REFLECTION ON MY STAY AT TEC FROM 28 JAN 2014 UP TO NOW

REFLECTION ON MY EXPERIENCE AT 

                                                 TEACHERS EDUCATION CAMPUS UMP

Upon arrival at TEC on the 28th January 2014, I was shocked, is was not what I expected. I expected a grand university with wonderful buildings and all the works that I have seen in my previous years only to find the total opposite. It looked like an old rundown boarding school. The SRC was supportive in all aspects where we needed their help e.g. finding our rooms and other necessary buildings.

Lectures and lecturers

The way in which lectures handle students and their attitude towards us was not what I expected as they treated us like kids than responsible adults. They beg us to submit our work and they are willing to hear whatever excuse we can come up with. Late coming to lectures was supposed to be penalized but no action was taken to it thus it is still happening.

The lectures also were very descriptive meaning that we get more information from lectures than we find out on our own and yet at tertiary level we are supposed to find most of the information on our own.

The module that I enjoyed the most is Education studies because the information there is facts and never changing. What I like the most about Mr Rademeyer is that he gives us information we will need then challenges us to find the extra information on our own (you must study). I was also impressed by the English lecturer (Mrs Rademeyer), the only thing that was a problem for her is that the students did not respect her with the respect she deserves.

We did not have a learning guide in Siswati and I found this to be a blow on my side because I am not that good in the language and I need to study for it. This meant that I did not know what to study and how much of it I should study but later on we were provided with notes. This was better but still at tertiary level I was disappointed as I expect them to be prepared and up to speed but this was not the case in this module. The Methodology module is the one that I battled the most with because the lecturer did not follow the learning guide we were given at the beginning of the year. This often meant that I did not have a clue on what to study and where to find that information.

The library was poorly furnished in terms of books but now it is getting better by the day. The only thing they need to change with it is open till late as some of us love spending time in the library. Overall, the staff is professional and up to standards expected for university lecturers.

STUDENT LIFE

Student life took decisions on our behalf and did not bother asking our views on issues that affect us directly e.g. not being allowed to have alcohol on campus. In my opinion this is bad because were supposed to make those decisions on our own so that when we graduate they have the correct idea on our behaviour and not feed SACE incorrect information and we turn out to be disastrous as we do not know how to handle ourselves because we were never exposed to freedom.

The other thing which I was not impressed about is the security system. It was too poor and anyone could get access into the campus if they wanted to meaning that it would have been easier for criminals to attack us. I am glad nothing bad happened even though the community threatened us when they were striking for employment and they are in the process of upgrading it. The food in the cafeteria is terrible and wish I could cook for myself.