2016 Site Seminar of the Progressive Education Institute @ Harlem Village Academies

Representing Malaysia & Columbia University... =)

This week, I was a privileged 1 of 13 selected education grad students, from Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, & Stanford, to attend a mini conference organised by the Progressive Education Institute (PEI) of Harlem Village Academies (HVA). We had the opportunity to visit 3 HVA charter schools, & hear from their teachers & academic directors: HVA East Elementary, HVA West Elementary, & HVA West Middle. Here's what I learned.

Featured in New Straits Times - 16 May 2016

Featured on NST Online - 16 May 2016 (Malaysian Teacher's Day)

First, let me wish every Malaysian teacher reading this a Happy Teacher's Day!

This Teacher's Day, I was featured in NST print (I haven't read it yet because I have yet to receive a high resolution photograph of the article. Please help me out!) as well as NST Online. It is indeed a huge honour to represent the teachers in Malaysia and more specifically my beloved colleagues working at rural/remote schools.

Let me clarify that I am NOT the only teacher working in the hinterlands of our country, neither am I the most hardworking or the most deserving of "special" mention. There are plenty who are labouring endlessly for the betterment of the communities they are serving. Unlike syok-sendiri me, thousands serve wholeheartedly without seeking reward or recognition. To these teachers, I salute & I bow in respect.

Nonetheless, I did have a purpose for sharing my story. This part of my interview wasn't published. So, you're getting the deleted scenes straight from the horse's mouth!

Poster Presented at 2016 Rountable Spring Research Forum

My captive audience. =)

In March, I presented a poster based on a paper I wrote for one of my courses at TC. The title of the poster was "Recommendations for the Language Vitality of a Native Language in Malaysia". Those of you who are familiar with my teaching background would be able to guess that I was looking into the ethnolinguistic situation of the Iban language.

Why conduct the study?