
On 5 March 2024, UPI students participating in the Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia (SEA-Teacher Project) completed and returned to Indonesia from their destination countries: Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines. Each two students visited one designated country: Muji Pangesti Prihandini (Science Education) and Trisha Fauziah Zahra (Social Studies Education) to the University of Tsukuba, Japan, Hilda Nurul Chaerunisa (Chemistry Education) and Mochammad Aqshal Azis (English Education) to Khon Kaen University, Thailand, also Fatin Nasywa Kirana (Mathematics Education) and Muhammad Azhar (Physical, Health, and Recreation Education) to Central Luzon State University, the Philippines.
Participating students at the University of Tsukuba did many activities. In the first excursion, they were introduced to the country and culture of Japan and toured the University of Tsukuba. The main activity was teaching Japanese students according to their majors. Besides that, they also learned how to be a good teacher with one of the lectures of University of Tsukuba, Professor Ishoda. They participated in teaching Indonesian language to Japanese students and attended a symposium to share their experiences during SEA-Teacher activities at the University of Tsukuba. They also participated in the homeroom section, which was checking students’ attendance after class. Aside from main activities, they took part in tea club activities to learn about the Japanese tradition of drinking tea.
Differently participating students at Khon Kaen University, assigned for teaching practice in different schools, in consideration of numerous schools there. They taught subjects according to their majors in several classes and grades. Even one of the participants also participated in extracurricular teaching. Aside from the main activities, students also engaged in excursion activities for two weeks. In the first excursion activity, they toured the city of Khon Kaen to see temples, attended a small workshop, and visited an art museum. In the second week, they visited a temple, cafe, and Organic Farm workshop in Udon Thani province.
Participating students at Central Luzon State University taught at University Science High School for one month. After classes, there would be a conference to discuss the evaluation and feedback of the student teaching practices by Central Luzon State University. Apart from the formal activities, students conducted an educational tour every weekend to learn more about the Philippines in general. Broadly, they visited Pantabangan Dam, Baler, Intramuros, and Tagaytay. They watched several performances and art shows, one of which was Samot Sari. Further, they visited ASCOT (Aurora State College of Technology), the museum, and toured the beach in Baler. After a month of living in the Philippines, Central Luzon State University held a farewell agenda with some officials and all SEA-Teacher students.
The entire SEA-Teacher programme left a positive impression on the participants. It also opened a variety of perceptions and new experiences. “I was very grateful for the opportunity to join this programme. Beside learning to teach as a student from the education department, I also gained knowledge about their culture. Moreover, I managed to strengthen my spiritual and religious values,” said Fatin Nasywa Kirana, SEA-Teacher participant at Central Luzon State University, the Philippines.
The SEA-Teacher programme batch 3 in 2024 has officially finished on 5 March. All students who have returned to their home countries indicate that this programme succeeded spectacularly. In the future, UPI expects to maintain cooperation with esteemed partners to increase the success of the SEA-Teacher programme.