Thajunisah Mohidin

My Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is a learning process; I learn from my students, colleagues, parents, and the community. This is a lifelong process where I learn new strategies, new ideas, and new philosophies. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to know who my learners are, what kinds of knowledge and experience they bring to the group, and what they want to achieve so that I can tailor a curriculum that fits their needs and yet leaves enough room to accommodate topics that emerge from group discovery. My goal is to demonstrate the ability to clearly and professionally share my knowledge of effective teaching in classroom setting to teachers. Overtime my educational philosophy may change and that's alright. It means that I have grown and learnt new things.

The classroom environment, students, and collaboration with colleagues are essential elements needed to create my ideal classroom. My ideal classroom is a place where students feel valued, welcomed, and become genuinely interested in learning. It is also a place where students are the focus as student-centered learning techniques and strategies are incorporated into daily lesson plans. It will be a place where colleagues are invited to help improve teaching practices and support long term learning goals.

Currently there is now renewed interest in a blended model of learning which requires a rethink of pedagogy and instructional design in ways that can best integrate technology in to the lessons. With this transition, there is a need to re evaluate traditional methods of teaching in a blended environment. As the foundations are being already laid, I am motivated to expose the students to new ways of learning which equip them to be self motivated learners beyond the walls of the classroom. With the assistance from school leaders, I am sure that I can imbue teachers to embrace blended learning as the new normal and work with other teacher leaders in the school to design and customize the online learning experiences to suit the needs and interest of the students.

Personnel Statement

As a teacher for 21 years, I see a progressive change in the education system. When I was a beginning teacher, the focus was only on the coverage of the curriculum, the transference of factual and procedural knowledge, and preparing students for end-of-semester and national examinations. Classroom talk is teacher-dominated and generally avoids extended discussion. As years passed, there was progressive education reform; from a “one-size-fits-all” education to a differentiated approach which enabled pupils of different abilities and aptitudes to develop at their own pace.

In 1997, when I started teaching that year, “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation“ vision was developed which is to strengthen thinking and inquiry among students. The curriculum content was reduced and common time was created for teachers to plan learning activities for students and I can vividly remember that schools significantly invested on ICT and as a young teacher back then was excited to use this tool to teach my students.

In 2005, “Teach Less, Learn More” policy was introduced. It urged teachers to focus on the “quality” of learning and the incorporation of technology into classrooms so students are developed holistically beyond “pen and paper” tests and examinations. During this phase of my teaching, I remembered teaching about plants to my Primary 5 students. I did not use the traditional instructions by asking them to look at the pictures of the plants in the textbook. Rather, I instructed them to find these plants in their own community, bring them or take snapshots, label them which becomes personnel. They in fact had a relationship with the content because they experimented themselves.

Most of the students remembered the plants clearly when they were brought to a community garden for a learning journey after a few months.. Hence, this relevance and relationship were critically important to establishing meaning for students.

With the introduction of 21st Century skills in 2010 and with the establishment of STP in 2017, not about doing more, but about refreshing our approaches and deepening our practices , it became a student centric system that recognises every child is different and possesses different skills in helping them to discover their strengths and abilities which supports our desired outcomes of education.

The stint in MOE HQ CPDD unit for about 4 years has also given me vast knowledge in developing curriculum resources and I also provided support through training of teachers in pedagogical aspects and how as teachers can bring quality and innovative practices in their classrooms. Apart from that, I had sufficient opportunities to lead a team for major projects such as MTLS as well in the Preschool team. I also had an opportunity to head the Primary School Assessment team to prepare for Assessment workshops. Infact, MOE has prepared me for dual role which is in the teaching track as well as the leadership track.

• MSEA Award 2019 - Silver
• National Day Commendation Medal 2020
• MSEA Awards 2021 - Gold
• Certificate of Appreciation for MTLS 2019-2021
• Nominated for President Award 2015
• Nominated for Most Inspiring Tamil Teacher's Awards 2014-2015