Learning from the Cradle to the Grave

Hello to my ITS fellows and coaches,

My name is Suraiya Sulaiman, a lecturer in English language and literature at Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Pattani Campus.

As a Muslim, the motto, learning from the cradle to the grave, was introduced to me at my very young age at a “tadika” or a religious school I went to on the weekends. It was believed to be the saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who taught his followers about the importance of life-long learning. Therefore, it rang a bell to me when I heard about the concept of lifelong learning promoted by the Thai government many years ago. I thought to myself, “Now the government has come to the right path of education reform.”

For me, the concept of lifelong learning is one of the most important mindsets we, educators, have to instill in our students. To do so, we have to set ourselves as role models, a teacher is the one who never stops learning. Therefore, participating in the ITS program is another platform that allows teachers/lecturers to put the concept of lifelong learning into practice. As I’ve experienced throughout the first phase of the program, I’ve learned a lot of new things from my peers and my coach. Last semester was the first time I challenged myself to get out of my comfort zone to try some new teaching strategies in my class. It was the first time I was introduced to some new applications that I never imagined I would be able to use in my class with confidence. With ITS program, I’ve learned that there is never an end to learning about teaching strategies. Actually, there are a lot more out there to explore and I’m very excited to start the new journey that will introduce me to new challenges and expand my knowledge boundary to the extend possible.