The Defence International Training Centre

We went to The Defence International Training Centre for our seventh school observation. The Defence International Training Centre (DITC) is an Australian Defence Force Training unit. Students in DITC are from over 20 Asian, Southeast Asian and Southwest Pacific countries. They range in rank from newly enlisted personnel to senior officers.

This centre is so different from the schools we previously visited. Students here are all adults, and they have different military backgrounds from all over the world. The class we observed was a teacher training class, students there are trained to teach English in military forces. Some of the students in the class are from air forces, some are from the navy and the rest are from army. They come from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Laos. They are all in a programme called Methodology of English Language Teaching (MELT), and it focuses on the teaching of methodology.

In the observation, we joined in different small groups and participated in class activities together. The focus of lesson was to learn how to teach vocabularies at intermediate level. The teacher started by brainstorming students of the different aspects in teaching vocabularies. She then distributed a task sheet and a copy from an intermediate level English textbook for us to complete in groups. We analyzed the word ‘plead’ in terms of its meaning, phonology and form. Through different activities, we were reminded of how thorough we have to be in teaching vocabularies. The teacher walked around when we were having discussions, to monitor the class and check our progress. Students in class were active in engaging in lessons, and they showed their eagerness to learn.

The class reminded me of my pedagogy lessons back in The University of Hong Kong. We learn as students and are trained as teachers. The teacher and the task inspire me of how prepared we have to be as teachers. Even for one simple vocabulary, we have to think in the students’ perspective thoroughly. We have to assess what they may or may not know before class, and get ourselves prepared for their questions, and to show our professionalism as teachers.