DPLI Interview

Im back! :) As promised, this post will be about my DPLI interview. So there i was, in UITM (Tawau branch) at 8.30 am, filled a form, and sat with all the other applicants. I met some schoolmates and a collegue from SMTT. We chatted and I realised that i was the only one applying for TESL and the others are mostly Perniagaan or Perdagangan or something. Weird. Minutes later, there were facillitators calling us one by one, assessed our forms and conducted a color blind test. When it was my turn, they said I'd be selected for sure because my degree suits tesl. Point taken, I said, but then, you'll never know.. I was not really nervous about this interview, i don't know why...

It didn't take long for my turn. I knocked on the door, greeted the 2 fellows(who were lecturers from UMS), gave them my file (of original certificates, KPLI interview needed us to have copies of certificated ones), and waited for the offer to sit. He spoke Bahasa Malaysia to me, so i replied in Bahasa too. The other officer noticed my documents and asked me to speak in English.

I started to introduce myself, my name, when n where i graduated from, and then my teaching experience. He asked why i wanted to be a teacher, i told them that its a dream since school, my idols and guide are my teachers, my parents are teachers and finally a promising lifestyle a person can achieve teaching.

The next quiry suprised me, he said 'why, would you want to choose UMS of all universities?' His tone was quite 'demeaning' a little...Padahal diorang lectuer UMS pun. So I said that UMS is nearer to my hometown and that I do think UMS has its own reputation. I heard good things about it, like its research and efforts on the environment. I am a person who is concerned about the environment, sirs. (hihi,honestly, true, of course!)

Later, we talked about students' current issues, especially on students' less interests in English, especially those in the rural areas. I started to suggest ways to increase their interests, change their perceptions on English, having fun attractive activities they can participate in, and have trips to the towns where English is everywhere and what not. Basically, it all comes down to people are not able to survive or be successfull without knowing even a little abput English language, the language of information, not the language of mere identity (for Malaysians).

After that, he still underlined to me that teaching students with these kind of problems are difficult and that most teachers nowadays would only teach and finish the syllabus per se, without ever wanting to really teach and make sure every student achieves something. So then I shared about my view or shall i say philosophy of teaching- teaching is not just about teaching, but to learn, and a great teacher do not only teach the students but they learn from them as well. How do teachers learn from students? It is in his/her awareness of the students' progress by looking at their response, accepting their opinions, and then realizes that the learning process really did happen at that time. I like participation in class, so that we don't only teach a subject matter, but also a skill, a communication skill, whether it is between teacher to student, or student to fellow student, or a student to the whole audience/class.

"So is it not about the money as a teacher?the salary?" No of course not sir. The real 'salary' is given by God. Our deeds that we do as teachers. It is to teach.


They said that's all Suhaila, thank you. I thank them too.

*end of interview*

KPLI & DPLI

It went well. Both of them. My KPLI (Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah) and DPLI (Diploma Pendidikan Lepasan Ijazah) interview for TESL course. For those who dont know KPLI and DPLI is a 10-months course that qualifies a post-graduate to become a teacher. KPLI is for those who will be teaching in primary schools and DPLI for secondary, community colleges or polytech colleges. I was lucky enough to be selected to sit for the examinations and made through both interviews. Thousands have applied.

Going through the application was not easy, for KPLI especially, one would have to sit for Mtest, an asessment about personality, arithmetic skill, and what not. The interview on the other hand, consits of 3 parts; the witten test, the group discussion asessment, and the individual interview. Mine went okay the other day, I was the last person to be called in for the individual interview so there were no more nervousness. LOL. The 'butterflies' in my stomach were actually tired of waiting.

As for DPLI, Medsi is the name of the examination. This one needs applicants who obtained degrees with CGPA 2.75 and above. Mine, 3.0 above, no problemo~ LOL. Anyways, the Medsi exam was quite easy, just to test one's personality and interests towards teaching. There were multiple choice answers, 300 questions to be answered within 1 hour.

The part I remember most in this experience is none other than the interview itself. For KPLI individual interview, as i mentioned, was tiring, all because of the waiting. I had to be there before 11 am, and it ended at 2/3 pm. Yes, imagine that. The panel interviewer were both men, lecturers from Maktab Gaya, KK. The questions were:

1/ what have you prepared for this interview?
A- i have read and equipped myself with some information about the history, status, and issues of education in this country. My sources were texbooks, reference books, magazines, newspapers, and some from the internet. (at this point my butterflies came back, fearing questions i have no idea of!!!)

2/ Good. You are teaching?
A- Currently no. My teaching contract ended in December as a GSTT. And then..blah blah blah...

3/ Can you share one sweet memory while you were teaching?
A- (i started smiling, like a kid who were given some chocs)It had to be during the camping trip to Balung River, it was a motivational, come induction course for GSTT from the school..blah blah blah...(what we did)

4/ What makes a great teacher?
A- (O gosh i thought) A great teacher must not only teach, but also learn from students. Reaching out for them is important, knowing them and engaging them in the teaching-learning process can make learning much more effective and memorable.( I started to state some of my personal experience..)I think i either bored or ammused the panels.. they looked at me weirdly..

5/ Alright. Can you describe these certificates of theatre performances? Were you active in acting?
A- My involvements of extra curricular activities in the university were basically 3 things; theatre, writing, and community service. For theatre, our production called 'Skylark Production' did 2 major performances, one was for English Aprreciation Week, and another was The Literary Appreciation Week.

6/ what did you do in Literary Appreciation Week?
A- I acted. And this was a musical theatre, so there was some singing. However it was challenging because in IIUM, female students shouldnt be singing in performnces but people loved it nevertheless. (the singing was not to promote the beauty of one's voice but merely a story telling in a melody...). he made me promise to have these kinds of activities done in schools if i become an English teacher 1 day.

7/ Since you are quite an expert on the language, can you describe about the grammar?
A- I started to state kinds of sentences, elements in a sentence, tenses (and God knows what came out of me..) Then hr asked the difference between a Verb and Adverb. Easy like peanut this. Cant imagine if the interviewer was Sir Grammatical Analysis, the Australian, my lecturer. LOL.

8/ Good. So do you have any questions?
A- Not for now sir, no.

*end of interview*


DPLI interview questions will be in the next post. I have to run. Good day~