Yati's Reflection 3 - Learning Journey

I enjoyed the Learning Journey immensely. I enjoyed the company - alas, it is our last few moments in NIE and this was a nice way to bring us together and have fun while doing meaningful tasks. I enjoyed the exploring and walking along unfamiliar lorongs and alleys within the city and also the various activities that were planned. My favourite moment has to be the discussion we had about 'Urban Jungle'. It was a rather simple activity but the emotions invested and thoughts that were shared from the reading  of the poem made it so much more enjoyable and insightful.
 
I have never been on a Literature Learning Journey and the experience has taught me how I can organize one for my students as well as the kind of activities I can plan for them. It was a clever way to read and appreciate the Singaporean poems. The whole experience of being able to read and be at the location mentioned in the poem brings depth to the understanding and appreciation of the poem.

During the Learning Journey I learnt various aspects about Singapore such as the proportion of reclaimed land in Singapore. I know that in figures it is a huge percentage but witnessing the layout of the exhibits and areas that are marked as reclaimed land really opened my eyes and help me visualize the extent of the land that Singapore has reclaimed. Also, the criterion for which buildings to conserve was a new discovery for me. I have seen and studied about conservation practices in Singapore for my Geography lessons and I have never come across this criteria. This together with the exhibit on the buildings that are conserved allowed me to think about the value of nostalgia and history in Singapore's landscape. Despite all the criteria, it appears as thought aesthetic value alone helps determine if a building is worthy to be conserved.

I think that the Learning Journey has managed to teach Literature in an interesting and extremely relevant way. I think that this Learning Journey is transferrable and can be used to teach other arts/humanities subject such as history, geography and social studies. Indeed, with a little change in the various activities, it can be adapted to suit different subjects. All that is required is to be able to fully decide the learning objectives and the issues that are important and that should be explored during the activities. Students are still able to learn something valuable about Singapore even if the Learning Journey needs to be shortened to fit with students' schedule. The teacher may decide to bring students to a few of the various locations in the Learning Journey so it is more manageable.

Also, the Learning Journey can be used to incorporate national education or citizenship education into Literature (since it is a requirement and the need to meet the needs of the 21st student competencies of being concerned citizens). It is different, fun and extremely practical and offers many opportunities for students to see how learning canexist beyond the classroom and also learn more (and also "sigh [with] cause" about their country.