Nurul Farhana Binti Mat Sundari G1926428
“Learning is not a race, but a marathon that each person walks at a different pace”
Out of the nine course choices that I had listed in my IPTA application, I was lucky enough to get my eight choices - Architecture and Environmental Design at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). My mother said that I have always been the creative one between my other siblings- solely based on years of designing cards for my parents birthdays and anniversaries, but I never once believe her. It was because there was this one time during Art class when my teacher saw me and my best friend’s drawings, he said that it is okay if our drawings are not good. “In a basket full of fruits, not all fruits will be good, there will be some that are rotten. And you guys are the rotten one.” I remember crying and since that day, I rarely submit my drawings and come to Art Class half-heartedly. So looking at my application result, with the mindset of me as someone who sucks at drawing , I was hesitant to accept but still, what can I do, I have no choice. Maybe I could change my course once I enrolled. 6 years passed and I graduated in Industrial Design course with an award of Best Project 2019. But still, I remember my art teacher’s words by heart until now. The experience opened my eyes on how a teacher should know that their words are scarier and bear more responsibility than others, because people believe everything they said. As I have learned it the hard way, it makes me want to be a good teacher and avoid my future students from ever feeling worthless and hopeless. All choices are half-chances, but you are a winner if you use what you have and make the best out of it. I would love for my students to understand that learning is not a race, but a marathon that each person walks at a different pace. That is also why my teaching philosophy can be summed up by the quote above, as I realised each student's differences in abilities and learning needs so to identify and help them go through the learning process with the right strategies and pace can make them
Nurul Farhana Binti Mat Sundari G1926428
bloom eventually. As a teacher, I believed that my teaching responsibilities are best described as the following: 1. To create a positive environment which is necessary for optimal learning 2. To be well-equipped with diverse teaching strategies to sustain student’s engagement and enhance the learning experience. 3. To be flexible and responsible to the student’s inquiry and dissimilar learning capabilities. It is not an easy role to achieve these objectives but still, I believe in hard work and dedication in doing something you love, and it is possible to make learning more interactive and interesting. “There is no crime as great as daring to excel.” Commit that crime- Winston Churchill In my opinion, in order to excel and become a teacher that can help and motivate others, I need to be open to accept feedback from my students. This can help me to improve my teaching styles as well as understanding their needs and situations. Suitable with a quote from Phil Collins, “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”