Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future.
*Please do not duplicate the information you have entered on the work experience and education section of this form (minimum word count: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
The Cambodian education system is still weak in terms of its curriculum, outdated teaching and learning methods and very low level of qualification of teacher in language teaching, both private and state institutions. This weakness is particularly noticeable, and this little country inevitably needs to improve the level of human resources within the educational field. This is particularly so in terms of English language teaching as the ASEAN integration will greatly increase the need for people with strong English language skills.
It is the field of language learning that I have a special interest in and I am lucky that I can work in my dream job. However, I wish to build on my existing skills and knowledge, and therefore, I have a strong desire to apply for a Master degree in Education with specialization in learning, pedagogy and assessment, Mater in Educational Studies and Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages to young learners to satisfy this need.
Even though I hold two different Bachelor degrees (Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and International Studies) with good grades from the best state university in Cambodia, and I am currently studying an online course: Shaping the Way We Teach English at University of Oregon, sponsored by the US Department of State, and meeting different scholars from many various parts of the world, I realize that my knowledge in teaching is still limited and that I am not yet satisfied with my academic knowledge and professional experiences.
The Master degree that I wish to pursue will, I believe, add much depth to my knowledge and allow me to further polish my academic skills in a more competitive and practical way.
I am especially confident that this will be the case as the UK has an excellent reputation in promoting higher education in every possible manner without discrimination based on race, gender or religion.
I have done the research about the colleges and subjects at universities in the UK and the course objectives, the different subjects taught during the course, and the objectives students will get after the course interest me very much as it fits the need I am desperately in. This educational ambition is a turning point of my future career and I want to provide this foundation a great start by attending in a world-class educational environment to fulfill my educational needs. Studying in the UK will accomplish my determined desire by enhancing my academic skills while allowing me to experience a wonderful academic life oversea and making new friends from all around the world.
I always believe that the development of a country is based on human resources and to gain more human resources, a country must have strong educational system. The key to this success is to start with potential and qualified teachers. Obviously, it is my dream to be one of these core human resources who could do something to make a better improvement for education system in Cambodia.
Chevening is looking for individuals that will be future leaders or influence in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influence skills to support your answer. Maximum 500
Even though I am the third child and have an older sister and brother, I am the bread winner for my family and have been so since the age of 24.
The necessity to support both myself and others from an early age has encouraged me to become a young woman with a strong personality. This, along with my academic qualifications, makes me, despite being a female, influential within my family group. As a result, I have a sense of chairmanship and leadership as I am always the first to be approached for advice by both elder and younger relatives. Therefore, through my graduation from university, my job, and through my personality, I believe I have changed my wider family's mindset toward women like me.
For professional leadership term, it is my personal point of view that an effective leader requires creativity, understanding good organization, and most of all,a clear set of goals. Additionally, it needs a sense of group belongings and ownership with positivity, encouragement and full involvement from both the leader and team members.
With this in mind, and regarding my role as a teacher, I consider myself as a leader, an instructor and influential person to my students.
For example, as aninstructor, it is important for me to be very creative in selecting materials and techniques to make sure we have a friendly, fun and effective classroom atmosphere. With the role as a leader, I am the one who guides the class with what to be done while my students are also significantly involved in choosing activities they want to do and how they want them to be done, as I believe that the lesson cannot be done smoothly in the classroom without the consent and participation of my pupils. Plus, being firm but fair to every student is crucial to ensure that each pupil has asense of belonging and ownership of the tasks we do in classroom.
My leadership extends further than within my own classroom and family, however. Besides these roles, I believe I also show leadership within the teaching staffroom. For example, I am consistently asked to mentor fellow colleagues, both Khmer and expatriate teachers, who have problems with their teaching, or are in need in some guidance and advice. Additionally, I was a team leader for a significant project about Learning Language Advisors at my current workplace.
These teaching roles and my informal contributions in leadership in my family have developed me as a person and, as a young woman with big responsibility to support the family financially, emotionally and morally, and as a role model for my students and other teachers, I strongly believe that I have the leadership qualities that would enhance Cambodia.
Nevertheless, I believe that gaining a Chevening Scholarship will enable me to further strengthen my capacity and practical experiences for my future career and enhance me with a much better chance to perform effective leadership roles in my country.
Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you hope to use these skills in the future.500
Of importance of networking is the strong relationship and benefits it provides socially, academically and professionally.
In term of academic networking skills, I was a friendly and hardworking student. Having a lot of friends at different schools, both Khmer and English institutions provided me a chance to get a job as an English teacher when I was still a young innocent girl at the age of 18. Because the hardworking life, I finished my high school with a very good grade and got a scholarship from the government to continue my higher education. At that same year, I pursued another Bachelor Degree in the field of International Studies. During my academic life at university, I also always had a dream of devoting my time on some social volunteer work to built networking for my future profession career. However, I never had a chance to do so as I was the only daughter who needed to spend most of the time taking care of my seriously sick father.
However, I never think it is too late to build network with people academically. Thus, i am currently doing some online courses (Shaping The Way We Teach English phase 1 and 2 and Learning How to Learning) so that i can broaden my connections and strengthen my networking skills with thousand different scholars from different schools, universities, institutions through discussions forum by posting new threads, posts, comments to ask and answer questions and seeking for some good advice for our professional career. We also created a "study group" on Facebook for further connections outside and after the course.
besides this, I look for every possible ways to ensure that i can build more professional partnership with other people. with this reason, I volunteered to be a presenter at the CamTESOL Conference 2016 in this upcoming February. This will enhance me more opportunity to meet different scholars both inside and outside the country to build up my personal and professional development. it will also be a bridge for my future career goal.
My friendliness and activeness help strengthen my relationship with local and expatriate friends both inside and outside my workplace. I also build online friendship using social networking sites to get to know different people from various parts of the world. Through this, I have broadened my general knowledge and view about the world. i have learned a lot about different cultures, religions, different value and perspectives toward lives by sharing our information about our life experience, success, family and so on and so forth.
i have a strong passion to work with people without the discrimination on race, religion and gender, thus, by winning Chevening Scholarship, i believe i will be a potential individualwho will contribute my knowledge to lead others in selecting the right profession choice by working in hands with Chevening Alumni and getting involved in many conferences like Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Cambodia, Global Alumni Conference (GAC), Cambodia Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages Conference ( CamTESOL)and conduct Professional Development (PDs) and workshops to train other fellow teachers both inside and outside my workplace.
