What does it mean?
You seek challenges and you understand that the path to success requires hard work. You have initiative, you are organised and you increase your effort as new challenges arise. As such, you achieve ambitious results.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
The students you will work with face great challenges and barriers to success. As their role model, you would have to set ambitious goals and persevere to achieve them.
What does it mean?
You adapt to new and unfamiliar situations and are versatile in ambiguous situations.You remain calm and confident when the best laid plans do not materialise and you integrate new input or context into a flexible plan.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
Each student, parent, and teacher are different. In fact, each student is a whole new person every day. You will face new surprises each day and you would need to respond to them strategically.
What does it mean?
You are able to work effectively and collectively in teams. You are aware of your impact on others. You listen, encourage participation and engagement to influence others. You create a positive culture for others especially in challenging situations.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
You will not be able to influence change on your own. You can be the change that is needed in the system but you will have to build relationships and work with others to achieve your goals. Your students are equal partners in the mission to end education inequity.
What does it mean?
You are aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, you are comfortable giving as well as receiving feedback and coaching. You have a strong growth mindset and actively develop learning opportunities. You reflect and challenge your own assumptions.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
You are not a finished product and you would need to continuously grow as a teacher and a leader to meet the needs of your students. Our leadership development programme emphasises self and peer learning that is complemented with strong coaching and mentoring. A Fellow or teacher needs to role model learning for students.
What does it mean?
You do not generalise as you seek the best in other people’s wisdom despite it contradicting your own beliefs. You seek to understand and empathise with others.You understand that you are not an expert in ending education inequity and you are grounded in the limitations of your experience.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
You will need to leave your ego, biases, assumptions and prejudices at the door if you want to work with a diverse range of students, parents and teachers. Teach For Malaysia recognises an inherent wisdom in the communities we work with and it is never our goal to impose on them. Before you can work with others, they need to trust you first.
What does it mean?
You dream big. You can mentally visualise different versions of the future. You are fearless in your pursuit of that dream. You motivate others to do the same. You do not dwell on setbacks and you see new opportunities in every crisis.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
Ambitious long-term visions and short-term goals are fundamental mindsets to drive your actions and behaviours to create the future you want. As a Fellow, you and your students will need to keep the end goal in mind to motivate yourselves as there will be many self-imposed and structural barriers towards that dream.
What does it mean?
You command a presence through clear, compelling and passionate communication.You can adapt your communication style to different audiences in different situations. You are proficient in English and Bahasa Malaysia.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
Being a strong and effective communicator allows you to build relationships with different stakeholders and deliver lessons for different learning styles. Your lessons need to be fun and engaging for your students while meeting the lesson objectives.
What does it mean?
Your personal vision and mission aligns with Teach For Malaysia’s. You are motivated to succeed as a Fellow on the 2-year leadership development programme. You are realistic that the mission would not be achieved overnight and you continue serving the mission in whichever pathway you choose as an Alum. You understand that the 2-year programme isn’t “just another teaching job”.
Why do you need it as a Fellow?
Teach For Malaysia has a responsibility towards our students and a commitment to our donors to ensure the participants we select onto the Fellowship create impact. Personal alignment with the mission allows you to drive sustainable change in the short and long-run, as ending education inequity can be mentally, emotionally and spiritually draining.
Upon submitting your registration of interest on our website, you will receive a link via email to complete the second half of your application, which includes an English Test. Help us get to know you better and demonstrate your understanding of Teach For Malaysia in your short essay responses. Upon submission of your application, you will be informed of the outcome within 2 weeks.
You will be invited for a 30-minute phone conversation with one of our selection team members. We may ask you follow-up questions to understand more deeply your personal experiences and motivations to join the Fellowship.
You will be invited to attend a full-day assessment at our office, during which you will participate in three distinct sessions: a mock teaching activity, a role playing activity, and a one-to-one interview with one of our selection team members. If you are situated overseas, you may be invited to participate virtually via Skype.
Upon successful completion of the previous stages, you will receive a conditional Offer for the Fellowship. The Offer is dependent on the successful completion of your studies (see eligibility criteria) and passing of the Ujian Kelayakan Calon Guru (UKCG), a test required by the Ministry of Education.
The UKCG Is a mandatory test conducted by the Ministry of Education for all new government school teachers. It comprises a basic fitness test and a written examination portion. You will be provided with support throughout your preparation for this test.
Before beginning your training in October, you will be invited to shadow a Fellow in school for a week to deepen your understanding of the Fellowship. There will also be several events and virtual sessions for you to connect with staff, Alumni, and your future colleagues.
“I can feel the warmth of the working culture here once I stepped in the office, and never forget icebreaking and insightful conversations with staff here. I am really honoured to be included for the assessment stage and appreciate what is going along this learning journey. Really thankful for constructive feedback given [...] on my strengths and weaknesses in the end of the session”
- Fellowship Applicant
We are looking for people who are aligned and committed to our Mission and Vision. Strengthen your understanding of the Fellowship by reading through our website, blog, and social media posts.
You will be asked to describe examples of past experiences so we may get to know you better. We recommend that you take time to consider the examples you use. We are more interested in the skills and behaviour you demonstrated than the opportunities you have had. You may draw on professional, volunteer, personal, or academic experiences.
We recommend you structure your answers according to the STAR method - Situation, Task, Action, Results. This ensures you provide comprehensive responses to our questions which will help us evaluate your application better.
Before you submit your application, take a little extra time to double-check your responses. Avoid unprofessional language and grammatical errors, and most importantly, make sure all your responses are relevant to the questions.
Conduct the test in a quiet place where you have a stable WiFi connection and will not be disturbed. Be sure to time yourself during the test, and submit your answers in a timely manner.
English