Undergraduates try out their English teaching skills in Sumatra
An in-depth insight into a four week internship to Jambi, Indonesia undertaken by final year undergraduates, Lara Almeda and Katie Faulkner.
Undergraduates Lara Almeda and Katie Faulkner, both final year BSc Psychology with Education students, travelled to Indonesia in August for a four-week teaching internship programme. The School of Education has a long-standing partnership with schools in the Sumatran city of Jambi, who are glad to host Leeds students each year in the belief that they can motivate their pupils to learn English – most of them have never interacted with foreigners before.
Lara and Katie were met in the capital Jakarta by the Head of English from Junior High School No.4, Ibu Nissa Khairun, and the next day she accompanied them on the one-hour plane journey to Jambi. There were they were greeted by staff from the four different schools where they would be teaching over the coming month. From there they were taken to their accommodation in the Mayor’s house.
Each day they would be picked up and taken to one or two different schools, where they would conduct English classes with the 12- to 14-year-old students. The local English teachers would usually give them a lesson plan in advance, which they could adapt to suit the particular class and their own interests. In other activities, they visited Jambi University for a ‘Sharing Session’ with undergraduates, which was hosted by Leeds MA TESOL graduate Saharuddin.
It wasn’t all work though – many afternoons they would visit local hotels to go swimming, and on the final weekend they travelled to the tiny tropical island of Berhala, off the East Coast. When the internship was over, Lara and Katie were able to do some more travelling in Southeast Asia, visiting Singapore, Bali and other places.
The Jambi schools were very happy with their contribution to the English curriculum, commenting on how friendly and enthusiastic they were, and how quickly they learned basic teaching skills. For their part, Lara and Katie summed up the trip with the table below:
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WHAT WE GAINED |
KEY MOMENTS |
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Confidence in public speaking |
Experiencing a new culture |
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Global perspective |
Seeing a new educational system |
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Cross-cultural communication |
Working with motivated learners |
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Stepping out of our comfort zone |
Meeting local officials, including the Mayor |
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Enhanced teamwork skills |
Seeing beautiful scenery |
The Batanghari River in Jambi city centre
For more information on enrichment opportunies available to School of Education’s undergraduate students, please see here.
