Being a teacher is dealing with not only writing and teaching but also special skills and preparation for providing materials for students. Thus, a teacher is required to have broad knowledge in order to inspire his students.
Similar statement was also uttered by Marilou D. Anduque, a Philippine teacher from Mondial School Batam in the 12th JETA International Conference. He stated, “Teaching is a challenging field. It is not as easy as writing.”
The conference was conducted since Monday (15/6) and provided several essential aspects which teachers, especially English teachers, and students possess. It was the 12th JETA ((Jogja English Teacher Association) international conference and was organized each year in a different university. It was the first time for Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) to be the host that was organized by English Education Department of UMY. Besides, it also discussed curriculum of English implemented at elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and higher education.
“The participants are teachers and lecturers from Jogja and out of town as Kalimantan, Malang, and UKDW,” mentioned Sri Rejeki Murtiningsih, Ph.D., the committee chief. She inserted that there were also undergraduate and postgraduate students presenting their paper. “UMY’s students are represented by PBI students. The number of participants was 300 people.
Additionally, the 12th JETA International Conference was conducted for two days from Sunday (15/6) to Thursday (16/6) at 7 am – 5 pm at A.R Fachruddin B, Floor 5. It was presented “Opera Fun JETA” raising a theme of Malin Kundang in the opening. Next, it was plenary session I by a keynote speaker, Dr, Radhika Jaidev from National University of Singapore. In the session he discussed “The Reflective Teacher and Student-Centricity”. The third agenda was coffee break. The next one was plenary session II by Itje Chodidjah, M.A., a representative of International Teacher Training Foundation. In the second day, there was plenary session III by Dr. Marilou D. Anduque. There was also Fabio Coelhoe, a representative of the U.S. Embassy raising a theme of “Enhancing Teacher Autonomy in a Top-Down National Curriculum Context.”
The conference aimed at providing a forum to share knowledge and experience among English teachers and lecturers. “They (participants) would also present their paper so that we could share knowledge,” uttered Sri. She added that the conference also pointed at professional development of the participants.
