31/12/2025
Ribuan terima kasih kepada Sekolah Menengah Foon Yew, Johor Bharu kerana memberi peluang kepada saya untuk mengendalikan satu sesi latihan kepada lebih kurang 70 orang guru permulaan dari Kampus utama, Kampus Kulai dan Kampus Seri Alam pada 29 Disember 2025 (Isnin). Berikut ialah laporn saya dalam Bahasa Inggeris:
This training session was not about asking teachers to change immediately, nor about imposing a fixed teaching method. Instead, it began with teachers’ real classroom experiences. Prior to the session, I collected feedback through a Google Form and designed the training in direct response to their concerns. The session explored a central question:—— Teaching is not merely about covering content, but about helping students learn how to think and exercise judgement.
The training focused on three key directions:
🔹 The nature of teaching
Many classroom challenges are, in fact, rooted in instructional design rather than in students themselves.
🔹 From answers to thinking
Through questioning, evidence, discussion, and reflection, students can be guided to understand how answers are formed, rather than simply identifying the “correct” answer.
🔹 AI as an assistant, not the protagonist
AI can support lesson preparation and activity design, but teachers’ professional judgement and value guidance remain irreplaceable.
After the session, participant feedback was collected. Many teachers shared that the training helped them realise that:
1. AI can be a valuable assistant, but teachers must learn not only how to use it, but also how to evaluate and judge the information it provides, and use it to support thinking.
2. Language learning is fundamentally about expression and communication, including cultural meaning and values. Overemphasis on grammar can discourage learners.
3. Educators should reflect on deeper questions such as: *What kind of person do we want students to become? What does it mean to live well?* This points to the importance of whole-person education.
4. Classroom issues such as discipline problems, low motivation, or limited ability are not fixed. When learning is designed to engage students in thinking and participation, many of these challenges can be addressed.
5. Change does not need to happen immediately. Beginning with changes in ourselves, and positively influencing even one student, parent, or fellow educator, is already meaningful.
6. The transmission of Chinese education should not rely solely on rote memorisation of classical texts, model essays, or rigid examinations based on standard answers.
During the session, I also posed an open question to teachers: ”What is one small change you plan to try in the coming month?” Their main responses included:
* using AI to support lesson preparation
* adjusting questioning strategies
* increasing classroom interaction
* cultivating students’ independent and critical thinking
This training session also forms part of the Faculty of Education’s ongoing commitment to professional outreach and educational dialogue with schools. Educational change may not be immediate, but beginning with one lesson and one question already matters.
Thank you to for valuing teachers’ professional growth.
lies in continuous reflection and purposeful progress.
