Participants with Melvin (standing fourth left) and Yin (standing fifth left).
KUCHING: Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus (Swinburne Sarawak) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Programme recently brought together 19 individuals from different backgrounds and teaching experiences for a 4-day workshop themed ‘Training for Teachers in English and The Next 100’.
In 2015, WCS Malaysia, with support from the US Embassy, produced ‘The Next 100: Bridging for a New Beginning’ (The Next 100), a 228-page manual containing 24 English and Conservation activities for the 100 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants stationed in schools around the country and their mentors.
The manual served as a guide for educators to use English with the environment as a platform.
During the first three days of the workshop at Swinburne University, participants were exposed to various pedagogies of teaching and learning English.
The lectures were conducted by Swinburne University lecturers, who provided insight on different learning and teaching methods, all of which can be studied in-depth by taking up the university’s Master of Arts in Tesol (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
On day four, the participants of the workshop were taken to Matang Wildlife Centre in the outskirts of the city to attempt the activities in The Next 100 in the outdoors.
WCS Malaysia’s director Dr Melvin Gumal emphasised that teachers play an essential role in the lives of the students they encounter.
“Their influence often goes beyond the scope of what we witness in the daily interactions within the classroom walls,” he said.
“In fact, their contributions extend beyond the scope of the classroom and school day, and in this case, they can make a positive impact on the environment by encouraging their students to rethink the little choices they make daily,” he added.
“Incorporating wildlife or environmental themes in our lessons can spark interest and curiosity among students of all ages and this could lead to valuable lessons on conservation of wildlife and their habitats,” explained Christina Yin, co-author of The Next 100 with Dr Gumal and Sylvia Ng, a senior lecturer and associate dean in Swinburne’s Faculty of Language and Communication.
Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme is headquartered here with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Kajang, Johor and Kuala Rompin in Peninsular Malaysia.
Currently, WCS Malaysia works to preserve four priority species – orangutans, sharks and rays, elephants and tigers.
Go to https://programs.wcs.org/malaysia/ for more information on WCS Malaysia and visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WCS.Malaysia/ for updates.
Enquiries about the MA (Tesol) programme at Swinburne Sarawak can be directed to course coordinator Hugh Leong at [email protected]