PdP Portfolio

My 10 Core Values in Teaching & Learning

Grateful – I am grateful that I am a teacher/lecturer. I always feel blessed  because I was given the opportunity to work in this organization. My sense of gratitude helps me to develop a more positive outlook, whereby, grateful can improve my everyday life and increase my happiness, as well as self-belonging in my workplace.

Passion – Passion is the key to get a job done and hence feeling personal satisfaction with the effort and achievements. “Every person is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability fly high, it will give its entire life believing that it is an inane”- by Albert Einstein

Caring – All students do not share the same learning capability. Some students are fast-learners, while others could be slow-learners or weak to catch up with the syllabus. It is my responsibility to always pay attention and care about their progress in their academics, as well as their development during their time on campus. I always strive to teach by explaining in the easiest or simplest way in my lecture, and will never give up on them and always encourage them to become better. Let the students feel self-esteem among them. – “Great teachers care about their students”.

Creative & Innovative – Conventional teaching methods in the lecture are boring to the students and they will feel stress and lose focus if they are forced to listen without interaction, thus causing them to lose interest in the course. To make the students interested in my courses, students are constantly engaged with hands-on activities that require students to have critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Punctuality – Time is valuable, lectures should be given on time because students expect to learn something important from me. Do not waste their time. Teachers are role models to their students. They will follow my behaviour/attitude. They shall start coming to the classroom late, if I’m not punctual. Besides, I doubt I can meet my academic goals if I always delay or cancel class. – “Punctuality reflects a trustworthy person to work with”.

Integrity – As a teacher, I always remind myself to be responsible and honest with my job. Fulfilling commitments are very important elements to become successful in my career. I always feel the responsibility towards my students. I am ready to admit my mistakes if there is any wrong information or facts given to students during my lectures. Pretending to know everything is not a recipe to be a good teacher. I learnt from the mistake and used it as a means for my personal growth. 

Believe – I believe education is one of the most important elements in building a good society. Education helps in the development of human personality, thoughts, and social skills. Education is the key to become successful and to have more opportunities open for us. I believe that education is the ‘ticket’ to enter the career world with a good position. With education, we can have more options to build our career and be able to work at places we desire. 

Confidence – For me, the only way to build my confidence is through reading. Knowledge is the tool that can help me to overcome my fears during lecture. Self-confidence enhances my motivation in the teaching process and I always keep a positive attitude that ‘I can do it’ rather than “I can’t do it”. 

Continuous-Learning – Besides teaching, I am also a believer in life-long learning. Whenever given the opportunity, I will attend courses that are relevant to my field of teaching, such as in food processing and food product development, in order to improve my teaching quality. In addition, non-academic courses, such as courses related to religion, are also very important because only a healthy soul can calm my mind and make me feel peaceful. I am aware that life-long learning could help me gain confidence to adapt to any challenges beyond my expectation. I always hope that I can do better than yesterday. 

Reflection – Reflecting on teaching and learning can improve my performance. It helps in my skill development, as well as allowing me to review my strengths and weaknesses. It is crucial, hence I tend to allocate at least 15 min for self-reflection after each class, whether after my lecture or after attending a course. With this, I hope that when I move forward for a better tomorrow, my students can become the leaders of tomorrow.