We started quite late compared to other projects, because two members of our team from India and Sri Lanka had some paperwork issues coming into Malaysia, and we had to sort out their work permits with the Home Ministry (who handles all immigration and permits in Malaysia). We scheduled our work to start on June 10th, but due to the delays, we began on June 14th. 

1) What went well?

Despite the delays, we started off quite well last week. A team dinner brought us all together in Kuala Lumpur, bonding over a bountiful traditional feast during the Islamic Raya Haji festival. We completed our orientation and briefing protocols for teaching staff, including handing out official guidebooks from the school board and the Ministry of Education. We also had a meeting with Ministry staff with the Board to finalise our curriculum implementation, and getting the print certification for our teachers. We were all very excited to begin our work, and I can see the enthusiasm in so many young volunteers from all across the country and of different ages/demographics.  

2) What could have been done differently?

The Raya Haji festival put a massive damper on work efficiency. Most of our contacts, including those at the Ministry, were out of office for holiday, and answered emails late. Though our team did their best to accommodate everyone, a lot of people could not be on-site and had to join remotely since they were celebrating the holiday with their families. There was also the issue with work permits, so we started late. 

3) What did I learn about myself when working with others? 

I think that a school can only be run when every member of a team is there in person. I saw first hand the values of patience, compromise, ethics, and the ability to take executive decisions in leading a team of such diverse makeup during our first few days of work. As usual, I learn so much more from others when working in a team, i.e., cross-pollination of ideas and bouncing off thoughts between one another. 

4) What did I learn about leadership? 

Leadership in my context looks a lot like the ability to make compromises, stay flexible, be proactive in checking in with the team, and earning the team's respect by taking command when necessary. Due to the aforementioned paperwork issues and disruptions in schedule due to us starting during a holiday week, myself and the Board tried our best to smooth out the disruptions by being accommodating of personal requests on group chats. But we have to make tough calls in denying certain ones when the workload gets heavy, and to pull together the team for some final touch-ups before classes start and students take their seats. This meant making a lot of compromises, but also staying reasonable in our approach, so as to not lose rapport with any member of the team. It also makes team members feel seen and heard, since their needs are individually tend to by our teaching coordinators (our supervisors, we don't like using the word 'supervisor' in a school context), applying the cura personalis philosophy at Georgetown. I think that our team has done an excellent job at keeping cohesion and friendliness in the work atmosphere, since we want teaching to be a welcoming and rewarding activity. 

What do I want to develop/focus on next? 

In the next 5 weeks, I anticipate the majority of our workload being centred around helping the students, grading classwork, preparing tests, and attending to any extra needs coming from our students. Our team is fully aware of the demanding work that comes with teaching - they too have family members who are teachers, and came from the formal schooling system - and so I hope that the team can stick together and 'survive' the challenges ahead in Week 2. 

Having done most of the logistical work, our first classes begin this week on June 17th. I want to see how our curriculum unfolds and our students' reception through feedback surveys, and of course, parent-teacher meetings to ensure expectations are met and that we are regularly communicating with parents to continue building community trust in our school. We do have some latecomers, with some parents showing interest in enrolling, and we expect to sort that out in the next few days.