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| Congratulations, my TESL ladies <3 |
Assalamualaikum and good day to you!
As promised, I’m writing this entry to share my personal experience attending the SPP interview for TESL, along with some tips and my own English SPP note for your reference. This sharing is entirely based on my experience, so do keep in mind that the process may differ from year to year.
Let’s start with the basics. The interview took place on 26th June 2025, right in the middle of our second week of practicum. To attend, we had to request leave approval from both IPGM and our respective schools. You might wonder how we received our interview dates despite not having completed our education diploma yet. My assumption is that, as the first batch of PDPP Perdana fully sponsored by MOE, we were given a special pathway. Our interview session also coincided with the final-semester PISMP IPG students, which makes sense since both groups are from IPGM.
The interview venue was the SPP Building at Prime Minister's Department Complex, Putrajaya. I highly recommend arriving early to avoid traffic and to settle yourself before the session.
My parents picked me up from Malacca and drove straight to Putrajaya. We reached around 2 a.m., and ended up resting in the car at a nearby surau. I woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready, and we reached the SPP building by 6.30 a.m. The queue was already long by then, but still manageable. After scanning the attendance form, we were directed to the waiting lobby. In the lobby, SPP staff will check your file to ensure all required documents are complete. Be very careful here, missing or incorrect documents can slow down or even complicate your application. Luckily, they provide photocopying services on the spot, so you can fix any issues immediately.
Candidates are grouped based on the sequence of their files. I was placed in the second group, and by sheer luck (or misfortune), I ended up being the first candidate in my group. I still remember the stress, lmao. Fortunately, 8 out of the 11 candidates were my classmates, which helped ease my nerves a little.
Our panel consisted of the infamous Datuk Dr M and Dr L. If you’ve heard stories about SPP interviews, you would know that Datuk Dr M is well-known for her personal “book” of interview questions. Each session gets a different set, which naturally increases the level of difficulty, and her expected answers usually require higher-order thinking. In short, her presence is feared. True enough, she lived up to her reputation. Her questions sounded simple on the surface, but were actually very tricky.
These were the questions asked during my session:
1. What do you think about DLP?
– I attempted to answer first, and it turned out to be a mistake. The panel cut me off and moved on to the next person. A humbling experience, indeed.
– A follow-up question was asked because we looked clueless: How do English teachers incorporate elements of Science and Mathematics to support DLP efficiency?
2. How can we ensure DLP is delivered equally across all schools?
– Equality is influenced by many factors, but monetary incentives can address most of them. Well-compensated teachers = greater efficiency, which helps ensure DLP is implemented according to MOE guidelines.
3. What are your thoughts on standardized assessment vs alternative assessment?
4. How can English teachers teach “karamah insaniah” to ensure Curriculum 2027 achieves its intended objectives?
The interview session lasted around 1 hour 45 minutes, which was mentally exhausting for me. I kept on fidgeting and mumbling to myself, a personal habit when I'm feeling anxious.
Anyway, here comes the tips especially for TESL candidates.
1. Practice your lines for basic and common interview questions such as self-introduction, classic "why do you want to be a teacher", etc. The English panel will pay close attention to your spoken English: your grammar, pronunciation, and clarity. Even if you’re not a native-like speaker, speak correctly. If you struggle to form sentences, pause, breathe, and avoid excessive fillers.
Suggestion: Record yourself speaking and analyse your fluency, clarity, and filler usage. You can also practice with friends or lecturers.
2. Read up on current education policies, especially those related to English. Most of us went in only knowing the surface-level function of DLP. We were not aware of the deeper implementation issues, progress, challenges, or current statistics. If possible, gather insights from your lecturers, friends teaching English, IPG/education Telegram groups, official MOE documents on the website or any relevant documents. Even a rough but accurate understanding goes a long way.
Suggestion: Include policy summaries in your SPP notes, with details such as implementation year, statistics and latest recorded progress.
3. Bring your best RPH—and know it by heart. Panels do browse through your RPH to test your understanding of lesson design. In some interviews, they may even question specific parts of your lesson plan (activities, objectives, assessments) to see whether it was genuinely prepared by you.
Suggestions: Make sure your RPH had been proofread by your supervising lecturer or mentor teacher. Ideally, it should integrate 21st Century Skills and CEFR-aligned. If asked, you should be able to explain your RPH concisely.
Lastly, I’ve included my own SPP notes written in English. They’re far from perfect, and while many of the answers were curated with the help of ChatGPT, I did my best to cross-check their accuracy. That’s all from me for now. Best of luck for all SPP candidates!
See you later, assalamualaikum~
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