderful Malacca High School was well worth the early start! We were taken on a grand tour of this historical school, one of the oldest in Malaysia. Established in 1826, its buildings are still reminiscent of British colonial architecture. The relationship between staff and students was the most relaxed of the schools we’ve visited so far, and seemed to work really well. We had the chance to informally discuss some of the prevailing issues at secondary schools. I had a nice chat with an IT teacher who said that their ‘connectedness’ was rapidly developing, although still behind the level of facilities at similar schools in KL. The importance of the rural/urban divide that the Deputy Director-General of Education spoke worryingly about yesterday was confirmed. I look forward to our visit to Kedah in the north of Malaysia over the weekend, an opportunity to properly examine this gap. On a brighter note, we left securing a stronger partnership between MHS and Emily’s school, Eltham High School, who are involved in a government-initiated sister school program. These inter-school relationships reflect Mr Chittick’s comments yesterday about the Australian government’s plan to play a larger role in Malaysian secondary education.
Our interview with Professor Robin Pollard at Monash University, Sunway, allowed us to delve into the other side of the coin – Australian’s influences on tertiary education in Malaysia. We were presented with a slightly different model of education in comparison to that of Taylor’s College and certainly the vision of most Malaysian secondary schools. Monash advocates a more ‘academic’ program but encourages co-curricular activity through individual choice, rather than as part of the university curriculum. Their blueprint of education, the ‘Monash Passport’, equips students with the necessary knowledge to participate in volunteering, sports, music and student unions as a way of handling their overall education individually. The idea of holistic education becomes the choice of the student. Furthermore, Monash’s partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education has seemingly eliminated all previous problems vis-à-vis the recognition of its university degrees by the Public Services Department (JPA.) We are yet to fully grasp whether this recognition is still a problem for other Australian universities. Monash sees no ICT deficit amongst its students, even if they come from remote regions, but ensures that they are given proper remedial classes or computer training if necessary. We would like to focus on this technology gap throughout our visit to rural Malaysia. Finally, our visit made me appreciate that perhaps branch campuses like Monash are the solution to Malaysia’s problem of attracting international students to study at its universities. The problem of international prestige is solved when reputable universities like Monash or the University of Nottingham establish their own local presence and allow international students to undertake exchanges or, better still, local students to study in their own country should they find it too hard to move overseas. An ensuing campus tour certainly had me ready to go on exchange next year!
Today gave us a great chance to improve our interviewing skills, and we hope to use some of Stephen’s tips in our following discussions, particularly with the Deputy Prime Minister. Looking forward to tomorrow and a few days in the rural town of Sik.
Emily
I am very excited about what I can take back home with me after today: Eltham High is so honoured and proud to have met with sister school Malaca High, and we will do everything we can to keep in contact with them. Hopefully this will mean Malaca High will be able to utilize their good ITC facility (that they identify as a niche area) to download Skype to allow us to have video chats between students, contribute ideas and knowledge on a shared Facebook page, and email letters to one another so as to practise our second languages of English and Bahasa Malay respectively. Thank you to Malaca High for your hospitality and enthusiasm towards the project.
Our interview with Robin Pollard from Monash University taught us what it is to have proper knowledge and preparation behind a structured interview. Because our ideas on the topics that we proposed to him (use of ICT, studying overseas and ethnic students) were not developed enough for our point of view to be carried across, the interview lacked direction and purpose.
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Learning Journey- 5th April