Mas Elizawati Mohamad Ali (Malaysia)
I came upon the teaching world by accident. In fact, when I was offered the job, I honestly didn’t know what I got myself into. I was in a desperate place, scrambling to find a viable source of income for my two kids. Suddenly without spousal support, I needed to get employed in any possible way and a teaching position had opened up near my place of stay.
When it comes to teaching, my thoughts automatically go to my late maternal grandmother. She was a teacher who later climbed up the ranks to be the headmistress of a primary school. My late mother even spoke about how my Nenek was a fierce yet admirable person in the teaching profession.
Twelve years after I left my last employment, going back to work definitely called for some major readjustments. Even more so, when teaching was a new field for a business background major like myself. Indeed, upon entering the domain that is the kindergarten world, I was taken by surprise by the lengths which teachers go through to make learning fun and relatable to a gaggle of preschoolers. It was no easy feat!
I learned that approaches are widely different and delicate when it comes to early childhood education. It was not just a matter of winging it and making things miraculously happen. I observed a variety of teaching styles from senior colleagues and naturally applied those which suited me well.
Now, almost four years into preschool teaching, I had the pleasure of teaching three-, four- and six-year old students. As expected, the level of comprehension greatly differs among these age groups. While developing gross and fine motor skills takes centrestage for three and four year-olds, the six year-olds’ progress focuses more on the fundamental academic aspect and socio-emotional growth.
After spending two years in the playgroup level (three years old), I was more than happy to volunteer teaching kids in the upper kindergarten level (six years old). In spite of myself, I found the scope and challenges much more rewarding and interesting. Since their competencies revolve on a more structured syllabus, I was thrilled to teach things which I know by heart. As I could see the immediate effects of learning in this age group, I was wholly satisfied with the fruits of my labour.
Following the techniques learned from both offline and online training courses as well as from seasoned teachers, I eventually got the hang of teaching core subjects of English, Malay, Maths and Science. I had belatedly realised that my strength lies in educating the bare basics to these children. I actually thrive on honing their numeracy and literacy skills.
I usually introduce new concepts by incorporating real-life examples so that children can easily relate to them. Next come the worksheets or workbooks to gauge their readiness to apply the subject matter. I also drill some questions repeatedly in order to ascertain whether they truly understand the mechanism behind these ideas.
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, I had to adapt to instructing preschoolers through an online video platform, which came with its own set of challenges. Compared to the easygoing physical interactions in a class setting, online teaching involves several breaks in between which aid in coping with the children’s short attention span. Screen limits on GoogleMeet set-ups and connectivity issues also hinder seeing all the students’ work progress in a real-time setting. To overcome such limitations, teachers, like myself, became acquainted with teaching aids like Peardeck, Kahoot and Live Worksheets that visually and aurally stimulate the minds of young students.
Whether it is online or offline learning, both teaching and being taught in a conducive environment plays an important role to nurture young minds. At this stage in their lives, kids absorb anything they are taught like a sponge. It is up to us educators to make such knowledge accessible and palatable to our younger audience. With many, unimaginable resources at our fingertips, we are able to turn the table around and make a whole world of difference.
For the physical class, there would always be instances in which I had to tweak my approach in order to adapt to a diverse set of personalities on board. For example, children who could not sit still or those highly high-strung individuals require an entirely separate level of intervention that comes with patience and a lot of teeth-gritting.
To say that learning to teach has been life-changing, is in itself an understatement. Beside taking on the responsibility as an educator, I also gathered the courage to learn useful, ancillary skills like sewing, handicrafting and prop-making which are valuable during special events like a year-end concert and sports day. I know that I won’t even dare to try those things if I didn’t have to step out of my comfort zone. In a way, I thank God for putting me where I am as I have become more independent and got to meet amazing learners whom I gladly call my ‘children’.