Post-GESL Reflection

Although I have been group leader in other projects or activities, taking up the leadership role in the GESL projects still proves to be challenging, especially at the beginning. Firstly, I wanted everyone in the group to have more say in our discussions. Apart from that, I was hesitant to make decisions without the consensus of the entire group. However, this made the group rather ineffective and we were unable to progress on the project. Thankfully, other group members gave feedback and suggestions for the leaders, such that the group can move forward in the end. I am very glad that the group members are very cooperative, took initiatives, and had a sense of ownership for the project. For example, during the preparation of the skit some of the actors took the initiative to look for the props or costumes. Actors from different part of the skit were also willing to stay back and comment on each other’s acting to improve the entire skit. Through working in a large group, I learnt to communicate with different people, accept and trust others’ opinions, and manage different working styles.

The project itself has given me an awareness of the importance of responsible pet ownership, an issue that I have never encountered before this project. Working with the Cat Welfare Society, our first event was the launch of the cat ownership scheme at Chong Pang. This scheme will allow Chong Pang residence to legally own cats after they register and pass the inspection by Cat Welfare Society. The emphasis of this scheme is that people should prove that they are responsible cat owners before their registration can be approved. Through the preparation of the skit and booth for this event, I learnt about what it means to be a responsible cat owners, as well and issues that are often faced related to pet ownership such as disputes between neighbours. I also learnt that everyone in the community has a role to play in improving the welfare of the cat, which will in turn benefit the community. For example, since sterilizing the cats will curb the number of stray cats, it should be everyone’s responsibility to sterilize the stray cats. However, more often than not people in the neighbourhood will complain about the stray cats without taking action and this might be due to lack of education or information. This leads to my realisation that educating people, both cat owners and non cat owners, is important to resolve the issues and to improve the welfare of cats.

The biggest lesson from GESL for me was the importance of being selfless. While working with Cat Welfare Society, I notice that their events (and presumably the society) are ran by a small number of volunteers who have regular jobs. Despite their own jobs, these people are willing to spend much of their time for a cause that they believe in. I found this inspiring, in the midst of today’s society that often emphasise the fulfillment of our individual needs. Apart from that, while working in the GESL group I was very grateful that most members are very willing to spend their time and effort for the benefit of the group. I could imagine that if the members were unwilling to give their time or calculative about the division of labour, the project might not have gone so smoothly. All in all, I personally belief that going through GESL / a service learning project is a valuable experience, as it will raise one’s awareness of important causes and teach one the virtue of being less selfish through working with other group members to improve the society at large.

QLK 520 Communication Skills for Teachers - Reflective Blog

Throughout the communication skills course, we have learnt several modules, namely Pronounciation, Oral Communication, Voice Production and Vocal Health, Written Communication and Classrom Communication. The course was conducted with a blended approach, in which students can choose whether they would like to attend the modules online or face to face. This is the first time I attended a course with such an approach, and being someone who enjoys sitting in the classroom and interacting with the instructor and other students, I have opted for all face-to-face options. However, I think the materials that are put up online (for those who are doing online) are great resources even for us who did the face-to-face modules. We could either skim through them before class, or check on them if we have missed something in class. The organisation and type of materials put up online is something that I could apply in my future teaching career. Since now many schools are doing e-learning, having gone through this module with very rich online material I learnt that the success of e-learning depends on how the teachers prepare and organise the online learning materials. Some student-teachers also seem to enjoy e-elearning, so perhaps next time as a teacher I can put up online learning materials periodically to suit the needs of those who prefer this learning method.

In terms of the content of the course, the importance of Purpose, Audience and Context (PAC) was emphasised throughout. This is something that will be applicable to almost any situation in my future career, especially as the main job of teacher is to communicate with the students. I have also learnt that communication is not only a one way process, but at the end of the day it is about whether the audience get the intended message. This is something that I would try to keep in mind every time I teach in a classroom. This is so because many of times, the teacher can say so much but students will not understand. Perhaps if teachers are more mindful of PAC, the students will understand better.

Other skills that were through during the module such as vocal health and production and email writing will also be very useful in the future. Writing emails is something that teachers do on an almost daily basis. Scenarios presented were realistic, and allowed us to practice. The tutor also shares good practices on email writing, such as breaking long passages into point form. However, some other activities, such as oral communication test could be better tailored to fit real situations in school. For example, the scenarios that require student-teachers to speak to a principal/vice principal seem rather odd, since these are usually conversations instead of a 2-3 minute speech.

All in all, many aspects of these modules can be applied to my future teaching career, and I hope in the future I will be able to improve as a teacher through incorporating the skills taught in this module.