St Francis Methodist School<\/a>, one of Singapore\u2019s leading private academic schools, teaching students from more than 20 countries.<\/p>\nThe result was an extremely rewarding experience for Duong, who was able to build upon her existing skills while teaching students from diverse backgrounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was given a lot of tips and knowledge from my mentors, such as learning new ways of engaging with students, and brushing up on my classroom management skills for students who are cheeky enough to think they don\u2019t need to complete work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trip also allowed me to teach \u2018English as an Additional Language or Dialect\u2019 [EAL\/D] students and learn how to engage with students who struggle with English.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most striking differences Duong found in the Singaporean education system, compared with Australia, was the emphasis the teachers put towards supporting students to achieve high grades, with many continuing to work after school hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the classes I taught were purely just preparing students for their exams,\u201d says Duong.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favourite memories was when the students found out I was leaving for Australia and they told me they wished I could stay longer. To the students it may have been a minor comment, but it made my whole trip [worthwhile] and made me feel as though I was doing the right job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, it wasn\u2019t all just hard work for Duong, who also took the opportunity to explore the city-state, well known for its world-class tourist attractions, such as Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Zoo and Sentosa Island, and become immersed in its culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cityscape is so beautiful and modern. The nightlife was fantastic,\u201d says Duong.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother thing I noticed about the lifestyle is that Singaporeans love food. I was always offered so much food even when I was full, and there are so many restaurants and fabulous food centres around the country. I also ate a lot of new dishes that I wouldn\u2019t normally try, such as grilled stingray.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duong\u2019s exciting opportunity is one of many being had as a result of the NCP, which supports Australian undergraduate students to study in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
Through the NCP\u2019s Mobility Program, Curtin has successfully received funding over the past few years to provide scholarships to encourage education students to study in the region, not just in Singapore, but in other countries, including China, Malaysia and Vietnam. Curtin has also recently secured funding for the next round in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe New Colombo Plan provides a unique opportunity for Curtin\u2019s best and brightest education students who show a strong commitment to their community and potential as a future leader,\u201d says Curtin Associate Professor Lina Pelliccione, Head of School of Education.<\/p>\n
For a student like Duong, the opportunity was priceless in helping to expand her horizons and realise her dream career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have had experience teaching in an independent school, a public school and now a private international school. I can say that my dream job would be at a public school, although I wouldn\u2019t mind teaching English overseas again in a different country,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would definitely recommend the New Colombo Plan to others. It put me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to try different things, such as new teaching strategies and teaching EAL\/D students.\u201d<\/p>\n
At some point after completing her degree, Duong says she would definitely love to go back to Singapore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Curtin secondary education student Leanne Duong shares her experience undertaking a one-month teaching placement in Singapore through the Australian Government’s New Columbo Plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":5787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-5786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-global-community"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"Secondary Education","qualification":"Bachelor of Education","link":"http:\/\/courses.curtin.edu.au\/course_overview\/undergraduate\/secondary-education","description":"This course is designed to prepare you for a rewarding career in secondary school teaching and, at the same time, allows the pursuit of specialist interests. As part of the degree program, you choose a major and a minor teaching specialisation.","faculty":"Humanities"}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Leanne-Duong-2.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 11:23:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5786"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=5786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}