(English)

(…)

Good afternoon distinguished guests, our dear rector and professors, our cherished friends and family members, and of course all my fellow graduates! Congratulations on your achievement!

My name is Elizabeth Marie Ritchie, I am the Dean of the Primary English Section at St. Joseph’s Diocesan College (The Fifth School). I am also a graduate today of the Post-graduate Diploma in Education, Infant level, English section.  I am very honored and excited to speak to you today, in this year, because as you may or may not know, this year marks the 10-year anniversary of the PGDE program here at USJ.  And I am proudly a member of that first graduating class of 2014. That’s right, this is not my first time around! In fact, it’s not my second time around either.  I am a proud “repeat customer” holding 3 PGDEs in Secondary, Primary and now Infant (or Kindergarten) Level.  I would like to use this opportunity today to share some insight and experience I have gained over the last 10 years as an in-service educator and PGDE holder.

But, first, some messages of thanks and appreciation are in order! On behalf of all the PGDE graduates, I would like to thank our hard-working instructors. They were the ones tasked with keeping us thinking deeply and engaging critically for several hours in the evening, after many of us had been working all day. Of course, besides the instructors there is an array of program staff and university support staff who also supported us along the way.  Thank you to Professor Isabel Tchiang and Phoebe Cao, the backbones of this program, as well as their superiors and support staff who all make this program possible and assure its quality. Thank you to Dr. Laurie Baker-Malungu, my practicum supervisor, and all the other practicum supervisors. We should of course also show our appreciation for our practicum schools and the onsite supervisors.  By opening their doors to us, the local schools of Macau are providing an invaluable hands-on learning experience.  We must thank our families for their support, too. I know many students, like myself have family members who missed us when we were busy attending class, completing our practicums or writing our assignments. Their support makes it possible for us to study and achieve our goals. And last but not least, we also recognize our own efforts and our perseverance.  You should all feel very proud and happy to have completed this program and be looking forward excitedly to the professional opportunities that lie ahead.

Now we have really come to the part where I can share my own experience.  As I mentioned, I am a veteran PGDE holder.  I completed my first PGDE in Secondary level. At that time, I was working full-time teaching Economics in the Secondary English Section, but I had very little preservice training for teaching.  Through the PDGE program, I gained a solid foundation in the most important concepts needed to be a good teacher.  A couple of years later, I was asked to help launch the Primary English Section as the founding dean.  I was very excited, but I needed some more experience and knowledge of Primary Education, not to mention the proper certification. In the 2017 – 2018 academic year, I completed the Primary level PGDE.  The primary methodology and the early childhood development courses helped me better engage with my new P1 and P2 students after years of experience with Senior Secondary.  And then, two years ago, when my principal asked me to advise the Kindergarten Section on its English curriculum and teaching, I knew where to go to get a skill and knowledge upgrade.  I especially thank Professor Susannah Sun for her guidance in the Infant Methodology course.  I also had a particularly fruitful practicum teaching K2 English, which was a new and fascinating experience for me. This past year, I have been very busy, but it has been very satisfying.

With this experience, both in the field and in the classroom, I would like to share some insight. I want to remind everyone that the PGDE is an excellent foundation for teachers.  It contains the basic knowledge needed to become a teacher. We should all revise our notes, and design our teaching plans, classroom management systems, etc. in line with what we have learned in the PGDE program. But, the most important message I want to give is… being a good teacher will also require you to continuously build on that foundation of the PGDE.  Experience in the field and further study through professional development is vital.  I encourage all of you to be life-long learners and to continue learning as you grow as educators. In your schools, participate actively in your subject panel meetings, share and discuss with your colleagues about teaching methods and materials, ask to observe colleagues’ lessons and invite them to observe yours. I encourage you to join professional associations for teachers and consider how you can contribute to the community of educators in Macau, Asia and the world.  Never stop learning, studying, asking questions, researching, and trying new methods- never stop growing.  I wish us all success and happiness in our careers as educators and remind you that “teacher” is not just a job. It’s a calling! Thank you for responding to that call and congratulations on your graduation from the PGDE program.  Thank you!

(中文)

(…)

尊敬的嘉賓、親愛的校長和教授們、親愛的朋友和家人，當然還有所有的畢業同學們，下午好！我是Elizabeth Marie Ritchie，是聖若瑟教區中學第五校小學英文部主任，我今天也是聖若瑟大學教育學院學位後文憑課程的畢業生，我的專業是幼稚園的英文教育。非常榮幸和興奮能夠站在這裡與大家分享，你們可能已聽說過，今年是聖若瑟大學學位後教育文憑課程成立十周年紀念，而我很自豪我是2014年首屆的畢業生之一。沒錯，這不是我第一次畢業！事實上，這也不是我第二次畢業。我是一位“老客戶”，擁有中學、小學和現在幼稚園的三個學位後教育文憑。今天，我想利用這個機會，分享我作為在職教育者和學位後教育文憑持有者在過去十年中獲得的一些見解和經驗。

首先，我代表所有學位後教育文憑畢業生，向辛勤工作的導師們表示感謝。他們是讓我們在白天工作了一整天後，在晚上幾個小時內仍然保持深思熟慮和批判性思考的人。當然，除了導師們外，還有一系列的大學職員在我們的學習過程中給予了支持。感謝Isabel Tchiang教授和Phoebe Cao教授，他們是這個課程的支柱，還要感謝大學領導和其他職員，使這個課程成為可能並確保其質量。感謝我的實習指導老師Laurie Baker-Malungu博士，以及所有其他的實習指導老師。同時也感謝我們實習的學校和現場督導，澳門本地學校為我們提供了寶貴的實踐學習經驗。我們也必須感謝我們的家人的支持，我知道很多學生，包括我自己，有家人在我們忙於上課、完成實習或寫作業時想念著我們，他們的支持使我們能夠學習和實現目標。最後同樣重要的是，我們要感激我們自己的努力和毅力，你們應該為完成這個課程感到非常自豪和快樂，並期待著即將到來的職業機會。

現在我希望分享自己的經驗。正如我所提到的，我是一位資深的學位後教育文憑持有者。我完成了第一個中學教育學位後文憑，當時我在中學英文部全職教授經濟科，但我在教學方面幾乎沒有接受過培訓。通過學位後教育文憑課程，我建立了成為優秀教師所需的重要概念的堅實基礎。幾年後，我被邀請協助推出小學英文部，並擔任創辦主任。我非常興奮，但我需要更多小學教育的經驗和知識，更不用說正式的認證了。在2017-2018學年，我完成了小學的學位後教育文憑。小學方法論和幼兒發展課程幫助我更好地與我的小學一、二年級的學生互動。然後，兩年前，當我的校長邀請我為幼稚園的英文課程和教學提供指導建議時，我就知道應該去哪裡獲取技能和知識的提升。我特別感謝Susannah Sun教授在幼兒方法論課程中的指導。我還有一個特別的實習經驗，教授幼稚園K2英語，這對我來說是一個新奇且有趣的經驗。在過去的一年，雖然十分忙碌，但也非常滿足。

憑藉我在教育領域和課堂上的經驗，我想分享一些想法。我想提醒大家，學位後教育文憑是成為教師的優秀基礎，它包含了成為優秀教師所需的基本知識。我們應該根據在學位後教育文憑課程中學到的內容，檢視和修訂我們的筆記，設計教學計劃、課堂管理系統等。但是，我想傳遞的最重要的信息是，成為一名優秀教師也需要你不斷鞏固在學位後教育文憑裡學習到的知識，在實地經驗和進一步的專業發展方面的學習至關重要，我鼓勵大家成為終身學習者，在成為教育者的過程中不斷學習，在你們的學校中，積極參與學科組會議，與同事分享和討論教學方法和教材，請求觀察同事的課堂，並邀請他們觀察你的課堂。我鼓勵你們加入教師專業協會，並考慮如何為澳門、亞洲和世界教育工作者社群做出貢獻。永不停止學習、研究、提問、探索新方法，永不停止成長。我祝願我們所有的教育工作者在事業中獲得成功和快樂，並提醒大家，“教師”不僅僅是一份工作，它是一種使命！感謝你們回應這個呼召，並祝賀你們從學位後教育文憑課程畢業。謝謝！