Learning Journey - My Observations

One thing that I got to think about was how to focus my students' attention during learning journeys. I had always thought that questions which were very specific to the exhibits would direct students' attention well. However, this might not be the most effective way of learning. Questions that are very specific to the exhibit might actually limit what students learn because students would only look out for information that can answer the questions and they would probably ignore other information that they might have been genuinely interested in. More open ended questions would allow more areas of exploration. Students would be free to explore areas of the exhibition that are linked to their interests and this would also motivate them to learn. The questions in a learning journey worksheet could then be a mix of specific questions and more open-ended ones. The specific questions would be useful for a situation where the teacher wants students to take note of a particular piece of information that would be helpful to a later task or to important issues and concerns of the subject itself.

Another thing I thought about was how to make better use of the places we visit during the learning journey. For example, how would looking at the shop-houses at Ann Siang Hill enhance students' understanding of the poem they read? The teacher would have to make explicit links for the students. Without the links, it might seem to students as any other ordinary Literature class that just happens to take place outside. So, in the example of the shop-houses, the teacher would have to get students to notice how there seems to be a disconnect between the facade of the shop-houses and the businesses taking place inside them. The facade retains the traditional look of a shop-house but what is inside is no longer traditional. In fact, the design of many shop-houses on the inside appears modern. The teacher could then get students to think about how this idea is reflected or explored in the poem.

A learning journey for Literature would be more meaningful and make make more sense if it draws on knowledge from the other humanities. Making links to history or social studies would make sense because knowing the historical context can help students make meaning better when they read a poem. For example, the poem "Singapore River" is about the clean up of the river. Knowing the history of the Singapore River, of how it helped commerce to flourish, would help students to understand the context and meaning of the poem better. Also, by making interdisciplinary links, students would have a better holistic view of their education. They would realise that the subjects they study are not entirely separate from one another. A skill or knowledge that they pick up from one subject could be applied to another subject.