Reflection

Finally, EDU 3106 assignment is over and we can breathe a sigh of

relief. It is important to engage a systematic reflection on the task that we
have completed. The essay that our group did was on Event May 13, 1969. It
is a tragedy that involved racial issues. We would not want Event May 13 to
repeat. Malaysia is a multicultural country. Therefore, as future teachers, we
have looked for information and come out with relevant pedagogy culture so
that these events do not recur and we can live in a peaceful and harmony
country.
From this assignment, we understand that teachers play an important
role in promoting unity among the students. Therefore, the teacher should be
a culturally sensitive role model. The teacher should be sensitive with the dos
and donts in the classroom to avoid insulting any pupil in the class. Doing
some extra preparation can make a significant difference when teaching
about culture, especially if you feel uncertain about the information you will be
presenting. We should be brave to admit that what we know are very limited
and there is the need that we have to learn more about other races and ethnic
groups. When teachers understand all the races and ethnic groups, they will
be more open-minded and appreciate the uniqueness of each culture more.
The teachers should therefore show respect to the students culture practices.
After doing this assignment, we have understood how important mutual
respect is in the classroom.
We also learnt that it is important to instil patriotism at a young age. By
the time a child reaches middle school, any value, if any, that he or she has
learned, is already embedded in his or her mind and seldom can moral values
in these youths be changed. We cannot deny that patriotism needs to be
taught at an early age. Being a teacher is not just to transfer knowledge, but
also putting effort in character building of the younger generation. The
education principles that we uphold involve the total personality of individual,
as value education is essentially Man Making and Character Building.
When we are teaching in the school next time, we shall not forget to promote
unity and teach students the importance of understanding each others culture
and appreciate the cultures of all races and ethnic groups in Malaysia.
Furthermore, we also relate our essay with co-curricular activities which
a very good medium to instill students patriotism. Throughout co-curriculum,
benefits are beyond what we can imagine. Things like building confidence,
allow creative thinking and giving proper opinion help to develop students
learning skill. Students will be more independence in finding sources and
allow them to be more explorers in their learning.
Besides, through the process of finishing this assignment, we have
learnt that it is very essential for the teacher to pick the reading material
properly in order to maintain harmony and promote unity among the students
at a young age. We have looked into many ways of choosing multicultural
reading materials. After we read all the information that we had, we finally
come to a conclusion that Edwards ten tips of choosing multicultural reading
materials are the best. We will definitely use Edwards tips in our future
teaching so that the harmony in the classroom can be maintained.
Overall, it is a very meaningful and effective assignment where we
have looked into racial issues and created relevant pedagogy culture to avoid
racial tensions and anxieties.